Spell Building Rules

[seasong]

Does anyone out there have some rules for building direct damage spells and assigning them a level?

Can be usable rules-of-thumb, complex formulae, etc. I don't care, as long as it works and can come close to reproducing the PHB spells.

I already did an ENWorld search and turned up nothing .

 

[Airwolf]

When one of the players in our group has researched a new spell we try to find something in the PH or splat books that is similar and give the new spell the same level.

Once you play with the spell don't be afraid to change the level. If it turns out to be too powerful then raise the level. If it turns out to be underpowered lower the level.

Sorry I don't have anything more precise to figure this stuff out. The DM really has to use his/her best judgement.

 

[Crothian]

There are the damage die caps based off of spell level in the DMG

 

[seasong]

Okay, I should be more specific: I'm looking for something a bit more detailed than the DMG offers, and a bit more consistently followed than the damage caps.