sirpercival
2013-01-13, 11:42 PM
Note:
This is part of a much larger project. I'm currently working on a high-level + epic campaign setting, with the lofty goal of completely revamping the high level and epic rules to be playable, challenging, and fun without being stupid, crappy, or completely and utterly borked.
(This is an ambitious project, I know, but worry not -- I have some people helping me with it. Once it's a little more complete (still in the very beginning stages now), I'll post some of it over here for everyone's perusal.)
This is my WIP revamp of Epic Spellcasting. Now, I know, your first response is "but, but, you have to fix non-epic magic before you can tackle epic magic!!" Yes, I know. That's in the works as well, worry not. But it's not really relevant for this idea, so I hope you can evaluate this for what it is.
EPIC SPELLCASTING [Epic]
You have mastered the traditional magicks of spellcasters, and have ascended to the pinnacle of your craft.
Prerequisites: Spellcraft 24 ranks, Knowledge (arcana, nature, or religion) 24 ranks, ability to cast 9th-level arcane or divine spells
Benefit: You gain the ability to cast one non-apex epic spell for which you qualify from any epic sphere. Epic spells are cast just as normal spells, subject to the specific details given below; you may cast epic spells any number of times per day. You may not apply metamagic feats to epic spells.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times, each time choosing either a new epic spell, or attaining another refinement on a spell you already know.
APEX SPELLCASTING [Epic]
Your mastery of a single epic sphere is unparalleled.
Prerequisites: Spellcraft 33 ranks, Knowledge (arcana, nature, or religion) 33 ranks, ability to cast all non-apex spells in an epic sphere.
Benefit: Choose an epic sphere for which you know all the non-apex spells. You gain the ability to cast the apex spell from that sphere.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times, each time choosing either a new sphere, or attaining another refinement on a apex you already know. To attain a refinement level for a apex, you must have equal or greater refinement for all other spells in that sphere. For example, you may not attain the second refinement of a apex until you have two refinements for each other spell.
{table=head]Sphere|Prerequisites
Awareness |Discern Location, Moment of Prescience, True Seeing, Vision
Death |Create Greater Undead, Destruction, Soul Bind, Sphere of Ultimate Destruction
Creation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15873592&postcount=25) |Cocoon of Life, Gate, Genesis, Pavilion of Grandeur, True Creation
Force |Bigby's Crushing Hand, Maze, Mordenkainen's Sword, Otiluke's Telekinetic Sphere
Life |Heal, True Resurrection
Mind |Brain Spider, Mind Blank
Obscure |Antipathy, Mind Blank, Screen, Sequester, Skyrift
Portal |Astral Projection, Gate, Greater Plane Shift, Greater Teleport, Reality Maelstrom, Teleportation Circle
Radiance |Blinding Glory, Prismatic Sphere, Sunburst
Shadow |Greater Shadow Evocation, Shades, Weird
Shape |Polymorph Any Object, Shapechange
Summons |Greater Planar Binding, Summon Elemental Monolith, Summon Monster IX
Time |Foresight, Greater Celerity, Hindsight, Time Stop[/table]Note: the above table is very much a WIP; bold spheres are complete.
You can cast an epic spell in an Antimagic Field or Dead Magic Zone by making a caster level check against a DC of 15 + the caster level of the effect (25 for a DMZ).
The Spheres
Force
Prerequisites: Crushing Hand, Maze, Lash of Force, Telekinetic Sphere
Force Puppet
Sphere: Force (Evocation, Force)
Prerequisite: Crushing Hand
Casting Time: 1 full-round action
Range: 5 ft
Effect: One mannequin of force
Duration: 1 minute
As you complete the casting, a shimmering figure appears adjacent to you, taking on your exact dimensions. You concentrate briefly, and it moves off to do your bidding.
When you cast this spell, you create a body made of force -- a glowing, featureless version of yourself. The body has a Dexterity equal to your caster level, a speed of 30 feet, and a Strength score of 10 + your primary spellcasting modifier. Each round, you can spend a swift action to mentally control the puppet's actions as an additional body, directing it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions.
The projection can make two slam attacks, as a natural attack dealing 2d6 + Str force damage; it has an attack bonus equal to your caster level + its Strength modifier. Alternatively, the puppet can cast non-epic spells which do not have verbal components (the projection does not need to supply material components with a value of 1 gp or less), using your spells known/prepared, spell slots, caster level, and any relevant feats (i.e., the puppet can only cast spells you have access to, and any spell the puppet casts counts against your spells per day).
The projection is made of the same substance as a wall of force, and has the same vulnerabilities and immunities that a wall of force does, with the following exceptions:
the puppet can pass through other force effects without interacting (including forceward);
the puppet can withstand a single interaction with an effect which would otherwise destroy it (such as disintegrate or a rod of cancellation);
the puppet is easily visible unless steps are taken to hide it.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the puppet's Strength and Dexterity by +4 and its base speed by +20 feet. In addition, the duration increases by 1 minute, and the puppet can survive one additional interaction with an effect which would otherwise destroy it.
Hyperkinesis
Sphere: Force (Transmutation, Force)
Prerequisite: Telekinetic Sphere
Casting Time: 1 swift action, 1 move action, or 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
As you finish the simple casting, suddenly you can feel vectors of impetus between you and other nearby objects. With a simple thought, you set them to dancing.
This spell grants you incredible telekinetic control over your surroundings. When you cast this spell, you gain a pool of Grasp equal to your caster level, which you may then spend to exert your will over creatures and objects within a range of 20 feet per caster level. The actions you an take depend on how long you spend casting the spell, though you may not cast it more than once per round. You may make use of any number of these options for the appropriate casting time as part of the casting, up to the limit of the amount of Grasp you have; however, you may not target the same creature or object more than once with the same option with the same casting. Swift Action Casting:
Force target to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) or be flat-footed until the beginning of their next turn. (3 Grasp)
Create a telekinetic barrier, granting a target a deflection bonus to AC against one attack equal to your highest mental ability modifier. The target may choose the attack to which it applies, as long as it occurs before the beginning of your next turn. (2 Grasp)
Move a number of nonmagical, unattended objects equal to your caster level, weighing no more than 10 lbs each, up to 25 feet in any direction. (2 Grasp)
Move Action Casting:
Grant a target creature a fly speed equal to 10 feet times your primary spellcasting ability modifier, with perfect maneuverability, for 1 round (1 Grasp +1 per size category greater than Medium)
Impel a telekinetic spin on a target, causing it to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) or be moved 2d3 squares in a series of random directions, choosing a new direction for each square of movement. (2 Grasp +1 per additional 1d3 squares)
Reorient a target's gravity in any direction for 1 round, causing the target to fall towards the nearest solid surface in that direction. The target falls 60 feet in the round, and suffers falling damage as normal if striking a solid surface. (3 Grasp)
Moving a target up to 30 feet in a single direction along the ground (or through the air, if the creature is flying). The creature may attempt a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) to resist. This motion does not damage the target, though it provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. (3 Grasp)
Standard Action Casting:
Hurl an unattended object or a creature with deadly force (see the telekinetic thrust power for details), with a total weight no greater than 25 lbs per caster level. (4 grasp)
Bull rush, disarm, grapple, pin, or trip a creature, as per the telekinetic maneuver power, using your caster level in place of base attack bonus and your primary spellcasting ability modifier in place of your Strength or Dexterity modifier. (4 Grasp; each +1 Grasp grants a +2 to any required checks)
Attempt to crush (bludgeoning), tear (slashing), or twist (piercing) a target directly, dealing 1d6 damage per caster level, with a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) for half damage. (3 Grasp)
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the pool of Grasp by 3.
