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View Full Version : NT's Home Brew Spell Competition 1 Winners!



NikolaTesla
2013-08-01, 07:57 PM
Thank you everyone for your submissions, votes, and patience. The winners of NT's Home Brew Spell Competition 1 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292904) are here!

In the Originality division, in 1st place:

Invoking the Worst Day, by the mighty Xefas!
(and honestly, who didn't know this one was going to win originality...)

In the Utility division, in 1st place:

Rewind, by the amazing AttilaTheGeek!

In the Awesomeness division, for the most awesome spell, in 1st place:

Shadow Puppet, by the powerful Vadskye!

And finally, NikolaTesla's Home Brew Spell Competition 1's Jennu Levethix is...


Vadskye, with the spell Shadow Puppet! This spell got 3 first place nominations, enough to place it above the other spells and take home the grand prize. Congratulations Vadskye!

Totals score card with legality penalties applied.
{table=head]
Spell Name|
Wizard|
Originality|
Utility|
Awesomeness|
Total|Rank

Rewind|
AttilaTheGeek|
-5|
21|
-5|
11|
7th

Discharge|
AttilaTheGeek|
-4|
-4|
-4|
-12|
21st

Invigorate|
AttilaTheGeek|
6|
16|
6|
28|
2nd

Lightning Spear|
NikolaTesla|
3|
0|
0|
3|
11th

Flatulence|
NikolaTesla|
0|
0|
10|
10|
8th

Revelation|
Vadskye|
0|
16|
0|
16|
4th

Shadow Puppet|
Vadskye|
0|
16|
0|
16|
1st

Invoking the Worst Day|
Xefas|
24|
-2|
-2|
20|
3rd

Form of Sorrow|
inuyasha|
-4|
-4|
2|
-6|
17th

Uh-oh|
inuyasha|
-8|
-8|
-8|
-24|
23rd

Summon Elemental Shawarma|
Rolep|
13|
-3|
-3|
7|
9th

Meatier Shawarma|
Rolep|
-2|
4|
-2|
2|
14th

Hideous Daughter|
Debihuman|
0|
0|
0|
0|
14th

Create Scion of Evil|
3WhiteFox3|
3|
-3|
-3|
-3|
16th

Worldweave|
Arcanist|
-4|
-4|
-4|
-12|
21st

Earthfast|
Arcanist|
-3|
-3|
-3|
-9|
19th

Contingent Duplicant|
Arcanist|
-4|
2|
-4|
-6|
17th

Portal Beyond the Planes|
Arcanist|
-3|
-3|
-3|
-9|
19th

Hold Your Horses|
ShriekingDrake|
3|
3|
6|
12|
6th

Cynosure|
ShriekingDrake|
0|
3|
10|
13|
5th

Sacred Mist|
Palanan|
-1|
-1|
5|
3|
11th

Aura of Inherent Combustibility|
Morcleon|
4|
-2|
4|
6|
10th

Combustible Fruit|
Xuldarinar|
0|
0|
3|
3|
11th
[/table][/noparse]

Trophies will be PM'd out in the coming week.
Coming soon: A collection of all spells from all of my competitions that have shown themselves legal!

NikolaTesla
2013-08-01, 08:39 PM
[Sorry for the double post, but I think its ok here]

My votes!


{table=head]
Spell Name|
Wizard|
Originality|
Utility|
Awesomeness|
Legality Penalty

Rewind|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
1st|
No Score Awe|
2

Discharge|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
3

Invigorate|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
3rd|
No Score Awe|
0

Lightning Spear|
NikolaTesla|
3rd|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
Void

Flatulence|
NikolaTesla|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
1st|
Void

Revelation|
Vadskye|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Shadow Puppet|
Vadskye|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Invoking the Worst Day|
Xefas|
2nd|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
1

Form of Sorrow|
inuyasha|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
2nd|
0

Uh-oh|
inuyasha|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
2/center]

Summon Elemental Shawarma|[center]Rolep|
1st|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
1

Meatier Shawarma|
Rolep|
No Score|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Hideous Daughter|
Debihuman|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Create Scion of Evil|
3WhiteFox3|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Worldweave|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Earthfast|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Contingent Duplicant|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
2nd|
No Score Awe|
0

Portal Beyond the Planes|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
1

Hold Your Horses|
ShriekingDrake|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Cynosure|
ShriekingDrake|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Sacred Mist|
Palanan|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Aura of Inherent Combustibility|
Morcleon|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
0

Combustible Fruit|
Xuldarinar|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
3rd|
0
[/table]

Notes:

Attila: Now that I read through them more carefully, Rewind should be 9th or Epic IMO, and Discharge is a better spell by far than fireball, a third level spell. I've got to peg high legality penalties.

