Proposed Solutions to "problem" Spells

[Kraedin]

What about shapechange? Gold weighs 1188.6 lbs. per cubic foot. Shapechange allows you to turn into any object that has no dimensions greater than 200'. Shapechange into a 200' x 200' x 200' block of gold, and fall upon your enemies from a 10' height. Average damage: 166,404,000. I suspect that breaks the damage cap.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

What about shapechange?

I lumped shapechange under polymorph self. The polymorph series and shapechange have similar warnings.

 

[Vanye]

Simulacrum
Problems: DM Interpretation, Vague

o House Rule: DMs may want to disallow certain metamagic feats from affecting simulacrum. For instance, Empower Spell would raise the percentage range from 51%-60% to 102%-120%. That is pretty inconsistent for a spellcaster making a better/more powerful version of himself. While Maximize Spell would a good metamagic feat to use, a common house rule is to disallow Empower Spell and similar variants.

Okay, maybe I'm understanding this wrong, but wouldn't the results for Simulacrum be 50+ (1d10x1.5)? The only numeric variable in Simulacrum is 1d10, which is added to the non-variable of 50.

Even if I'm on crack it still would be 75%-90%, since Empower states "All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by one-half. ", not doubled.

 

[Kraedin]

The variable, numeric effect of simulacrum is 51-60%, not 1-10%. It works just like magic missile, where you multiply (1d4+1) times 1.5, not just the 1d4.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

The general principle is bring this in line with the summon spells in power. I could live with smaller creatures but have them not subject to the summoning restrictions. Just take them all down a size category.

I see what you mean. However, if you take a look at their CR (this one takes some work) and statistics, they're simply not as powerful as summoned monsters... generally.

We don't want to change the rules for Magic Circle against Evil. You also don't need to reduce their power by that much to make up for that advantage.

 

[Vanye]

The variable, numeric effect of simulacrum is 51-60%, not 1-10%. It works just like magic missile, where you multiply (1d4+1) times 1.5, not just the 1d4.

Well, then it's still only 75%-90%.

 

[AuraSeer]

Are you planning to include the Sage's opinion (where known) on these spells? For instance, I've got a sage reply stating that a Mirror Image does trigger a Cleave or Great Cleave, which is a different ruling than the one you suggest.

I'm not saying you should change the text that's already there, mind you. I'm just asking whether you want to include the additional verbiage.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I think for the spell TK, setting lower weight limits for sustained thrust is a better house rule. If I lure my opponent to a pebbly beach, and throw pebbles at them, I don't want to count pebbles.

Sean K Reynolds said he would allow Cleave vs Mirror Image (he says this is because Cleave is too weak), but this isn't his official interpretation.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

Well, then it's still only 75%-90%.

Oops. My mind went straight to double empower as opposed to empower....

Consider the document edited (see above). Still need to work on my list of spells....

 

[Cloudgatherer]

I wasn't aware of the Sage and Reynolds suggested that Cleave work against Mirror Image. It did not appear in the FAQ, so I didn't list it.