Impulse Jungle
Sphere: Force (Evocation, Force)
Prerequisite: Maze
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft + 10 ft/level)
Area: One 10-foot cube/level (S)
Duration: 1 minute
As you exert your will upon the world around you, a veritable labyrinth of razor-sharp force planes springs into existence, glowing a faint blue. They shift and weave, creating fractal intersections which bend the laws of space-time.
This spell creates a force maze in the area you indicate, trapping creatures inside. Creatures within the jungle have cover and concealment from each other, but the maze is enclosed, preventing any attacks, spells, or other effects to cross in or out (line of effect is blocked). Inside the jungle, creatures are subject to a dimensional lock effect, preventing dimensional travel into, out of, or within the area.
Any creature which attempts to move must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) or take 1d4 slashing damage (with the [Force] descriptor) per caster level as the warping and moving force sheets slice into it. A trapped creature can make a DC 20 Intelligence check as a full-round action; a successful check means that the creature can move at up to one-quarter speed in any direction, while a failure means that the creature ends up back where it started. In addition, any time a creature moves, there is a 25% chance that it will fall through a loop in spacetime and arrive in a different square within the jungle, chosen at random. Such transportation never places a creature on a surface that can't support its weight.
You can move through the jungle freely, without suffering damage or a chance of being transported, and can even enter and exit without difficulty. You can designate 1 additional creature to move through the jungle with the same ease as you.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the DC of the Intelligence check by 3, the duration by 1 minute, and the number of additional creatures you can designate by 1.
Potent Spear
Sphere: Force (Evocation, Force)
Prerequisite: Lash of Force
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Unlimited
Target: 1 creature
Duration: Instantaneous
You gather your wits, and release a bolt of force, which finds your opponent unerringly, burrowing through anything that stands in the way.
A missile of force leaves your hand and strikes its target, dealing 1d10 damage per caster level. The damage is untyped, and carries the [Force] descriptor. You must specify the creature's square (which means you must know the distance, direction, and specific square the target resides in), but the target can be at any distance, as long as it is on the same plane as you. The missile strikes unerringly, even if you do not have line of sight or line of effect, or if the creature has total cover or concealment from you. It passes through any barrier, even if the target is underground.
When the target is struck by the potent spear, any [Force] effects currently affecting the creature with caster level less than your caster level are automatically dispelled. You can make a caster level check against a DC of 11 + the caster level of the effect to attempt to dispel any [Force] effects affecting the target which have a higher caster level than yours.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell grants you an additional spear with each casting, which you can direct at the same or a different target. Every spear after the first deals half damage.
Inimitable Scion [Apex]
Sphere: Force (Evocation, Force)
Prerequisites: Force Puppet, Hyperkinesis, Impulse Jungle, Potent Spear
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
With little more than a thought, you transform into a being of undeniable will.
The Apex spell of the Force Sphere allows you to ascend from your normal physical existence, and become (for a brief time) a being of pure force. You and all your equipment turn invisible, and take no damage from any effects that cannot affect a wall of force. You can pass through other force effects with impunity, without interacting (including forceward and impulse jungle). You are affected by disintegrate normally (i.e., you are not destroyed immediately like a wall of force, but the spell does affect you), while interacting with a rod of cancellation, sphere of annihilation, or mage's disjunction causes this spell to end immediately but has no other effect on you (including the normal effect of the rod, sphere, or spell).
While this spell is in effect, you may grant any other spell you cast the [Force] descriptor. You gain 2 slam attacks, each of which deals 1d4 bludgeoning [Force] damage per caster level and attacks your opponent's touch AC; your base attack bonus with these attacks is equal to your caster level. You also gain a deflection bonus to AC equal to your primary spellcasting ability modifier, which stacks with any other deflection bonus you are benefiting from.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the duration by 1 round.
Obscure written by Amechra
New Term: Obscured. If an object, creature, concept, or place is obscured, it counts as one step less familiar or common for all purposes for each veil of Obscurement it has placed on it.
For example, a well-known figure, whose life story would normally be common knowledge, has two veils of Obscurement placed on him. For the purposes of a Bardic Knowledge check, he would be obscure; for the purposes of a friend scrying him, he would be a second-hand acquaintance.
If an object, creature, concept, or place is more obscure or unfamiliar than the most obscure or unfamiliar category that is normally allowed by the effect (for example, if a place is obscured one step past Extremely Obscure), that effect automatically fails to give any sort of information about the object, creature, concept, or place.
Acting Below Notice
Sphere: Obscure (Illusion, Glamer)
Prerequisite: Mind Blank
Casting Time: 1 standard Action
Range: Close (25 ft + 5 ft / 2 levels)
Target: One willing creature
Duration: 24 hours
You place a powerful illusion that there is nothing worth noticing about... something?
When this spell is cast, your target benefits from a single veil of Obscurement, due to simply being so incredibly below notice by everyone. For the next 24 hours, your target gains a +20 circumstance bonus on all Disguise, Hide, and Move Silently checks, and benefits as if from the mind blank spell.
In addition, whenever a creature interacts with your target for the first time during the duration of this spell, that creature must make a Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + your spellcasting ability score); on a failed save, the creature's attitude moves one step closer to Indifferent for the duration of the spell. If a creature who is already Indifferent fails its save, that creature instead loses the ability to perceive the target or any of the target's actions through any of its senses, unless those actions would directly cause it harm.
Multiple castings of this spell on the same target do not stack. You are immune to the effects of this spell when you cast it on targets other than yourself.
Refinement: This spell may be refined a maximum of five times; the first four tiers of refinement each cause the spell to place an additional veil of Obscurement on your target, increase the duration of the effect by 24 hours, and move creatures interacting with your target one step closer to Indifferent.
The last tier of refinement changes the duration of the spell to Permanent, but only for the purposes of attempting to learn about your target's actions over the five day period when this spell is in effect (i.e., any actions the target takes during the 120-hour duration of the spell are permanently obscured, though the effect of the spell itself ends after 120 hours).
Aeternal Shade
Sphere Obscure (Evocation, Darkness)
Requirements: Skyrift (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20050114a)
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Touch
Area: 100 square miles of land, 1 mile high
Duration: Permanent (D)
Sighing, you close your eyes; within an hour, the whole area is shrouded with mist and mystery.
Upon completion of this spell, the area is covered in a metaphysical darkness. To anyone outside it, the area looks dimly-lit at best.
Within the area, light levels are considered one step darker for all purposes (natural daylight -> bright illumination -> shadowy illumination -> darkness -> magical darkness); those inside experience this effect as a hazy mist that restricts their vision and dulls their hearing.
The dimness which covers the area extends to all senses, restricting all sensory information as thoroughly as sight; however, creatures with low-light vision or darkvision apply the effects of those abilities to their other senses as well.
In addition, any divination (or similar) effect originating from or targeting any place, object, or creature within the area has its caster level (or equivalent) and save DC reduced by 2 for each step darker that area is than bright illumination (e.g., magical darkness would reduce the caster level and save DC of a divination effect by 6).
