Sharknado spell(s)

[turbo164]

There's a thread on the movie here: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=291904

One of our players wants to custom research a spell inspired by this movie. Our 3am brainstorming came up with the following ideas; they'll need a lot of balancing and cleaning up, but what are your initial thoughts? (besides "Jawsome" :smallwink: )

Rough draft, copy-pasting bits of Air Elemental’s Cyclone ability, the Whirlwind/Greater Whirlwind spells, and Monster Manual sharks. Might be broken, dunno, sleep nowz.

Sharknado, Lesser/[normal]/Greater
Conjuration: Creation? Summoning? [Air, Water]
Level: Warmage, Druid 5/7/9
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Round
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Cyclone 5/10/15 ft. wide at base, 10/20/30 ft. wide at top, and 20/30/40 ft. tall
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: Reflex partial; see text
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates a powerful cyclone of raging wind and sharks that moves through the air, along the ground, or over water at a maximum speed of 20/40/60 feet per round. You can concentrate on controlling the cyclone’s every movement or specify a simple program. Directing the cyclone’s movement, changing its programmed movement, or expelling a specific passenger is a standard action for you. The cyclone always moves during your turn. If the cyclone exceeds the spell’s range, it moves in a random, uncontrolled fashion for 1d3 rounds and then dissipates. (You can’t regain control of the cyclone, even if comes back within range.)

Creatures that come in contact with the Sharknado are bitten by 1d4+1 sharks. Treat these bites as an attack at +6/+11/+16 for 1d6+2/2d6+4/3d6+6 damage. Enemies of Small/Medium/Large or smaller size bitten by at least one shark must make a reflex save or be pulled into the Sharknado. Creatures in the Sharknado are unable to act and are bitten by 1d3 sharks each round they remain in the Sharknado. If the Sharknado contains more than 1/4/12 Small creatures (Medium creatures count as 2, Large as 4), one creature is expelled at random at the end of your turn.


Druid WIP (and probably wildly imbalanced – FOR FUN!):

Sharkano - Druid 4
Short range
30 ft. Radius Area effect

Steam, rubble, and vicious predatory fish bubble up and violently spew forth from underground and litter the battlefield.

Sharkano initially deals 5d6 damage to any creature caught within the blast radius, Reflex half.
The following caster level + 1 rounds, any creature still within the area becomes the target of caster level / 3 + 1 phantom sharks.
The sharks use Bite attacks +11 (1d8 + 8).




Jawsmageddon - Druid 7
Long range
.5 mile Radius Area effect

Magically-enhanced sharks swoop in from the sky with unnatural hunger in their eyes.

In the first round after Jawsmageddon is cast, a Megalodon appears and attacks targets of the caster's choosing.
Over the course of caster level / 2 + 2 rounds, 3d6 + caster level/2 sharks enter the battlefield.
Each shark chooses his own target (caster and his/her allies are not targettable) and attacks.
The Megalodon and Sharks do not occupy or threaten squares, and will move to the nearest square if their current square becomes occupied. However, only one shark will occupy each square.
The Megalodon and Sharks are immune to all attacks and can only be dispelled by a Banishment spell.
The Megalodon dissipates 1 round after the last Shark enters the battlefield.
The Sharks dissipate 2 rounds after the Megalodon.

Jawsmageddon Megalodon
Gargantual Magical Beast
60 ft fly (perfect)
Bite +18 (3d8 + 14)

Jawsmageddon shark
Huge Magical Beast
60 ft fly (perfect)
Bite +16 (2d8 + 13)

[Debihuman]

Sharknado was hilarious and bravo for you trying to make this spell. I recommend you split into 3 spell blocks rather than one.

It also strikes me that it should be 3 domains [Air, Animal and Water]

A sharknado should match the size of the shark (Medium, Large and Huge see SRD stat block for details). I linked the SRD shark entry as a clickable link to the spells for ease.

