Anti-Tippyverse spell

[Phosphate]

Astral Warping Field
Abjuration

Level: Sor/Wiz 7, Clr 8, Drd 8
Components: V, S, M, XP*
Casting Time: 24 hours
Range: zero
Target: the ground right beneath you
Area: see text
Duration: Until death (see text)
Saving Throw: Will partial, Fort partial, Fort/Will negates
Spell Resistance: No
*optional

You create a local disturbance in the alignment between the material and the astral planes. During the 24 hours of your casting, anyone within the area with a CL of at least 15 instantly knows that this spell is being cast and where to look for you. Anyone with a CL of between 1 and 15 notices something is amiss, and is given a Spot check against a DC of 15. If they succeed, they are given a Concentration check against a DC of 25. If they succeed, they are given a Spellcraft check against a DC of 15. Succeeding the spot check means nothing, succeeding the concentration check gives them an idea about your location, and succeeding the spellcraft check informs them about what this spell is. A failure on any check makes it non-repeatable.

This spell creates two emanation zones. The first is a sphere with a radius equal to your CL feet centered on the ground beneath you, and the second is a sphere with a radius equal to your CL miles with the same center. After the spell is done casting, you are deemed the default owner.

If this spell is cast by a different caster in such a way that its area intertwines with the initial spell, it fails instantly unless the ulterior caster has a CL at least 5 points higher than the former. In that case, the initial spell fails instantly.

Casters with CL equal to yours +5 or higher ignore this spell altogether. Casters with CL equal to yours +4 or less may fall victims to its effect. Firstly, any such caster (exceptions will be noted below) that attempts to teleport within the space of the second sphere must make a will save. If they succeed, they appear to the outer region of the second sphere. If they fail, they appear in a random square inside the first sphere, and the owner caster instantly becomes aware that someone appeared inside his AWF. If that square is occupied by solid object, they are shunned into a straight line pointing to the closest unoccupied square, where they arrive prone and receive 1d10 bludgeoning damage per square travelled. A fort save negates damage, but not the shunting or the prone status.

Also, being the center of such conflux of worlds, the objects and living things inside the first sphere take a toll. Once every 24 hours, all the contents of the sphere receives 5d8 untyped damage that ignores hardness. If anything inside is capable of making fort or will saves (choice of the affected), succeeding the save negates damage altogether, although that damage may be inflicted again over a 24 hour period. Objects do not receive damage right after they are thrown into the sphere, they must spend 24 full uninterrupted hours there first.

The owner caster is not affected by this spell. Also, he may Imprint other casters for them to gain immunity to it aswell. Imprinting requires the consent of the target, takes a swift action, and consumes XP equal to 100*the difference in caster levels between you and the target (whether he is higher or lower). This and being at least 5 CL higher than the owner caster are the only ways to ignore this spell - very high SR and/or Spell Immunity do not help. The owner caster cannot deny or revoke an Imprint after he's given it, but receives additional XP for killing the Imprinted equal to how much he's spent (even on occasions when, through a discrepancy in level, the Imprinted wouldn't give experience at all).

Material Component: Sprinkled diamond dust along the great circle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_circle) of the first sphere with a value of about 300 gold * caster level * 3,14. If the casting is interrupted or the circle is somewhat ruined (such as by a passing wild animal or the wind blowing a portion away), the caster will not be aware of this and the material component is still consumed.

Changing Ownership: This spell is used to protect important cities or dungeons and thus, its safety requires frequent changing of ownership, since it ends when the owner caster dies. Ownership, just like imprinting, requires the consent of the target to which you wish you wish to give ownership. Also, the target must be able to cast this spell on his own somehow. This conserves all the Imprints you've given. It also imposes an XP cost on yu equal to 5'000.

Note: A caster may not own more than one Astral Warping Field at a time.

[TuggyNE]

The title is rather misleading, since this is undoubtedly the sort of spell all high-level Tippyverse casters would love to get their hands on.

Also, note that it does nothing to wish travel, because it talks about teleportation — which generally refers to Conjuration (teleportation)/Psychoportation (teleportation) effects. It also doesn't interfere with other forms of astral travel, such as astral projection, Conjuration (summoning), Conjuration (calling), or e.g. astral caravan.

Further, it doesn't address dispel magic and friends, which could be rather a problem, and it's extremely vulnerable to CL-pumping cheese.