This spell is considered a 10th level Darkness effect for the purposes of interacting with Light effects; in addition, each 10-ft cube is considered its own spell for the purposes of being dispelled by Light effects.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement increases the reduction to caster level by one, and causes the area to be treated as if it were one step darker. Every second tier of refinement increases the reduction to save DCs by one.
Everdistant Imposition
Sphere: Obscure (Abjuration, Enchantment)
Prerequisite: Antipathy
Casting Time: 1 full-round action
Range: Personal
Target: Self
Duration: 10 minutes
You whisper a few words, and suddenly seem far away -- very far away.
For the duration of this spell, all divination or clairsentience effects, Spot checks, and Listen checks concerning you are made as if you were ten times further away from the creature using the effect or making the check than you actually are.
In addition, you may, as a swift action, reduce the duration of the spell by 1 minute to become Unreachable; while Unreachable, your effective distance is increased by a factor of 10, and Divination spells treat you as if you were on a different plane.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain increases the duration of this spell by 10 minutes, and increases your effective distance by a factor of 10. In addition, while Unreachable, you are treated as if you were (1 + number of tiers of refinement) times further away for all effects not already covered by this spell.
Shrouded in Lies
Sphere: Obscure (Abjuration, Illusion)
Prerequisites: Screen, Sequester
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: See text
Target: A single concept
Duration: Instantaneous
You spend 10 minutes lecturing your friends on topic that they steadily find harder and harder to understand.
While casting this spell, select a person, place, group, or concept that is generally known -- common knowledge, a public figure, etc. When you finish casting, the knowledge of your target has a single veil of Obscurement placed on it, making it more difficult for any entities to know or remember the target. The DC for Knowledge checks made to know or remember the target is increased by +5 by the veil of Obscurement.
In addition, you may choose a single piece of misinformation, called a Lie, that is permanently imbedded in the information itself. This misinformation could consist of removing a single fact about the target ("Dragons are really really scary"), adding a single "fact" ("King Murderface will give you half his kingdom if you give him a belly-rub"), or altering a single fact ("Dwarves Elves are prissy, nature-loving stuck-up pretty boys"). If an effect or a skill check is made to learn any information about your target and fails, but would have succeeded if your target wasn't under the effects of Obscurement, they are treated as if they had succeeded, except that they are subject to the Lies placed by the casting of this spell.
Over the course of the 24 hours immediately after this spell is cast, any memories, stories, or records about the subject are altered to match the altered "truth"; the pervasiveness of this effect is so total that effects that detect or forbid lies treat the misinformation as truth for all purposes.
Casting this spell multiple times, targeting the same piece of information, overlaps in terms of the number of veils of Obscurement (i.e., no new veils are added unless you have attained additional tiers of refinement since the previous casting); however, you may change an appropriate number of Lies about the subject with each casting.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement for this spell increases the number of veils of Obscurement placed by 1, and allows you to add another Lie to that subject.
There Never Was A You [APEX]
Sphere: Obscure
Prerequisites: Acting Below Notice, Aeternal Shade, Everdistant Imposition, Shrouded in Lies
Casting Time: 1 or more consecutive full-round actions
Range: See text
Target: 1 creature
Duration: Instantaneous
You list every reason why your target never was, has never been, and the world obliges. They oblige. You smile.
When you begin casting this spell, select a single creature within Close range as a full-round action. The target must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + your primary spellcasting ability modifier) or begin to have their past made so secret that it never happened.
If the creature fails its Will save, you may continue casting this spell for up to one minute, spending a full-round action each round. Each round that you spend casting the spell, your target receives a single negative level. This negative level does not stem from negative energy, but from a pervasive sense of secrecy, hiding the target from itself; if the target receives enough negative levels to kill it, its instead is rendered catatonic as it forgets how to think, breathe, and move.
Once the casting is complete, your target is inflicted with a number of veils of Obscurement equal to the number of rounds you spent casting the spell. Additionally, all memories of the target (by any creature) are erased, up to a maximum number of years of memory (for each remembering creature) equal to 10 times the number of negative levels inflicted by the spell.
Alternatively, you may cast the spell such that the negative levels are imposed at the end of the casting (instead of during), and each round of casting inflicts one veil of Obscurement and removes 10 years of memories from any creatures that knew the target (instead of all veils and memory loss being inflicted at the end).
Either way, once the casting of this spell has begun, there is nowhere your victim can hide or run to escape the effects of the spell; if the creature fails the initial Will save, it suffers the effects of the spell even if it teleports to the ends of the earth, or travels to a different plane. Even if the subject dies, the memory of its existence is relentlessly effaced from reality, leaving mourners wondering why their cheeks are wet.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain increases the number of negative levels or years of memory erased each round by 1 and ten, respectively.
Time
Assembled Past
Sphere: Time (Divination, Scrying)
Prerequisite: Hindsight
Casting Time: 1 day
Range: See text
Target: See text
Duration: Instantaneous; see text
After your day-long meditation, your mind is freed from its flesh prison and soars over the ocean of time, searching for the information you seek.
When you cast this spell, your mind trawls the depths of time, allowing you to observe and remember events as they truly happened, then returning to where and when you started. You can see and hear into the past, observing events that happened anywhere on your current plane which was (at the time) accessible via greater teleport. You can observe the past as if you were actually there, gaining whatever information is available to you with your senses, including detailed knowledge of the people, conversations, and events which transpired.
You must choose a starting time and location for your observations each time you cast this spell. The location is chosen as normal for the greater teleport spell. The starting time must be relatively specific -- "the year 1473, on the fifth day of the eighth month, midmorning" is acceptable, but "500 years ago" is not. If you are not specific enough in your target time, you incur a 2d100 year uncertainty in the date you begin observations.
You may observe in subjective time for a total number of minutes equal to your caster level; however, you may have the observed time pass forward or backward at any of the following rates:
1 round per round (speed factor 1)
1 minute per round (speed factor 2)
1 hour per round (speed factor 4)
1 day per round (speed factor 8)
1 week per round (speed factor 16)
1 month per round (speed factor 32)
1 year per round (speed factor 64)
1 decade per round (speed factor 128)
1 century per round (speed factor 256)
While time is moving forward at 1 hour per round or faster, or while moving backward at any speed, you do not get observations in full detail. The faster the observed time is moving, the less detail you gain. If you are seeking a particular event or person, you may make an Intelligence check (DC 10 + speed factor; speed factor is doubled for backwards time) to return to forward time at speed factor 1 when you observe that event or person. For an event which spans a longer period of time, at the DM's discretion you may reduce the DC accordingly.
While you are observing, you are limited by your own senses. As part of the 1-day casting time of this spell, you may spend a total number of rounds equal to your primary spellcasting ability modifier casting non-epic spells which enhance your senses; these take effect when you reach your target time and location, and last for the duration of the observations. Your scry sensor is undetectable.
You can remain in one place while observing, or you can move with a speed of up to 120 feet, moving through walls and magical effects without interacting with them. However, you cannot enter or see into any area which has been warded to prevent scrying unless you make a caster level check against a DC of 20 + twice the caster level of the warding effect.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell reduces speed factors by half (minimum 1), doubles the amount of subjective time you may spend observing, increases your sensor speed by 30 feet, and grants you a +2 bonus on the caster level check to see or move through a scry warding.