EDIT: Added weather effects as well.
EDIT 2: Increased speed of the sharknado as well as size and duration.

Let me know what you think of these.

Sharknado, Lesser
Conjuration (Creation) [Air, Animal, Water]
Level: Druid 5, Warmage 5
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Round
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Cyclone 10 ft. wide at base, 20 ft. wide at top, and 30 ft. tall.
Duration: 1 minute/level (D)
Saving Throw: Reflex partial, see text
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates a powerful cyclone of raging rain, wind, and sharks that moves through the air, along the ground, or over water at a maximum speed of 20 feet per round. You can concentrate on controlling the cyclone’s every movement or specify a simple program. Directing the cyclone’s movement, changing its programmed movement, or expelling a specific passenger is a standard action for you. The cyclone always moves during your turn. If the cyclone exceeds the spell’s range, it moves in a random, uncontrolled fashion for 1d3 rounds and then dissipates. (You can’t regain control of the cyclone, even if comes back within range.)

Creatures adjacent to the sharknado are bitten by Medium sharks (see shark (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shark.htm) stat block for details). Small or smaller creatures that are bitten must also make a Reflex save or be pulled into the sharknado. Medium creatures are knocked down. Large and Huge creatures are checked. The sharknado has no other wind effect on Gargantuan or Colossal creatures.

Creatures within the sharknado are dazed and unable to act normally. They are also bitten by 1d3 sharks each round they remain in the sharknado. A lesser sharknado can hold 2 Small, or 4 Tiny, or 8 Diminutive or smaller creatures. If it contains more, one creature is expelled at random at the end of your turn.

Powerful enough to bring down branches if not whole trees, windstorms automatically extinguish unprotected flames and have a 75% chance of blowing out protected flames, such as those of lanterns. Ranged weapon attacks are impossible, and even siege weapons have a -4 penalty on attack rolls. Listen checks are at a -8 penalty due to the howling of the wind. There is a 10% chance that a bolt of lightning accompanies the sharknado.


Sharknado
Conjuration (Creation) [Air, Animal, Water]
Level: Druid 7, Warmage 7
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Round
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Cyclone 20 ft. wide at base, 40 ft. wide at top, and 60 ft. tall.
Duration: 10 minutes/level (D)
Saving Throw: Reflex partial, see text
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates a powerful cyclone of raging rain, wind, and sharks that moves through the air, along the ground, or over water at a maximum speed of 40 feet per round. You can concentrate on controlling the cyclone’s every movement or specify a simple program. Directing the cyclone’s movement, changing its programmed movement, or expelling a specific passenger is a standard action for you. The cyclone always moves during your turn. If the cyclone exceeds the spell’s range, it moves in a random, uncontrolled fashion for 1d3 rounds and then dissipates. (You can’t regain control of the cyclone, even if comes back within range.)

Creatures adjacent to the sharknado are bitten by Large sharks (see shark (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shark.htm) stat block for details). Medium or smaller creatures that are bitten must also make a Reflex save or be pulled into the sharknado. Large creatures are knocked down. Huge creatures are checked. The sharknado has no other wind effect on larger creatures.

Creatures within a sharknado are dazed and unable to act normally. They are also bitten by 1d3 sharks each round they remain in the sharknado. A standard sharknado can hold 4 Medium, or 8 Small, or 16 Tiny and smaller creatures. If it contains more, one creature is expelled at random at the end of your turn.

All flames are extinguished. Ranged attacks are impossible (except with siege weapons, which have a -8 penalty on attack rolls). Listen checks are impossible: All characters can hear is the roaring of the wind. Hurricane-force winds often fell trees. There is a 10% chance that a bolt of lightning accompanies the sharknado.

