Please rate the Archmage

[Simulacrum]

We come to the point were we SEE there is a problem with "save or die" spells in general. either they are too weak if there is no such thing as raising the DC.
Or there are much too strong and popular if you can raise DC's.
but in general this doesnt make the PrC broken.
-
I admit that its possible to take too much spellpower and with very moderate cost in comparision with other features too.
Both make a problematic mix even more problematic--> right?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Yup... when designing an ability, you can't just look at it's balance, you also look at how it combines with core rules abilities (eg Hold Monster).

 

[Grog]

We come to the point were we SEE there is a problem with "save or die" spells in general. either they are too weak if there is no such thing as raising the DC.
Or there are much too strong and popular if you can raise DC's.
but in general this doesnt make the PrC broken.
-
I admit that its possible to take too much spellpower and with very moderate cost in comparision with other features too.
Both make a problematic mix even more problematic--> right?

I think that's it in a nutshell. If you house rule away save or die spells (which I'm tempted to do anyway, since I really dislike situations where one roll of the die can kill a character or a major villian - a save or die situation once in a great while is fine, but it shouldn't come up every time the PCs face an 11th level wizard) the Spell Power ability and the Archmage class are probably acceptable. IMO, anyway.

 

[Simulacrum]

Bingo, I wouldnt want to see save or die spell to be completely wiped from the game. Some need to be revised a little.
But the major problem is that they can be used so easy in seconds right at the start of the battle. Most *Save or Die* spell should have a casting time of a full round.
Or the avaibilty/stacking of spellpower and spellfocus needs to be seriously limited.

 

[kamov]

arcane fire

This is a little unrelated to the current discussion, but I'd like to post an interesting little scenario:

Abjurer 6/ Air Elemental Savant 10 / Archmage 5 w/Arcane Fire

for the purposes of this abstract experiment, lets assume his int bonus - his lost spells from high arcana produce something like the following chart.
NOTE: I KNOW IT'S NOT AN ACCURATE CHART, but for this hypothetical situation, it's good enough, and i'm lazy

total arcane fire damage:
spell level/#spells
0: 5
1: 5+3
2: 5+2
3: 5+2
4: 5+2
5: 5+2
6: 5+1
7: 5+1
8: 5+1
9: 4+1

Total Spells: 64
Total Spell Levels: 227

Now then, using every spell in his inventory to produce arcane fire, he does (64*5 + 227)*1d6 dmg = 547 total d6 of no-save, no resistance damage, with average damage being ~1,914.

The epic monsters known as "Devastation Vermin" would be completely helpless 1v1 this mage. The mage could just fly around out of range and blast the CR 39, 40, whatever Devastation Bug into pieces with arcane fire, because although the vermin have supremely high natural armor, a ranged touch easily hits them, barring a critical miss. Essentially, if the mage had 6-7 min. of uninterrupted time he could single-handedly kill a creature w/a CR much higher than his own.

Now, this is absurd. 6-7 min. is no time at all, and the mage could kill one of those things single-handedly? On the other hand, it'll never happen in a game (jinx), but I still find it amusing.

Overall though, I don't think Arcane Fire is unbalanced. I just want to know what others think about the fact that this is possible.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

what a cr39 creature can't fly or doesn't have ranged attacks? I'd say that's more of a problem with the CR system.

Heck an arcane archer with boots of flying could take that thing out. It will take longer but it will still die.