Evolving Present
Sphere: Time (Transmutation)
Prerequisite: Celerity, Greater
Casting Time: 2 rounds
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 10 minutes/level
A few seconds after beginning this complex ritual, the world around you blurs and stutter-steps -- and suddenly the candles have burned lower. As you move, flickers of possibility fringe at the edge of things, and you find yourself able to react more swiftly, slipping more time between the moments.
As part of casting this spell, you store up a round's worth of actions, for use as necessary later. You gain a pool of 6 Seconds, which last for the duration of the spell. At any time, you may spend these seconds to gain extra actions, as shown in the table below.
{table=head]Action Type|Seconds Cost
Swift action|1
Move action|2
Standard action|3
Full-round action|5[/table]
The types of activities you can perform with these extra actions are as described in the Greater Celerity spell. {Author's note: these will be defined elsewhere.} You may not spend more than 6 Seconds, or gain more than two of the same type of action, in any given round. The act of spending Seconds is a free action which you can perform even when it is not your turn; however, actions of a given type cost twice as much when it is not your turn, and you cannot spend Seconds if you have not yet acted in a given encounter. For the purposes of this spell (irrelevant of initiative count), a round begins at the beginning of your turn, and ends at the beginning of your next turn.
The effects of this spell end once you have no more Seconds left in your pool. If you have Seconds remaining when the duration of the spell ends, they are lost. You may not benefit from this spell more than once at the same time; if you cast the spell again while you still have Seconds in your pool, the remaining Seconds are lost.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the pool of Seconds by 3.
Subtle Futures
Sphere: Time (Divination, Transmutation)
Prerequisite: Foresight
Casting Time: See text
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: See text
You meditate, and a river of possible futures washes over you, giving you insight into coming events. Your mind ranges wide over the curve and buckle of probability and improbability; you realize that everything is mutable, and all can change, to become or to be forever lost among the stones. This insight sinks deep into your subconscious, to resurface when it will be most useful.
When you cast this spell, you gain knowledge of possible futures. Since the actual future which will come to pass changes with every choice made by every sentient, free-willed creature, it is not possible to gain perfect predictive powers. However, this spell makes you aware of certain probabilities, to see what is most likely to happen under certain circumstances.
The amount of foreknowledge you gain is represented by your pool of Chances, and depends on how long you spend observing the flow of time. For each minute you spend casting this spell, to a maximum number of minutes equal to your caster level, you add 5 Chances to your pool. You can spend these Chances in a number of ways to gain different benefits, as shown on the table below.
{table=head]Benefit|Chances Cost|Notes
Gain a +2 insight bonus to any d20 roll|1|Stackable up to +10
Gain a +5 insight bonus to any Knowledge check|1|Stackable up to +15
Gain a +4 insight bonus to armor class|1|Stackable up to +20
Exchange a prepared spell for another spell of same level|*|Costs # of Chances equal to spell level
Reroll a failed save|5|Must take result of second roll
Redo a round's worth of actions|15|Cannot repeat the round more than once[/table]
However, as the present evolves into the future, probabilities change and erode, making your foreknowledge less useful. You lose 1 Chance from your pool every minute; the spell ends when you have no more Chances left in your pool. You may not benefit from this spell more than once at the same time; if you cast the spell again while you still have Chances in your pool, the remaining Chances are lost.
Rather than looking for general information, you can focus on one particular event which you believe will happen; if you do so, you get twice as many Chances per minute of casting, but they decay at twice the rate, and the spell ends as soon as the event has happened (or irrevocably been avoided) even if you have Chances remaining in your pool. You may only spend Chances from this sort of casting when participating in events which directly relate to the event on which you focused.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell grants you 1 additional Chance per minute of casting time.
Timeless Self
Sphere: Time (Transmutation)
Prerequisite: Time Stop
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 minute/level (D)
With a thought, you feel an abrupt, sharp tear -- and you float free, watching time pass you by.
By casting this spell, you briefly sever the portion of your self which connects you with normal time-flow, vanishing from sight. Until the spell ends, you are nearly in stasis, with only your mind still active.
In this state, you are invisible and undetectable by any means, but you can see in all directions with your normal vision. You do not age, and any magical, psionic, or other effects which were active on on you have their durations suspended for the duration of this spell. (Durations resume with no lost time when this spell ends.) You cannot interact with your surroundings, only observe; however, in return you are not affected by the creatures, spells, environment, or any other effects around you.
With an effort of will (requiring a DC 20 Concentration check as a full-round action), you can move your position at the rate of 5 feet per round. You may only pass through squares which you could enter normally -- magical or mundane barriers confound you. You may take no other actions other than making Knowledge checks, Listen checks, Spot checks, or Search checks which require no manipulation of your environment.
You remain in this state for 1 minute per level, or until you dismiss the spell, reappearing in your current square.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the speed at which you can move by 5 feet.
Unbroken Stream [Apex]
Sphere: Time (Divination, Conjuration, Teleportation, Transmutation)
Prerequisites: Assembled Past, Evolving Present, Subtle Futures, Timeless Self
Casting Time: 1 day
Range: Personal (see text)
Target: You (see text)
Duration: See text
Your incantation is complete, and with little more than a breath, you step away from the world of the Present. Time immediately tries to sweep you away in its pull, but you rise above it, searching for your destination. Behind you is the massive, immovable current of the Past, and ahead of you the combining and recombining rivulets of Future.
The Apex spell of the Time Sphere allows you to achieve true mastery of the river of time, moving up and down its length to write your story where you choose. You leave your original Where and When and teleport to a new set of four-dimensional coordinates.
Travel to the Past is simple in execution. You must specify a time and location on your current plane as in Assembled Past, with the same restrictions and hazards. You simply disappear from your original time and place and reappear in the new time and place.
The true danger with traveling to the Past is in the avoidance of Paradox. The river of time is extremely difficult to divert, and the results of attempting to do so are often unexpected. The Universe does not allow Paradox, and will attempt to resist it by any means necessary. Small changes to details can be executed with relative ease, thanks to faulty and fickle memory and records. However, if your actions would lead to a true Paradox, you will often find obstacles appearing out of nowhere to confound you -- strange luck, misunderstandings, etc. Sometimes your very actions will facilitate the occurrence of the events you are trying to prevent or alter.
If you succeed even against the Universe's wishes to alter the Past in ways that create a Paradox with your present, you merely succeed in diverting your piece of the River onto a new course. You might return to your original Present to discover things wildly different than you had left -- perhaps without you in it. Your original timeline would still exist… somewhere inaccessible to you.
Travel to the Future carries no risk of Paradox; however, it is in itself a risky endeavour for the same reason. The Future is mutable, and so it is impossible to determine exactly where or when you will arrive. You specify a time and location just as if you were traveling to the Past, but you do not arrive precisely when and where you mean to, appearing with a 1d4% error in time in either direction (i.e., if you attempted to travel 1000 years into the Future, you arrive 10-40 years in either direction), and 1d100 miles from your intended target. There is similarly no way to predict exactly what the conditions will be when you arrive in the Future.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell allows you to bring an additional creature with you when you travel.