Sharknado, Greater
Conjuration (Creation) [Air, Animal, Water]
Level: Druid 9, Warmage 9
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Round
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Cyclone 40 ft. wide at base, 80 ft. wide at top, and 120 ft. tall.
Duration: 1 hour/level (D)
Saving Throw: Reflex partial, see text
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates a powerful cyclone of raging rain, wind, and sharks that moves through the air, along the ground, or over water at a maximum speed of 80 feet per round. You can concentrate on controlling the cyclone’s every movement or specify a simple program. Directing the cyclone’s movement, changing its programmed movement, or expelling a specific passenger is a standard action for you. The cyclone always moves during your turn. If the cyclone exceeds the spell’s range, it moves in a random, uncontrolled fashion for 1d3 rounds and then dissipates. (You can’t regain control of the cyclone, even if comes back within range.)

Creatures adjacent to the sharknado are bitten by Huge sharks (see shark (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shark.htm) stat block for details). Large or smaller creatures that are bitten must also make a Reflex save or be pulled into the sharknado. Huge creatures are knocked down. Gargantuan and Colossal creatures are checked.

Creatures within the sharknado are dazed and; unable to act normally. They are also bitten by 1d3 sharks each round they remain in the sharknado. A greater sharknado can hold 8 Large, or 16 Medium, or 32 Small or smaller creatures. If it contains more, one creature is expelled at random at the end of your turn.

All flames are extinguished. All ranged attacks are impossible (even with siege weapons), as are Listen checks. The sharknado uproots trees, destroys buildings, and causes other similar forms of major destruction. There is a 10% chance that a bolt of lightning accompanies the sharknado.

OPTIONAL RULES

If a single shark in the sharknado takes 50 or more points of damage from a single attack, so much blood is splattered that it causes a feeding frenzy. The remaining sharks gain the Mob Template and target the attacker for 1 round.

Freedom of movement doesn't prevent the wind from flinging objects at you at tremendous speed or stop things from falling on top of you. It allows you to move normally so you can attack the sharks coming at you.

There is a 20% chance each round, that the wind slams a shark (or other object that the sharknado has accrued) into a PC. A Medium shark weighing 350 pounds will cause 1d6 points of damage when it slams into a a target . If a PC had freedom of movement, the PC is allowed a Reflex save to avoid that damage.

Sharks can randomly fall out of the Sharknado and land on characters below. The rules state that for each 200 pounds of an object’s weight, the object deals 1d6 points of damage provided it falls at least 10 feet. Any shark that is killed in the sharknado automatically falls out of the sharknado. A charging shark that misses its target has a 10% chance of overshooting the target and falls out of the sharknado.

A Medium Shark weighs about 350 lbs. so it would cause 1d6 points of damage for every 10 feet it falls to anyone below it when it lands.

A 15-foot shark like a tiger shark can weigh 800 lbs. so it would cause 4d6 points of damage for every 10 feet it falls.

A 20-foot shark like a great white can weigh a whopping 5,000 lbs. Luckily, the maximum amount of damage from things falling on you is 20d6.

A PC must succeed on DC 20 Tumble check needed to dive into a Huge falling shark in order to slash it from the inside.

--------------------------------

I have no idea if these spells are balanced or not but they are a hoot! Added other weather effects as severity of winds should also be a factor see environment rules and weather.

Debby

[Vadskye]

That actually looks really good, Debihuman. I would consider making the effect larger; having a 5th level spell that only makes a single 5' square of contact with the ground is not that impressive. Doubling the radius would solve that problem; 10' radius, 20' radius, and 30' radius all seem relatively reasonable. Control Winds can get vastly bigger than that anyway.

Also, I'd increase the height; it's irrelevant to actual gameplay 90% of the time anyway, but it makes the spell more visually impressive. Something about a 20' tall "sharknado" just feels wrong to me. If you're going to be dumb for the sake of being awesome, don't do it halfway (as long as it doesn't break the game, naturally). So I'd bump it to 50' tall for the lesser version, 100' tall for the regular version, and 200' tall for the greater version.

[Debihuman]

Rather than going for a larger range (bigger height more land coverage) I think describing the force of the winds within the cyclone and its effect on the environment might be more useful.

