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TheMinxTail
2010-03-15, 06:27 PM
So I'm trying to work out what an optimal selection of spells for a 20th level Arcane Bloodline Sorcerer would be. As I worked through the list, I found Control Weather - a 7th level spell that I'm sure players more veteran than myself (only picked up even mid-2009, Pathfinder very late last year) won't impossibly have fond memories of this spell. But a 7th level spell known for a Sorcerer is a very hefty cost, I think we can all agree - an 10 minutes to manifest a weather condition no less. It's only feature in Order of the Stick was it being used in an impossible way - an impromptu sonic attack by Durkon. Its very situational, even for a wizard. But perhaps you have some very creative uses that would entice me a little better, maybe there's something that I need a better knowledge of meteorology to come up with. Depending on your edition, the wording is kind of vague, but since I'm more or less DM For Life (cue fascist regime national anthem here) by pure force of no one else in our minoscule group is suited to handling the responsibilities or basic grasp of the rules required, I can rule in favour of the caster to SOME extent. As in, using a highly precise lighting bolt a thousand times simultaneously against an approaching battallion or Chlorine elemental might be a tad off the table. (I wonder if you could argue Acid Rain in a somewhat Tolkien homebrew setting)

If it helps any, the Sorcerer in question is basically the only true arcane spellcaster in the world after a huge divine crusade two centuries ago purged the world of all wizards, many supernatural creatures and most any resource ever exploited by wizard society - a crusade that continues to that day. Basically, although he can find teh occassional old relic of magic items from place to place and thus doesn't have to make every magic item that the party uses, he is the only reliable source of magic around and has to be able to work on his own. He starts mid-level, maybe lower, and would likely pick up Weather Control, among other things, during a 2 or 3 level downtime in preperation for the climactic final battle against the evil regime that outlawed magic. So, every spell counts.

Spells I had him pick up in additon to that would be things like Mindblank, Mirror Image, Stoneskin and Ethereal Jaunt (Transdimensional Spell for the win.), so defensive fighting is important, though he tends to very Xykon-ishly shock and awe oriented in offensive fighting. If you have any spell recomendations taht would be great, but mostly I'm just curious about Control Weather, thanks.

Optimystik
2010-03-15, 06:31 PM
It's not really meant to have battle applications. Few battles last longer than 5 rounds, never mind 10 minutes.

It can be a nice spell for a war, say when you know an army is coming and you can prepare a nice blizzard while you and the other castle defenders can hunker down below ground with hot cocoa or something.

TheMinxTail
2010-03-15, 06:33 PM
It's not really meant to have battle applications. Few battles last longer than 5 rounds, never mind 10 minutes.

It can be a nice spell for a war, say when you know an army is coming and you can prepare a nice blizzard while you and the other castle defenders can hunker down below ground with hot cocoa or something.

Yeah, that's what I meant, sorry. A WAR application is more accurate. Hm... Blizzards are cool (no pun intended), do you know where I can find stats for that?

Eldariel
2010-03-15, 06:34 PM
When you need it in battle, you cast it through Wish or Miracle; getting it in 1 round is worth it. For other uses? A scroll will suffice. Don't waste one of your very few Spells Known on a spell you seldom need and can easily scroll when you do.


War applications? Definitely. In fact, if one side has casters capable of casting Control Weather and the other doesn't, the war is over before it began (then again, that's true for all applications of high-level casting, really; spells are brutal). Tornadoes ravage armies nice, I hear, and wind making offensive use of siege engines and flight of beasts impossible is pretty brutal too. That said, when both sides have access to the spell, the casters will mostly spend their time cancelling each other out (unless one is of really high level and thus just kills the other casters and gets back to doing whatever the hell he pleases...if he cares enough).

Lord Vukodlak
2010-03-15, 07:07 PM
If a druid is in the party a control weather can create the proper storm to make call lightning and lightning storm more powerful.

Rain can be used to reveal various illusions, the rain falls right through it or in the case of an invisible objects stop on it. I found a floating tower obscured by Mirage Arcana by making it rain. The sky above the field was obviously to big to search, the magic made the structure look like a regular part of the sky. But by making it rain it I can then simply search for the hole in the rain where tower and illusion is.

And when taking cover from a bunch of flying archers(harpies with fighter levels). I used control weather to turn up the wind and not only make their archery impossible but make flight at their size extremely difficult.

But in these cases I was a wizard, probably not a good bet for a sorcerer.

Pluto
2010-03-16, 02:00 AM
Hm... Blizzards are cool (no pun intended), do you know where I can find stats for that?
Blizzards are (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/weather.htm) really cool.

(That site's the single most useful resource I know of regarding the 3.5 system.)

AslanCross
2010-03-16, 02:19 AM
When you have a red dragon razing a city, conjuring a windstorm can cause the flames to go out of control and spread really quickly.

A thunderstorm or hurricane could thwart an impending air attack. The thunderstorm's lightning strikes could deal a LOT of damage (1d10 d8s), and could end up killing stuff.

Rain, snow or hail could be used as a kind of smokescreen. A downpour could help get snipers into position due to the concealment it gives.