Sectumsempra's Severing Slash

[Primitive Screwhead]

I agree that the severing component lies the way of madness

If I were to try and HR this into being I would focus on applying conditions based on the loss of a limb.. I would not get into the nitty gritty of fingers or horns..

Basically three special effects, choosable by the caster before rolling the attack roll:

Loss of an arm forces target to lose the use of an arm, dropping any item held only with that arm. Additionally the target suffers 1D6 damage to Str. The arm's use is regained when the STR damage is restored.

Loss of a leg or wing causes the target to lose 15' of Speed in all movement modes that limb affects. Additionally the target suffers 1D6 damage to Dex. Target regains movement when the Dex damage is restored.

Loss of the head, instant death. The target gains a +15 to thier Fort Save to avoid this effect.


Critical Hits increase the Fort Save DC by +10....
Fort save based on damage taken..


This ends up with a spell that requires a succesful attack roll, a Fort Save..and a Spell Resistance check {as needed} to operate..

 

[Felnar]

can someone explain why the damage type is not 'force' ?

 

[Quartz]

For me, a severing effect does not add to the fun of playing. Remember that in D&D, damage is abstracted to HP. I don't even like the stat damage option. Just keep it as 10d6 Force damage and drop it to 7th level. If you want the wound to bleed afterwards, add in a wounding ability: the target continues to bleed 5 HP (or whatever) per round for 10 rounds or until the wound is staunched either by a Cure spell or a successful Heal check.

 

[Ilium]

can someone explain why the damage type is not 'force' ?

Actually if I'm reading the latest version correctly, the damage is untyped (just like Blade Barrier). It's "spell" damage, rather than any particular type.

As to the whole "should it remove limbs" thing, I think that's the whole point of the spell. So we need to make it work.

For specific effects, I think there will have to be a certain amount of "winging it" no matter how much detail you put in the spell. But you could cover most cases by saying:
A severed foot reduces a bipedal creature to a 5-foot move and reduces a quadruped's speed to half normal
A severed hand prevents use of that hand (obviously)

 

[RangerWickett]

Yes, it should be force damage. My bad for missing that. At least, as long as force damage is not inherently unable to harm inanimate objects. I know magic missile can't, but other force effects can, right?

And yes, the whole bloody point of the spell is to cut off limbs, just like the point of dominate person is to take over a character's mind. It's not fun when it happens to you, but it leads to an interesting situation. And it's a high-level spell, so it's not like it's impossible to rectify. Saying that doesn't work is like saying, "Why should a deafness spell make you deaf? It should deal Wisdom damage."

I figure it's fairly straightforward what happens if you lose an arm -- you've lost an arm! You can't use that arm. You don't inherently take a strength penalty, because the rest of you is just as strong, but realistically your ability to lift things would be reduced. As for other penalties, there are rules about that in the DMG, talking about 'specific wounds.'

Let the DM adjudicate it. Lose a leg? You can't walk. You might be able to hop 5 ft. as a move action, with a Balance check (DC 0). Hard to do in plate armor. A beholder loses an eyestalk? Oh, he can't use that ray. How hard is it to figure this stuff out?

 

[Pyrex]

Like I said, I like the *idea* of severing limbs, I just haven't seen a good way to rule it yet.

Let the DM adjudicate it...How hard is it to figure this stuff out?

It's not necessarily that hard to figure out, it just has to be figured out on the fly often.

First, bear in mind this is for a product I'm publishing, so the usual 'wing it' method I would adopt is not an option.

This is the sticking point. If you're going to publish a spell that severs limbs, and rules for severing limbs aren't in the PHB/DMG, then you need to publish them right alongside your spell. Just because you & I might be comfortable winging it doesn't mean everyone who picks up your publication will.

Complete design is good design.

 

[RangerWickett]

I see this as being no worse to adjudicate than, say, polymorph any object, or fabricate, or lesser wish, which are all around the same spell level. Who here would actually have a hard time figuring out what to do if this spell lopped off a PC's limb?

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Ooops.

I realized this morning that I had written my suggestion up as a 'disable limb', not 'sever limb'.

Soo.. take my above where it reads:
"Additionally the target suffers 1D6 damage to Dex. Target regains movement when the Dex damage is restored."

and change to:
"Additionally the target suffers 1D6 damage to Dex. This damage does not heal until the limb is restored via regeneration or other means. Target regains movement when the Dex damage is restored."

Ditto for the Leg text.



RW, I agree that alot of the effects are pretty straightforward. However, without some definiative text supporting the results there will be issues at many gaming tables. Personally I would HR your product with my suggestion above just to keep it relatively simple.

Perhaps add an extra option of targeting appendages like the Beholders eyestalks where the result would simply be the lack of use of that appendage. For limbs, I think there needs to be a solid mechanic behind it instead of a DM SWAG.

 

[llamatron2000]

A severed limb shouldn't be too hard to adjudicate. Here's an option as to how the rules could be. But writing them out instead or relying on DM adjudication(far better), makes for a huge block of text.

Loss of a limb causes loss of function for that appendage.

Losing a leg puts most creatures at 5 ft movement, and makes them flat-footed. They take a -10 penalty to balance, climb, jump, ride, and tumble checks.
Any creature that has more than 4 legs(more than can be easily counted, like centipedes) for proper movement either takes no penalty for losing a leg(lots and lots of legs, like centipedes), or loses 5 foot of their movement for each leg lost(many, but not lots of legs, like a behir).

The reason that 4-legged creatures get it as bad as bipeds, by the way, is the fact that most creatures move in predetermined gaits that get completely screwed up by losing a leg, and have to 'hop' along, making them practically as useless as a one-legged human.

Losing an arm means the arm is now unusable. Spellcasters have a 50% chance of spell failure for each arm they've lost.(may need to be reworked for multi-armed races. I went with a percentage proportionate to the number of arms on a human), and a -10 penalty to climb, swim, and balance checks per limb lost.

In general, for other situations, losing an eyestalk or one of multiple(nonvital) heads causes the abilities granted by that appendage to be lost, such as eyebeams, breath weapons, bite attacks, and such.

 

[Meeki]

Wickett you need to spell out what the losing a limb effect will do. Spells like limited wish have examples of what you can use it for, yours is still way to open ended and will likely have the secondary effect ignored if published. A list with examples is necessary in order for this spell to really do what you want it to. You can leave some mechanics for the DM to make up but don't make them do all the mechanics.

Also, don't forget to put what the spell targets like one creature or object. I noticed the spell doesn't have a target section.