You have to be within 5 feet of the smallest sharknado to be sucked up by it, but i think there should be stormy weather surrounding the actual sharknado too.The Fort DCS are based on the strength of the surrounding storm. See weather rules in Environment here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/weather.htm#hurricane

Let me know what you think

Debby

[awa]

at +10 to hit the sharks in the level 9 shark nado wont hit any level appropriate foes even when looking at cr 15 monster your going to be fishing for 20s consider giving them a bonus to hit say equal to your casting stat mod or something to make them more than flavor text.
edit although thinking about it you might need more then that to affect cr 17 foes

[Debihuman]

Creatures within the sharknado are unable to act and are bitten by 1d3 sharks each round they remain in the sharknado.

A particularly nasty DM could rule that the sharks actually would gain the +4 bonus for attacking a helpless PC and can coup de grace an opponent as a full-round action. The sharks automatically hit and score a critical hit. If the defender survives the damage, he must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die.

Debby

[awa]

if you want that to be part of the spell you should add that but by raw not being able to act is not the same thing as being helpless see the daze condition for an example.

[Debihuman]

Dazed isn't unable to act; it's unable to act normally. I grant you it is a subtle difference but that makes the difference.


The creature is unable to act normally. A dazed creature can take no actions, but has no penalty to AC.

A dazed condition typically lasts 1 round.

Being unable to act can be interpreted as helpless. I didn't write the flavor text so I'm gong to defer to the original poster turbo164 to define what was meant.

Debby

[Vadskye]

Rather than going for a larger range (bigger height more land coverage) I think describing the force of the winds within the cyclone and its effect on the environment might be more useful.

You have to be within 5 feet of the smallest sharknado to be sucked up by it, but i think there should be stormy weather surrounding the actual sharknado too.The Fort DCS are based on the strength of the surrounding storm. See weather rules in Environment here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/weather.htm#hurricane

Let me know what you think

Debby
I didn't realize that you considered "come in contact with" to mean "adjacent to" rather than "sharing space with". I'm not saying you're wrong; the intention is pretty ambiguous in all the core spells I've seen that wording on. But if you're using that interpretation, your original width at the base sounds fine to me.

I try to avoid using the SRD rules for Weather in spell effects whenever possible because they are bloody complicated. When writing that section, the designers seem to have gone on a realism kick, and as a result it has a lot of very specific effects that aren't necessarily obvious. When I look at the spells as you have them written, it still strikes me as strange that an effect only 20' tall can make ranged attacks impossible and give Listen checks such as huge penalty. (Also, where to these penaltyes apply? This is ambiguous. Just within the windstorm itself?)

[Bhu]

I love you guys

[Vadskye]

I love you guys

I love you too man

[Debihuman]

I didn't realize that you considered "come in contact with" to mean "adjacent to" rather than "sharing space with." I think in this situation, adjacent to makes more sense because of the size. Then I looked at weather rules and tried to match it up. I think it was fairly successful. The progression from windstorm, then hurricane and finally tornado made more sense in my mind. However, the tornado already had rules for being picked up that differed from the wording in the sharknado and try as I might, they didn't fit.


I'm not saying you're wrong; the intention is pretty ambiguous in all the core spells I've seen that wording on. But if you're using that interpretation, your original width at the base sounds fine to me.

The problem is that I am working within the confines of the OP's writing. Trying to stay as true to the text is much harder than it looks.


I try to avoid using the SRD rules for Weather in spell effects whenever possible because they are bloody complicated. When writing that section, the designers seem to have gone on a realism kick, and as a result it has a lot of very specific effects that aren't necessarily obvious.

This is why I keep the SRD bookmarked.

[When I look at the spells as you have them written, it still strikes me as strange that an effect only 20' tall can make ranged attacks impossible and give Listen checks such as huge penalty.[/quote]

Those are the windstorm/hurricane/tornado rules. It doesn't matter that the sharknado doesn't cover a large area, it still is a powerful storm.


