[3.5 spell] Energy Spiral

[Fiery Diamond]

I wrote up this spell when I was playing a 1 player campaign with someone else DMing for me; I was playing Gestalt. That's not really relevant, but I thought I'd provide background for those who cared. I think this is fairly balanced, but I would like input from others on whether I should alter the focus cost. Mostly I'm providing it for others to steal.

Evan's Energy Spiral

Evocation [Fire, Cold, Electric, Earth, Air, Water, Acid, Sonic]
Level: Sor/Wiz 6
Components: Verbal, Somatic, Material, Focus
Casting Time: 1 round; see text
Range: Medium (100ft +10ft/level); see text
Area: Column with radius 5-20ft and height 10-100ft; see text
Effect: Deals damage and causes secondary effect; see text
Duration: Instantaneous and 1d6 rounds; see text
Saving Throw: Reflex half; see text
Spell Resistance:Yes

Edit: My hand hit the enter key or something. I'm not sure what happened. Anyway, I'll put the description in the second post.

[Fiery Diamond]

Focus: A gold chalice studded with 6 (or 7) jewels. It costs no less than 250 GP.
Material Components: A ground gem worth at least 10gp, a piece of ice, and a bit of copper wire all placed in the chalice during casting. Also, a lit tindertwig thrown in next and a quarter ounce of water poured in accompanied by a puff of air.
Description: The casting involves placing the chalice in a location and adding the material components while uttering the incantation. This takes 1 round. The chalice then appears to be full of swirling fire, ice, lighting, stones, wind, and water. The chalice cannot be moved while it is in this state; attempting to do so results in an explosion that deals 5d6 damage to the mover and destroys the chalice, no save. While in this state it can be dispelled by Greater Dispel Magic (but not Dispel Magic) and only with a targeted Dispel. A failure causes nothing to happen. A success causes it to explode as if someone had tried to move it, but dealing 5d6 damage to anything within 5 feet.
At the time of casting, the caster determines the dimensions of the area of effect of the spell: it can have a radius of anywhere from 5 to 20 feet and a height of anywhere from 10 to 100 feet, centered on the chalice (which is unharmed by the normal activation of the spell). At any point within 1 day/level of the casting, the caster can activate the spell so long as he is within medium range of the chalice. Activation is a standard action requiring the speaking of one of several command words.
Regardless of which command word is spoken, the spell deals 2d6 fire, 2d6 cold, 2d6 electric, 2d6 acid (theme:earth), 2d6 sonic (theme:wind), and 2d6 untyped (theme:water) damage to all creatures in the area, Reflex save for half damage. Depending on the command word, a secondary effect occurs.

Ignite: A second Reflex save is required to avoid catching on fire, taking 1d6 damage a round.
Freeze: A Fortitude save is require to avoid becoming slowed for 1d6 rounds.
Shock: A Fortitude save is required to avoid becoming paralyzed for 1d6 rounds.
Mire: A second Reflex save is required to avoid becoming entangled for 1d6 rounds. Unlike the spell entangle, no additional saves each round are allowed, and flying creatures struck fall and taking falling damage.
Howl: A Fortitude save is required to avoid becoming deafened for 1d6 rounds.
Drown: A Fortitude Save is required to avoid coughing and choking for 1d6 rounds (treat as sickened).

Additional Benefits: If the chalice has a 7th gem and the caster has the ability to turn or rebuke undead, he can expend a daily use to deal 3d6 more damage. If he uses turn undead, the spell gains the [good] descriptor; if he uses rebuke undead, the spell gains the [evil] descriptor and the additional damage is negative energy (and nullified by things that block negative energy effects). The initial Reflex save also halves this damage.

[Latronis]

would be more like a 4th level.

Well actually it's so ritualistic and fiddly it's probably better suited to an incantation than a spell

[Fiery Diamond]

would be more like a 4th level.

Well actually it's so ritualistic and fiddly it's probably better suited to an incantation than a spell

...

I'm not sure where to start. I guess I'll go with "Incantation? I'm sorry, my friend, but if it doesn't exist in core, don't suggest that it makes sense for my homebrew."

