Area effects that cause ability damage

[FearlessGnome]

So. I'm looking for spells and effects that cause ability damage/drain that are hard to avoid. Spells like Shivering Touch don't allow a save, but you still have to walk up to a single target and succeed on a touch attack. Are there any good ability damage spells that require no attack rolls? AoE spells would be preferred, but any ability that could conceivably be used for traps or by villains/their pets are of interest.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Blood Snow, Frostburn.

[Circle of Life]

Everyone's favorite Rocks Fall, You Just Take Damage spell Hail of Stone could be used for rider effects, like Fell Drain or other metamagics. Does it specifically have to be ability damage, or are negative levels good enough?

Hail of Stone is an area of effect, no save, no SR, no attack roll spell, by the by.

[Skyrunner]

Cloudkill does 1d4 nosave constitution damage in a small area, for creature with more than 6 HD.

[NeoSeraphi]

Moon bolt. Spell Compendium. It's ridiculously unfair. 1d4 Str damage/3 caster levels, max 5d4. Medium range spell that strikes unerringly, as magic missile. Fortitude save halves, but does not negate. And if there are two creatures within 15 feet of each other, the moon bolt hits them both and deals full Str damage to both of them.

Plus, you know, lycanthropy flavor. :smallbiggrin:

[Shadowknight12]

If energy drain will do as well, just Snowcast, Flash Frost and Fell Drain your Area spell of convenience, such as the area version of Dispel Magic. You can skip all that and head straight for Fell Drain if you're casting a spell that already deals damage, such as Fireball.

Twincast and Repeat at your convenience.

[tyckspoon]

Shadow Spray: 5-foot radius burst, 4 points Strength damage + 1 round daze, Fort negate. Kind of annoying in that most creatures you would really want to do Str damage to also have good Fort saves (also you'd think as an Illusion (Shadow) spell it'd be a Will save), but even without the ability damage a low-level, AoE, non-Mind-Affecting daze spell is a nice thing to have around. Spell Compendium, Wizard 2.

Phantasmal Assailants:
Why it sucks: Single-target only. Patterned on Phantasmal Killer, so it has 2 points of failure in saves- Will negate and then Fort partial. [Mind-Affecting, Fear] means even without those saves it's pretty easy to be immune or highly resistant to.
Why it's cool: It's only level 2. If you make it through that first Will save, it deals 8 points of both Dexterity and Wisdom damage (Fort save for half.) Shivering Touch is the only other thing I know of that deals anywhere near that amount of damage, especially with a low-level spell slot.

Couple of Core goodies:
Waves of Fatigue, Exhaustion- no save, reasonably large cones, the entire party is Fatigued/Exhausted. Not ability damage, but Exhaustion especially carries hefty penalties. These go well in a trap, particularly when combined with something that summons or attracts a fight to take advantage of the debuff before the party gets a chance to back off and try to find a way to remove the condition.

[Keld Denar]

Parboil and Numbing Sphere from Sandstorm and Frostburn deal Int and Dex damage respectively in an AoE. Necrotic Skullbomb is both awesomely named, and hands out negative levels in an AoE.

[imneuromancer]

Kelgore's Grave Mist (Wizard 2, PHB II IIRC): makes targets fatigued with no save, no SR. That is a -2 to STR and DEX.

Not exactly what you are looking for, but when you combine with Ray of Exhaustion or Ray of Clumsiness......