This is part of a much larger project. I'm currently working on a high-level + epic campaign setting, with the lofty goal of completely revamping the high level and epic rules to be playable, challenging, and fun without being stupid, crappy, or completely and utterly borked.
(This is an ambitious project, I know, but worry not -- I have some people helping me with it. Once it's a little more complete (still in the very beginning stages now), I'll post some of it over here for everyone's perusal.)
This is my WIP revamp of Epic Spellcasting. Now, I know, your first response is "but, but, you have to fix non-epic magic before you can tackle epic magic!!" Yes, I know. That's in the works as well, worry not. But it's not really relevant for this idea, so I hope you can evaluate this for what it is.
EPIC SPELLCASTING [Epic]
You have mastered the traditional magicks of spellcasters, and have ascended to the pinnacle of your craft.
Prerequisites: Spellcraft 24 ranks, Knowledge (arcana, nature, or religion) 24 ranks, ability to cast 9th-level arcane or divine spells
Benefit: You gain the ability to cast one non-apex epic spell for which you qualify from any epic sphere. Epic spells are cast just as normal spells, subject to the specific details given below; you may cast epic spells any number of times per day. You may not apply metamagic feats to epic spells.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times, each time choosing either a new epic spell, or attaining another refinement on a spell you already know.
APEX SPELLCASTING [Epic]
Your mastery of a single epic sphere is unparalleled.
Prerequisites: Spellcraft 33 ranks, Knowledge (arcana, nature, or religion) 33 ranks, ability to cast all non-apex spells in an epic sphere.
Benefit: Choose an epic sphere for which you know all the non-apex spells. You gain the ability to cast the apex spell from that sphere.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times, each time choosing either a new sphere, or attaining another refinement on a apex you already know. To attain a refinement level for a apex, you must have equal or greater refinement for all other spells in that sphere. For example, you may not attain the second refinement of a apex until you have two refinements for each other spell.
{table=head]Sphere|Prerequisites
Awareness |Discern Location, Moment of Prescience, True Seeing, Vision
Death |Create Greater Undead, Destruction, Soul Bind, Sphere of Ultimate Destruction
Creation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15873592&postcount=25) |Cocoon of Life, Gate, Genesis, Pavilion of Grandeur, True Creation
Force |Bigby's Crushing Hand, Maze, Mordenkainen's Sword, Otiluke's Telekinetic Sphere
Life |Heal, True Resurrection
Mind |Brain Spider, Mind Blank
Obscure |Antipathy, Mind Blank, Screen, Sequester, Skyrift
Portal |Astral Projection, Gate, Greater Plane Shift, Greater Teleport, Reality Maelstrom, Teleportation Circle
Radiance |Blinding Glory, Prismatic Sphere, Sunburst
Shadow |Greater Shadow Evocation, Shades, Weird
Shape |Polymorph Any Object, Shapechange
Summons |Greater Planar Binding, Summon Elemental Monolith, Summon Monster IX
Time |Foresight, Greater Celerity, Hindsight, Time Stop[/table]Note: the above table is very much a WIP; bold spheres are complete.
You can cast an epic spell in an Antimagic Field or Dead Magic Zone by making a caster level check against a DC of 15 + the caster level of the effect (25 for a DMZ).
The Spheres
Force
Prerequisites: Crushing Hand, Maze, Lash of Force, Telekinetic Sphere
Force Puppet
Sphere: Force (Evocation, Force)
Prerequisite: Crushing Hand
Casting Time: 1 full-round action
Range: 5 ft
Effect: One mannequin of force
Duration: 1 minute
As you complete the casting, a shimmering figure appears adjacent to you, taking on your exact dimensions. You concentrate briefly, and it moves off to do your bidding.
When you cast this spell, you create a body made of force -- a glowing, featureless version of yourself. The body has a Dexterity equal to your caster level, a speed of 30 feet, and a Strength score of 10 + your primary spellcasting modifier. Each round, you can spend a swift action to mentally control the puppet's actions as an additional body, directing it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions.
The projection can make two slam attacks, as a natural attack dealing 2d6 + Str force damage; it has an attack bonus equal to your caster level + its Strength modifier. Alternatively, the puppet can cast non-epic spells which do not have verbal components (the projection does not need to supply material components with a value of 1 gp or less), using your spells known/prepared, spell slots, caster level, and any relevant feats (i.e., the puppet can only cast spells you have access to, and any spell the puppet casts counts against your spells per day).
The projection is made of the same substance as a wall of force, and has the same vulnerabilities and immunities that a wall of force does, with the following exceptions:
the puppet can pass through other force effects without interacting (including forceward);
the puppet can withstand a single interaction with an effect which would otherwise destroy it (such as disintegrate or a rod of cancellation);
the puppet is easily visible unless steps are taken to hide it.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the puppet's Strength and Dexterity by +4 and its base speed by +20 feet. In addition, the duration increases by 1 minute, and the puppet can survive one additional interaction with an effect which would otherwise destroy it.
Hyperkinesis
Sphere: Force (Transmutation, Force)
Prerequisite: Telekinetic Sphere
Casting Time: 1 swift action, 1 move action, or 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
As you finish the simple casting, suddenly you can feel vectors of impetus between you and other nearby objects. With a simple thought, you set them to dancing.
This spell grants you incredible telekinetic control over your surroundings. When you cast this spell, you gain a pool of Grasp equal to your caster level, which you may then spend to exert your will over creatures and objects within a range of 20 feet per caster level. The actions you an take depend on how long you spend casting the spell, though you may not cast it more than once per round. You may make use of any number of these options for the appropriate casting time as part of the casting, up to the limit of the amount of Grasp you have; however, you may not target the same creature or object more than once with the same option with the same casting. Swift Action Casting:
Force target to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) or be flat-footed until the beginning of their next turn. (3 Grasp)
Create a telekinetic barrier, granting a target a deflection bonus to AC against one attack equal to your highest mental ability modifier. The target may choose the attack to which it applies, as long as it occurs before the beginning of your next turn. (2 Grasp)
Move a number of nonmagical, unattended objects equal to your caster level, weighing no more than 10 lbs each, up to 25 feet in any direction. (2 Grasp)
Move Action Casting:
Grant a target creature a fly speed equal to 10 feet times your primary spellcasting ability modifier, with perfect maneuverability, for 1 round (1 Grasp +1 per size category greater than Medium)
Impel a telekinetic spin on a target, causing it to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) or be moved 2d3 squares in a series of random directions, choosing a new direction for each square of movement. (2 Grasp +1 per additional 1d3 squares)
Reorient a target's gravity in any direction for 1 round, causing the target to fall towards the nearest solid surface in that direction. The target falls 60 feet in the round, and suffers falling damage as normal if striking a solid surface. (3 Grasp)
Moving a target up to 30 feet in a single direction along the ground (or through the air, if the creature is flying). The creature may attempt a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) to resist. This motion does not damage the target, though it provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. (3 Grasp)
Standard Action Casting:
Hurl an unattended object or a creature with deadly force (see the telekinetic thrust power for details), with a total weight no greater than 25 lbs per caster level. (4 grasp)
Bull rush, disarm, grapple, pin, or trip a creature, as per the telekinetic maneuver power, using your caster level in place of base attack bonus and your primary spellcasting ability modifier in place of your Strength or Dexterity modifier. (4 Grasp; each +1 Grasp grants a +2 to any required checks)
Attempt to crush (bludgeoning), tear (slashing), or twist (piercing) a target directly, dealing 1d6 damage per caster level, with a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) for half damage. (3 Grasp)
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the pool of Grasp by 3.
