What level this spell idea

[Hygric]

OK, I have had an idea for a divination spell, and I was wondering what level people thought would be appropriate for it.

Know Weakness
Divination
Level: Sor/Wiz ?
Components: V,S
Casting time: 1 action
Range: close
Target: 1 creature
Duration: instant
Save: Will negates
Spell res: no

This spell gives you a flash of insight into the weaknesses of the target creature. You find out that creatures lowest stat, saving throw and any special vulnerabilities the creature has (such as a fire creatures vulnerability to cold or a Drow's vulnerability to bright light).

 

[SylverFlame]

I felt I should justify my opinion.

I rated a Six, which is a little high but let's look at this.

The spell requires no components aside from a few mumbles and finger-wiggles. The spell DISALLOWS SR, which is a big deal when working with powerful monsters with obscure weaknesses. And the largest reason is because it gives ALL weaknesses.

The last point is the major one for me as it can let you run slip-shod over most any opponent if you know every weakness.

That's just MHO.

 

[Hygric]

Good points.

A material component could be thrown in with no hassle.

Have a look at other divination spells (such as detect thoughts), no spell res for them either, that is why I made it no SR. I think the will save allows for this spell to be suitably mitigated against powerfull opponents, and don't forget the plethora of divination defeating magics out there.

I hadn't thought of the aspect of giving all vulnerabilities as being all that important. I will think on this some more.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

This spell needs some serious change IMHO.

A spell that allows a character to know an enemy's weakness shouldn't just be tossed off as a standard action in a random encounter. NPCs or PCs with weaknesses have weaknesses in order to enable stories not in order to enable a single shot kill in the first encounter by a party who knows their weakness and can make a tough fight easy.

What I would do is this:

Know Weakness
Divination
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V,S, M
Casting time: 4 hours
Range: N/A
Target: 1 creature
Duration: instant
Save: Will negates
Spell res: no
This spell gives you a flash of insight into the weaknesses of the target creature. You find out that creatures lowest stat, saving throw and any special vulnerabilities the creature has (such as a fire creatures vulnerability to cold or a Drow's vulnerability to bright light). The material component is a piece of the creature's body or flesh or an item intimately connected with the target such as the target's spellbook, a magic item created by the target, the target's wedding ring, or a feather from the target's familiar.

These changes make the spell into a story element rather than a combat action. Material needs to be gathered and items connected with any individual hold power over that individual.

As to the spell's level, I figure that it gives the caster more specific and accurate information than Divination with less risk but also with much less versatility. Which puts it about on a par. It's certainly less powerful than Legend Lore, Contact Other Plane or Vision. And since its casting time now resembles those, it's reasonable to be several levels lower.

 

[Kyramus]

somewhere i remember there were scalable spells.

I'd start by setting this as a level 1 spell, with the limitation that the target creature HD is 1+ int modifier. and only 1 weakness is found.

scaled to level 2, 2 weaknesses. hd 2+int mod.
scaled to level 3, 3 weaknesses. HD3+int mod.

May want to consider that certain weaknesses can count as more than 1 use of the spell. IE takes more damage to cold might use up 2 weaknesses or 3 weakneses.