A few feats (+gathering interest for a megapost) [D&D 3.5]

[The Mentalist]

Discerning Spell [Metamagic]
Only my enemies shall be destroyed
Prerequisites: None
Benefits: You may specify one type of creatures to be affected by your spell (either creature type or race, such as Assassin Vine or Frost Worm) this is a +1 Metamagic.

Improved Discerning Spell [Metamagic]
I shall not harm you, brother
Prerequisites: Discerning Spell
Benefits: Your discerning spell may target based off of other factors, such as class, alignment, gender, or an identifying feature, such as clothing or hair color.

Exclusive Spell [Metamagic]
Save the humans!
Prerequisites: None
Benefits: You may specify one type of creatures not to be affected by your spell (either creature type or race, such as Assassin Vine or Frost Worm) this is a +1 Metamagic


Improved Exclusive Spell [Metamagic]
I shall not harm you, brother
Prerequisites: Exclusive Spell
Benefits: Your exclusive spell may target based off of other factors, such as class, alignment, gender or an identifying feature, such as clothing or hair color.

Wrathful Spell [Metamagic]
My fury shall burn my enemies
Prerequisites: Spell Focus (evocation)
Benefits: You deal an additional 1d6 points of damage with any damage dealing spell (not ability damage)


Death Throes
I wouldn't do that if I were you
Prerequisites: Energy Subtype
Benefits: You deal 2xHD damage (type based on subtype) when you die to all within 5xHD feet of you, this has a reflex save equal to 10+1/2 your HD. Those who save take half damage

Incomplete Landscape Teaser (just a mission statement)
I noticed that there's a supreme lack of support for adventures that aren't go out and kill the dragon, a lack of creative set pieces, things that enrich a world instead of just the PCs so I decided to do my best to help the NPCs get some cool things (the PCs too of course), things like genetic modification through magic, legendary labors, magical animals and crops for farming. A few magitech revolution options. If anyone has any ideas PM them to me and I'll put some work on them. Otherwise just keep being good folks on the boards, you guys are the reason I'm doing this.

[Eurus]

I think discerning spell should be a +0 metamagic. The fact that it won't affect anything except the chosen target and isn't any more effective except for that seems like enough of a tradeoff. +1 level seems like it'd make it fairly useless. Even as a +0 it'd still be primarily useful for spontaneous casters, but not anything near overpowered even for them, just a potentially nifty trick.

[The Mentalist]

You may be right, I'm considering writing one up that's an exclusive instead of inclusive. That one may be +1.

[Old Man NPC]

I like these. I might see if my DM would allow me to use them.

[Damos Taranth]

Discerning Spell [Metamagic]
Only my enemies shall be destroyed
Prerequisites: None
Benefits: You may specify one type of creatures to be affected by your spell (either creature type or race, such as Assassin Vine or Frost Worm) this doesn't raise the level of the original spell

Improved Discerning Spell [Metamagic]
I shall not harm you, brother
Prerequisites: Discerning Spell
Benefits: Your discerning spell may target based off of other factors, such as class, alignment, gender, or an identifying feature, such as clothing or hair color.

Exclusive Spell [Metamagic]
Save the humans!
Prerequisites: None
Benefits: You may specify one type of creatures not to be affected by your spell (either creature type or race, such as Assassin Vine or Frost Worm) this is a +1 Metamagic


Improved Exclusive Spell [Metamagic]
I shall not harm you, brother
Prerequisites: Discerning Spell
Benefits: Your exclusive spell may target based off of other factors, such as class, alignment, gender or an identifying feature, such as clothing or hair color.


I would probably call these abilities overpowered, if there is no cost attached to them. Being able to exclude allies from AoE attacks is a very, very major thing for a spellcaster - hell, in my opinion it's the main reason Chain Lightning is 3 levels higher than Fireball - and, well, I can see no reason why any AoE evocator ever would not take at least one of these feats and apply it to every AoE spell he ever prepares.

It's a little less powerful than the Archmage's "Mastery of Shaping" - which can first be gained at 13th level and requires giving up a 6th level slot permanently- but has the same basic effect - in a large percentage of combats, your allies are not affected by your AoE spells.

As a GM, I wouldn't let a player have these with no increased level.

So I didn't notice that exclusive spell had a +1 when I wrote that, and discerning spell... well honestly that would depend on the game. I'd be hesitant, but honestly I tend to throw mixed bags of enemies at my players at the best of times, and throw humanoid enemies at them just as often.

I won't say it gets my seal of approval but I wouldn't discard it out of hand...



Wrathful Spell [Metamagic]
My fury shall burn my enemies
Prerequisites: None
Benefits: You deal an additional 1d6 points of damage with any damage dealing spell (not ability damage)
Special: You may take this feat multiple times, it's effects stack.


Good GOD no. I might consider this if it affected only one enemy per spell and didn't stack. But a human wizard could take this what, seven times by 10th level? Every damage dealing spell they ever cast gets +7d6 damage. So they could cast magic missile, hit 5 enemies and do 1d4+7d6+1 each with a first level spell. And that's not even getting into indirect damage spells like walls and spike stone and such... or even worse, reserve feats.
I've seen feats which might boost damage of spells of a single element, but try and convince me to let a character in with this and I'd laugh you out of my game.