Vadskye: Revelation is a cool spell, but I think you could actually take it down to 6th level.

Xefas: While your spell is reasonably legal, some things are just to terrible to be allowed...

Inuyasha: Uh-oh is incomplete, in addition to being slightly to powerful. I have to hand you a couple of legality points.

Rolep: The air shawarma is a little overpowered.

Arcanist: I'm wary of the legality of epic spells in general, but these seem pretty good. Your last spell is over powered IMO though.

Shrieking Drake: Cynosure could easily be a lower level.

Arcanist
2013-08-01, 10:23 PM
Damn, I knew I forgot something. I was going to add the Time Jump spell. Ah well. 2nd Place in Utility ain't too bad:smalltongue:

Vadskye
2013-08-02, 12:52 AM
Table:
{table=head]
Spell Name|
Wizard|
Originality|
Utility|
Awesomeness|
Legality Penalty

Rewind|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
1st place|
No Score Awe|
-3 penalty

Discharge|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
3rd place|
No Score Awe|
-1 penalty

Invigorate|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Lightning Spear|
NikolaTesla|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Flatulence|
NikolaTesla|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Revelation|
Vadskye|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Shadow Puppet|
Vadskye|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Invoking the Worst Day|
Xefas|
1st place|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-1 penalty

Form of Sorrow|
inuyasha|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
3rd place|
-1 penalty

Uh-oh|
inuyasha|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-3 penalty

Summon Elemental Shawarma|
Rolep|
No Score Orig|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-1 penalty

Meatier Shawarma|
Rolep|
No Score Org|
2nd place|
No Score Awe|
-2 penalty

Hideous Daughter|
Debihuman|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Create Scion of Evil|
3WhiteFox3|
2nd place|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Worldweave|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-1 Penalty

Earthfast|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-1 Penalty

Contingent Duplicant|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-2 Penalty

Portal Beyond the Planes|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Hold Your Horses|
ShriekingDrake|
3rd place|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Cynosure|
ShriekingDrake|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
1st place|
No Penalty

Sacred Mist|
Palanan|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-1 penalty

Aura of Inherent Combustibility|
Morcleon|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
2nd place|
-2 Penalty

Combustible Fruit|
Xuldarinar|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-1 Penalty
[/table]

Comments:
Rewind: -3 legality penalty. Massively abusable. 1st place for utility; I'd use it on any caster, ever.
Discharge: -3 legality penalty. This is an insanely powerful damage spell. 2nd place for utility; I'd use it on almost any caster.
Invigorate: No modifiers.
Lightning Spear: I get Dark Soul vibes from this. No modifiers.
Flatulence: No modifiers.
Invoking the Worst Day: Poorly formatted; should include a Target line. The severity of the fluff effect is completely disproportionate to the mechanical significance, which is comparatively small. -1 legality penalty. On the other hand, very original. 1st place for originality.
Form of Sorrow: Unclear rules on the Wisdom check (What kind of action is it? How many times can I make it - once when casting the spell, or once per round, or once per action?) -1 legality penalty. 3rd place for awesomeness.
Uh Oh: -3 legality penalty. Incomplete and excessively complicated for a 0th level spell.
Summon Elemental Shawarma: Unclear formatting (should be Fortitude partial; see text) and odd fluff for the effects ("emptying a creature's stomach" is more potent than Harm? Making someone go to the bathroom = exhausted?). -1 legality penalty.
Meatier Shawarma: Nearly 30d6 (but you have to do some complex 3D measurements to figure out how much) in a 60' AOE that usually has no save? Borderline. The 10d6 every round combined with being difficult to escape pushes this into the clearly overpowered. Yes, it's a 9th level spell, but so is Meteor Swarm. -2 legality penalty. 3rd place for utility.
Hideous Daughter: I laughed when I first saw this. No modifiers, though.
Create Scion of Evil: 2nd place for originality. Not a big fan of the spell, but is original, and I appreciate that.
Worldweave: ...Epic spells are broken by definition. 125 Spellcraft DC? Who can make that, ever? -1 legality penalty, since it's the fault of the system.
Earthfast: -1 legality penalty. Sorry, epic spells just... don't work.
Contingent Duplicant: What about this spell is "contingent"? -2 legality penalty for being a more powerful copy of Simulacrum, which is broken, and for being very unclear on how it functions (Duration is "until discharged"? How is it discharged?)
Portal Beyond the Planes: No modifiers.
Hold Your Horses: Why do the riders make a Reflex save instead of a Ride check? "Discombobulated", while an amusing word, is not very helpful as a description. 3rd place for originality.
Cynosure: Love the name. Very powerful - it still affects creatures that make the save? No modifiers. 1st place for awesomeness.
Sacred Mist: A 2nd level spell blinds a lich or balor with no save? -1 legality penalty.
Aura of Inherent Combustibility: 2nd place for awesomeness. -2 legality penalty for making no sense whatsoever. (I can burn a fire elemental with this aura? I mean... really?)
Combustable Fruit: Should clarify that the fruit explodes when eaten, rather than "becomes a splash weapon". -1 legality penalty for being more powerful than Fireball.

