PDA

View Full Version : Yllarius' Eversheep (3.5e, spell)



Yllarius
2012-07-17, 07:51 AM
I've been recently working on a spell that i'd like feedback on. I've lurked around GiTP for awhile now, so I figured I might as well ask here.

Yllarius' Eversheep
Conjuration
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M,
Casting Time: 1 rnd
Range: 50'
Duration: 1min/lvl
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: None

When cast, Yllarius' Eversheep summons a normal-looking sheep within 50 feet of the caster. This sheep cannot be summoned in a container that is to small for it, nor can it be summoned outside of the caster's sight. The sheep acts like a normal sheep but will never stray far from the caster. The caster, as a free action, can redirect the sheep. The sheep will not head straight in that direction, however, but wander over there in 1d4 rounds.

When struck or otherwise reduced to 0 HP, Yllarius' Eversheep dissapears in a puff of smoke, and two Eversheep reappear with a small poof at the same location, or if it's previous location is now occupied, as close to it's previous location as possible, an eversheep may appear in the air, but takes no falling damage. If struck by an area of effect attack or spell, As many Eversheep will appear to fill in the entire radius of the area of effect, including height. Eversheep that are created on top of each other, tumble outwards, treated as a rockslide. Creatures hit by the sheepslide take appropriate non-lethal damage. The caster may dismiss all or any number of sheep as a free action, the sheep my also be dismissed by pulling on there tails and saying 'Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub' in which case a small wedge of cheese appears for the duration of the spell. (Knowledge: Arcana DC 15)

Eversheep are immune all mind-affecting spells, they cannot be polymorphed. They have 5 HP, and 10 AC, they will not attack, even when provoked.

Components: A bit of sheep wool.

The main part that concerns me is that I don't want the sheep to be used as a catalyst for other spells. They are -not- like familiars. I'm also not sure if the spell should be allowed to be made permanent. Although they can still be removed by pulling on there tails (And eating the cheese), such a simple spell could really plague a poor town. (Although imagining a town covered in sheep like they were snowflakes would be quite comical...)

Gamer Girl
2012-07-17, 09:07 AM
How do you see the sheep being used as catalysts?


As the spell has no limit, it would not be a good idea to make this spell permanent. If you did, the world would be covered in sheep in something like a couple days. Just one area effect spell could make too many sheep to handle. You could just set a distance limit, something like 'no sheep can be more then one mile from the caster and any that do so vanish'. Or maybe better 'sheep more then fifty feet from the caster are normal sheep and do not split any more.' Or even 'only the original sheep can split, all other sheep are normal'.

Yllarius
2012-07-17, 09:18 AM
How do you see the sheep being used as catalysts?


As the spell has no limit, it would not be a good idea to make this spell permanent. If you did, the world would be covered in sheep in something like a couple days. Just one area effect spell could make too many sheep to handle. You could just set a distance limit, something like 'no sheep can be more then one mile from the caster and any that do so vanish'. Or maybe better 'sheep more then fifty feet from the caster are normal sheep and do not split any more.' Or even 'only the original sheep can split, all other sheep are normal'.

Mostly I was concerned about polymorph, or other spells that change the sheep like giant growth or something. The point of the sheep is that they don't do anything really, other than multiply, because a combination of such things could essentially be game-breaking.

I like that idea, I had an image of a wizard walking down the road with hundereds of permanent eversheep with him....

Debihuman
2012-07-17, 11:13 AM
A sheepslide should be like an avalanche but with the following changes:

An sheepslide can be spotted from as far away as 1d10×500 feet by a character who makes a DC 20 Spot check, treating the sheepslide as a Colossal creature. If all characters fail their Spot checks to determine the encounter distance, the sheepslide moves closer to them, and they automatically become aware of it when it closes to half the original distance. It’s easy to hear a sheepslide coming even if you can’t see it due to the frenzied bleating of the eversheep. Usually no Listen check is necessary.

A sheepslide consists of two distinct areas: the bury zone (in the direct path of the falling eversheep) and the slide zone (the area the eversheep spreads out to encompass). Characters in the bury zone always take damage from the sheepslide; characters in the slide zone may be able to get out of the way. Characters in the bury zone take 4d6 points of damage, or half that amount if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. They are subsequently buried (see below). Characters in the slide zone take 2d4 points of damage, or no damage if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. Those who fail their saves are buried.

