Please rate Sculpt Spell

[Hypersmurf]

Re: Re: All kinds of options...

How does this work range wise? wouldn't it start on you, 20' around in every direction? Better get that endure elements cast first!

I would assume a 20' radius sphere, with your fingertips touching a point on the outer surface, myself.

 

[Rary the Traitor]

Thank you all for the great ideas!

The shape that intrigues me the most is the four 10-foot cubes. There are many situations in combat where it's impossible not to hit your own allies with area spells. In situations like that four small cubes hitting four distinct enemies for 10d6 each can be more useful than a normal fireball.

What bothers me is that the feat description doesn't elaborate much on that particular shape. Do the cubes have to be near each other? Or can they be as spread out as the spell's range will allow? For instance, could I place cube #1 at the spell's maximum range in front of the caster, cube #2 at the same distance behind the caster, cube #3 to the caster's left and cube #4 to the caster's right?

 

[smetzger]

Not only can you change what shape your area of effect will be, often the AoE will be larger than the original.

If you were thinking of taking Enlarge Spell, take Sculpt Spell instead. You'll use it far more often.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Thank you all for the great ideas!

The shape that intrigues me the most is the four 10-foot cubes. There are many situations in combat where it's impossible not to hit your own allies with area spells. In situations like that four small cubes hitting four distinct enemies for 10d6 each can be more useful than a normal fireball.

What bothers me is that the feat description doesn't elaborate much on that particular shape. Do the cubes have to be near each other? Or can they be as spread out as the spell's range will allow? For instance, could I place cube #1 at the spell's maximum range in front of the caster, cube #2 at the same distance behind the caster, cube #3 to the caster's left and cube #4 to the caster's right?

This caused some small trouble IMC... I ruled that the shape the spell is to be sculpted into has to be memorized as part of the spell (the person who took the feat was a wizard). She found that reasonable. But then I ruled that the 10' cube shape had to be mapped out when the spell was memorized with the location of the cubes relative to each other. For example, she could memorize the spell so that there would be 4 cubes spaced around a 10' safe zone in the middle, but she had to choose that particular layout when she memorized. This ruling was met with hostility. She wanted to be able to determine the location of each 10' cube spontaniously per casting. I said that that works for sorcerers but wizards get less usefullness out of the 10' cube version. She was mad but agreed.

Edit: to answer your specific question, as written the cubes could appear anywhere within the allowed range. A common house rule is to say that the cubes must be connected to each other, each either sharing a side or a corner with at least one other cube.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I'd be mad too. Pre-pare spell types already have access to spells with shapeable cubes on the fly. Or do you rule clerics and druids when casting firestorm have to pre-map all 15+ 10' cubes. All 10' cubes must be touching I think I could accept as reasonable, but pre-mapping sucks IMO.

 

[Pax]

I've got to chime in with Shard, here.

Every Wizard spell that uses multiple 10-foot-cubes, is a (S)hapable area -- meaning, the exact dimensions and location of the spell is determined at the moment of casting.

I'd have to further ask, if you're forcing the Wizard to map the cubes not only relative to each otehr, but also to the WIZARD -- do you require the wizard to map the location of Fireballs relative to his or her self, during preparation?

I think your second ruling on this feat stinks, and is OVERLY restrictive on a Wizard; you've ensured no (sane) wizard will EVER want to use that application of sculpt spell -- the circumstances in which a specific placement relative to the wizard of a spell (in a specific shape) will be USEFUL, are too few to be worth the risk entailed in preparing a spell for such a limited area. Especially when it's costing a feat to turn a MORE-versatile spell INTO such a restricted-use spell!

 

[two]

Tricky rules question here

If you sculpted a grease spell into a cone,
the area of the grease spell changes,
but NOT the range of the spell, correct?

?

So your cone could start, for example, 20' in front of the caster?

Normally, as you know, cone's are range 0. Start right in front of the caster.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

actually a cones area is usually defined by its range. The area yes starts at 0' but it might have a short range, with short being how big the area of effect is and how far the spell will then reach. Also IIRC an area of effect can not extend past the range of the spell.

 

[AuraSeer]

Re: Tricky rules question here

So your cone could start, for example, 20' in front of the caster?[/b]

Nope. A cone always starts at the caster, and covers a 90º angle out to its maximum range.

 

[Ferret]

What happens to spells like meteore swarm?