Comparison with existing feats:
Frostburn: Cold Spell Specialisation:
Req: Con 13, Snowcasting, Frozen Magic
+1 damage per damage dice in areas below 40 degrees F

Complete Arcane: Black Lore of Moil:
Req: Spell focus Necromancy, CL 7th
+1d6 + (1d6/2 spell levels) negative energy damage on necromancy spells only, requires an expensive material component.

Sandstorm: Fiery spell (metamagic):
No prerequisites
+1 damage/damage dice for fire spells, increase spell level by 1

As you can see, the above feats may be stronger in effect but they all have limiters in either pre-reqs or increased cost. And they don't stack.



Death Throes
I wouldn't do that if I were you
Prerequisites: None
Benefits: You deal 5xHD damage when you die to all within 5xHD feet of you, this has a reflex save equal to 10+1/2 your HD


Cute, but I would put some prerequisites on this. Two reasons: This feat is crazy dangerous... because the GM has access to it too. And I would find it far too easy to create some crazy nutcase who used suicide troops with this. Especially if you could find some way to apply it to undead.

Secondly, simply for fluff reasons. WHY is this character exploding? There's no magical implication here. Any first level fighter could pick up this feat, and suddenly be able to explode on death, how?

By memory there is a spell which has a similar contingent effect (and a 9th level spell in BoED iirc which kicks up the power but doesn't wait for other things to kill you). This would probably be a more sensible reason to explode upon death.



Anyway, yeah. Generally overpowered, you wouldn't get these into my games and I'm a GM known for being lax on knocking people's ideas back. Tweak a bit, add some cost, and try again :)

[The Mentalist]

Cut the stacking on Wrathful, I agree it was a bit much, I just liked the idea of a sorcerer who dumped it all into blasting. Gave an energy subtype pre-req to Death Throes, the energy goes nova when they die.

[MachFarcon]

Personally, I think it would depend greatly on the campaign. As far as the exploding death ... players don't like when things explode that hurt them. Such as zombies. And I would put a cap on the extra damage.
Other then that, I would let these in my campaign.

[ScionoftheVoid]

You should probably specify that Death Throes deals damage of the same type as your subtype edit: and that the Reflex save is for half damage. Also, some of your prerequisites are a bit screwy (Improved Exclusive Spell requires Discerning Spell, and Wrathful Spell requires Spell Focue: Evocation). Other than that I wouldn't complain, apart from maybe Discerning Spell, but I tend toward enemies of a single type, so I'm biased. I might raise it to +1 in my games, but as a general thing I'm sure it's fine as is. I'm definitely using some of these (Improved Exclusive Spell on a Cleric of Zarus? Nine Hells, yes).

Edit: The writing needs a quick check over in places, but that's no great chore, at least for now. I hope you continue this project, it sounds like it's going to be great.

[The Mentalist]

(Improved Exclusive Spell on a Cleric of Zarus? Nine Hells, yes)

That was the original intent. I Discerning and Exclusive spell as Racist spell but I figured it'd be better received this way.

Or for Battle Mages who throw fireballs and the exclusive is a specific uniform.

[Havvy]

Death Throes dealing 5 * HD damage seems a bit excessive. It's enough to kill many mages in 1 hit...affects multiple creatures, and overall, is just deadly deadly deadly.

Maybe if it did damage equal to HD or something, it'd work better. It'd still be a nice blow to creature's health, but when you are dead, getting any kind of damage is good.

[flabort]

Well, my only problem is Exclusive as +1, while discerning is +0. It just makes sense that they'd be the same.
Exclusive, as pointed out (and then struck through after he saw) by Damos, Should, and CANNOT be lowered to +0.
Since I would change one, that means that the one that I'd change is discerning.

Maybe not. But if you tell your players "This will be an undead themed campaign", as several DMs tend to do occasionally, or "I've decided to title the new campaign 'Journey in the Far Realms'", they'd have reason to believe their going to be up against mostly a single type. They'd take it, quick as that, and they'd never harm their team, even without exclusive spell.

If they were attacked by a monster, say, a minotaur, or a band of orcs, or a red dragon, all they'd have to do is hole up for a few hours, the wizard would prepare all his spells to kill whatever's attacking them (because the feats says race or whatever, "such as assassin vine or Frost Worm"), and the party would still stay safe. no matter how AoE or destructive the spell was. Even if the party had the same type. (you could specify Elf instead of Humanoid)

Well, It is your material, so you can do what you want, but I'd make discerning +1 to, in summary.

[wiimanclassic]

Hm. Could you use improved DS on a locate city bomb to make it only effect people with white pants on? I just wanna be sure about how specific it can get.


What about a fire ball?

[The Mentalist]

Exclusive/Discerning stuff

When put like that I agree, they were originally both +1 but I thought discerning wasn't worth it.


Hm. Could you use improved DS on a locate city bomb to make it only effect people with white pants on? I just wanna be sure about how specific it can get.


What about a fire ball?

Yes. (Locate city explodey bomb doesn't work. Circle VS sphere and all that. It could be used to give a negative level to everyone in white pants though.)


Death Throes dealing 5 * HD damage seems a bit excessive. It's enough to kill many mages in 1 hit...affects multiple creatures, and overall, is just deadly deadly deadly.

Maybe if it did damage equal to HD or something, it'd work better. It'd still be a nice blow to creature's health, but when you are dead, getting any kind of damage is good.

I'm currently reworking this as a feat chain where I lowered the damage to HDx2, I think that's as low as it needs to be. may reduce the radius too but not sure on that one yet.