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gomipile
2010-08-21, 01:19 PM
I don't have my books with me right now so:

Is there a damage spell which has both an area effect and a range at level 0 or level 1?

I don't care if it only does 1 point of damage, that would be okay. I would like it a low level spell to apply Fell Drain to at low levels, when Arcane Thesis is not available yet.

Vangor
2010-08-21, 01:24 PM
Does a cone count? Burning Hands is a 15ft Cone shaped burst, or do you want range to be utterly disconnected from the caster?

What class is this for?

Starbuck_II
2010-08-21, 01:30 PM
I don't have my books with me right now so:

Is there a damage spell which has both an area effect and a range at level 0 or level 1?

I don't care if it only does 1 point of damage, that would be okay. I would like it a low level spell to apply Fell Drain to at low levels, when Arcane Thesis is not available yet.

Level 1:
Burning Hands? It has an area and a range.

gomipile
2010-08-21, 01:39 PM
Sorry, I forgot to say this is for a character who uses wizard/sorcerer spells.

And yes, I meant spells with a separately listed area and range, like Zone of Glacial Cold or Fireball. Burning Hands is my fall back plan, but I really want something that does less damage and has an area which can be aimed in the manner of Zone of Glacial Cold's area.

The White Knight
2010-08-21, 01:41 PM
How about Ice Dagger from the Spell Compendium? 1st level, 25+5/2CL range, 1d4/CL cold damage to an initial target, and 1 splash damage to adjacent creatures. Ranged touch, no save.

Vangor
2010-08-21, 01:46 PM
Hail of Stone from SpC. 10ft diameter cylinder 40ft high cast at 100+10ft/level range.

gomipile
2010-08-21, 01:58 PM
Both of those sound great, thanks.

There wouldn't happen to be a similar level 0 spell which does 1 point of damage in a small area with no additional effects, would there?

Balance wise, if you took the deafening effect off of Sonic Snap and allowed a saving throw to avoid the 1 point of damage, and made it affect a small area, would that be too powerful for a level 0 spell?

Draz74
2010-08-21, 02:09 PM
Hmmm. Caltrops? Not sure how that would interact with Fell Drain. I think I would allow it by Rule of Cool, though. Covering the battlefield with caltrops that are sparking with black necrotic energy? Sweet.

Vangor
2010-08-21, 02:15 PM
There wouldn't happen to be a similar level 0 spell which does 1 point of damage in a small area with no additional effects, would there?

Balance wise, if you took the deafening effect off of Sonic Snap and allowed a saving throw to avoid the 1 point of damage, and made it affect a small area, would that be too powerful for a level 0 spell?

To my knowledge, no.

As for the second, ordinarily not, but asking about balance seems ridiculous. Not saying 1 damage to everyone in a 5ft radius is terribly powerful for 0th level, nor is one level drain in a 5ft radius game breaking as a 2nd level spell, but you are specifically crafting a spell (completely new spell since this has nothing to do with the original) to make use of a specific tactic.

Greenish
2010-08-21, 02:19 PM
Hail of Stone from SpC. 10ft diameter cylinder 40ft high cast at 100+10ft/level range.Hehe, and the nice thing is that it's instantaneous conjuration (usable in AMF!) with no save, SR or attack roll.

FMArthur
2010-08-21, 02:23 PM
Yeah, fell drain AOE as a cantrip... that's either going to ruin someone's fun or everyone's fun.

edit: nevermind, Fell Drain is +2 and I thought it was only +1. This isn't too bad actually. Until Metamagic School Focus or Easy Metamagic comes into play.

gomipile
2010-08-21, 02:44 PM
Yeah, fell drain AOE as a cantrip... that's either going to ruin someone's fun or everyone's fun.

edit: nevermind, Fell Drain is +2 and I thought it was only +1. This isn't too bad actually. Until Metamagic School Focus or Easy Metamagic comes into play.

Basically what I'm trying to do is get this into as low a level slot as possible without giving my character all of the tools to cause a wightocalypse with Locate City.

true_shinken
2010-08-21, 03:07 PM
How about Quickblast? Up to 5 points of damage in an area, no save. level 1.

nargbop
2010-08-21, 04:24 PM
http://imarvintpa.com/dndLive/FindSpell.php

Caltrops are fun.

dextercorvia
2010-08-21, 09:21 PM
I know you said Arcane Thesis wasn't available, but if you are taking AT, you will also want Sculpt spell. Because while Fell Drain Hail of Stone is cool... Sculpted Fell Draining Hail of Stone is mind numbing. It's arguably worth the 4th level spell slot, even if Thesis isn't an option.

Douglas
2010-08-21, 09:50 PM
For more (but different) fun with low level damage spells and Fell Drain, try Thunderhead. Level 1, 1 damage, reflex negates, single target, but it repeats for 1 round/level. It's hard to match negative levels = caster level (separate reflex save to negate each individual one, with gradually increasing penalties for the earlier negative levels) for saying "screw you" to a really tough but not too agile single enemy, though it does take a little while to really kick in.

At higher levels with Arcane Thesis, add Chain Spell. And Extend Spell.

gomipile
2010-08-21, 10:28 PM
I know you said Arcane Thesis wasn't available, but if you are taking AT, you will also want Sculpt spell. Because while Fell Drain Hail of Stone is cool... Sculpted Fell Draining Hail of Stone is mind numbing. It's arguably worth the 4th level spell slot, even if Thesis isn't an option.


For more (but different) fun with low level damage spells and Fell Drain, try Thunderhead. Level 1, 1 damage, reflex negates, single target, but it repeats for 1 round/level. It's hard to match negative levels = caster level (separate reflex save to negate each individual one, with gradually increasing penalties for the earlier negative levels) for saying "screw you" to a really tough but not too agile single enemy, though it does take a little while to really kick in.

At higher levels with Arcane Thesis, add Chain Spell. And Extend Spell.


Wow. Great ideas. I've already cleared the use of Fell Drain, etc. with my next DM. I told him about the wightocalypse, and from his reaction, as long as I don't try to apply Fell Drain to something with a ridiculously large area like Locate City, he's fine with it.

Douglas
2010-08-21, 11:50 PM
Oh yeah, technically it's multi-target rather than area, but in a lot of situations that's actually good: Magic Missile.

Bayar
2010-08-22, 02:51 AM
Sonic Snap. Especially the fell drain version. Accuracy of a Magic Missile with an area effect.

TaintedLight
2010-08-22, 02:53 AM
Wow. Great ideas. I've already cleared the use of Fell Drain, etc. with my next DM. I told him about the wightocalypse, and from his reaction, as long as I don't try to apply Fell Drain to something with a ridiculously large area like Locate City, he's fine with it.

The locate city thing doesn't actually work to the best of my recollection.

EDIT: Nevermind, it's the Explosive Spell part that doesn't work. Fell Drain, unfortunately, does.