(Also, where to these penaltyes apply? This is ambiguous. Just within the windstorm itself?)

The penalties apply whether someone in the windstorm attempt to call to someone else outside of it or whether someone outside the windstorm attempts to call to someone inside the windstorm. In both cases, the listener has to take the penalty.

Debby

[turbo164]

Wow, busy weekend!

@Debihuman: Thanks for the formatting! My original entry was a rather rushed copy/paste monstrosity.

The "unable to act" was a paraphrase of Greater Whirlwind's "
Creatures inside the tornado can't do much; attacks, spellcasting, and movement are impossible within an greater whirlwind." I did not intend for CDGs. :smallredface: Might still be an option though depending on other number tweaks.

@awa: yeah I originally had just +16 as my 3am estimate, but scaling with casting stat makes sense compared to Spiritual Guardian and Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound. Thanks!

@vadskye: Haha yeah I hadn't really read those either. Funny looking at which ones affect spellcasting and which don't... Concentration skill suggests storms are DC5 or 10 (15 if you're on a boat), while the Windstorm and Hurricane and such don't explicitly mention it; the Tornado would do Continuous Damage (DC 20.5 on average), and maybe the "listen checks are impossible" counts as "deafened" for 20% fail chance? Meanwhile you can cast from a Whirlwind (lvl 8) just fine, not at all from the Greater (lvl 9), and an Air Elemental (level 2-9) allows a check. :smalleek:

@Bhu: <3

Thanks for the input everyone :) Normally to do the concept justice I would not have bothered with the lesser versions and gone with only the level 9; but since this is explicitely for a level 10 player character, I didn't want him to have to wait so long! (for now he's making do with Vortex of Teeth and Spectral Jaws).

[Debihuman]

I am tweaking the spells as we go. Now, you have to be adjacent to the sharknado in order to be bitten before you get sucked up.. That makes the most sense.

I will change the wording from "unable to act" to "dazed and unable to act normally."

All edits have been completed.

Debby

[turbo164]

So finally saw the movie! We waited until we could get a bunch of coworkers together for a barbeque :smallcool:

Possible things to add to the spells:

*Sharknados can be dispelled by dealing X Fire (or cold) damage to them
*You can take a readied action [with a chainsaw] to get a bonus to your Reflex save
*Plot Armor also grants a bonus to Reflex saves

:smalltongue:

[Tvtyrant]

I think they should all be dropped down a spell level or two. The lesser version does a maximum of 21 damage, which is peanuts for a 5th level spell. It has some other okay effects, but it seems like a fourth level spell to me.

[Debihuman]

Your math is off. A lesser sharknado has 1d3 shark bites per round for 10 round (you have to be a 10th level caster to cast 5th level spells usually).

Let's say you get bit by 1 shark per round for 5 rounds. Each shark bites for 1d6 +1 points of damage damage per round.

1 shark bite per 5 rounds doing 1d6+1 points of damage = 5d6+5 or 22 points of damage on average.

2 shark bites per 5 rounds doing 1d6+1 points of damage = 10d6+10 = 45 points of damage on average

3 shark bites per 5 rounds doing 1d6+1 points of damage = 15d6+15= 67points of damage.


And that doesn't include falling damage from the cyclone which can be another 2d6 or 7 points on average.

That's a lot more than 21 points of damage.

If you can maximize this: 15d6+18 plus 2d6 is the most damage. On average that is 74 points of damage.

You would have to be desperately unlucky to have the sharks and cyclone do maximum damage each time.

Then there's the possibility of a bolt of lightning. Oy!


So finally saw the movie! We waited until we could get a bunch of coworkers together for a barbeque :smallcool:

Possible things to add to the spells:

*Sharknados can be dispelled by dealing X Fire (or cold) damage to them
*You can take a readied action [with a chainsaw] to get a bonus to your Reflex save
*Plot Armor also grants a bonus to Reflex saves

First: BBQ and Sharknado. Sounds like fun. I would have added sushi!

