Spellsword channel question

Someone

Adventurer
two quick questions:

- Can a spellsword channel a Shocking Grasp spell with the Channel spell class feature?

- If he can, how does interact with weapons with higher critical than 20/x2? that is, if the spellsword channels a spell through a longsword and rolls a 19 and confirms the critical, does it deal also twice damage with the shocking grasp spell?

- Could someone post a list of good (core) spells to use Channel Spell with?
 

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Someone said:
two quick questions:

- Can a spellsword channel a Shocking Grasp spell with the Channel spell class feature?

I believe so.

- If he can, how does interact with weapons with higher critical than 20/x2? that is, if the spellsword channels a spell through a longsword and rolls a 19 and confirms the critical, does it deal also twice damage with the shocking grasp spell?

That's never been specified. It relates to a more general question as well: how does Channel Spell work with criticals--could you crit with a channelled magic missile for instance?

- Could someone post a list of good (core) spells to use Channel Spell with?

1. Magic Missile
2. Blindness/Deafness (against rogues, sorcerors, or wizards)
3. Vampiric Touch, Hold Person

However, Magic Missile is good enough with channel spell that everything else has trouble competing--especially since you can split up the spell levels chanellable for 3 channelled magic missiles instead of one channelled vampiric touch.
 

Someone said:
two quick questions:

- Can a spellsword channel a Shocking Grasp spell with the Channel spell class feature?

- If he can, how does interact with weapons with higher critical than 20/x2? that is, if the spellsword channels a spell through a longsword and rolls a 19 and confirms the critical, does it deal also twice damage with the shocking grasp spell?

When you crit with a flaming or icy or shocking sword the damage from the magic effect isn't doubled so I would say no.


- Could someone post a list of good (core) spells to use Channel Spell with?

If you include tome and blood as a core book then the 1st level orb spells are pretty good.

another suggestion would be to get precise touch from the BOEM III it is a metamagic feat that lets you take an area spell like fireball and make it a touch spell @ -1 spell level. then you can channel it. it only effects one target but as 5th level caster that would be 5d6 against one person.

I don't have my books infront of me be here are a few more PHB spells that I remember being able to channel. ray of frost, ghoul touch. hold person. I'll have to look through my books when I get home.
 

I think crit damage does not increase spell damage as stated before.

spell to channel :
any damaging spells (burning hand/grasp/missile...)
Web/blindness
Flaming sphere
Gazeous Form ! (think about it...)
Melf acid arrow : beware with Ranged/contact touch attack : channelling it you lose the "touch attack bonus" (no armor)
Stinking cloud
..... to be continued
 




Malicene said:
I think crit damage does not increase spell damage as stated before.

I don't think it's nearly as clear as all that. Ordinarily, you can crit with any spell that requires an attack roll and inflicts damage. Ordinarily, a spellcaster can also deliver a touch range spell with an unarmed attack (provoking AoOs unless he has Improved Unarmed Strike). That requires the caster to attack the normal AC of the target rather than the touch AC and enables him or her to add unarmed attack damage to the roll. I think it's pretty clear that a crit with such an attack would multiply the damage of the spell as well. The spell damage is still spell damage rather than additional damage dice like that of a flaming weapon.

The spellsword channel ability explicitly states that you are casting the spell as a free action and delivering the spell through the weapon. Since the wording is the same as delivering a touch spell with an unarmed strike, it seems pretty clear to me that the damage should be multiplied on a critical hit. The big question would then be whether the spell benefits from the improved crit range of the weapon used to deliver it (I'm pretty certain it wouldn't benefit from any improved crit multiplier).

spell to channel :
any damaging spells (burning hand/grasp/missile...)
Web/blindness
Flaming sphere
Gazeous Form ! (think about it...)
Melf acid arrow : beware with Ranged/contact touch attack : channelling it you lose the "touch attack bonus" (no armor)
Stinking cloud
..... to be continued

This list is far too long and includes a lot of spells that actually can't be channeled. A channelled spell must have a target of creature or creatures. Consequently area effects like Burning Hands, Web, Stinking Cloud, etc are out. Flaming sphere is out for a similar reason.

As far as Acid Arrow goes, it's a rather poor choice for a channeled spell. Before level 6, it deals 4d4 damage over two rounds--only slightly more than Magic Missile's 2d4+2 and less than 3d4+3. In addition, you could channel two magic missile spells instead of the single acid arrow.

Really, the lesser orb spells are probably the best alternatives to magic missile for channelled spells. They yield slightly more damage on a failed save and slightly less on a successful save. Ray of Enfeeblement or Reduce would also be decent choices if you have a target likely to fail a fort save. If you were in a cramped space, enlarge might also be a good choice--it doesn't grant much strength and you might be able to convince your DM to give an enlarged target significant penalties for fighting in a small area.
 

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