Level X Spells

[Michael Morris]

These spells haven't been playtested yet, but demonstrate the power of the mechanic.

[h=4]Oathbind[/h]Ritual Divination (Insight) [Valra]
Level: Clr X, Pal X, Sor/Wiz X
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Targets: Two or more willing subjects.
Duration: Permanent until discharged
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

“The oaths that bind our society together are sacred. To break one is to threaten to break the fabric upon which our laws are founded.” ~ Aurnonian teaching.

Used to secure important contracts, oathbind monitors the faithfulness of each party to a contract or oath. In many areas certain high level oaths of fealty must be secured by an oathbind spell.
During the casting the parties to the oath must be present and then state their oaths, or sign their name to a contract and swear to fulfill it. The power of the oath escalates with the level you cast it from. These powers are cumulative.
1st level: Each party of the oath knowledge if any particular action will break their oath, but they may not necessarily know why. The spell ends if the oath is broken.
2nd level: All parties are aware of when the oath is broken, or if the spell was suppressed or dispelled.
3rd level: All parties are aware of where the oathbreaker is.
4th level: Breaking the oath no longer ends the spell. The spell cannot be dispelled by dispel magic but can be removed by disenchant, break enchantment or higher level magic.
5th level: The parties are placed under lesser geas to follow the terms of the oath.
6th level: For ten minutes after a any breaking of the oath the other parties may scry on the oathbreaker.
7th level: A spell 3rd level or lower can be set to trigger on the oathbreaking party each time the oath is broken. The oath breaker has no save against this effect.
8th level: All parties are geased. The spell can only be removed by wish, miracle or mage's disjunction.
9th level: Increase the maximum level of the punative spell gained at 7th spell level to 6th level.

[h=4]Pain Touch[/h]Necromancy [Sodra, Mind Affecting]
Level: Sor/Wiz X
Component: V, S, F
Range: Touch
Target: One living creature
Duration: 1 round / level (D)
Saving Throw: Varies
The touched creature experiences distracting pain to severe pain depending on the level you cast this spell from, escalating as follows:
1st level: Target takes a penalty to concentration checks equal to your level (max 5X)
2nd level: The touched creature is sickened.
3rd level: The touched creature takes a penalty to all rolls equal to the spell's level (starting with a -3 penalty at third).
4th level: The touch stuns the creature. At the beginning of each of their turns they can make a willpower save to end this effect.
5th level: As above but the willpower save only ends the effect for that round.
6th level: The subject is staggered.
7th level: The subject is nauseated.
8th level: The subject must save at the beginning of each of their turns fall helpless and unable to act other than to scream.
9th level: The subject takes 5d6 damage / round, save for half on each round.
Arcane Focus: A wax doll. If the doll has hair or blood from the target the spell has a -4 penalty to saving throws against its effects.

 

[MDK]

Alacrity (Alternate 2)

Transmutation [Abora, Metamagic, Time]
Level: (2X), Sor/Wiz 2X
Components: V, S, M
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round / level (D)

"To learn how to do something quickly, first learn how to do it slowly." - Telsindria.

You may cast incantations of X level or less as a move action. (You can take two move actions a round).

Material Component: A feather from a swift.​

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Maybe I'm misreading, but it seems if I cast this spell as a level 8 spell, I can then cast any and all level 1-4 spells as a move action for 15 rounds?
That's decidedly cheaper than Quicken, without having to spend the feat.

 

[Michael Morris]

It's also considerably less powerful than what you could have done with that 8th level slot directly. Also, Alternate 1 (2+X) is what has went into use - Twice X is far too weak.

 

[MDK]

It's also considerably less powerful than what you could have done with that 8th level slot directly. Also, Alternate 1 (2+X) is what has went into use - Twice X is far too weak.

Quicken: prep a single level 4 spell in a level 8 slot so you can cast it as a swift action.
So after spending the feat, you get to burn a level 8 slot to quickly cast ONE level 4 spell.

The alacraty spell also burns the level 8 slot, but requires no feat, and lets me cast ALL subsequent spells very fast.

With the feat, in round 1 I cast, say, one save or die spell, and a quickend Haste. Next round, no extra spells unless during spell prep I decided to burn more high level spells on quicken.
With Alacraty, in round 1 I cast that spell, followed by a fast Haste, then next round a level 8 save or die followed by, say, a Black Tentacles, then in round 3 another big bad boom spell followed by a fireball, and so on untill the end of combat (assuming it hasn't ended already).

Obviously, if you think the feat Quicken is way underpowered this would be one way to replace and seriously amplify it, but given that wizards generally ALREADY dominate just about any combat they're in, I don't think this is a good idea. And I'm the one PLAYING the wizard and enjoying nothing so much as ending combat in the surprise round (and I do think quicken is rather pricy). But hey, whatever works in your game.

 

[Michael Morris]

Considering an 8th level spell could end the encounter by itself anyway I still don't see the problem with this. Also, if you're casting 2 spells / round with alacrity, you aren't moving. It doesn't let you cast a spell as a swift action as quicken spell does, it lets you cast a spell as a move-equivalent action.

Also, please drop the passive aggressive "whatever works in your game" condescension.

 

[MDK]

I'm sorry, that wasn't meant to be agressive or condescending; if something works in your game, good for you!
As for moving, I find I rarely need to do more than a 5' step, and often not even that. Yes, it's a cost, but not one I'd considder in any way important, not compared to the benefits.
And yes, a level 8 spell can end the encounter right there, and often will, I've done it myself a lot, and would still do it even if I also had alacrity. There are however many cases where a single level 8 spell would not be enough, and alacrity would give me an extremely powerfull alternative.
Again, this would not be a bad thing if the wizard needed upgrading, but there's good reason many people already think the wizard is the most powerfull character by far, and this spell makes him much more powerfull. So no, I don't mean to be agressive or condescending, but yes, I do question the wisdom of allowing such a spell into the game. But if you let it in and found it improved your game, then by all means, have fun with it.