Impulse Jungle
Sphere: Force (Evocation, Force)
Prerequisite: Maze
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft + 10 ft/level)
Area: One 10-foot cube/level (S)
Duration: 1 minute
As you exert your will upon the world around you, a veritable labyrinth of razor-sharp force planes springs into existence, glowing a faint blue. They shift and weave, creating fractal intersections which bend the laws of space-time.
This spell creates a force maze in the area you indicate, trapping creatures inside. Creatures within the jungle have cover and concealment from each other, but the maze is enclosed, preventing any attacks, spells, or other effects to cross in or out (line of effect is blocked). Inside the jungle, creatures are subject to a dimensional lock effect, preventing dimensional travel into, out of, or within the area.
Any creature which attempts to move must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + primary spellcasting ability modifier) or take 1d4 slashing damage (with the [Force] descriptor) per caster level as the warping and moving force sheets slice into it. A trapped creature can make a DC 20 Intelligence check as a full-round action; a successful check means that the creature can move at up to one-quarter speed in any direction, while a failure means that the creature ends up back where it started. In addition, any time a creature moves, there is a 25% chance that it will fall through a loop in spacetime and arrive in a different square within the jungle, chosen at random. Such transportation never places a creature on a surface that can't support its weight.
You can move through the jungle freely, without suffering damage or a chance of being transported, and can even enter and exit without difficulty. You can designate 1 additional creature to move through the jungle with the same ease as you.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the DC of the Intelligence check by 3, the duration by 1 minute, and the number of additional creatures you can designate by 1.
Potent Spear
Sphere: Force (Evocation, Force)
Prerequisite: Lash of Force
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Unlimited
Target: 1 creature
Duration: Instantaneous
You gather your wits, and release a bolt of force, which finds your opponent unerringly, burrowing through anything that stands in the way.
A missile of force leaves your hand and strikes its target, dealing 1d10 damage per caster level. The damage is untyped, and carries the [Force] descriptor. You must specify the creature's square (which means you must know the distance, direction, and specific square the target resides in), but the target can be at any distance, as long as it is on the same plane as you. The missile strikes unerringly, even if you do not have line of sight or line of effect, or if the creature has total cover or concealment from you. It passes through any barrier, even if the target is underground.
When the target is struck by the potent spear, any [Force] effects currently affecting the creature with caster level less than your caster level are automatically dispelled. You can make a caster level check against a DC of 11 + the caster level of the effect to attempt to dispel any [Force] effects affecting the target which have a higher caster level than yours.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell grants you an additional spear with each casting, which you can direct at the same or a different target. Every spear after the first deals half damage.
Inimitable Scion [Apex]
Sphere: Force (Evocation, Force)
Prerequisites: Force Puppet, Hyperkinesis, Impulse Jungle, Potent Spear
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
With little more than a thought, you transform into a being of undeniable will.
The Apex spell of the Force Sphere allows you to ascend from your normal physical existence, and become (for a brief time) a being of pure force. You and all your equipment turn invisible, and take no damage from any effects that cannot affect a wall of force. You can pass through other force effects with impunity, without interacting (including forceward and impulse jungle). You are affected by disintegrate normally (i.e., you are not destroyed immediately like a wall of force, but the spell does affect you), while interacting with a rod of cancellation, sphere of annihilation, or mage's disjunction causes this spell to end immediately but has no other effect on you (including the normal effect of the rod, sphere, or spell).
While this spell is in effect, you may grant any other spell you cast the [Force] descriptor. You gain 2 slam attacks, each of which deals 1d4 bludgeoning [Force] damage per caster level and attacks your opponent's touch AC; your base attack bonus with these attacks is equal to your caster level. You also gain a deflection bonus to AC equal to your primary spellcasting ability modifier, which stacks with any other deflection bonus you are benefiting from.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the duration by 1 round.
Obscure written by Amechra
New Term: Obscured. If an object, creature, concept, or place is obscured, it counts as one step less familiar or common for all purposes for each veil of Obscurement it has placed on it.
For example, a well-known figure, whose life story would normally be common knowledge, has two veils of Obscurement placed on him. For the purposes of a Bardic Knowledge check, he would be obscure; for the purposes of a friend scrying him, he would be a second-hand acquaintance.
If an object, creature, concept, or place is more obscure or unfamiliar than the most obscure or unfamiliar category that is normally allowed by the effect (for example, if a place is obscured one step past Extremely Obscure), that effect automatically fails to give any sort of information about the object, creature, concept, or place.
Acting Below Notice
Sphere: Obscure (Illusion, Glamer)
Prerequisite: Mind Blank
Casting Time: 1 standard Action
Range: Close (25 ft + 5 ft / 2 levels)
Target: One willing creature
Duration: 24 hours
You place a powerful illusion that there is nothing worth noticing about... something?
When this spell is cast, your target benefits from a single veil of Obscurement, due to simply being so incredibly below notice by everyone. For the next 24 hours, your target gains a +20 circumstance bonus on all Disguise, Hide, and Move Silently checks, and benefits as if from the mind blank spell.
In addition, whenever a creature interacts with your target for the first time during the duration of this spell, that creature must make a Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + your spellcasting ability score); on a failed save, the creature's attitude moves one step closer to Indifferent for the duration of the spell. If a creature who is already Indifferent fails its save, that creature instead loses the ability to perceive the target or any of the target's actions through any of its senses, unless those actions would directly cause it harm.
Multiple castings of this spell on the same target do not stack. You are immune to the effects of this spell when you cast it on targets other than yourself.
Refinement: This spell may be refined a maximum of five times; the first four tiers of refinement each cause the spell to place an additional veil of Obscurement on your target, increase the duration of the effect by 24 hours, and move creatures interacting with your target one step closer to Indifferent.
The last tier of refinement changes the duration of the spell to Permanent, but only for the purposes of attempting to learn about your target's actions over the five day period when this spell is in effect (i.e., any actions the target takes during the 120-hour duration of the spell are permanently obscured, though the effect of the spell itself ends after 120 hours).
Aeternal Shade
Sphere Obscure (Evocation, Darkness)
Requirements: Skyrift (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20050114a)
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Touch
Area: 100 square miles of land, 1 mile high
Duration: Permanent (D)
Sighing, you close your eyes; within an hour, the whole area is shrouded with mist and mystery.
Upon completion of this spell, the area is covered in a metaphysical darkness. To anyone outside it, the area looks dimly-lit at best.
Within the area, light levels are considered one step darker for all purposes (natural daylight -> bright illumination -> shadowy illumination -> darkness -> magical darkness); those inside experience this effect as a hazy mist that restricts their vision and dulls their hearing.
The dimness which covers the area extends to all senses, restricting all sensory information as thoroughly as sight; however, creatures with low-light vision or darkvision apply the effects of those abilities to their other senses as well.
In addition, any divination (or similar) effect originating from or targeting any place, object, or creature within the area has its caster level (or equivalent) and save DC reduced by 2 for each step darker that area is than bright illumination (e.g., magical darkness would reduce the caster level and save DC of a divination effect by 6).