Secondly: 4th level? Are you out of your mind? It's only balanced as a 6th level spell because of all the limitations it has. It does 12d6 [various energy types] damage (and potentially 3d6 more), reflex half, in a column anywhere from 5 ft radius 10 ft tall to 20 ft radius 100 ft tall AND if a second save is failed (which isn't dependent on the first save at all) afflicts any in the radius with a status effect for 1d6 rounds (except the fire, which is 1d6 fire per round till put out). Furthermore, though it is a standard action to activate, you can potentially have as many as you want set up and ready for activation as long as you cast the initial spell up to your Caster Level days ago and have enough chalices to cast the spell that many times.

[Gan The Grey]

Unnecessary defensiveness

Alright, I'll grant you that Latronis' response was a bit on the unhelpful brief side, but instead of attacking an opinion you don't understand by posturing, maybe you should ask for clarification. It is a proven fact that people are often far too close to their own creations to objectively critique them. I assume that's why you've posted it here, to obtain an outsider's perspective, rather than just seeking a pat on the back for what you feel is a good idea.

Now, I tend to partially agree with Latronis view on the 'Incantation' part. It does have a fairly complex and ritualistic feel to it, BUT... no more so than the description of the Magic Circle spells. I could almost see this spell going either way (as a castable spell or as an incantation), but the fact that you can have so many of these at once lends it more of an Incantation feel that memorizable spell. At 11th level, barring ultra-high intelligence or charisma scores, a caster could have up to 11 of these spells prepared in one day. To me, this sorta defeats the purpose of having spell slots, if you can get around only having 1 6th level spell slot by preparing this spell days in advance. Imagine how many of these you could have out at once as you progress further and further towards level 20...

However, I don't how I would balance this as an Incantation, though I really like the feel of it as such. Maybe by increasing the difficulty of each successive Incantation by the number of currently active spells, and having the backlash prematurely detonate either the current incantation, or all instances of active incantations. That would scare me enough not to want to cast it more than a few times.

As is, I wouldn't reduce the level of this spell below 6th, for the very reason I stated above. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about all the caster chosen, non-level dependent variables in this spell. The only way the spell gets more powerful as you level...well, it really doesn't, aside from the chalice holding a charge for longer. What about maybe adding +1 to each energy damage per level above 11?

I could be wrong here, but I would almost theme acid = water and untyped = big bludgeoning rocks ie earth. Don't know how that would matter in game...just a thought.

I like the spell overall, especially the bit on turn undead. It just seems a bit cumbersome. It screams 'trap' to me, except the caster has to be in range to set it off. If it can't be moved once it is cast, why not key it to specific set of circumstances? That would be pretty cool. Like a high level Fire Trap almost.

My thoughts, abridged:
More caster-level dependent variables
Limit on number prepared at one time
Solidify its role as a trap spell, or adjust for different purpose
De-ritualize a bit

Otherwise, very interesting.

[Fiery Diamond]

Thank you. I appreciate your input. I'll definitely do some thinking on those points.
It is intended to serve as a sort of trap spell, but more along the lines of "Okay, I'm cornered in this room. I know that dude is coming for me, but I have at least a round to prepare. Right, here we go." For instance, when I used this spell, I was fighting another spellcaster in his own home, which was composed of several rooms. I dimension doored into a different room and set up this spell. It is kind of situational and would be more difficult to use in open combat (though not impossible, especially if the enemy had no idea what the crap you were doing). I guess adding a provision for "setting it off" might make it easier to use as a trap spell, but I don't want it to be a no-maintenance trap. I'll have to think more on that.
The more I think about your idea of switching the acid and untyped themes, the more sense that makes. Thanks. (Although, of course, this doesn't affect things mechanically, really, it still makes more sense fluff-wise).
As for limit to number, perhaps limit it to Caster Level or 1/2 Caster Level?
I don't want to make scale too much...so maybe +1 to each per two caster levels above 11th.
As far as ritual and incantation and such...as far as I'm concerned, if it isn't core, it doesn't exist unless I say so with regard to my own creations. Other people can play the game how they like it, but I play with the only magic being arcane magic, divine magic, SLAs, and Supernatural Abilities.

Anyway, thanks again.

[Milskidasith]

Do you really think paralyzing somebody and lighting somebody on fire or deafening them are equal status effects? I'd change the durations on those so that the status effects that hit harder last shorter (and make paralyzation into stunning, unless you want the spell to only be used as shock.)

As for 12d6 damage... it's 12d6 damage that is resisted by energy resistance 5 times in one spell, and there are plenty of spells that deal more than 12d6 that are lower than sixth level (orb of fire; save or be dazed and CL damage up to 15d6, for instance.)

