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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 2788611" data-attributes="member: 3586">Shoe = Stephen Schubert, one of the nice R&D people at Wizards.He posted this on Maxminis, about the balance of "mass snake's swiftness" (Sor/Wiz3, Drd 2), from the Miniatures Handbook and the Spell Compendium:Shoe:A point about mass snake's swiftness:A fireball, cast by a 5th level caster, deals 5d6 damage to creatures in a 20-foot burst. 5d6 averages to 17 points of damage, and a Reflex save is allowed for half damage, so in effect creatures in the area take 8 or 17 points of damage. Some variance applies due to immunities, resistances or (rarely) abilities such as evasion, but it is a fairly standard 3rd level spell, and one used as the baseline for the power level of such spells.Lets look at mass snake's, now -- a typical 5th level fighter, with 16+ Str, Weapon Specialization, heck, even a +1 sword, might deal 1d8+6, or maybe 2d6+7 damage, if he hits (average damage is 10.5 and 14). A typical 5th level rogue, in optimal position (flanking), will deal 4d6+2 or so (average 16). Variance here is introduced by the target creature's AC, or possibly DR or immunities (like vs. sneak attack), and the resulting damage is usually an always on/always off affair, instead of a save for half.In comparison, if Atk vs. AC and Reflex vs DC are equal (and often they aren't - many creatures have poor Reflex), then the spells result in about the same amount of damage when cast, with one significant exception - mass snake's requires the party to first get in position to take greatest advantage of the spell's effect.As levels scale, so does the damage -- but damage for fireball scales also...Now, mass snake's is better in those instances where the opponent is outnumbered, and worse in those instances where the wizard is outnumbered -- specifically when there are more opponents than there are viable melee threats. And I'm sure that some combos are encouraged (like the fighter with Cleave), but I don't see this spell as being too powerful, compared to other options available to the wizard (from the PHB, no less).I also think it's a great spell for the game, since it encourages players to work together to overcome a fight, instead of simply staying out of range of the fireball...###The last comment is particularly interesting. (I've been seeing the druid beginning to cast the normal Snake's Swiftness in my games, and it's a very good spell)Cheers!</blockquote>

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