Variant disintegrate

[Plane Sailing]

I'm pretty dissatisfied with the 3.5e version of distintegrate. One of the main reasons is the spells basic ineffectiveness now - just as an example, an 11th level NPC wizard can hit an 11th level fighter with it, and the average damage won't kill the fighter (simply using the underequipped NPCs in the DMG!)

The solution that I think I'll try putting into practice is based on the rationale that the spell can be used to destroy a 10ft cube of any ordinary material and goes as follows:

If you hit a target that is Large or smaller (has 10ftx10ft space or less) and it fails its saving throw, it is disintegrated and turned to dust. If it saves it takes 5d6 damage.

If you hit a target that is Huge or bigger, the spell is less likely to be able to completly destroy them so it will do 2d6 damage per caster level. This may be enough to destroy the creature on a failed save, but colossal or gargantuan creatures are much more likely to survive.



I think this will restore the level of threat that I want from disintegrate without leaving the 3e avenue open of a single spell disintegrating gargantuan dragons in one shot.

Cheers

 

[Plane Sailing]

I'm surprised that this didn't engender any response

 

[Piratecat]

I really don't like instant death spells like disintegrate, and I think the new rules are pretty good. Amusingly enough, the psionic version is augmentable by bumping up the damage on the save -- but because there is no stated limit, it's possible (albeit munchkinny) to make the damage on a successful save more than on a failed save!

 

[Plane Sailing]

How about finger of death, destruction and implosion though? Although I've heard people say "ah, that's what Death Ward is for, it isn't a spell for everyone and it's duration is so short that you might not have it up when you really need it; I don't remember any storyhours where someone has actually been saved by a death ward - they normally save or don't save at the time

 

[Darklone]

Deathward didn't save a character yet... but considering how often (3 times) the cleric used it till now (he forgot he could cast it), it saved the group probably 2 times. My Wight warriors would have killed them

 

[tauton_ikhnos]

At 11th level, it does 22d6 damage. Average for that is 77. Fighter with CON 18 has average of 109 hit points. One round into combat, he has probably taken 32+ damage (if he hasn't, your party isn't twinked enough ). That makes Disintegrate lethal. It just doesn't make it a combat opener.

The real problem with Disintegrate and fighters is that at 11th level, the fighter above has a Fort save of 14+, and the caster has a save DC of 23-24. That's why Disintegrate is used on non-Fortitude-heavy characters, like rogues and wizards.

 

[Destil]

In my game I've been making disentegrate instant death unless the target is a very large construct or undead (greater than a 10" space), in which case it deals die damage. I like this for the consistancy of the spell affecting 'objects' and creatures in a different way.

At the same time my solution to instant death spells is to completly re-work the raise dead series to work only a short duration after the creature's death, making in combat death less of a big deal if your spellcasters are ready to deal with it right away.