My Spell is Broken, Help Me Fix It

[Land Outcast]

Casting time: 1 round
At the end you are Exhausted

would it fix it?

 

[hong]

Wow. Just wow. Umm. Ok. Yea. I don't know what to even say to that. Just, wow.

Well, yes. Evocation lets you do damage. As you gain levels, you get more damage dice. In terms of giving people more way to break the game, extra damage is about as weak as it gets. And that's not even mentioning SR.

 

[Nifft]

Wow. Just wow. Umm. Ok. Yea. I don't know what to even say to that. Just, wow.

Think of it this way: meteor swarm has to overcome a save, SR, energy resistance, and hit points, and hits everyone in the area.
Horrid wilting has to overcome a save, SR, and hit points, but only hurts your foes.
Shapechange allows you to turn into a big dragon, which gives you a breath weapon every 1d4 rounds which is better than meteor swarm. Also, you're a big dragon.

Evocation has its fun from levels 5 through 10 or so. After that, it starts to suck. Ask the Wizards in my game (who are now level 16). They tend to stock up on mobility spells and insta-kills (baleful polymorph and hold monster are biggies) and battlefield control (black tentacles and illusory wall -- yes, instead of fireball).

Once a Wizard is above 10th level, he tends to favor Evocations like wall of force and contingency. Utility and "meta", if you will. And this spell fits into that category.

Cheers, -- N

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Wow. Just wow. Umm. Ok. Yea. I don't know what to even say to that. Just, wow.

The Orb spells (lesser and normal) do damage equal to any equivalent evocation spells of the same (and in some cases higher) level and never give an opponent a save or SR chance. My warmage probably casts 90% conjuration spells.

DS

 

[IndyPendant]

Some options, if you have found it to be overpowered (I'm not convinced it is). Choose any that may appeal.

1) Casting time: 1 full round.

2) You are still limited to one regular spell and one swift spell per (actual) round.

3) You gain the ability for alternating rounds. On the in-between rounds, you are limited to a single Move (or perhaps Standard) action.

4) The duration of the spell is 1d3+1 rounds and is rolled by the GM secretly. When the spell ends (which the caster does not find out until the beginning of that turn) the caster loses his actions for that round (treat as Dazed).

5) Give it a fixed duration of 3 rounds, starting on the round it's cast. Allow two swift spells and two 5-foot steps per round. Bump it up to 8th level.

Hope that helps!

 

[javcs]

It's only edging into broken if there is a plentiful source of sand from the Plane of Time available.

'Cause the caster still has to get hold of some temporal plane sand. That's gotta be some pretty expensive sand there, assuming that it's even available for sale.
You could make an entire adventure arc out of trying to get an edge on acquiring the stuff.

 

[Nifft]

It's only edging into broken if there is a plentiful source of sand from the Plane of Time available.

Apparently, it is: the cost of such sand is under 1 gp, or the gp cost would be listed at the bottom.

Cheers, -- N

 

[the Jester]

Apparently, it is: the cost of such sand is under 1 gp, or the gp cost would be listed at the bottom.

Cheers, -- N

It's not meant to be found for sale, but at the level that pcs are by the time they're using this spell it's almost a non-issue.

One of the main points of this spell is getting an extra spell per round. That trumps about everything else imho.

 

[Brain]

Maybe it needs a real cost - like old versions of haste? Something like aging a year or losing a hp permanently or something similar.

 

[javcs]

It's not meant to be found for sale, but at the level that pcs are by the time they're using this spell it's almost a non-issue.

One of the main points of this spell is getting an extra spell per round. That trumps about everything else imho.

Well, how are the PCs getting the sand? You could require them to actually go out and get it as opposed to it magically appearing for them in their spell component pouches (arguably something that shouldn't happen). If they have to get the sand, then they're less likely to use it frivolously, and will save it for when they really need it.
Make the sand have an effect like the stuff you get from the Quintessence power, deals damage while in possession due to disruption of the timeflow.