During the 24 hours of your casting, anyone within the area with a CL of at least 15 instantly knows that this spell is being cast and where to look for you. Anyone with a CL of between 1 and 15 notices something is amiss, and is given a Spot check against a DC of 15. If they succeed, they are given a Concentration check against a DC of 25. If they succeed, they are given a Spellcraft check against a DC of 15. Succeeding the spot check means nothing, succeeding the concentration check gives them an idea about your location, and succeeding the spellcraft check informs them about what this spell is. A failure on any check makes it non-repeatable.

This is remarkably complicated for what is apparently a fairly minor side effect. I'd suggest simplifying it as much as possible.


This spell creates two emanation zones. The first is a sphere with a radius equal to your CL feet centered on the ground beneath you, and the second is a sphere with a radius equal to your CL miles with the same center. After the spell is done casting, you are deemed the default owner.

Name these spheres, for easier reference and better understanding.

Also, emanations do not by default go around corners, much less past walls, so there are likely to be holes in coverage, made worse if the caster wants to wall in the inner sphere to make a better prison (?).


Firstly, any such caster (exceptions will be noted below) that attempts to teleport within the space of the second sphere must make a will save. If they succeed, they appear to the outer region of the second sphere. If they fail, they appear in a random square inside the first sphere, and the owner caster instantly becomes aware that someone appeared inside his AWF. If that square is occupied by solid object, they are shunned into a straight line pointing to the closest unoccupied square, where they arrive prone and receive 1d10 bludgeoning damage per square travelled. A fort save negates damage, but not the shunting or the prone status.

Typo of "shunned" instead of "shunted". Also, the standard shunting damage is d6s, I believe.

The precise purpose of the two spheres is not entirely apparent; initially I assumed the inner sphere was most highly protected, but it's actually the opposite? If that's true, it's best to be clear about whether a successful save allows entering the outer sphere, or merely prevents being stuffed into the inner sphere.


Also, being the center of such conflux of worlds, the objects and living things inside the first sphere take a toll. Once every 24 hours, all the contents of the sphere receives 5d8 untyped damage that ignores hardness.

There's an amusing (but probably unintended) loophole here, which allows constructs and undead to ignore this damage (they're not living things, after all, or objects either). I don't understand why the damage ignores hardness. You could note that it is not halved/quartered as most damage done to objects is, though.


Imprinting requires the consent of the target, takes a swift action, and consumes XP equal to 100*the difference in caster levels between you and the target (whether he is higher or lower). This and being at least 5 CL higher than the owner caster are the only ways to ignore this spell - very high SR and/or Spell Immunity do not help. The owner caster cannot deny or revoke an Imprint after he's given it, but receives additional XP for killing the Imprinted equal to how much he's spent

A swift action? Why? Make it a full-round action. There's no need to cut corners here.

I'd leave out the parenthetical about SR not helping, although I suppose it might be handy; it's not strictly necessary, though.

Switch around the last quoted clause a bit, perhaps more like "but if they kill a given Imprinted, they regain the XP spent on Imprinting them", as the existing wording sort of suggests that the caster will inevitably go around killing off imprinted at random.


Material Component: Sprinkled diamond dust along the great circle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_circle) of the first sphere with a value of about 300 gold * caster level * 3,14. If the casting is interrupted or the circle is somewhat ruined (such as by a passing wild animal or the wind blowing a portion away), the caster will not be aware of this and the material component is still consumed.

Agh, the bookkeeping! Make a note of which great circle you're referring to; I assume the approximate plane of the ground cutting the sphere. Also, inclusion of a random DM fiat magnet is not good form in my opinion. Either it works, or it doesn't; none of this "oh yeah lol a squirrel totally ruined the casting in hour two by dropping an acorn on it". (And why diamond dust? Odd connotations of resurrection or something there.)


Ownership, just like imprinting, requires the consent of the target to which you wish you wish to give ownership. Also, the target must be able to cast this spell on his own somehow. This conserves all the Imprints you've given. It also imposes an XP cost on yu equal to 5'000..

Couple of typos here, and the precise mechanism for transferring control seems a little odd; I'd suggest having the new owner cast it on the previous owner as a special target. (I have no idea why there's an XP cost at this point, or what it represents.)

[Phosphate]

The title is rather misleading, since this is undoubtedly the sort of spell all high-level Tippyverse casters would love to get their hands on.