Wouldn't a counterspell or dispel magic spell be more effective in getting rid of a sharknado?

Yes, you can hack sharks that bite you with whatever weapons you have (unless you are actually in the sharknado and then you're just being battered by the wind and the sharks).

Plot armor is the DM takes pity on you and let's the sharknado spit you out in a random direction. Some red shirt has to take your place though.

Debby

[Tvtyrant]

Your math is off. A lesser sharknado has 1d3 shark bites per round for 10 round (you have to be a 10th level caster to cast 5th level spells usually).

Let's say you get bit by 1 shark per round for 5 rounds. Each shark bites for 1d6 +1 points of damage damage per round.

1 shark bite per 5 rounds doing 1d6+1 points of damage = 5d6+5 or 22 points of damage on average.

2 shark bites per 5 rounds doing 1d6+1 points of damage = 10d6+10 = 45 points of damage on average

3 shark bites per 5 rounds doing 1d6+1 points of damage = 15d6+15= 67points of damage.


And that doesn't include falling damage from the cyclone which can be another 2d6 or 7 points on average.

That's a lot more than 21 points of damage.

If you can maximize this: 15d6+18 plus 2d6 is the most damage. On average that is 74 points of damage.

You would have to be desperately unlucky to have the sharks and cyclone do maximum damage each time.

Then there's the possibility of a bolt of lightning. Oy!



How often do you find that combat goes 5 rounds? And with Freedom of Movement spells being so cheap I doubt this would hold anyone for more than 2 turns. Even in E6 my group stocks up on Heart of Water spell scrolls to use 1 turn Freedom of Movement.

Damage over time is almost never impressive in D&D 3.5 because combat is so short and damage outruns HP by so much. A Frenzied Barbarian takes 6 damage a turn to be in a frenzy, and gains up to +100 damage a turn in output as a result.

[Debihuman]

How often do you find that combat goes 5 rounds? And with Freedom of Movement spells being so cheap I doubt this would hold anyone for more than 2 turns. Even in E6 my group stocks up on Heart of Water spell scrolls to use 1 turn Freedom of Movement.

Combat should last about 4 rounds or even just a few.

You can't swim in a Sharknado. It would have to be heart of air. The reason that the spell has the water descriptor is so the sharks aren't suffocating in the sharknado.

Even if the sharknado doesn't cause a lot of damage to the party, it's a cool thing. Maybe it just picks up the PCs and drops them elsewhere. They're just CR 1 sharks in the lesser spell. They'll die quickly but there are lots of them.


Damage over time is almost never impressive in D&D 3.5 because combat is so short and damage outruns HP by so much. A Frenzied Barbarian takes 6 damage a turn to be in a frenzy, and gains up to +100 damage a turn in output as a result.

The sharks are easy to kill; there are just a lot of them. If you find the sharknado too easy, you can add the following:

If a single shark in the sharknado take 50 or more points of damage from a single attack, so much blood is splattered that it causes a feeding frenzy. The remaining sharks gain the Mob Template and target the attacker for 1 round.

Freedom of movement doesn't prevent the wind from flinging objects at you at tremendous speed or stop things from falling on top of you. It allows you to move normally so you can attack the sharks coming at you.

A particularly evil DM will allow the sharks to be slammed by the wind into PC. A Medium shark weighing 350 pounds will cause 1d6 points of damage when it slams into you. "It's not that the wind is blowing; it's what the wind is blowing." Ron White. If a PC had freedom of movement, I'd allow a Reflex save to avoid that damage. Normally, you'd have to suck up the damage, but freedom of movement should give you a chance to avoid it.

Another thing you have in a sharknado is that sharks can fall out of it and land on characters below. The rules state that for each 200 pounds of an object’s weight, the object deals 1d6 points of damage, provided it falls at least 10 feet.

