Thoughts on prismatic burst

[Infiniti2000]

It doesn't seem unreasonable to me and the testimony above seems convincing enough to try it out. Having a 16th-level archmage in my campaign has proven to me that prismatic spray, even shaped and at a higher DC, is not really a big threat at all. Requiring a crit is even less of a concern, unless you house rule keen + imp. crit to stack.

PS For the record, I really don't like the +X equivalent system at all. I'd prefer to see everything reworked into some other +N gp type of system.

 

[Arabesu]

IPS For the record, I really don't like the +X equivalent system at all. I'd prefer to see everything reworked into some other +N gp type of system.

Yes, but you, me, and kreynolds seem to be the minority in the above poll, suggesting resistance to the "idea" of +XX gp enhancements....

or at least with regard to prismatic burst.

To be fair too, I also know exactly where I'm heading with the weapon and fully plan on taking advantage of the inadvertent DC raising effect of the enervating property.

My swashbuckler has a +1 keen rapier now (typically GMW'ed to +2) at 11th, which he plans on having made into a +X, keen, enervating, slow burst, prismatic burst weapon over the next 9 or so levels of the STAP. He has an artificer cohort obviously.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Yes, but you, me, and kreynolds seem to be the minority in the above poll, suggesting resistance to the "idea" of +XX gp enhancements....

Not very much of a minority, but I'm surprised at the number of people voting against +N gp enhancements. They just haven't seen a system they liked better or haven't been bothered by it as much as we have.

 

[kreynolds]

Not very much of a minority, but I'm surprised at the number of people voting against +N gp enhancements. They just haven't seen a system they liked better or haven't been bothered by it as much as we have.

Honestly, I think a lot of the majority response is due to concern of abuse of such a pricing structure. I've seen the drawbacks myself. Favoring the +xx gp format over the +x format, I have constructed exceedingly powerful weapons for my NPCs and PCs for relatively low gp costs, then balked at those costs. Powers that fail to scale well are fine as fixed costs, but those powers that are useful at any level are best priced as +x costs, as this causes the total cost of the weapon to multiply exponentially as more powers are added, as opposed to having these costs simply add up.

 

[Stalker0]

Looks fine to me. The DC isn't that high, and its only on a crit, even with those crit monkeys.

 

[Arabesu]

Is it a forum faux pas to bump my own post to get more people to participate in my poll?

 

[Terraism]

Is it a forum faux pas to bump my own post to get more people to participate in my poll?

Not after three days, it's not. For what it's worth, I'm voting that it seems reasonable at the current price, for most of the aforementioned reasons. That said, my insight is mostly theoretical at this point, as I've not ran more than one-shot sessions for characters in the double-digits range.

 

[Felix]

I like the current system which has both +X enhancement bonus and the +XX gp abilities; I would rather that the non damage-increasing abilities be +XX gp, and the damage increasing abilities such as this Prismatic Burst be +X enhancement.

That being said, I think 30,000gp is a fair price. It delays the acquisition of a +1 Prismatic Burst weapon just past what a flat +3 equivalent would, but makes it a reasonable enhancement in the later levels when the save becomes easy to make. That and a prismatic anything can't be relied upon very much since you never know what you're going to get.

And for the effects, I assume that you roll 1d6 and get one of these effects?

1 Red: 20 points fire damage (Reflex half)
2 Orange: 40 points acid damage (Reflex half)
3 Yellow: 80 points electricity damage (Reflex half)
4 Green: Poison (Kills; Fortitude partial, take 1d6 points of Con damage instead)
5 Blue: Turned to stone (Fortitude negates)
6 Indigo: Insane, as insanity spell (Will negates)​

I've a feeling the Violet (Plane Shift) and the 2 rays options would be slightly more powerful than what the ability costs.

 

[Arabesu]

And for the effects, I assume that you roll 1d6 and get one of these effects?

1 Red: 20 points fire damage (Reflex half)
2 Orange: 40 points acid damage (Reflex half)
3 Yellow: 80 points electricity damage (Reflex half)
4 Green: Poison (Kills; Fortitude partial, take 1d6 points of Con damage instead)
5 Blue: Turned to stone (Fortitude negates)
6 Indigo: Insane, as insanity spell (Will negates)​

I've a feeling the Violet (Plane Shift) and the 2 rays options would be slightly more powerful than what the ability costs.

Actually I hadn't really considered changing the affects, where did you come up with this list? Its not bad really. Although the plane shift is pretty darn nice against Big Ole Fighter types. Every permanent death in our campaign has come from plane shifts, to Mabar of all places, each time.

 

[MarkB]

As a normal weapon enhancement, this is fine. Where it can possibly get screwy, just as with the spell*, is if the party manage to get hold of it early.

In this case, I can see why the Artificer would like it - he can start adding it temporarily to any weapon at 8th level, at 100gp a pop, using Weapon Augmentation. That could be somewhat unbalancing, but really no more so than similar uses of that infusion.


* When DMing Red Hand of Doom, one of the later boss-fights was totally trashed in the first round by the party's wizard having used provided combat-fund reserves to purchase a single scroll of Prismatic Spray, and hitting the entire entourage with it while invisible. A combination of good rolls from the player and poor saves from the opponents left the boss sent to another plane, and all but one of his hench-giants either petrified or insane.