asnys
2012-08-20, 10:13 PM
I posted this on ENWorld.org oh so many moons ago, but got bored before doing anything with it. Now I'm thinking about giving it another shot.
I've worded the feat as carefully as possible to ensure that it can not be applied to damaging or debuffing spells, just “traditional” illusions. (Technically it could be applied to Illusory Pit from Complete Arcane, but we've houseruled that to be a phantasm). That said, I don't own every d20 book ever written – I'm using Core and Complete Arcane, plus some odds and ends from the web and Dragon magazine – so there may be damaging / debuffing spells out there this could apply to. If necessary, I'll just limit it to a hard list of spells.
Although I welcome comments about any aspect of the feat, I'm particularly looking for your views on what the appropriate level adjustment is. At low levels, the cost, time for preparation, and difficulty of transporting the materials are severe enough that it could easily be +0. At high levels, though, once you pick up some +20 crafting items and extradimensional storage space, you're talking about an almost unbeatable DC in exchange for some time, which feels like it should be at least +2. But, given that it can only be applied to image spells and their kin, I'm not sure how big a deal that actually is.
Lore of the Unseen (Metamagic)
Prerequisite: Craft (Painting) 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks
Benefit: Any figment or glamer spell with a visual component that allows a Will save to disbelieve can be cast as an Unseen spell. To prepare a spell as an Unseen spell, you need to make a painting of the illusion you want to create, at full scale. This takes a varying amount of time and supplies, depending on size (see Table 1), and requires a Craft (Painting) check. The Unseen spell uses the painting as a material component, replacing any other material or focus components that do not have a gp cost, and leaving a blank canvas behind.
The DC to discover that the figment or glamer is an illusion is the result of your Craft (Painting) check, instead of the normal DC. You use the craft check even if it is lower than your normal DC. Also, if you are using this figment to disguise someone (such as the Disguise Self spell), you use the Craft check instead of making a Disguise check. Spell Focus (Illusion) and Greater Spell Focus (Illusion) still increase the DC as normal.
Table 1: Cost and Preparation Time of Illusions
{table=head]Size|Size of Canvas|Paint Used|Time|Quick Sketch Time
Fine|1' x 1'|1/8 pots|20 min.|4 min.
Diminutive|1' x 1'|¼ pots|1 hr.|12 min.
Tiny|1' x 1'|½ pots|4 hrs.|48 min.
Small|3' x 2'|2 pots|1 day|2 hrs.
Medium|6' x 4'|8 pots|4 days|8 hrs.
Large|10' x 6'|20 pots|10 days|2 days
Huge|20' x 12'|80 pots|40 days|8 days[/table]
Quick Sketch: The caster can sacrifice quality for speed. A quick sketch uses only one fifth the time, but suffers a -10 penalty to the Craft check.
Table 2: New Equipment
{table=head]Item|Weight|Cost
Canvas, 20' x 12'|120 lbs.|2,000 gp (Special Order Only)
Canvas, 10' x 6'|30 lbs.|400 gp
Canvas, 6' x 4'|12 lbs.|120 gp
Canvas, 3' x 2'|3 lbs.|30 gp
Canvas, 1' x 1'|½ lbs.|5 gp
Case, Painting,3'|4 lbs.|15 gp
Case, Painting, 6'|8 lbs.|40 gp
Easel, Artist's|12 lbs.|12 gp
Paint, Alchemical|½ lbs.|20 gp per pot
Paint, Oil|½ lbs.|6 gp per pot
Paint, Water|½ lbs.|3 gp per pot
Paintbrushes, Set|
-|4 sp
Palette|1 lb.|1 gp[/table]
Paint, Alchemical: These rich paints give a deeper and richer color, adding a +2 enhancement bonus to your Craft (Painting) check. Using alchemical paints requires buying ten pots to have a full set of colors.
Paint, Oil: At least ten pots of differently colored oil paints are required to have a full set.
Paint, Water: These paints are generally less firm and tend to be faded, suffering a -4 penalty to your Craft (Painting) check when they are used. However, they have the advantage that they can be stored in dehydrated form, in which they weigh only one tenth their normal weight. At least four pots of differently colored water paints are required to have a full set.
