evilbob
Adventurer
I'm looking to create a spell that functions exactly like undead lieutenant (Spell Compendium) except that it also has a very small touch of animate undead (Spell Compendium). Basically, it also grants the targeted undead 1d6 + 4 Int for the duration (still just 1 day) if it is a non-intelligent undead (subject to the same restrictions as animate undead). The effect, of course, is that you can bless one of your skeletal or zombie minions with this spell, instead of finding/commanding a "better" undead to do so. (I think the name could just be "greater undead lieutenant," although some other rank might be neat too.)
Undead Lt. is a 3rd level spell, and this spell does more than that - so clearly it should be 4th level or above. But animate is a 7th level spell and works on a huge radius of creatures AND is permanent - so I think it should clearly be lower than 7th level. That gives a range of 4th, 5th, or possibly 6th.
The spell's effect is also a bit better than fox's cunning, since it grants more Int for a longer duration - and I'm fairly sure fox's cunning wouldn't work on a mindless creature anyway (but I could be wrong) - but this bonus is also severely limited to a mindless, undead target. So another way to look at it is that we're basically adding a 3rd level spell to a possibly-better-but-maybe-worse-than 2nd level spell, in some respects.
My gut tells me that 4th level should be fine, but I wonder if it should be 5th. Any thoughts, suggestions?
Undead Lt. is a 3rd level spell, and this spell does more than that - so clearly it should be 4th level or above. But animate is a 7th level spell and works on a huge radius of creatures AND is permanent - so I think it should clearly be lower than 7th level. That gives a range of 4th, 5th, or possibly 6th.
The spell's effect is also a bit better than fox's cunning, since it grants more Int for a longer duration - and I'm fairly sure fox's cunning wouldn't work on a mindless creature anyway (but I could be wrong) - but this bonus is also severely limited to a mindless, undead target. So another way to look at it is that we're basically adding a 3rd level spell to a possibly-better-but-maybe-worse-than 2nd level spell, in some respects.
My gut tells me that 4th level should be fine, but I wonder if it should be 5th. Any thoughts, suggestions?
I still feel like 4th should be plenty, but I'm not 100% sure.