Tippyverse is tippyverse because teleportation is too easy. So anything preventing teleportation at least partially is, by nature, anti-tippyverse.


Also, note that it does nothing to wish travel, because it talks about teleportation — which generally refers to Conjuration (teleportation)/Psychoportation (teleportation) effects.

As intended.


It also doesn't interfere with other forms of astral travel, such as astral projection, Conjuration (summoning), Conjuration (calling), or e.g. astral caravan.

Fair point. Should I change the wording from teleportation to astral travel?


Further, it doesn't address dispel magic and friends, which could be rather a problem, and it's extremely vulnerable to CL-pumping cheese.

Firstly, it IS vulnerable to CL-pumping, as intended. Secondly, I will change the effect such that dispelling only works on the inner sphere.


This is remarkably complicated for what is apparently a fairly minor side effect. I'd suggest simplifying it as much as possible.

It's not minor if your goal (as usual with this spell) is to protect a metropolis, and you're a sitting duck for 24 hours.


Name these spheres, for easier reference and better understanding.

Ok, I'll call them inner and outer.


Also, emanations do not by default go around corners, much less past walls, so there are likely to be holes in coverage, made worse if the caster wants to wall in the inner sphere to make a better prison (?).

My bad, I will mention that this spell goes not only around, but also through corners.


Typo of "shunned" instead of "shunted". Also, the standard shunting damage is d6s, I believe.

Is d6 compulsory?


The precise purpose of the two spheres is not entirely apparent; initially I assumed the inner sphere was most highly protected, but it's actually the opposite?

Yes. The spell is like a singularity that drags everything to its center.


If that's true, it's best to be clear about whether a successful save allows entering the outer sphere, or merely prevents being stuffed into the inner sphere.

Wording seems clear to me.

If they succeed, they appear to the outer region of the second sphere. If they fail, they appear in a random square inside the first sphere

Succeed, and you're at the far edge, fail, and you're trapped in the middle. You can't get inbetween, that's the point of the spell.


There's an amusing (but probably unintended) loophole here, which allows constructs and undead to ignore this damage (they're not living things, after all, or objects either).

The description clearly states that the damage is dealt to the contents of the sphere. Any contents. Not "aforementioned contents". But I will rephrase.


I don't understand why the damage ignores hardness. You could note that it is not halved/quartered as most damage done to objects is, though.

Hardness generally means you apply an outside force to an object and said force is diminished by the toughness of the material. But here it's not really that, since the fabric of reality in every point of the target is twisted the same, basically like a big microwave or a hydrogen bomb.


A swift action? Why? Make it a full-round action. There's no need to cut corners here.

It was arbitrary. Could work either way, really.


Switch around the last quoted clause a bit, perhaps more like "but if they kill a given Imprinted, they regain the XP spent on Imprinting them", as the existing wording sort of suggests that the caster will inevitably go around killing off imprinted at random.

It didn't give me that impression when I wrote it, but...ok.


Agh, the bookkeeping! Make a note of which great circle you're referring to; I assume the approximate plane of the ground cutting the sphere. Also, inclusion of a random DM fiat magnet is not good form in my opinion. Either it works, or it doesn't; none of this "oh yeah lol a squirrel totally ruined the casting in hour two by dropping an acorn on it".

1. I want it to be easy to ruin.
2. Most of the time, the PCs won't be the ones casting this, but the NPC. PCs usually have an adventure to run, not really long-term goals. And if they do choose the latter path, some hardship along the way can't harm.
3. The spell is intended to be harder to pull off in the wilderness than inside a closed environment like a large castle hall.
4. You can put your teammates secure the perimeter, and stop you from meditating if something eventually happens to screw the circle.


(And why diamond dust? Odd connotations of resurrection or something there.)

It was the most expensive thing I could think of. Any other suggestions, if it doesn't fit?


Couple of typos here, and the precise mechanism for transferring control seems a little odd; I'd suggest having the new owner cast it on the previous owner as a special target. (I have no idea why there's an XP cost at this point, or what it represents.)

That seems too cheap for me.

[gkathellar]

Also, note that it does nothing to wish travel, because it talks about teleportation — which generally refers to Conjuration (teleportation)/Psychoportation (teleportation) effects. It also doesn't interfere with other forms of astral travel, such as astral projection, Conjuration (summoning), Conjuration (calling), or e.g. astral caravan.

