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View Full Version : [3.P] What is an appropriate level for this spell?



GoatBoy
2011-09-04, 08:44 PM
Bone Dance
Necromancy
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area: 30-ft.-radius spread
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Upon completion of casting this spell, one medium-sized humanoid skeleton rises from the ground in one unoccupied square of the caster's choice within the spell's area. One more skeleton appears each round on the caster's turn, in another square of the caster's choice, to a maximum of 10 skeletons.

Each skeleton cannot move or take any actions, but it threatens all squares within 5 feet of itself. Any hostile creature in a skeleton's threatened space that takes an action which is subject to an attack of opportunity is subject to an attack from the skeleton. If more than one skeleton from this spell threatens the creature in question, then they all attack. The skeletons may only make one attack of opportunity per the caster's turn, and it always takes the first available attack; no delay is possible.

Treat the skeletons as undead creatures with one hit die for purposes of targeting them with attacks and effects, though they are not subject to targeted beneficial effects of any sort. Each skeleton is destroyed as soon as it takes a single point of damage. The skeletons have an AC of 13 (+2 natural, +1 dex), an attack bonus of +5, and deal 1d6+1 damage.

All skeletons crumble into dust once the duration of the spell is over.

Material Component: A handful of bone chips, containing fragments from at least five different creatures.

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks would be a suitable level for a caster to start calling numerous creatures from the ground like this. I am thinking level 3, but if the level is higher then their attacks could be increased. They should remain trivial to kill, however.

Thanks in advance for the advice/feedback.

deuxhero
2011-09-04, 08:51 PM
3 works from a similarity to other spells (1d4+1 SM1 creatures) sense, but I don't think its useful for a 3rd level spell though.

Dryad
2011-09-04, 09:12 PM
Upon completion of this spell, one medium-sized humanoid skeleton rises from the ground in one unoccupied square of the caster's choice within the spell's area. One more skeleton appears each round afterwards upon the caster's turn, up to a maximum of 10 skeletons. Only one skeleton can occupy a single square.

The skeletons summoned with this spell cannot move or take normal actions, unless where noted otherwise. A skeleton summoned with Bone Dance threatens all squares within 5 feet of itself. Any hostile creature in a skeleton's threatened square that takes an action which can provoke an attack of opportunity is targeted with an attack from the skeleton. If more than one skeleton summoned with this spell threaten a creature, they may all attack when triggered. The skeletons may only make one attack of opportunity each round, and the skeletons will attack the first creature to provoke an attack of opportunity.

Treat the skeletons as undead creatures with one hit die for purposes of targeting them with attacks and effects. The skeletons summoned with Bone Dance are immune to beneficial effects of spells, spell-like abilities, psionic powers, magic items, supernatural abilities and/or extraordinary abilities. Each skeleton is destroyed as soon as it takes a single point of damage. The skeletons have an AC of 13 (+2 natural, +1 dex), an attack bonus of +5, and deal 1d6+1 damage.

The skeletons crumble to dust when the duration of the spell is past.

I've made the text a bit less ambiguous; hope you don't mind too much.
Personally, I wouldn't rank this spell above second level. Sure; it's handy and neat, but the skeletons are rather easily dealt with, and ranged weapons (and spells) can still easily target the caster. It's more of a terrain-tool than a defence tool, which is awesome in itself, but not quite third level yet, if you ask me.
One thing, though: The skellies... What do their saves look like? If the saves should be HD-related, then it also follows that their attack bonus is a meagre +1. Not the +5 from the spell description. I'm asking because of clever AoE usage. Usually, reflex is the key save. On the other hand: If they take even a single point of damage... And 1 damage is the minimum they can receive, even after taking half damage. Still; it's best to include saves. After all; you never know, and every standard has its exceptions.

cthulhubear
2011-09-04, 09:21 PM
I'd say level 2, mostly because of the pretty low ac and vulnerability. The wizard has better hp than that, and it has a d4 hit dice.

jiriku
2011-09-04, 09:49 PM
In would also concur with level 2. It is very similar to legion of sentinals, which is 3rd level. However, bone dance is considerably less powerful.

GoatBoy
2011-09-05, 12:44 PM
Clarification of the spell text is appreciated, thank you.

I pulled the attack bonus and damage amounts out of pretty much nowhere, with the idea that they could be changed depending on the spell's level. I also was not sure whether to give them saves, because if I did it would have made sense to give them stat blocks.

A squad of skeletons with weak attacks and wet-paper defences certainly doesn't constitute a major threat. The rationale behind the spell was inspired by a friend of mine who played a necromancer and wanted a "skeleton army." This felt like a logical way to do it without having to do the bookkeeping required by animate dead and without the tedium of taking ten or more separate actions on each turn.

The reason why I felt like the spell was worthwhile was because even having them present can grant flanking bonuses. The damage isn't much but there is always that chance that a spell being cast will be disrupted. And while they are trivial to kill, each one being destroyed by a creature who doesn't possess AoE attacks is another attack which isn't targeting an ally. Plus, even if you do wipe many of them out, the duration may not have expired.

Would the spell become more potent if each skeleton could take a single attack, plus an attack of opportunity? If attack bonus and damage were increased, would there perhaps be potential for a greater bone dance version? Should the spell description come with stat blocks for the type of skeletons that it creates?

Thanks again.

jiriku
2011-09-05, 07:53 PM
Taking attacks wouldn't appreciably increase their effectiveness, since they can't move and have no reach. Better accuracy and resistance to harm would make them better. For example, taken from legion of sentinals, which creates a field of stationary incorporeal swordfighters:

"Each swordfighter has hit points equal to twice your caster level and AC 25. It makes saving throws or checks with a bonus equal to your caster level. The swordsmen’s attacks are at a bonus equal to your caster level, they threaten critical hits on a 19 or 20, and they deal 1d8 points of slashing damage with a +1 bonus per three caster levels (max +5)."