This spell is considered a 10th level Darkness effect for the purposes of interacting with Light effects; in addition, each 10-ft cube is considered its own spell for the purposes of being dispelled by Light effects.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement increases the reduction to caster level by one, and causes the area to be treated as if it were one step darker. Every second tier of refinement increases the reduction to save DCs by one.
Everdistant Imposition
Sphere: Obscure (Abjuration, Enchantment)
Prerequisite: Antipathy
Casting Time: 1 full-round action
Range: Personal
Target: Self
Duration: 10 minutes
You whisper a few words, and suddenly seem far away -- very far away.
For the duration of this spell, all divination or clairsentience effects, Spot checks, and Listen checks concerning you are made as if you were ten times further away from the creature using the effect or making the check than you actually are.
In addition, you may, as a swift action, reduce the duration of the spell by 1 minute to become Unreachable; while Unreachable, your effective distance is increased by a factor of 10, and Divination spells treat you as if you were on a different plane.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain increases the duration of this spell by 10 minutes, and increases your effective distance by a factor of 10. In addition, while Unreachable, you are treated as if you were (1 + number of tiers of refinement) times further away for all effects not already covered by this spell.
Shrouded in Lies
Sphere: Obscure (Abjuration, Illusion)
Prerequisites: Screen, Sequester
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: See text
Target: A single concept
Duration: Instantaneous
You spend 10 minutes lecturing your friends on topic that they steadily find harder and harder to understand.
While casting this spell, select a person, place, group, or concept that is generally known -- common knowledge, a public figure, etc. When you finish casting, the knowledge of your target has a single veil of Obscurement placed on it, making it more difficult for any entities to know or remember the target. The DC for Knowledge checks made to know or remember the target is increased by +5 by the veil of Obscurement.
In addition, you may choose a single piece of misinformation, called a Lie, that is permanently imbedded in the information itself. This misinformation could consist of removing a single fact about the target ("Dragons are really really scary"), adding a single "fact" ("King Murderface will give you half his kingdom if you give him a belly-rub"), or altering a single fact ("Dwarves Elves are prissy, nature-loving stuck-up pretty boys"). If an effect or a skill check is made to learn any information about your target and fails, but would have succeeded if your target wasn't under the effects of Obscurement, they are treated as if they had succeeded, except that they are subject to the Lies placed by the casting of this spell.
Over the course of the 24 hours immediately after this spell is cast, any memories, stories, or records about the subject are altered to match the altered "truth"; the pervasiveness of this effect is so total that effects that detect or forbid lies treat the misinformation as truth for all purposes.
Casting this spell multiple times, targeting the same piece of information, overlaps in terms of the number of veils of Obscurement (i.e., no new veils are added unless you have attained additional tiers of refinement since the previous casting); however, you may change an appropriate number of Lies about the subject with each casting.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement for this spell increases the number of veils of Obscurement placed by 1, and allows you to add another Lie to that subject.
There Never Was A You [APEX]
Sphere: Obscure
Prerequisites: Acting Below Notice, Aeternal Shade, Everdistant Imposition, Shrouded in Lies
Casting Time: 1 or more consecutive full-round actions
Range: See text
Target: 1 creature
Duration: Instantaneous
You list every reason why your target never was, has never been, and the world obliges. They oblige. You smile.
When you begin casting this spell, select a single creature within Close range as a full-round action. The target must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 caster level + your primary spellcasting ability modifier) or begin to have their past made so secret that it never happened.
If the creature fails its Will save, you may continue casting this spell for up to one minute, spending a full-round action each round. Each round that you spend casting the spell, your target receives a single negative level. This negative level does not stem from negative energy, but from a pervasive sense of secrecy, hiding the target from itself; if the target receives enough negative levels to kill it, its instead is rendered catatonic as it forgets how to think, breathe, and move.
Once the casting is complete, your target is inflicted with a number of veils of Obscurement equal to the number of rounds you spent casting the spell. Additionally, all memories of the target (by any creature) are erased, up to a maximum number of years of memory (for each remembering creature) equal to 10 times the number of negative levels inflicted by the spell.
Alternatively, you may cast the spell such that the negative levels are imposed at the end of the casting (instead of during), and each round of casting inflicts one veil of Obscurement and removes 10 years of memories from any creatures that knew the target (instead of all veils and memory loss being inflicted at the end).
Either way, once the casting of this spell has begun, there is nowhere your victim can hide or run to escape the effects of the spell; if the creature fails the initial Will save, it suffers the effects of the spell even if it teleports to the ends of the earth, or travels to a different plane. Even if the subject dies, the memory of its existence is relentlessly effaced from reality, leaving mourners wondering why their cheeks are wet.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain increases the number of negative levels or years of memory erased each round by 1 and ten, respectively.
Time
Assembled Past
Sphere: Time (Divination, Scrying)
Prerequisite: Hindsight
Casting Time: 1 day
Range: See text
Target: See text
Duration: Instantaneous; see text
After your day-long meditation, your mind is freed from its flesh prison and soars over the ocean of time, searching for the information you seek.
When you cast this spell, your mind trawls the depths of time, allowing you to observe and remember events as they truly happened, then returning to where and when you started. You can see and hear into the past, observing events that happened anywhere on your current plane which was (at the time) accessible via greater teleport. You can observe the past as if you were actually there, gaining whatever information is available to you with your senses, including detailed knowledge of the people, conversations, and events which transpired.
You must choose a starting time and location for your observations each time you cast this spell. The location is chosen as normal for the greater teleport spell. The starting time must be relatively specific -- "the year 1473, on the fifth day of the eighth month, midmorning" is acceptable, but "500 years ago" is not. If you are not specific enough in your target time, you incur a 2d100 year uncertainty in the date you begin observations.
You may observe in subjective time for a total number of minutes equal to your caster level; however, you may have the observed time pass forward or backward at any of the following rates:
1 round per round (speed factor 1)
1 minute per round (speed factor 2)
1 hour per round (speed factor 4)
1 day per round (speed factor 8)
1 week per round (speed factor 16)
1 month per round (speed factor 32)
1 year per round (speed factor 64)
1 decade per round (speed factor 128)
1 century per round (speed factor 256)
While time is moving forward at 1 hour per round or faster, or while moving backward at any speed, you do not get observations in full detail. The faster the observed time is moving, the less detail you gain. If you are seeking a particular event or person, you may make an Intelligence check (DC 10 + speed factor; speed factor is doubled for backwards time) to return to forward time at speed factor 1 when you observe that event or person. For an event which spans a longer period of time, at the DM's discretion you may reduce the DC accordingly.
While you are observing, you are limited by your own senses. As part of the 1-day casting time of this spell, you may spend a total number of rounds equal to your primary spellcasting ability modifier casting non-epic spells which enhance your senses; these take effect when you reach your target time and location, and last for the duration of the observations. Your scry sensor is undetectable.
You can remain in one place while observing, or you can move with a speed of up to 120 feet, moving through walls and magical effects without interacting with them. However, you cannot enter or see into any area which has been warded to prevent scrying unless you make a caster level check against a DC of 20 + twice the caster level of the warding effect.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell reduces speed factors by half (minimum 1), doubles the amount of subjective time you may spend observing, increases your sensor speed by 30 feet, and grants you a +2 bonus on the caster level check to see or move through a scry warding.