As intended.

Because of the existence of Weirdstones, Wish-teleport is already the standard fare method of transportation in Tippyverse. So, if this is expected to break Tippyverse, try again.

[Amechra]

Plus, Tippyverse is more based off spellcasters obviating all previous needs of civilization, than just teleportation...

[Phosphate]

Because of the existence of Weirdstones, Wish-teleport is already the standard fare method of transportation in Tippyverse. So, if this is expected to break Tippyverse, try again.

Oh...oops.


Plus, Tippyverse is more based off spellcasters obviating all previous needs of civilization, than just teleportation...

I don't mind the post-scarcity make-stuff-out-of-nothing utopic aspect of tippyverse. Widespread instant travel worries me much more.

[TuggyNE]

Fair point. Should I change the wording from teleportation to astral travel?

Probably, and detail the exact consequences (if any) to summoning/calling (since those require astral travel of some sort, but are not precisely identical).


Secondly, I will change the effect such that dispelling only works on the inner sphere.

OK, good.


It's not minor if your goal (as usual with this spell) is to protect a metropolis, and you're a sitting duck for 24 hours.




Is d6 compulsory?

Not really, it's more of a minor convention.


Wording seems clear to me.

If they succeed, they appear to the outer region of the second sphere. If they fail, they appear in a random square inside the first sphere

Succeed, and you're at the far edge, fail, and you're trapped in the middle. You can't get inbetween, that's the point of the spell.

"To the outer region" is the confusing part; I think you mean just "outside", but it could be misinterpreted to mean the region covered by the second sphere itself.


The description clearly states that the damage is dealt to the contents of the sphere. Any contents. Not "aforementioned contents". But I will rephrase.

Good, because the specificity of description implies that "objects and living things" is used to qualify and modify "contents", rather than being merely a partial listing of what "contents" means.


3. The spell is intended to be harder to pull off in the wilderness than inside a closed environment like a large castle hall.
4. You can put your teammates secure the perimeter, and stop you from meditating if something eventually happens to screw the circle.

Fair enough, I suppose.


It was the most expensive thing I could think of. Any other suggestions, if it doesn't fit?

Expense isn't the issue, since you need a certain value of it. You could take a leaf from astral projection's book, and use jacinth dust, and perhaps combine it with some valuable piece of an astral-native creature's body, although off-hand I don't know of a suitable one.


That seems too cheap for me.

Well, if you're dedicated to the XP cost, just have the "transfer ownership" use consume 5000 XP (from the new owner).

[Anecronwashere]

Yeah, this spell isn't Anti-Tippy.
It's actually something I can see a Tippy-Wizard doing.


a 40 mile radius of Anti-Teleport in spell means you have a fast way to return to the centre of your base under attack, while also stopping an army from Porting in.
Ring the inner sphere with Constructs, Undead, Abberants and Humanoids all armed with crossbows, Unlimited Wands or the trigger to a Wish "Kill everyone inside the Inner Sphere of the closest Astra-Warping Field" Trap
Teleport in, everyone is hit with a Zone Of Truth and various Anti-disguise spells (Traps or Permanent Ward) and asked to state their business, intentions and point of origin.

The 4 types because then you have to hit all of them with Anti-Undead, Anti-Abberant, Anti-Construct AND Anti-Humanoid spells.

If they are authorized the exit the chamber into the Depot. A series of tunnels manned by Constructs who use the Commoner Railgun (Passengers are inside a bag of holding) to provide instant non-magical transport as basically a subway system. Construct1 recieves Bag, drops bag, Construct2/3/X have readied to pick up then drop the bag, ConstructZ picks up bag and opens it letting everyone out. Bag is refilled and the conductor gives the fresh bag to ConstructZ for transport back to Construct1, shuttling the bag back and forth between stations.

Considering the city limit is 40 miles (dependent on CR. CL*2 Miles diameter. Assuming 20CL) you can stuff a lot into it.
Your going to be building massive spires, digging into the ground for enormous tunnel networks and sprawling cities across the land until the very edge of the spell where it stops and the Wall goes up.

[Ashtagon]

This is a spell I'd expect to see a tippyverse city defence team maintaining more or less constantly, dropping it instantaneously only for authorised bulk trade caravans that can't easily be filtered by the security guards and wards proposed upthread.

If anything, the existence of this spell would make it easier to maintain TV-style control of a city.