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NeoPhoenix0
2013-09-25, 12:53 PM
So, I decided to make a list of homebrew spells I've made for games. There will be an index linking to spells not in the first post so feel free to comment or critique my spells. Constructive criticism for making reasonably balanced spells is welcome. Input on better names for spells is also welcome.

Index
1. Victoria's Falling Pot
2. Shredding Wind
3. Elemental Pot (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16171301#post16171301)


#1)
Victoria's Falling Pot
Conjuration (Teleportation)
Level: Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Teleports one pot
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

As you finish the utterance a simple pot, with a flower in it, appears above the target and falls. It then shatters slashing any nearby creatures with it's shards.

The pot teleported by this spell by this spell appears above the target. Treat the attack as a thrown splash weapon (PHB 158) that requires a ranged touch attack to hit. The pot object deals 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage to the target per caster level (maximum 5d4), and splash damage of 1 point of slashing damage to adjacent creatures per caster level (maximum 5).

The pot teleported by this spell is from the astral plane and this spell does nothing if cast on a plane not connected to the astral plane. The pot disappears afterward back the astral plane.

#2)
Shredding Wind
Evocation [Air]
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area: Line
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex half, Fort partial; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes

With a sweeping gesture, razor-like wind blows along the path of the spell, slashing at creatures in it's path.

This spell deals 1d6 points of damage per caster level (max 10d6), reflex save for half. This spell is subject to damage reduction and is considered magic and slashing for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Tiny or smaller creatures must make a fortitude saving throw or be knocked prone. Small or smaller airborn creatures must make a fortitude saving throw or be blown back 1d6x10 feet or the end of the line, whichever is shorter.

Designate the corner of one square, That you have line of sight to, within the range of the spell as the source of the spell. Draw a line from that corner in any direction up. All squares under this line are affected by this spell. If a barrier blocking the line takes enough damage to be destroyed, the line continues.

jedipotter
2013-09-28, 11:14 PM
Pot Drop Well, why? A spell that does a little damage? Why have the pot drop ? Why have a pot at all? Why not just make this 'shoot arrow' or 'toss rock'? The spell is not exactly a conjuration teleport spell. Sure you can kinda, sorta say the spell finds a pot somewhere and teleports it to you....but that is not exactly a 'teleport'. The spell 'finds' a pot...and we'd guess a nice big heavy pot 'somewhere' on the plane? It is more of a conjuration, creation.

And if your dropping a pot on someone....why not put a liquid in it? You know as it is a pot, and not a rock.

Shredding Wind looks ok

Sniper Shot So this is better then a falling pot.... But the conjuration no SR cheat, is just a bad idea. After all you could say that every spell 'conjures' non magical stuff so all spells are no SR. But then your removing a game effect. Simply put, any spell that does a amount of damage and can be effected by all sorts of things like metamagic, should have SR yes. I'd make it evocation myself.

TuggyNE
2013-09-29, 01:24 AM
The pot teleported by this spell by this spell appears above the target.

Hmm, this appears to be an exception to the usual rule that Conjuration spells don't leave things unsupported. Not exactly a fatal flaw, since there's an official spell that does that anyway (hail of stone), and some of my own homebrew is similar, but something to keep in mind.


The damage from this spell is considered magic and slashing for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Strictly speaking, this doesn't mean anything, since you don't actually say it's subject to DR (and spells aren't by default). Me, I'd skip that, but if you really want it to have to wade through DR, make sure to note that it doesn't get to bypass it.


Sniper's Shot
Conjuration (Creation)
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect: One bolt
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You must make a ranged touch attack to hit the target. If you hit sniper's shot does 4d6 points of piercing damage. A sniper's shot threatens a critical hit on a roll of 18-20.

For the purpose of damage reduction the damage from this spell counts as piercing.

Same DR question. Also, it's not quite clear just what the spell does; it fires off a really good projectile? Maybe make it a regular ranged attack.

NeoPhoenix0
2013-10-04, 01:24 PM
I should probably check in on this thread more often.

Pot Drop
Why pot drop? It was a silly spell mainly created for a silly character concept. The character specialized in various teleportation effects.

The complex book keeping stuff is there in case of munchkinry since it is an instantaneous teleportation spell. Thankfully I'm the main munchkin in the group and the character I used this with was not a particularly munchkiny build, but I still wanted to prevent crazy things from happening with this.

