Why does Ice Storm suck?

[Spatula]

My point more is that it's a BIG PILLAR OF GODLY FLAME.

WHere do you get *That* in nature? They just pull fire right out of their butt, and look, it's got divine power too!

You do realize that druids are divine casters, yes? That is, their power comes from a divine source.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

You do realize that druids are divine casters, yes? That is, their power comes from a divine source.

Maybe, but it doesn't seem very granola eating nature boy spell caster like either. So why do they get it a level eariler than clerics the classic divine smite your punk butt with divine power class.

Spells with a nature like special effect they should reign supreme at, like all weather control spells, ice storm, sleet storm, fog spells etc.

Every spell list needs a major rewrite IMO.

 

[Xarlen]

Yes, but their power comes from Nature. Not God.

When was the last time you saw Nature do some Divine Smiting, eh? Druids should be making the forests come alive, not dropping flaming pillars of godly power before those who are associated with Gods.

 

[Plane Sailing]

While we're on pipe dreams, it might be nice if Druids got Bulls strength, Cats grace and Endurance, to fit in with their general "animal buffing" theme.

Cheers

 

[Nail]

While we're on pipe dreams, it might be nice if Druids got Bulls strength, Cats grace and Endurance, to fit in with their general "animal buffing" theme.

Cheers

Well, we can dream about it.

But seriously, how likely is it that they revise many spells to change their spell level? Not bloody likely, I'd say, as it cuts "backward compatability".

Plane, does your suggestion of changing Ice Storm hold up well in comparison to other spells of the same level? And how would you handle SR in this case? The slipperiness is not affected by SR?

 

[Plane Sailing]

Plane, does your suggestion of changing Ice Storm hold up well in comparison to other spells of the same level? And how would you handle SR in this case? The slipperiness is not affected by SR?

Well, it was an off-the-cuff suggestion, but I'd treat make it SR: see text, where SR applied against the damage, but not against the blinding or slipperiness effects. I'd make the blinding and slipperiness last for 1 round duration though, not instantaneous.

Thus, in use the ice storm lasts for 1 round (longer if extended), and acts (as zorlag points out) as a poor mans blade barrier.

Is this a spell that I'd take before polymorph self/polymorph other/improved invis/stoneskin? Not necessarily. All the normal 4th level standbys are still great spells. Would this be a useful spell to consider taking though? Absolutely. It has a nice visual effect, useful amount of damage even though it doesn't scale with level, but this is compensated by the potential for extending it and thus doing more damage over time.

Cheers

 

[Nail]

Thus, in use the ice storm lasts for 1 round (longer if extended), and acts (as zorlag points out) as a poor mans blade barrier.

This is straying into House Rule territory, but...

Wouldn't the spell be even cooler if it was something like: 1 rd/lvl, sleet storm, slippery, and 1d6 impact and 1d6 cold damage per round?

Would that be a 4th level spell?.....hmmmmm.......

[EDIT] Maybe throw in "concentration" with that duration.

 

[dcollins]

On the other hand, The wall of stone created by the spell is not magical in nature, and would be subject to DR as normal.

Actually, that's precisely something that I'm currently wondering about in this other thread (Are the rules really clear about that? Would it also apply to falling, natural landslides and tornados, etc.?), over here: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37230

 

[IceBear]

This is straying into House Rule territory, but...

Wouldn't the spell be even cooler if it was something like: 1 rd/lvl, sleet storm, slippery, and 1d6 impact and 1d6 cold damage per round?

Would that be a 4th level spell?.....hmmmmm.......

[EDIT] Maybe throw in "concentration" with that duration.

The only problem with Plane Sailing's house rule is that it makes the 3rd level spell "Sleet Storm" redundant. I think I'll go with the d20 Modern version.

IceBear

 

[KnowTheToe]

Well, not throwing orcs, goblins or kobolds after a party reaches 5th level (or not throwing powerful monsters at low level characters) can be a sign of DM metagaming.

Yes, yes a DM has to balance the encounters, but I will still throw in an encounter that's above or below the party level from time to time for consistency and realism. I hate in games that travelling through the Black Hills at level 3 means you see a lot of orcs but go through them at level 10 and there's not an orc to be seen

IceBear

It is probably because the third level characters stayed around until they killed all of the orcs, how do you think they got to level 10?