Summary of awards:
Originality: Invoking the Worst Day
Create Scion of Evil
Hold Your Horses

Utility: Rewind
Discharge
Meatier Shawarma

Awesomeness: Cynosure
Aura of Inherent Combustibility
Form of Sorrow


Bottom line: I'm a harsh judge of legality. I really want a spell that I can introduce into a game and not worry about it being unbalanced or making me deal with rules confusion. Not many spells accomplished that.

EDIT: I forgot to award originality points to Invoking the Worst Day! There was some reshuffling to make up for that. Sorry, Elemental Shawarma...

AttilaTheGeek
2013-08-02, 10:59 AM
Table: {table=head]
Spell Name|
Wizard|
Originality|
Utility|
Awesomeness|
Legality Penalty

Rewind|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
2nd|
No Score Awe|
Void

Discharge|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
Void

Invigorate|
AttilaTheGeek|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
Void

Lightning Spear|
NikolaTesla|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Flatulence|
NikolaTesla|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Revelation|
Vadskye|
No Score Org|
1st|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Shadow Puppet|
Vadskye|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
1st|
No Penalty

Invoking the Worst Day|
Xefas|
1st|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Form of Sorrow|
inuyasha|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-3

Uh-oh|
inuyasha|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-3

Summon Elemental Shawarma|
Rolep|
3rd|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-1

Meatier Shawarma|
Rolep|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Hideous Daughter|
Debihuman|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Create Scion of Evil|
3WhiteFox3|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-3

Worldweave|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-2

Earthfast|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-2

Contingent Duplicant|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-2

Portal Beyond the Planes|
Arcanist|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
-2

Hold Your Horses|
ShriekingDrake|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
3rd|
No Penalty

Cynosure|
ShriekingDrake|
No Score Org|
3rd|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Sacred Mist|
Palanan|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
2nd|
No Penalty

Aura of Inherent Combustibility|
Morcleon|
2nd|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty

Combustible Fruit|
Xuldarinar|
No Score Org|
No Score Uti|
No Score Awe|
No Penalty
[/table]

Comments: NT: Your spells have very minor legal typos, but I don't think they're enough to points off for them. For example, the E in "Conjuration [electricity]" should be capitalized, components should be listed as "V [comma] [space] S [comma] [space] M" instead of "VSM", the word "Fortitude" should be capitalized, tiny stuff like that. Other than that, they seem fine, but Flatulence is too strong for a cantrip.

Vadskye: Revelation is really cool. I love how it has buffing, debuffing, and utility uses, and at level 8 it's not too strong either. I can see it at 7th, but at 6th it would be strictly better than True Seeing. I don't understand why one would use Shadow Puppet. Shadow Walk (at least in Pathfinder) says it is "impossible to judge distances" and even explicitly says it's "useless for scouting and spying". It also doesn't say anything about reducing damage. I'd give a -2 or -3 legality penalty, but you may be implicitly using the 3.5 version, so the penalty is reduced to -1 because you didn't say so.

Xefas: Where even do you come up with a spell like that?! It's so far removed from any other spell I've ever heard of that I don't know where you'd get the idea for it.

