Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="SteelDraco" data-source="post: 2108922" data-attributes="member: 359">I had a few questions regarding the Whirling Blade spell, from Complete Arcane. I'm planning on using it in place of Lightning Bolt for a Spellsword I'm putting together, and wanted to check on a few things before I finished the character up. It seems to me that the spell is pretty clearly written, but that just gets excessively powerful, considering how much stuff you can do to boost melee attacks. Am I missing something here, or is the spell just that good?1. Do other effects you have active modify the melee attacks you use for this spell? For example, if I use the Arcane Strike feat from CW to add +4 to attack and +4d4 damage to all my melee attacks for the round, and then toss my axe with Whirling Blade, does the Arcane Strike stuff apply to each attack? How about spell effects, such as Wraithstrike (all melee attacks this round are resolved as melee touch attacks, fromk Complete Arcane)? This seems like it could get pretty sick, pretty fast.2. Can you Power Attack with Whirling Blade? It seems like you would be able to, since it mentions that it's a normal melee attack. "You make a normal melee attack, just as if you attacked with the weapon in melee, ... The weapon deals damage just as if you had swung it in melee, including any bonuses you might have from ability scores or feats."If I'm reading this spell right, my 13th level Fighter2/Sorcerer4/Spellsword4/Eldritch Knight3 can do the following in one round.1. Activate the Arcane Strike feat as a free action and sacrifice a 4th level spell slot for +4 attack and +4d4 damage for each melee attack in the round.2. Cast the Wraithstrike spell as a swift action to make all melee attacks this round resolve as melee touch attacks.3. Declare a Power Attack for eleven points.4. Cast a Sculpted Whirling Blade to perform an attack on every creature within an area, that area being one of four choices, so I'll be able to get quite a number of enemeies. Each attack is a melee touch attack at a +11 bonus (+11 BAB, +6 Str, +1 weapon, +4 Arcane Strike, -11 Power Attack) with my +1 Shocking Keen Dwarven Waraxe that deals 1d10 (base weapon damage) + 1 (weapon's enhancement bonus) + 11 (Power Attack) + 6 (Strength bonus) + 1d6 electricity (Shocking Weapon property) + 4d4 (Arcane Strike damage) to each creature in the area. A +11 melee touch attack that deals 1d10+18+1d6+4d4 (avg 45 damage).Huh. You know, I got to the end of that, and it was only doing an average of 45 damage per target. That's not really a lot better than a Sculpted Lightning Bolt at the same level. Just has a melee touch attack instead of a Reflex save to avoid the damage, which is considerably more certain, but not infallible. That's all for the cost of a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level spell slot.Thoughts? Did I mess anything up there, or is that how the whole thing works?</blockquote>

Verification