Thoughts?
I've worded the feat as carefully as possible to ensure that it can not be applied to damaging or debuffing spells, just “traditional” illusions. (Technically it could be applied to Illusory Pit from Complete Arcane, but we've houseruled that to be a phantasm). That said, I don't own every d20 book ever written – I'm using Core and Complete Arcane, plus some odds and ends from the web and Dragon magazine – so there may be damaging / debuffing spells out there this could apply to. If necessary, I'll just limit it to a hard list of spells.
Although I welcome comments about any aspect of the feat, I'm particularly looking for your views on what the appropriate level adjustment is. At low levels, the cost, time for preparation, and difficulty of transporting the materials are severe enough that it could easily be +0. At high levels, though, once you pick up some +20 crafting items and extradimensional storage space, you're talking about an almost unbeatable DC in exchange for some time, which feels like it should be at least +2. But, given that it can only be applied to image spells and their kin, I'm not sure how big a deal that actually is.
Lore of the Unseen (Metamagic)
Prerequisite: Craft (Painting) 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks
Benefit: Any figment or glamer spell with a visual component that allows a Will save to disbelieve can be cast as an Unseen spell. To prepare a spell as an Unseen spell, you need to make a painting of the illusion you want to create, at full scale. This takes a varying amount of time and supplies, depending on size (see Table 1), and requires a Craft (Painting) check. The Unseen spell uses the painting as a material component, replacing any other material or focus components that do not have a gp cost, and leaving a blank canvas behind.
The DC to discover that the figment or glamer is an illusion is the result of your Craft (Painting) check, instead of the normal DC. You use the craft check even if it is lower than your normal DC. Also, if you are using this figment to disguise someone (such as the Disguise Self spell), you use the Craft check instead of making a Disguise check. Spell Focus (Illusion) and Greater Spell Focus (Illusion) still increase the DC as normal.
Table 1: Cost and Preparation Time of Illusions
{table=head]Size|Size of Canvas|Paint Used|Time|Quick Sketch Time
Fine|1' x 1'|1/8 pots|20 min.|4 min.
Diminutive|1' x 1'|¼ pots|1 hr.|12 min.
Tiny|1' x 1'|½ pots|4 hrs.|48 min.
Small|3' x 2'|2 pots|1 day|2 hrs.
Medium|6' x 4'|8 pots|4 days|8 hrs.
Large|10' x 6'|20 pots|10 days|2 days
Huge|20' x 12'|80 pots|40 days|8 days[/table]
Quick Sketch: The caster can sacrifice quality for speed. A quick sketch uses only one fifth the time, but suffers a -10 penalty to the Craft check.
Table 2: New Equipment
{table=head]Item|Weight|Cost
Canvas, 20' x 12'|120 lbs.|2,000 gp (Special Order Only)
Canvas, 10' x 6'|30 lbs.|400 gp
Canvas, 6' x 4'|12 lbs.|120 gp
Canvas, 3' x 2'|3 lbs.|30 gp
Canvas, 1' x 1'|½ lbs.|5 gp
Case, Painting,3'|4 lbs.|15 gp
Case, Painting, 6'|8 lbs.|40 gp
Easel, Artist's|12 lbs.|12 gp
Paint, Alchemical|½ lbs.|20 gp per pot
Paint, Oil|½ lbs.|6 gp per pot
Paint, Water|½ lbs.|3 gp per pot
Paintbrushes, Set|
-|4 sp
Palette|1 lb.|1 gp[/table]
Paint, Alchemical: These rich paints give a deeper and richer color, adding a +2 enhancement bonus to your Craft (Painting) check. Using alchemical paints requires buying ten pots to have a full set of colors.
Paint, Oil: At least ten pots of differently colored oil paints are required to have a full set.
Paint, Water: These paints are generally less firm and tend to be faded, suffering a -4 penalty to your Craft (Painting) check when they are used. However, they have the advantage that they can be stored in dehydrated form, in which they weigh only one tenth their normal weight. At least four pots of differently colored water paints are required to have a full set.
Thoughts?