Looking for a spell creation system - Page 2 - OG Myth-Weavers

Notices


Gaming Discussion

For all things gaming related.


Looking for a spell creation system

   
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzeentch View Post
Those are benchmarks Roy, not new spells. So the list says that a benchmark offensive for a level 3 spell is Fireball, and a benchmark level 9 Defence spell is Prismatic Sphere.
Yes, I know that. CJL asked about blasting spells. I pointed out some blasting spells were on the benchmark list, then prompted to try and figure out what he meant.

Quote:
What about direct damage spells? They seem king of weak.
There's a table in the DMG (at least, in the 3.0 one was one) that lists
Spell Level / Max #damage dice (single target) / Max #damage dice (AoE).

If there's no listing in the 3.5 DMG, say so and I'll try to locate the table in my old book.

Quote:
Originally Posted by absentwizard
What about utility spells? For example, suppose that I want to create a spell that does the following:
ticattack has shown it; you use the benchmark spells as rough guidelines what is possible at a given spell level and try to fit the new spell in where it is of similar power level. For utility spells, obviously the miscellaneous list is appropriate.

As for Feast of the Prey, I'd probably cut down duration a bit to keep it a first level spell, or add some kind of distance indicator (like "very far away", "far away", "within one day's worth of travel", etc). and keep the duration but push the spell level to second.

And that's where playtesting and tweaking comes in (however, since Feast of the Prey would probably have a very niché use, it would not be too bad if it's powerlevel was a bit higher).

Quote:
Originally Posted by CJL
What about direct damage spells? They seem king of weak.
Direct damage spells are (kind of) weak, compared with save-or-die/ save-or-suck spells.
Still, there should be at least one direct damage spell of each level on the benchmark list. Obviously, only core spells are used for the list (and the list is primarily focused on arcane spells).

What kind of direct damage spell are you thinking about ? Around which level ? 1-2, 3-4, higher ? Elemental damage ? Force damage ? Untyped damage ? etc...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roy View Post
Yes, I know that. CJL asked about blasting spells. I pointed out some blasting spells were on the benchmark list, then prompted to try and figure out what he meant.
Weak as in, they don't do enough damage for a limited number of spells per day.
EDIT: with the exception of disintegrate.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CJL View Post
Weak as in, they don't do enough damage for a limited number of spells per day.
EDIT: with the exception of disintegrate.
Disintegrate only does decent damage if they fail the save. Not a save for half after all. High Fort saves are the norm. It's too luck based. If you really want it contingent on the outcome of one save... SoD.

Quote:
Weak as in, they don't do enough damage for a limited number of spells per day.
Damage spell serve mostly one purpose: soften up the enemy for the melee fighters to kill them.
Especially against big numbers of mediocre opponents.
Or kill/ weaken opponents that can't be accesses otherwise (like covered, concealed archers).

Damage spells against single targets are rarely worth the spell slot you use. But that's so in 3.x, as opposed to AD&D, where HP were a lot lower.

Haste > Fireball. Parellels can easily be drawn for other spell levels.

Their main purpose is for something to do when bored, and to be a newbie trap.

Depends, I would much rather have a fireball or lightning bolt if I am against something like a couple dozen enemy troopers. But against the BBEG; SoD and things like Haste/Slow are always better.

Funny thing about the AoE spells is about the only times they're useful is the times where you could just as easily save your spells, for example a bunch of warrior 1s. They'd only hit on a 20, die in 1 hit... let the fighter feel useful for once.

Eh, AoE's are handy when you're in a hurry. Otherwise buffs, debuffs and field control are, as mentioned above, vastly more effective.

It's nice to keep one Fireball or Ice Storm handy, just wipe the field or make an impression.




 

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Last Database Backup 2024-03-19 09:26:02am local time
Myth-Weavers Status