Buried characters take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage per minute. If a buried character falls unconscious, he or she must make a DC 15 Constitution check or take 1d4 points of lethal damage each minute thereafter until freed or dead.

A typical sheepslide has a width of 20 feet, from one edge of the slide zone to the opposite edge. The bury zone in the center of the sheepslide is half as wide as the sheepslide’s full width. A sheepslide advances at a speed of 60 feet per round.

A falling eversheep causes 1d6 points of damage for every 30 feet it falls, if it lands on a character below it.

You could limit the distance the eversheep can travel from the caster if you wanted. If they were limited to a distance of a 50-foot radius from the caster, they would simply disappear if they exceed that distance. Note the distance is vertical as well so you couldn't have a tower of eversheep higher than 50 feet tall.

Debby

Madara
2012-07-17, 12:12 PM
This spell is certainly fun. It doesn't have much combat use, but that's ok. The only problem I see is that the sheep fill up area effects.

Enter LCB.

Would you like some sheep to go with your sheep-riding sheep?

Also, it would make good sense to give it to the druids as well.

Yllarius
2012-07-17, 05:20 PM
A sheepslide should be like an avalanche but with the following changes:

An sheepslide can be spotted from as far away as 1d10×500 feet by a character who makes a DC 20 Spot check, treating the sheepslide as a Colossal creature. If all characters fail their Spot checks to determine the encounter distance, the sheepslide moves closer to them, and they automatically become aware of it when it closes to half the original distance. It’s easy to hear a sheepslide coming even if you can’t see it due to the frenzied bleating of the eversheep. Usually no Listen check is necessary.

A sheepslide consists of two distinct areas: the bury zone (in the direct path of the falling eversheep) and the slide zone (the area the eversheep spreads out to encompass). Characters in the bury zone always take damage from the sheepslide; characters in the slide zone may be able to get out of the way. Characters in the bury zone take 4d6 points of damage, or half that amount if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. They are subsequently buried (see below). Characters in the slide zone take 2d4 points of damage, or no damage if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. Those who fail their saves are buried.

Buried characters take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage per minute. If a buried character falls unconscious, he or she must make a DC 15 Constitution check or take 1d4 points of lethal damage each minute thereafter until freed or dead.

A typical sheepslide has a width of 20 feet, from one edge of the slide zone to the opposite edge. The bury zone in the center of the sheepslide is half as wide as the sheepslide’s full width. A sheepslide advances at a speed of 60 feet per round.

A falling eversheep causes 1d6 points of damage for every 30 feet it falls, if it lands on a character below it.

You could limit the distance the eversheep can travel from the caster if you wanted. If they were limited to a distance of a 50-foot radius from the caster, they would simply disappear if they exceed that distance. Note the distance is vertical as well so you couldn't have a tower of eversheep higher than 50 feet tall.

Debby
That is amazing. <3 Do you mind if I use that in the spell description?


This spell is certainly fun. It doesn't have much combat use, but that's ok. The only problem I see is that the sheep fill up area effects.

Enter LCB.

Would you like some sheep to go with your sheep-riding sheep?

Also, it would make good sense to give it to the druids as well.
The way I feel about this, is that if your DM has given PC's enough grace to not intervene in a locate city bomb, then the eversheep arn't going to be that big of a deal. (You just nuked a city.) But will be rather comical.

As far as the 'filling AoE' I wanted a way to make a large amount of sheep quickly, and this fulfilled that, using Debbie's numbers, a 20th level mage will only do a maximum of 4d6 + 20d4 non-lethal damage, and that's assuming they have such abysmal reflex saves at that level to be buried for 20 minutes. Since the caster can dismiss sheep at will, and an appropriate dispel magic should be able to dispel a 30' area of the sheep. Also, otherwise a sheep slide would be near impossible. I probably will make an area of 50' around the caster, thus a locate-city bomb will only fill a 50'x50' area anyways.

Edit: Or a 50' area around the original sheep, thus the herd can still move as long as the original sheep is moving with them.

Edit 2: As for druids, that I neglected to mention, what level should I set it for them. Druids seem to be sparse in my groups, so i'm not 100% on where is should be. Would three be fine for them as well?

