Need DM help - 2 Player Created Spells

[Bladestump]

Howdy All,

One of my players, a halfling wizard goes by the name of Usually Innerbush, or Ully for short, has come up with a couple spells he wants to research and create. I was hoping some of you could take a look at them and let me know if you think they are balanced and appropriate. I run a high-magic campaign so I like to give alot of leeway, but I dont want to introduce anything that throws off game balance.

Here they are:

Ully’s Wizard Glyph
Abjuration
Level: Wizard 3
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Target or Area: Object touched or up to 5 sq. ft./level
Duration: Until discharged
Saving Throw: See text
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)

This powerful inscription harms those who enter, pass, or open the warded area or object. A glyph can guard a bridge or
passage, ward a portal, trap a chest or box, placed on a weapon and so on.

The character set the conditions of the ward. The glyph can be activated (or deactivated) by a password if desired. The glyph can be set to only activate when a creature of a particular race or alignment come in contact with the glyph, etc.

When casting the spell, the character weaves a tracery of faintly glowing lines around the warding sigil. The glyph can be placed to conform to any shape up to the limitations of the character's total square footage. When the spell is completed, the glyph and tracery become nearly invisible.

The glyph has two modes, damage or immobilize. Damage mode causes 1d8 damage per two levels of the caster; target can save for ½ damage. Immobilize mode causes the target to become encased in an amber field (as in the Sepia Snake Sigel spell) for 1 day per level of the caster. A successful save causes the target to be stunned for 1 round per level of caster.

The second...

Ully’s Malevolent Missile of Magic
Evocation [Force]
Level: Wiz 2
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets: Up to five creatures
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

A missile of violet sparking, magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and unerringly strikes its target. The missile deals 1d4+1 points of damage. The missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee or has anything less than total cover or concealment. Specific parts of a creature cannot be singled out. Inanimate objects (locks, etc.) cannot be damaged by the spell. For every levels of experience past 1st, you gain an additional missile. You have two at 2nd level, three at 3rd level, and the maximum of 10 missiles at 10th level or higher. If you shoot multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You must designate targets before you roll for SR or roll damage.

I would really appreciate any comments or suggestions from anyone with an opinion. Thanks in advance for your help

Bladestump

 

[Coredump]

Hmm, I think the first one is okay; except it has too many variables. Just my opinion, but as a 3rd level spell, I would want it restricted a little more. Not that any of the choices are that bad (on first read) rather that the spell tries to cover too many possiblities.
Also, I don't have my books, so not sure how it compares to other similar spells.


What is the dif from the second and MM? If only range, than it seems okay.

 

[Technik4]

Ok, we'll start with the wizard glyph. The best way to analyze a spell's potency is to do a comparison, in this case since Sepia Snake Sigil is mentioned in his spell's description, we'll start there.

We note that it is the same level as the homebrew spell, casting time is the same, but what it can be placed on is different. SSS is limited to a page in text, whereas the wizard's glyph can be placed just about anywhere.

The limitations on where this glyph can be placed seem similar to the spell Fire Trap, a 4th level wizard spell. Fire Trap can be placed on any closeable item (book, box, etc) and explodes when opened. This seems to be weaker than the effect Ully is going for, so we may be looking at a 5th level spell right off the bat.

Now we come to the actual effect of triggering the glyph. The spell allows for 2 modes, a damaging and a stun mode. The damage is 1d8/2 caster levels, which seems high. Compare an 8th level wizard casting Fire Trap (1d4+8 dam, avg 11.5) to Ully's Glyph (4d8 dam, avg 18.5). Fire trap clearly does fire damage, whereas ully's glyph does an unspecified kind of damage. I would get him to link it to one of the more common elements: fire, ice, or electricity.

Now for the second mode, immobilization. Typically a spell that has a chance of doing something powerful (holding, blinding, stunning, killing) does nothing if saved against. Typically known as "save or die" spells, their strength is that they don't do damage but rather incapacitate the target. Ully's spell is clearly too powerful in this mode, as either way the target is screwed. I would choose to not mirror a limited spell like SSS, which only works in books, but rather go with a generic stun effect. To mirror the damage, it should be 1 round/2 caster levels.

So what we have is an abjuration with 2 modes, both useful in a "trap" fashion (the high level spell "symbol" seemed close to the utility he was going for, but as symbol is an 8th level spell, unless he wants a high level spell that kind of effect is out of his league) with a long casting time.

I think the following would make a good 5th level spell (in line with other spells in the phb):

Ully's Wizard Glyph
Abjuration [Electricity]
Level: Wiz/Sor 5
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Target: Object touched or up to 5ft/5 caster levels
Duration: Permanent until Discharged
Saving Throw: Reflex Half Or Fort Negates (See Text)
Spell Resistance: Yes

This powerful glyph creates a shocking effect when an intruder opens an item or inspects the glyph. The glyph can ward any closeable item (book, box, coffin, etc) or be written on a wall, furniture, etc. When casting Ully's Wizard Glyph, you select a point as the spell's center. When someone other than you opens the item or inspects the glyph (tries to read it, touches it, etc), a shocking blast fills the area within a 10-ft radius around the spell's center.