Shredding Wind
The thing is most damage spells have some sort of other defense other that the save. It is usually energy resistance, but air doesn't really fit into that so I went with damage reduction. The other option would be changing the damage dice to d4s and keeping it typeless, but then this just feels like cheating.

Sniper's Shot
This was something I came up with in an attempt to make a character concept. The biggest problem I had with it was what spell list to put it in. It shouldn't be in the Sor/Wiz list. The best list would actually be Assassin but assassin spells don't do damage. I decided to scrap it and look elsewhere for ideas for the build. The spell doesn't really fit right in D&D.


On SR: no, spell resistance should be determined mainly by the type of attack. If the attack creates a very real object and hurls it at the creature how is spell resistance doing anything. Answer is shouldn't do anything at all. The orb series on the other hand makes no sense at all as they don't really act like real manifestations of the elements. They should be evocation spells and thus SR: yes. It all depends on what the spell does. SR: no should be avoided because it is cheating. You should come up with a spell concept hammer it out then answer the questions "what does this spell do and what school should it be in?"

jedipotter
2013-10-04, 03:47 PM
On SR: no, spell resistance should be determined mainly by the type of attack. If the attack creates a very real object and hurls it at the creature how is spell resistance doing anything. Answer is shouldn't do anything at all.

Here is the flaw I see: If your going to say ''spell can create real stuff that is SR:NO'', then why would not EVERY spell be recreated that way?

You can have all fire spells 'conjure' real fire, so SR:NO. You can have all cold spells 'conjure' real ice, so SR:NO. You can have electricity spells 'conjure' real lightning bolts, so SR:No. And you can make any spell in to a shrapnel type spell, like making 'fireball' just 'sharp rocks' for SR:NO.

In short, if your willing to say Yes to conjuration SR:NO spells, your changing the game rules in a fundamental way. And I would even say cheating.

I strongly suggest you not do that. Remove all conjuration SR:NO spells.

Eurus
2013-10-04, 03:54 PM
Here is the flaw I see: If your going to say ''spell can create real stuff that is SR:NO'', then why would not EVERY spell be recreated that way?

You can have all fire spells 'conjure' real fire, so SR:NO. You can have all cold spells 'conjure' real ice, so SR:NO. You can have electricity spells 'conjure' real lightning bolts, so SR:No. And you can make any spell in to a shrapnel type spell, like making 'fireball' just 'sharp rocks' for SR:NO.

In short, if your willing to say Yes to conjuration SR:NO spells, your changing the game rules in a fundamental way. And I would even say cheating.

I strongly suggest you not do that. Remove all conjuration SR:NO spells.

Annoyingly, WotC did exactly that already with various damaging conjuration spells. Like it or not, and most people don't, there is precedent.

NeoPhoenix0
2013-10-04, 05:16 PM
See, here is where WotC messed up. If you conjure real fire it needs to act like real fire. That is a fire that does damage to creatures or objects over time and can be put out using rules like the catch on fire rules. Acid has a good precedent with acid arrow. Lightning just doesn't work because it always acts like an evocation no matter how real and cold can only really come into play as ice or weather.

I don't like stuff like orb of _____. Those don't act like cojurations. I can also see how people use conjuration SR: no as a cheep shot, but I think it has a place if used properly. I can respect your difference of opinion, but I ask that we don't muddle up this thread with tedius debate. Normally I am all for tedius debate, but I don't think this is the thread for this one.

TuggyNE
2013-10-04, 06:09 PM
Here is the flaw I see: If your going to say ''spell can create real stuff that is SR:NO'', then why would not EVERY spell be recreated that way?

You can have all fire spells 'conjure' real fire, so SR:NO. You can have all cold spells 'conjure' real ice, so SR:NO. You can have electricity spells 'conjure' real lightning bolts, so SR:No. And you can make any spell in to a shrapnel type spell, like making 'fireball' just 'sharp rocks' for SR:NO.

In short, if your willing to say Yes to conjuration SR:NO spells, your changing the game rules in a fundamental way. And I would even say cheating.

I strongly suggest you not do that. Remove all conjuration SR:NO spells.

Failed slippery slope; the orb line is demonstrably bad, but that's not a good reason for wall of iron to be SR:Yes. (Labeling fireball "sharp rocks"? Who'd do that?) The simplest solution is to fix the few bad apples in Conjuration and sharply limit new ones to only what make sense.