Debihuman
2012-07-17, 08:52 PM
Feel free to use the sheepslide any way you like.

Here are the stats for an Eversheep.

Eversheep
Medium Magical Beast (Augmented Animal)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 13 (+1 Dex, +2 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-4
Attack: Bite -5 melee (1d3)
Full Attack: Bite -5 melee (1d3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, multiplicity, scent
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +3, Will –2
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 6, Cha 4
Skills: Balance +2, Hide +2, Listen +1, Spot +1
Feats: Alertness
Environment: Warm and temperate hills and plains
Organization: Solitary or herd
Challenge Rating: 1/3

Eversheep are magical sheep that appear as normal sheep. They stand about 3 feet tall at the shoulder and weigh as much as 250 lbs. If an eversheep is ever sheared, it loses its Multiplicity special ability, its Type changes to Animal and it becomes a normal sheep. An eversheep's bite is treated as a secondary weapon.

Combat

Eversheep are peaceful herbivores and only attack when threatened.

Multiplicity (Ex): When struck or otherwise reduced to 0 hit points, an eversheep dissipates in a puff of smoke, and two eversheep reappear. One appears in the same square as the original eversheep with the second eversheep occupying an adjacent square. If there is no adjacent square, the second eversheep appears on top of the first. If there is no available space, only one eversheep will appear.

An eversheep may appear in the air, but takes no falling damage. A falling eversheep causes 1d6 points of damage for every 30 feet it falls, if it lands on a character below it.

If struck by an area of effect attack or spell, As many eversheep will appear to fill in the entire radius of the area of effect (add Mob template from DMG 2 for stats), treating it as a Colossal creature.

A mob of eversheep gains the extraordinary ability to create a sheepslide as follows:

Sheepslide (Ex): A sheepslide can be spotted from as far away as 1d10×500 feet by a character who makes a DC 20 Spot check, treating the sheepslide as a Colossal creature. If all characters fail their Spot checks to determine the encounter distance, the sheepslide moves closer to them, and they automatically become aware of it when it closes to half the original distance. It’s easy to hear a sheepslide coming even if you can’t see it due to the frenzied bleating of the eversheep. Usually no Listen check is necessary.

A sheepslide consists of two distinct areas: the bury zone (in the direct path of the falling eversheep) and the slide zone (the area the eversheep spreads out to encompass). Characters in the bury zone always take damage from the sheepslide; characters in the slide zone may be able to get out of the way. Characters in the bury zone take 4d6 points of damage, or half that amount if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. They are subsequently buried (see below). Characters in the slide zone take 2d4 points of damage, or no damage if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. Those who fail their saves are buried.

Buried characters take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage per minute. If a buried character falls unconscious, he or she must make a DC 15 Constitution check or take 1d4 points of lethal damage each minute thereafter until freed or dead.

A typical sheepslide has a width of 20 feet, from one edge of the slide zone to the opposite edge. The bury zone in the center of the sheepslide is half as wide as the sheepslide’s full width. A sheepslide advances at a speed of 60 feet per round.

Debby

toapat
2012-07-17, 09:06 PM
While I agree that polymorphing the sheep could be completely overpowered (Tarrasque), the sheep are hilarious.

I think permanancy on sheep should only make them last 1 hour though, to split the difference of Silly and dangerous with Fireball

Tvtyrant
2012-07-17, 09:12 PM
...I now want to stick the sheep in a massively expanded Cloudkill spell, in order to bury the world in sheep. Or a pair of resetting traps, one of the sheep and one of widened fireball, and then set it so they fall out the bottom of an airship.:smalltongue:

Debihuman
2012-07-17, 09:18 PM
Obviously having an area overflowing with eversheep would be hilarious but there should be a way to get rid of them, even if it something equally preposterous.

If an eversheep is ever sheared, it losses its multiplicity special ability and its Type changes to Animal. It becomes in all ways a normal sheep.

Debby

toapat
2012-07-17, 09:25 PM
or Everwolf:

Summon a Wolf, that in Everyway a normal wolf, but is dedicated to hunting eversheep. Duration: Until last eversheep is poofed. Eversheep slain by Everwolf do not multiply