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View Full Version : yet another new spell: lantern of eternal venom



inuyasha
2013-03-08, 04:42 PM
Lantern of eternal venom
necromancy
Level: Sor/Wis 6
Components: V, S
Casting time: 1 standard action
Range: medium (100ft +10/level)
Area: 30ft
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving throw: fortitude negates
Spell resistance: yes
When this spell is cast, the caster throws a green ball of energy that radiates poison. Anyone within 30ft of where this ball goes must make a fortitude save or take 2d6 strength damage. every round someone is in the radius, they must make additional fortitude saves to avoid additional damage

any thoughts?

P.S. yes i post a lot of spells, got any ideas PM me and i will see what i can do

Zarrgon
2013-03-09, 03:32 AM
Looks way too powerful. 2d6 strength damage for like 12 hours? Two or three failed saves would drain most foes.

I might add something like ''if a save is made, the target can ignore the effects of the spell for one round per Con modifier.''

Or make the first burst 2d6, but each round only 1-2. Or, maybe even better...Make it 2d6 on the first round, then one point a round and on a failed save, you add another point. Cumulatively. So if they make the save on round 2, it;s still 1 point on round 3....but if they fail the save, then it's 2.

Flavor wise, this spell is not really ''a lantern'' or ''poison''? How about more like ''Dreaded Zone of Enfeeblement''.

Jota
2013-03-09, 11:16 AM
I'm not convinced it's too powerful. I think the duration is excessively long for something that seems as an in-combat debuff/zone control. One round/level would be fine. As it is, I would argue you could run through the area without having to make a save (if intended as longer duration zone control), which limits it in that regard.

Aside from that, even if you take the initial hit (-3 to attack and damage rolls) you should still be able to get out of the area unless there are terrain features or opponents limiting your movement. Opponents are likely to be getting damaged themselves if that is the case. -3 to attack and damage is hardly great for a level six, even if it does manage to hit multiple opponents (in which case it may hit an ally or two as well). After that everyone simply avoids it, as it is not as though the caster can move it.

Lastly, I'd add in something about creatures being immune to poison being immune to the spells (and poison resistance offering bonuses to saves). You call it poison in the fluff, but there's nothing to differentiate it as poison mechanically.

DracoDei
2013-03-12, 04:01 PM
Yeah, "In the Radius" needs to be clarified timing-wise.

"where the ball goes" is clumsy wording. Consider simply "of the ball"?

"Every" should be capitalized in "every round".

In the "Area" part of the header You also need to specify if it is an Emanation or a Spread (and specifically call out in the main body of the text that, unlike most spreads, it has on going effects). Given the word "Lantern" it is probably an Emanation.

I actually like the duration, since it doesn't have the "Dismissible" property, which gives it the sort of vicious feel I associate with poison, and makes retrieving loot/prisoners interestingly non-trivial. Despite this, I DO NOT recommend giving it the [Evil] subtype.

Specify the size of the sphere.

In the interests of giving the more mundane classes nice things:
In either case it would have an AC of 7 if you made it 1 foot around, although you could make it smaller to make it a harder target. I would make it incorporeal.
Then do one or both of the following (I like the idea of both, and you should feel free to simply if you feel the need):

The sphere can be destroyed, and has hitpoints equal to twice the caster level, is incorporeal, immune to all types of energy except Force, and has DR against ranged attacks equal to half the caster level, and overcome by EITHER Cold-Iron OR Silver. I suggest you don't pick one material, but rather make either work, Cold-Iron is traditionally anti-magical, and I THINK silver has an anti-poison vibe in legends. The DR, combined with the requirements for special materials keeps it balanced since ranged attacker don't have to enter the field. If you want to bump the cost up a bit, say that it is only overcome by cold iron, which is expensive to enchant (and it has to be enchanted to hit an incorporeal target).
It can be bull-rushed, but emphasize the incorporeal nature and modified to allow for weapons not being suited for bull-rushing. This means a magical shield, glove, or armor, may be substituted for a magical weapon to make the touch attack (and Ghost-Touch eliminates the miss chance). See below table for to-hit, and strength-check bonuses and penalties assessed on the bull-rusher:
Item type|To-hit|Strength check
Light Weapon|-15|-8
One-Handed Weapon|-10|-4
One Glove*|-5|-4
Two-Handed Weapon or two gloves|-5|-2
Small Shield|-2|-1
Large Shield|-1|+0
Tower Shield|+0|+0
Armor that does not cover arms at least to the wrist**|+0***|+0
Armor that covers arms|+0***|+0

*Most often will be used because the character has something in their other hand they don't wish to drop.
** Count force armor such as from Mage Armor or Bracers of Armor as this, noting that they do not suffer a miss chance.
**If a different item is used, and the to-hit roll is successful, but the 50% miss chance for corporeality prevents contact from actually being made, then the character may re-roll their to-hit (with the bonuses for armor) and miss chance, proceeding as if they had picked armor to begin with.

For this purpose, The sphere has a strength score of 10+CL, and (if you make it 1' diameter = Tiny Size) a total strength check of 1d20+1/2 CL-8. This isn't very high, but that is fine since a simple success only moves the sphere 5', and better successes move it further.