A Medium Shark weighs about 350 lbs so it would cause 1d6 points points of damage for every 10 feet it falls to anyone below it when it lands.

A 15-foot shark like a tiger shark can weigh 800 lbs. so it would cause 4d6 points of damage for every 10 feet it falls.

A 20-foot shark like a great white can weigh a whopping 5,000 lbs. Luckily, the maximum amount of damage from things falling on you is 20d6. See here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm#tableDamagefromFallingObjects

For completeness sake, I'd peg the Tumble check needed to dive into a Huge falling shark in order to slash it from the inside at DC 20.

Did I miss anything?

Debby

[Tvtyrant]

I think falling damage caps at 20d6, the damage from an object fallen on you comes from two sources. The first is how far (same cap) and the other is the weight of the object (uncapped.) It specifically divides them into different sources, and the cap is only referenced in the sentence about distance.

But ignoring all of that, I do like the spells. They are cool and campy, the type of spells that don't break the game but make it awesome to play it. I earlier thought they should be dropped a level, but seeing the daze rider effect I no longer think that. Daze is a great condition, and this effectively grinds out anyone who misses their reflex save.

[Debihuman]

I think falling damage caps at 20d6, the damage from an object fallen on you comes from two sources. The first is how far (same cap) and the other is the weight of the object (uncapped.) It specifically divides them into different sources, and the cap is only referenced in the sentence about distance.

But ignoring all of that, I do like the spells. They are cool and campy, the type of spells that don't break the game but make it awesome to play it. I earlier thought they should be dropped a level, but seeing the daze rider effect I no longer think that. Daze is a great condition, and this effectively grinds out anyone who misses their reflex save.

So, having a 5,000-pound shark fall 20 feet on you does 25d6 points of damage for its weight and 2d6 for its distance for a total of 27d6 or an average of 94 points of damage. That's even ouchier than I was expecting. I always played that the damaged capped out at 20d6 as you would take on average 70 points of damage and be required to make a Fort save for Massive Damage. I hate auto-kills, even if a house landed on you.



Massive Damage
If you ever sustain a single attack deals 50 points of damage or more and it doesn't kill you outright, you must make a DC 15 Fortitude save. If this saving throw fails, you die regardless of your current hit points. If you take 50 points of damage or more from multiple attacks, no one of which dealt 50 or more points of damage itself, the massive damage rule does not apply.

Debby

[Tvtyrant]

So, having a 5,000-pound shark fall 20 feet on you does 25d6 points of damage for its weight and 2d6 for its distance for a total of 27d6 or an average of 94 points of damage. That's even ouchier than I was expecting. I always played that the damaged capped out at 20d6 as you would take on average 70 points of damage and be required to make a Fort save for Massive Damage. I hate auto-kills, even if a house landed on you.




Debby

Yup! I think your ruling is a sensible one, although it lessens the effect of my "Invisible Iron Wall Barrage" trick.

[Debihuman]

What the heck is that trick? And it sounds like you are pulling extremely fast and loose with the rules if you allow Wall of Iron to be conjured in a space it shouldn't be.

Debby

[Tvtyrant]

What the heck is that trick? And it sounds like you are pulling extremely fast and loose with the rules if you allow Wall of Iron to be conjured in a space it shouldn't be.

Debby

Nope, you cast a couple Walls of Force up in the air (no reference to needing to cast on the ground) and then casting invisible walls of iron on top of the walls of force. When the walls of force go it drops the walls of iron on the enemy for massive amounts of damage.

[Debihuman]

Sneaky. I like it. Of course that only works if you can set it up and your opponent is underneath. That assumes your enemy isn't on the move or is unaware of the wall of force (it blocks the wind too).

Debby

[johnwoods]

I think showing effects on environment would give great impact also showing the huge force of winds!!

[Blynkibrax]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I think you guys ought to take a look at this (https://medium.com/@gemmacorrell/sealife-themed-disaster-movies-3e3fc4662781)...