[Gan The Grey]

Yeah, I definitely understand the bit about core vs. non-core. You start throwing non-core around and suddenly you have to worry about what to include, what not to include, how inclusions affect core, keeping track of various new house rules ect. I didn't understand what you meant about non-core in your second post until just now. Thank you for clarifying that.

As for the intended purpose of the spell...weird. I'm not sure how I would apply the spell as a player. It sorta, and not necessarily in a bad way, suffers from identity crisis. It has no specific energetic component, doesn't suggest a specific situational use...

Let me ask. When you designed this spell, what niche were you hoping to fill? Why all the different energies? It's like, you were going for versatility - achieved - but made it TOO versatile, sacrificing purpose.

The duration suggests a set-it-and-forget-it attitude. But by combining such an extend duration with the inability to move beyond line of sight (and a short, I mean, medium line of sight), I start to wonder which one of these doesn't fit. Either this is a stronghold defense, meaning a regular throwing away of 10gp or more per day, or as a...I don't know of another situation where this particular arrangement of stipulations would be better than a fireball, or a lightning bolt, or heck...a Rainbow Blast from Spell Compendium.

Truth be told, all of my problems with the spell revolve around its identity crisis. I like the multiple different energies. I really like the secondary effects chosen at casting. The ritual part doesn't bother me.

The question you should ask yourself is this. You are stuck in a dead end room. The big bad is a round or so behind you. What 6th level spell would you rather have memorized than this one? A Disintegrate would do twice as much damage on a ranged touch (which almost always hits) and does about the same amount of damage on a successful save. Granted, it doesn't hit a large group, but that's what Fireball is for.

6th level AoE with secondary effects says to me, 'large group of robust baddies chasing me down that I need to slow'. A landmine! But that's such a specific circumstance that I would probably never memorize it. If I could move it, maybe. If it had a longer duration and more forgiving trigger, possibly.

My ideal version of this spell? Set-it-and-forget-it trap, duration in the weeks or months range, programmable execution, destruction of all components upon detonation, longer secondary effects (except in the case of the fire damage), dispel mechanics as-is, limit to a certain number of active spells based on caster level. You've got this allure of a pretty piece of treasure that ends up screwing someone. BAM! Perfect.

Thoughts?

[DracoDei]

You can walk in and out of range all you like...

Mines that require manual activation by the defender are real world devices (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18A1_Claymore_Antipersonnel_Mine), and thus almost certainly not foolish at all... note that neither this spell nor Claymore mines require LoS (the spell because it doesn't specify it, the mine because it uses a wire).

[Gan The Grey]

You can walk in and out of range all you like...

Mines that require manual activation by the defender are real world devices (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18A1_Claymore_Antipersonnel_Mine), and thus almost certainly not foolish at all... not that neither this spell nor Claymore mines require LoS (the spell because it doesn't specify it, the mine because it uses a wire).

Yeah, I said it was a landmine. No, I never said it was foolish. True, I was incorrect about the line of sight thing, though it is limited to detonate within a medium range. Yes, you can walk in and out of range all you like, but unless you are in range to activate it, the spell does nothing, dispelling mechanics not-withstanding. The difference between this spell and real-world landmines is the ability to set-it-and-forget-it via a tripwire or a pressure plate or timer. Yes, you can remotely detonate a landmine, but a landmine lasts much longer, and has the ability to be used in various other ways (according to your link, three separate ways, making a claymore MUCH more versatile than this spell).

So...what exactly are you trying to say? Are you saying that this spell in its current incarnation matches the power of a 6th level spell? That its current build features a variety of different mechanics that fit together in an appropriate manner? Or were you just nitpicking my post? I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just curious what you are trying to add to this discussion.

[DracoDei]

I think what I was saying was that:
1.) It didn't go away if you walked out of range (which would be a critical limitation) which I thought you were saying it did.
2.) "Remote Detonation" is not a useless mechanic.

Also, I admit that I didn't actually READ the article (a mistake on my part), I was just remembering how it worked... forgot about alternative modes of detonation.

One thing that could be done to make the spell more useful would be to make activating it a Swift or even Free action. This rewards forethought, which is something I always like to do.

EDIT: I also note that the tripwire mode is not allowed to US forces, yet they still use the mine. It is unclear if the delayed mode is acceptable to the US Army.