By the way, no matter what you do, earthquake and telekinesis and others will always have SR:No modes. As Mat Cauthon learned, infinite SR is no perfect defense to a mage with a bit of creativity and a concept of indirection.

jedipotter
2013-10-06, 12:08 PM
Pot Drop
Why pot drop? It was a silly spell mainly created for a silly character concept. The character specialized in various teleportation effects.


I can understand a character special spell, but for a general spell why not spice it up a bit. Make pot drop a conjuration(creation) and let it create a random pot with random contents. You could leave the effects of the spell, other then changing the damage type. So no matter what the pot had in it they would take damage, but random damage. (And in my Homebrew stlye I'd make such a spell an Evocation)

NeoPhoenix0
2013-10-07, 02:05 AM
You know that whole record keeping thing is complecated. What if I made it a specific pot or one of a group of pots bound to the astral plane so it disappears afterwards. I'll rename it after the character that invented it then.


I can understand a character special spell, but for a general spell why not spice it up a bit. Make pot drop a conjuration(creation) and let it create a random pot with random contents. You could leave the effects of the spell, other then changing the damage type. So no matter what the pot had in it they would take damage, but random damage. (And in my Homebrew stlye I'd make such a spell an Evocation)

Your suggestion of adding things into the pot is interesting. It might make for a decent new spell. The choice between evocation and conjuration there would be whether the contents are alchemical ingredients or raw magical energy. I would probably go evocation there because conjuring alchemical ingredients sounds like a cheese to excuse conjuration cheese.

I'll probably make this spell latter today between classes, it sounds like a decent little spell. random elemental splash damage. Probably call it Elemental Pot.

Edit: Renamed the spell and got rid of the terrible book keeping. This also solves the little bit of fridge horror we had when the spell was first created. The character herself didn't remember where the pots came from because of a lab accident, but we got a few laughs speculating where the pots came from.

NeoPhoenix0
2013-10-07, 11:54 AM
#3)
Elemental Pot
Evocation
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 Standard actipon
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One or more pots
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

You drop magical pots filled with elemental energy. You may drop one pot, plus one additional pot for every four levels beyond 3rd (to a maximum of 3 pots at level 11.) Treat each pot like a thrown splash weapon that requires a ranged touch attack to hit. Each pot deals 4d4 damage to the target, and splash damage of 4 to adjacent creatures. The type of damage dealt by this spell is determined by rolling on the table below. Roll once for the entire spell.

{table=head]1d4|Damage Type

1|Fire

2|Cold

3|Electricity

4|Acid[/table]


----
A few questions for this one. Do you think I should add more damage types? I could make it a full rainbow spell. Also should I change it to roll damage type for each pot?

jedipotter
2013-10-07, 05:05 PM
Ok, I'll go with Victoria's Falling Pot. But it is a bit odd to get a flower pot from the nothingness of the Astral Plane? Why would the Astral Plane have a flower pot on it?

Just think of the fun of ''The pot and the flower come from a random outer plane (roll 1d12). And, as noted in your description the flower remains at the end of the spell. Sounds like a fun way to bring in weird planual flowers......


Elemental pot.....well damage is kinda boring. I was thinking other stuff like glue, oil, grease, and so on. Maybe something like 10 gp per spell level max 100 at 10th and you can pick your substance you can afford?

NeoPhoenix0
2013-10-07, 07:30 PM
Ok, I'll go with Victoria's Falling Pot. But it is a bit odd to get a flower pot from the nothingness of the Astral Plane? Why would the Astral Plane have a flower pot on it?

Just think of the fun of ''The pot and the flower come from a random outer plane (roll 1d12). And, as noted in your description the flower remains at the end of the spell. Sounds like a fun way to bring in weird planual flowers......

I Like this idea.



Elemental pot.....well damage is kinda boring. I was thinking other stuff like glue, oil, grease, and so on. Maybe something like 10 gp per spell level max 100 at 10th and you can pick your substance you can afford?

Ok, that's far more complicated, might also be a third level spell.

So were you thinking like different substances based off of a material component or focus? Also sounds like a conjuration creation unless it is limited in duration and only certain effects are used. I'll have to think this one over and take my time.

Edit: Also the only way anything that creates actual gold, gems or other direct monetary things will be balanced is if it is off of a random chart. If I go that way I could a series of spells with better tables to roll on.