Inuyasha: First and foremost, what is a sorrowsworn demon? There's no statblock, SRD link, or book. Is the DC 25 Wisdom check just to tell it what to do, or to make it obey you? What does it do before leaving? The spell is very vague. Uh-Oh's not even fully written.

Rolep: Where did you come up with Elemental Shawarma? It's certainly interesting. It gets a minor -1 legality penalty because it's vaguely worded and has some typos.

Debihuman: I like the "teenage angst doesn't translate well" line.

3WhiteFox3: It's interesting, but I have to impose massive legality penalties. Incomplete sentences ("assume a fort save mod of +5 for the"), inconsistencies (the text says "son" but the block says "child", so can a girl be the target?), and things that don't make sense (INT penalty? WIS penalty?) make the spell difficult to read.

Arcanist: You submitted more than the maximum number of entries. I'll just put legality penalties on all of them.

ShriekingDrake: I like Hold Your Horses; it seems cool. It's situational enough that I wouldn't prepare it unless I was in a mounted campaign, but it seems solid enough when it's needed to make up for that. Cynosure isn't bad, it's a decent AoE taunt, to use the MMO term. I also learned a new word from looking up the spell's title (not gonna lie), and that's cool.

Palanan: Sacred Mist is a solidly playable spell. If there was a Most Likely To See Play category, this would win. For that, you get awesomeness points.

Morcelon: I get that it's a joke spell, but it's not particularly funny. Since it's a joke spell, I can't penalize it too badly for breaking the rules of the game, but it does read like it's made to break campaigns.

Xuldarinar: While I do appreciate the Portal reference, I feel like it's been a bit overdone. Still, it's not a bad spell.

Summary of votes: {table=head]Category|
1st|
2nd|
3rd

Originality|Invoking the Worst Day|Aura of Inherent Combustibility|Summon Elemental Shawarma
Utility|Revelation|Rewind|Cynosure
Awesomeness|Shadow Puppet|Sacred Mist|Hold Your Horses[/table]

Edit: tuned down many of the legality penalties. Apologies for going overboard.

Palanan
2013-08-02, 04:42 PM
Voting Scorecard:

{table=head]
Spell Name|
Wizard|
Originality|
Utility|
Awesomeness|
Legality Penalty

Rewind|
AttilaTheGeek|
- |
- |
- |
-

Discharge|
AttilaTheGeek|
- |
- |
- |
-

Invigorate|
AttilaTheGeek|
2nd |
1st |
2nd |
-

Lightning Spear|
NikolaTesla|
- |
- |
- |
-

Flatulence|
NikolaTesla|
- |
- |
- |
-

Revelation|
Vadskye|
- |
2nd |
- |
-

Shadow Puppet|
Vadskye|
1st |
- |
1st |
-

Invoking the Worst Day|
Xefas|
- |
- |
- |
-

Form of Sorrow|
inuyasha|
- |
- |
- |
-

Uh-oh|
inuyasha|
- |
- |
- |
-

Summon Elemental Shawarma|
Rolep|
3rd |
- |
- |
-

Meatier Shawarma|
Rolep|
- |
- |
- |
-

Hideous Daughter|
Debihuman|
- |
- |
- |
-

Create Scion of Evil|
3WhiteFox3|
- |
- |
- |
-

Worldweave|
Arcanist|
- |
- |
- |
-

Earthfast|
Arcanist|
- |
- |
- |
-

Contingent Duplicant|
Arcanist|
- |
- |
- |
-

Portal Beyond the Planes|
Arcanist|
- |
- |
- |
-

Hold Your Horses|
ShriekingDrake|
- |
3rd |
3rd |
-

Cynosure|
ShriekingDrake|
- |
- |
- |
-

Aura of Inherent Combustibility|
Morcleon|
- |
- |
- |
-

Combustible Fruit|
Xuldarinar|
- |
- |
- |
-
[/table]

Comments:

Many of these spells are joke- or quasi-joke spells, which I have a hard time comparing on an equal footing with spells like Rewind or Revelation, which are designed for actual gameplay.

Most of the others are intended for higher-level games, which is fine, but I don't have much experience playing above 15th level and have a hard time really connecting with them.

Also, I'm not scoring for Legality, since this seems to be used in a different sense than I'd first thought. As used here it seems to be extremely subjective, since gaming styles are intensely variable, so I'm passing on this for now.