Please Evaluate this Spell

[fourthmensch]

I am DMing a group right now that includes a wizard who is very fond of researching his own spells. He's having a lot of fun with it, which I think is great, but I must admit some difficulty in evaluating his proposals. The following is his most recent idea for a spell.

Kinetic Energy Transference
Abjuration
Level: Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 24 hours or See Text
Saving Throw: Will Negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell allows half of any physical damage dealt to the caster to be redirected to a high-quality, expensive, mithral shield, which must be worn by the caster (if the caster has the shield strapped to his/her back, this counts as being worn by the caster, and in which case the shield would not inflict a casting failure percentage). For example, if the caster is hit by a physical attack that would normally deal 40 points of damage, 20 points of this damage is redirected to the mithral shield, which would ignore 15 points of damage because of damage reduction, but the remaining 5 points would be considered damage to the shield, which, if the shield was new, would now have at least 25 hp remaining. Once the shield has taken enough damage to be destroyed, the shield is destroyed beyond repair and the spell ends. Likewise, if the shield is lost, dropped, or otherwise removed from the caster’s person the spell duration ends. The shield can be repaired, unless its hit points have been brought to zero.

Material Component: a light, mithral shield of at least medium size and costing at least 1,009 gp.

Now, I'm pretty sure that the duration is way too long, and should be 10 min./level (or 1 hour/level at most). Also, I'm inclined to say that the shield should be made out of adamantine rather than mithral, since it is adamantine that is prized for its ability to soak up damage; although I'm wary of making the material component cost prohibitively high.

Like I said, I'm not very good at gauging high-level spells, so any help with this would be appreciated.

 

[the Jester]

First of all, I agree that an adamantine shield is more appropriate for the spell.

Looking at this- it's substantially better than stoneskin, which is a great 4th-level spell. So the level seems about right if you reduce the duration to 10 minutes/level or 1 hour/level.

 

[Kerrick]

I agree with Jester. It's an interesting spell, and 1 hr/level should just about be right, since the damage to the shield is cumulative and it likely won't last nearly that long, unless the caster is really good at avoiding combat.

One question: How would this spell work in conjunction with something like stoneskin, which is already absorbing damage?

 

[Tuzenbach]

Great spell, lousy name! Kinetic Energy Transferance? Gimme a break! Convince your player that "Absorption Shield" is the way to go. That, or "Diffusion Defense". "Absorbing Adamantine"? "Adamantine Cloak"?

 

[poilbrun]

Great spell, lousy name! Kinetic Energy Transferance? Gimme a break! Convince your player that "Absorption Shield" is the way to go. That, or "Diffusion Defense". "Absorbing Adamantine"? "Adamantine Cloak"?

Adamantine shield?

I agree that the name is a bit lousy, that seems to be an awafully complicated spell with such a name! But then, maybe the wizard has created other spells in the past that have a name sounding like this one...

 

[Vrecknidj]

My gut reaction is that the spell is too high level for what the caster gets out of it. I'm sure you'll all jump in and correct me. But, carrying this shield around is going to be a real problem for most arcane casters.

I'm all for giving the duration at 10 minutes per level and making it a 5th level spell. I know that, in effect, it double's the caster's hit points for a while, but there are going to be skill penalties and all that with the encumbrance (at least, unless the weakling wizard isn't carrying any other gear). And, every time the spell uses up a shield, that's another thousand gp down the drain.

Dave

 

[fourthmensch]

I agree with Jester. It's an interesting spell, and 1 hr/level should just about be right, since the damage to the shield is cumulative and it likely won't last nearly that long, unless the caster is really good at avoiding combat.

You think? I don't know, with a hardness of 20, it would take a several really hard hits to destroy an adamantine shield.

One question: How would this spell work in conjunction with something like stoneskin, which is already absorbing damage?

See, this is exactly why I asked. I have no idea how it would interact with stoneskin.

Well, either:

1. the Kinetic Energy Transfer (KET) would absorb half of the total damage, and then the other half is dealt to the caster, at which point his DR 10/adamantine comes into play

or

2. the stoneskin applies first, negating 10 damage by non-adamantine attacks, the remainder of which is then split between the caster and the shield.

Or, I don't know, maybe only one could be active at a time, since they are both abjurations.

See, I know where my player is coming from. He's a high-level wizard and he can throw down mountains, yadda yadda, but one full attack and he's toast, end of story. He's already had a few unfortunate deaths in just such a manner. Now, I feel for him--for those with low hp, high-level combat can get deadly damn fast. On the other hand, he has exepressed that his desire is to find a way to make himself invulnerable to physical attacks. And I don't think that its necessarily a good diea for that to happen, whether by core rules or researched spells.

I agree that the name is a bit lousy, that seems to be an awafully complicated spell with such a name! But then, maybe the wizard has created other spells in the past that have a name sounding like this one...

lol... Actually, I think one of the main reasons why my player likes to research his own spells is so that he can give them really pretentious names.

Is there anyone out there who knows the ruled better than I, who could tell me how this spell and stoneskin would/should interact?

 

[Merlion]

I'd say Stoneskin would apply first. The DR of stoneskin would reduce the actual damage taken, which is when this spell would kick in.


I'd say adamatine shield, 1 hour per level and its balanced.


However, I doubt I'd want to use this spell just because you would probably end up spending a lot of money replacing shields


Me, I'd make the transfer largely metaphorical, and just set a limit on how much damage can be absorbed, much like with Stoneskin.

 

[def-mornahan]

One thing you might want to mention to your player is that he's not going to be sleeping very well if he has a large metal shield strapped to his back...or is he on a ring of sustenance?

The cost is reasonable compared to stoneskin, I think. An 11th level caster should, in a campaign whose cash flow is comparable to the standard PC tables, feel the pinch if he casts this spell every day, but if he knows it's going to be a rough day he can afford it (much like stoneskin).

If you know of or can find any rulings on how stoneskin interacts with shield other, I think you could rule that this spell works in the same way (the "other" being the caster's shield in the case of this spell). I expect the stoneskin applies first, but that's just my two cents from reading the shield other description (you transfer hit points lost from wounds, and stoneskin keeps you from getting wounded in the first place, would be my interpretation).

Also consider making brilliant energy weapons ignore this spell...if you're worried that your wizard has sweet-talked you into making him invulnerable to physical attacks, have him have a dream where a marilith with six brilliant energy swords beats him into a red, squishy mass.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Go with Mithral..

Yes, it is cheaper, but it has less hardness and increases the odds of the sheild actually being destroyed.

I would have stoneskin reduce the damage prior to this spell.

I would also have the caster carry the shield instead of just wearing it.

You might want to get The Element of Magic, it makes the guaging of custom spells much easier.