New Metamagic feat idea I had.
- Thread starter der_kluge
- Start date
Sir Whiskers
First Post
die_kluge said:
I'd have to try it in a game, but my gut feeling is "Yes", too powerful.
Imagine a high-level party being attacked by one high-level spellcaster on the ethereal plane. Initially, when the spells begin to fly, the party will think their opponent is invisible. As see invisibility will see ethereal, they'll spot him (but will they know he's ethereal? Not sure about that...) But once they spot him, they still can't do much. The "tanks" are worthless, unless someone in the party can make them ethereal. As for the spellcasters, only a very limited selection of spells can affect the ethereal caster. You could easily have a TPK - the best an unprepared party can hope for is to escape relatively intact (meaning alive).
Worse yet, imagine your pc's using this metamagic feat against your BBEG's...
It comes down to all the defensive enhancements from being ethereal - a party that knows what to expect can probably handle it fine. An unprepared party (or BBEG) is in a lot of trouble.
edit - I just thought of this: imagine the party is underground. The attacking spellcaster not only has all the immunities of etherealness, he can pass through cavern walls at will, then return to get in a surprise attack, rinse and repeat. The more I think about it, this feat is very powerful.
Last edited:
der_kluge
Adventurer
Yes, it is. I'm thinking maybe +5, or even +6 levels would be a little more approrpriate. Fireballs would consume 8th level spell slots (at +5), and I imagine it wouldn't be long for a spellcaster to burn all their spell slots while in the ethereal using this.
Thanks for responding!
Thanks for responding!
I wouldn't allow this in my game.
What I find interesting about the ethereal plane is that force effects exist on both the ethereal and material plane IF cast from the material plane. If cast from the ethereal plane, they only exist on the ethereal plane. Huh?
One thing which makes a little more sense is to have a feat which allows force spells to be cast on the ethereal plane and affect the material plane (or, just allow it in the first place, but that would be fairly potent).
What I find interesting about the ethereal plane is that force effects exist on both the ethereal and material plane IF cast from the material plane. If cast from the ethereal plane, they only exist on the ethereal plane. Huh?
One thing which makes a little more sense is to have a feat which allows force spells to be cast on the ethereal plane and affect the material plane (or, just allow it in the first place, but that would be fairly potent).
der_kluge
Adventurer
True, I could limit it to [Force] spells.
Thing is, the sorcerer is my game specializes in [Force] based magic, and I've created several [Force] based spells for him to round out his arsenal, so this would be quite potent.
The idea here being that they would come across an ancient college of magic inhabited by ghostly visages from the past with this metamagic feat - who could attack them from the ethereal. If they are successful, the party sorcerer could find a tomb which teaches him this feat. It would be something he could gain at about 14/15th level or so.
I'm inclined to go with +6 levels, and limited to [Force] effects. But, I suspect that even then, he would probably take this feat if presented the opportunity. Yes, it would be quite scary, but it would be a way he could quickly burn up high level spell slots.
Thing is, the sorcerer is my game specializes in [Force] based magic, and I've created several [Force] based spells for him to round out his arsenal, so this would be quite potent.
The idea here being that they would come across an ancient college of magic inhabited by ghostly visages from the past with this metamagic feat - who could attack them from the ethereal. If they are successful, the party sorcerer could find a tomb which teaches him this feat. It would be something he could gain at about 14/15th level or so.
I'm inclined to go with +6 levels, and limited to [Force] effects. But, I suspect that even then, he would probably take this feat if presented the opportunity. Yes, it would be quite scary, but it would be a way he could quickly burn up high level spell slots.
RuminDange
First Post
I'd say it is too powerful as it.
However, if you compare it to other shall we say "EPIC" metamagic feats, that's where I might consider putting it. Around +6 or +7 spell levels and and EPIC Metamagic feat. Therefore he couldn't take it until 21st level minimum. And it would still chew up the spell slots very fast. I would never allow it any lower than that IMC.
RD
However, if you compare it to other shall we say "EPIC" metamagic feats, that's where I might consider putting it. Around +6 or +7 spell levels and and EPIC Metamagic feat. Therefore he couldn't take it until 21st level minimum. And it would still chew up the spell slots very fast. I would never allow it any lower than that IMC.
RD