The caster may choose 2 modes for the glyph. In the first mode, electricity harms anyone in the 10-ft radius, dealing 1d8 damage per 2 caster levels (max 10d8) with a reflex save for half. The item protected by the trap is not harmed by this electricity. In the second mode the electricity shocks anyone in a 10-ft radius, stunning any intruders for 1 round/ 2 caster levels with a succesful fortitude save negating the effect.

The warded item or area may not have a second closure, glyph, or warding spell placed on it. An unsuccessful dispel magic spell does not detonate the spell. As the caster, you can interact with the glyph without discharging it, as can any individual to whom the spell was specifically attuned when cast. "Attuning" usually involves a password that you can share with friends.

The DC for a rogue using the search skill to find the trap or the Disable Device skill to disarm it is 30.

Material Components: A half-pound of sapphire dust (cost 100 gp) sprinkled over the warded area. Attuning the trap to another individual requires a hair or similar object from that individual.


The second spell, imo, is unnecessary. Magic Missle is an extremely powerful 1st level spell, using it as a template for a 2nd level spell is not especially wise as it is already very powerful.

Especially since his version basically gives him a missle every level (instead of every other) and has double the maximum missles available. Compare this to spells like Aganazzer's Scorcher (FRCS) or Melf's Acid Arrow and you can see its too powerful right off the bat. I don't have any suggestions for it, as I think it is unnecessary.

Technik

 

[Coredump]

For the first spell: What Tecknik said.

For the second spell: HOLY #*%#!!! How did I miss that it gave a missle per level?? Yeah, I think that is too powerful, and unnecessary also.

.

 

[brehobit]

First spell is close to okay in my opinion. Duration should be 1 day/level. The damage version should probably be safe vs. reflex and adding an energy type to it would be a nice thing. The "hold" version should probably be a will save. I understand the idea is that the target should get stuck until found, but this is poentially a save or die at 3rd level that is an indirect attack. I think that 1 round/2 levels is probably the limit.

If you do leave it at perm until discharged I'd go with either 50GP cost or 20 EXP or something similar.

The MM spell is far _far_ too huge. It would be the equiv. of a double empowered magic missle (5th level with a feat). I don't see a good way to fix it (make it still one per 2 levels, max 8 but have it do d6+1 and call it 4th level?)

 

[Anabstercorian]

The second spell, the enhanced magic missile, averages 3.5 points of damage per caster level, same as Fireball. However, it can't affect an area. That is negated by the fact that it can affect ethereal beings with 100% reliability instead of 50%. It's quite balanced... For a 3rd level spell. Bump it up a level and call it a day.

 

[Coredump]

Except it gives no chance of save for half, always hits, can be cast into melee without fear of hitting your allies, no threat to damage anything else, can be used in close quarters, cover doesn't help, damage can be split up among several creatures, etc.

Other than that, yeah it is about the same....


(True, FB can do that damage to many in the same area, but that is not enough to balance it out.)

And how can anyone say the first spell is at all balanced? Didn't you read Techniks post? Or are all core spells underpowered?

.

 

[Al]

Well, the first one is almost a direct transplant of the clerical Glyph of Warding, so fine at 3rd. Having said that, the clerical version has an expensive material component (200gp) so you might want to slap on something similar, or possibly bump to 4th if Ully is impoverished. Fire Trap is a poor comparison, because it is a 2nd level druid spell, in addition to being a 4th level wizard one.

As for the 'improved' magic missile, I'm unsure as to placing it between 3rd and 4th. Depends on how generous you're feeling I guess- it could either be a powerful 3rd or a weak 4th.

 

[Technik4]

Al:

It is an almost exact replica of the cleric spell Glyph of Warding except that the mode of keeping them locked in a Sepia Snake Sigil if they fail or stunning them if they *pass* is way too powerful. Also it is from someone else's spell list so off the bat I would bump it up 1 spell level (see how Fire Trap is a 2nd level druid, but 4th level Wiz/Sorc?).

I think the version I set out is balanced at 5th (maybe the area needs to be increased to Glyph of Warding) but as written the original is far too powerful. The PCs (and therefore villains) could set traps that would auto-incapacitate the entire group with 10 min prep time!

I regret that I had not seen Glyph of Warding when I was doing my analysis (I skimmed the wiz/sorc list looking for runes/glyphs/traps), but I think the 2 spells posted are too much bang for their spell level.

Technik

 

[DaveStebbins]

Since the first spell is essentially a damaging Glyph of Warding which can ALSO duplicate the Sepia Snake Sigil spell's effects, I think it should be a fourth level spell. I also believe, as a previous post noted, the immobilizing version should have a reflex negates saving throw (like SSS).

I also believe that the double powered magic missile should be at least third level, probably fourth. Due to the d4+1 damage type, empowered and maximized magic missiles do the same damage (5.0 per missile, one every odd level). This version (3.5 average per level) does more damage than an empowered or maximized magic missile. If magic missile damage was a straight d6, the damage of this spell would be very similar to that of a maximized magic missile so I think fourth level is most appropriate.

-Dave
"One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning." --James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), writer

[edit - originally left out my agreement about the reflex negates save for the first spell.]