Evolving Present
Sphere: Time (Transmutation)
Prerequisite: Celerity, Greater
Casting Time: 2 rounds
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 10 minutes/level
A few seconds after beginning this complex ritual, the world around you blurs and stutter-steps -- and suddenly the candles have burned lower. As you move, flickers of possibility fringe at the edge of things, and you find yourself able to react more swiftly, slipping more time between the moments.
As part of casting this spell, you store up a round's worth of actions, for use as necessary later. You gain a pool of 6 Seconds, which last for the duration of the spell. At any time, you may spend these seconds to gain extra actions, as shown in the table below.
{table=head]Action Type|Seconds Cost
Swift action|1
Move action|2
Standard action|3
Full-round action|5[/table]
The types of activities you can perform with these extra actions are as described in the Greater Celerity spell. {Author's note: these will be defined elsewhere.} You may not spend more than 6 Seconds, or gain more than two of the same type of action, in any given round. The act of spending Seconds is a free action which you can perform even when it is not your turn; however, actions of a given type cost twice as much when it is not your turn, and you cannot spend Seconds if you have not yet acted in a given encounter. For the purposes of this spell (irrelevant of initiative count), a round begins at the beginning of your turn, and ends at the beginning of your next turn.
The effects of this spell end once you have no more Seconds left in your pool. If you have Seconds remaining when the duration of the spell ends, they are lost. You may not benefit from this spell more than once at the same time; if you cast the spell again while you still have Seconds in your pool, the remaining Seconds are lost.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the pool of Seconds by 3.
Subtle Futures
Sphere: Time (Divination, Transmutation)
Prerequisite: Foresight
Casting Time: See text
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: See text
You meditate, and a river of possible futures washes over you, giving you insight into coming events. Your mind ranges wide over the curve and buckle of probability and improbability; you realize that everything is mutable, and all can change, to become or to be forever lost among the stones. This insight sinks deep into your subconscious, to resurface when it will be most useful.
When you cast this spell, you gain knowledge of possible futures. Since the actual future which will come to pass changes with every choice made by every sentient, free-willed creature, it is not possible to gain perfect predictive powers. However, this spell makes you aware of certain probabilities, to see what is most likely to happen under certain circumstances.
The amount of foreknowledge you gain is represented by your pool of Chances, and depends on how long you spend observing the flow of time. For each minute you spend casting this spell, to a maximum number of minutes equal to your caster level, you add 5 Chances to your pool. You can spend these Chances in a number of ways to gain different benefits, as shown on the table below.
{table=head]Benefit|Chances Cost|Notes
Gain a +2 insight bonus to any d20 roll|1|Stackable up to +10
Gain a +5 insight bonus to any Knowledge check|1|Stackable up to +15
Gain a +4 insight bonus to armor class|1|Stackable up to +20
Exchange a prepared spell for another spell of same level|*|Costs # of Chances equal to spell level
Reroll a failed save|5|Must take result of second roll
Redo a round's worth of actions|15|Cannot repeat the round more than once[/table]
However, as the present evolves into the future, probabilities change and erode, making your foreknowledge less useful. You lose 1 Chance from your pool every minute; the spell ends when you have no more Chances left in your pool. You may not benefit from this spell more than once at the same time; if you cast the spell again while you still have Chances in your pool, the remaining Chances are lost.
Rather than looking for general information, you can focus on one particular event which you believe will happen; if you do so, you get twice as many Chances per minute of casting, but they decay at twice the rate, and the spell ends as soon as the event has happened (or irrevocably been avoided) even if you have Chances remaining in your pool. You may only spend Chances from this sort of casting when participating in events which directly relate to the event on which you focused.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell grants you 1 additional Chance per minute of casting time.
Timeless Self
Sphere: Time (Transmutation)
Prerequisite: Time Stop
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 minute/level (D)
With a thought, you feel an abrupt, sharp tear -- and you float free, watching time pass you by.
By casting this spell, you briefly sever the portion of your self which connects you with normal time-flow, vanishing from sight. Until the spell ends, you are nearly in stasis, with only your mind still active.
In this state, you are invisible and undetectable by any means, but you can see in all directions with your normal vision. You do not age, and any magical, psionic, or other effects which were active on on you have their durations suspended for the duration of this spell. (Durations resume with no lost time when this spell ends.) You cannot interact with your surroundings, only observe; however, in return you are not affected by the creatures, spells, environment, or any other effects around you.
With an effort of will (requiring a DC 20 Concentration check as a full-round action), you can move your position at the rate of 5 feet per round. You may only pass through squares which you could enter normally -- magical or mundane barriers confound you. You may take no other actions other than making Knowledge checks, Listen checks, Spot checks, or Search checks which require no manipulation of your environment.
You remain in this state for 1 minute per level, or until you dismiss the spell, reappearing in your current square.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell increases the speed at which you can move by 5 feet.
Unbroken Stream [Apex]
Sphere: Time (Divination, Conjuration, Teleportation, Transmutation)
Prerequisites: Assembled Past, Evolving Present, Subtle Futures, Timeless Self
Casting Time: 1 day
Range: Personal (see text)
Target: You (see text)
Duration: See text
Your incantation is complete, and with little more than a breath, you step away from the world of the Present. Time immediately tries to sweep you away in its pull, but you rise above it, searching for your destination. Behind you is the massive, immovable current of the Past, and ahead of you the combining and recombining rivulets of Future.
The Apex spell of the Time Sphere allows you to achieve true mastery of the river of time, moving up and down its length to write your story where you choose. You leave your original Where and When and teleport to a new set of four-dimensional coordinates.
Travel to the Past is simple in execution. You must specify a time and location on your current plane as in Assembled Past, with the same restrictions and hazards. You simply disappear from your original time and place and reappear in the new time and place.
The true danger with traveling to the Past is in the avoidance of Paradox. The river of time is extremely difficult to divert, and the results of attempting to do so are often unexpected. The Universe does not allow Paradox, and will attempt to resist it by any means necessary. Small changes to details can be executed with relative ease, thanks to faulty and fickle memory and records. However, if your actions would lead to a true Paradox, you will often find obstacles appearing out of nowhere to confound you -- strange luck, misunderstandings, etc. Sometimes your very actions will facilitate the occurrence of the events you are trying to prevent or alter.
If you succeed even against the Universe's wishes to alter the Past in ways that create a Paradox with your present, you merely succeed in diverting your piece of the River onto a new course. You might return to your original Present to discover things wildly different than you had left -- perhaps without you in it. Your original timeline would still exist… somewhere inaccessible to you.
Travel to the Future carries no risk of Paradox; however, it is in itself a risky endeavour for the same reason. The Future is mutable, and so it is impossible to determine exactly where or when you will arrive. You specify a time and location just as if you were traveling to the Past, but you do not arrive precisely when and where you mean to, appearing with a 1d4% error in time in either direction (i.e., if you attempted to travel 1000 years into the Future, you arrive 10-40 years in either direction), and 1d100 miles from your intended target. There is similarly no way to predict exactly what the conditions will be when you arrive in the Future.
Refinement: Each tier of refinement you attain with this spell allows you to bring an additional creature with you when you travel.