So anyone pick up Eldritch Sorcery?

[Stone Dog]

What's the spell do?

If it is anything like the soda it probably gives you the old version of Haste and Expeditious Retreat at the same time.

 

[PatrickLawinger]

So far the spell that stands out in my mind is Jolt because it is unbalanced, some might argue it is broken. I have to wonder if they put a rough draft version in, instead of the final version.

There are lots of attack spells. There are spells converted from previous Necromancer Games books. There are spells that exist only to fill "gaps" in the fire/cold/acid/electric circle. There are spells converted from previous editions of DnD.

There are also some feats and 1 template for a spell.

Well, I had some initial doubts about Jolt, but it seemed fine in actual gameplay. You only get the second spell the round you actually cast Jolt, not for every round. Basically, you get to haste the party and cast another spell during that particular round. Useful if your party is surprised or ambushed but generally having Haste prepared and using the 5th level slot for something else is going to be better.

Everyone's milage with these spells is going to vary. We tried to provide a wide range of spells, if one doesn't fit, don't use it.

A number should be recognizable as revisions of older spells created by Scott Greene. Some might have different names though. Some spells do come from other NG products. A vast majority of the spells are brand new. I tried to include a wide variation of spells. As is said in the book, we don't expect you to use 100% of the spells in your campaign, but if you can't find something fun that fits in your campaign in this book then something must be wrong ...

Patrick

 

[Wycen]

Hello Patrick You may have to repeat yourself over at the NG boards.

Jolt is a spell you have to read about a dozen times. How it works changes each time you read it. In my opinion, the spell could have used an extra couple of sentences on how it actually works.

My first reading, "Oh, it is mass haste again".

My next reading, "Holy crap this is mass haste that allows the entire party to cast 2 spells per round!"

My reading after your post above, "Hmm, ok, I can see *yourself* rather than *everybody*".

The text still leaves me to believe the caster can cast 2 spells per round for the duration of the spell.

 

[coyote6]

It might be clearer if the Casting Time was given as "free action", since that seems to be exactly what it is.

Patrick, why put "see text" under Casting Time, and then put "counts as a free action" -- why not just "Casting Time: Free action"? Is there some crucial difference?

From my reading, it's a quickened haste, with small boost to duration (4 rounds + 1/level) & number of targets (yourself plus 1/level).

Compared to a Quickened haste (a 7th level slot), this might be "too good"; myself, I'm not sure a quickened haste would be worth a 7th level slot.

Plus, sorcerers can cast it. Which reminds me, I need to make sure the sorcerer in my group never sees this spell.

 

[PatrickLawinger]

Yeah, well, I suppose that is a spell I should have edited more. Unfortunately, when things are clear to you, it gets harder to see where others might be confused about it. Editing can get touchy when someone writes with a different style than yours.

As for free action/quick action/swift action/etc. I thought we did all those properly. Just goes to show that even when you have several people go over something stuff still gets missed.

The addition of lots of contributors helped give a much wider range of spells. Alas, the more authors you include the more difficult editing becomes and the more things slip through. I think, for this book, having the wider range of spells was important as it increases the variety of people that can find useful spells in it. In order to achieve that variety, I am willing to take the hit as the editor for all mistakes that slipped through. (Hey, someone has to step up and take the blame )

As for Jolt in particular. I can't see why a sorc would take this as one of their spells, the oomph sounds sexy at first but gameplay seemed to indicate this was okay at 5th level. I can see why you have complaints about its power vs haste with feats attached. It does indeed make a quickened haste a waste of a 7th level spell slot. Then again, I wouldn't prepare a quickened haste myself. Rule 0 is the DM's friend, if you have concerns about it, I would just up the spell to 7th level. I'd suggest testing it out in gameplay, your playing style could definitely change how useful the spell is.

Patrick

 

[Nightfall]

*likes Eldritch Sorcery alot* Good stuff Pat!

 

[Wycen]

I like Death March. It's like a minimized delayed blast fireball. Great for evil militaristic overlords.

 

[Psion]

Well, I talked to Amazon and after exchanging emails with the customer service rep, I finally convinced them that "available to ship in 24 hours", "an extra 3-5 days for super save shipping", and "August 6-9 for delivery" don't add up. So I should have it this week.

 

[Nightfall]

Good to know Psion.

 

[freebfrost]

Aha! The return of the Wyvern Watch (Guard) spell!

Good book so far.