Level 3 teleport for a game set in modern times [PEACH]

[qwertyu63]

I need to balance this spell at level 3, as the only casting class in my setting caps at third level spells. This is my first attempt at balancing for this.
Sound Warp:
Conjuration (Teleportation) [Sonic]
Level: NAWiz 3
Components: V, M
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Target: You and touched willing creatures
Duration: 1 minute to discharge, then instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell teleport you and up to two touched willing creatures through a phone line or similar connection. Each creature (including you) can bring up to their maximum load in objects and gear. You (and the other targets) appear at the other end of the connection.

After casting this spell, you have 1 minute to open the connection (e.g. call the other end). Once you make the call, you teleport and the spell ends. If you fail to open the connection within 1 minute (e.g. the other end doesn't answer), the spell fails. Voice mail and automatic systems do not count as opening the connection.

For a connection to be usable, it must transmit voice with a lag of less than half a second.

If otherwise unknown, the odds of the other end answering your call is as follows:
{table=head]Status|Odds
Expecting your call|100%
Open business|95%
Friend/Ally|90%
Neutral party|75%
Enemy|60%
Random number|30%[/table]
Expecting your call means you have arranged the call in advance.
Open business means you are calling a open place of business, like a pizza delivery place.
Friend/Ally means you are calling a friend or ally who is not expecting the the call.
Neutral party means you are calling someone who is neither an ally or enemy. If all else fails, assume this level.
Enemy means you are calling someone who wishes you harm.
Random number means you have dialed a random number from your head (a random number taken from the phone book is calling a neutral party).

Material Component: Gold wire worth 30 gp.

[Zale]

I was expecting Summon Taxi Cab I.

I notice that there's no maximum range on this ability.

If that's balanced or not is not for me to say.

[qwertyu63]

What happens if you reach an answering service?

If you get an answering machine, the spell fails.

[Grimsage Matt]

D20 Modern has Wire Walk (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:Magic#Wire_Walk), which does the same thing, but is a 4th level arcane spell. Well, its close anyway.

Overall, Sound Warp looks like a lesser version of Wire Walk and should be balanced.

[qwertyu63]

D20 Modern has Wire Walk (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:Magic#Wire_Walk), which does the same thing, but is a 4th level arcane spell. Well, its close anyway.

Overall, Sound Warp looks like a lesser version of Wire Walk and should be balanced.

Cool. :smallsmile:

[tarkisflux]

The balance of teleport is a weird thing. If you remove the combat retreat portion of it (like you have) or nerf it, or both, all you have left is a plot utility spell. That doesn't have balance concerns associated with it, but narrative concerns instead - it changes the stories that can be told. It's basically appropriate at whatever level you want people to start skipping travel montages and encounters, to 'beat the clock' on timed but distant missions (or make due with much less time), to level out of fetch quests that don't require substantial investigation and/or are inaccessible, and to gain access to difficult to trace movement modes.

Level 5 seems a decent level to allow these sorts of things IMO, but your narrative concerns may be different than mine. That's really early for some people. But since you could already call people and get them to act on your behalf at those distances at level 1 without any powers or abilities, I think the level is good (and by similar argument, so is the unlimited distance). It's a much 'smaller' world than the typical DnD world, and this reflects that.

There's a few other related things that would make this more or less stronger that you might want to sort out. How easy it is to get a reliable phone number? What happens if you dial a random number, and is there a way to randomly determine if someone picks up? Can a number be setup to block this sort of transit, or is all voice communication a potential invasion threat? Can trackers/rogues trace called phone numbers to potentially follow your path?

Edit: Also, how modern is 'modern' - cell phones, land line phones, or 'ring the operator to connect you' style phones?

[qwertyu63]

I'm going to start your post at the end:


Edit: Also, how modern is 'modern' - cell phones, land line phones, or 'ring the operator to connect you' style phones?

Right now, here in 2014.


The balance of teleport is a weird thing. If you remove the combat retreat portion of it (like you have) or nerf it, or both, all you have left is a plot utility spell. That doesn't have balance concerns associated with it, but narrative concerns instead - it changes the stories that can be told. It's basically appropriate at whatever level you want people to start skipping travel montages and encounters, to 'beat the clock' on timed but distant missions (or make due with much less time), to level out of fetch quests that don't require substantial investigation and/or are inaccessible, and to gain access to difficult to trace movement modes.

Random encounters aren't on the plan to begin with, so no loss there.

I've no timed but distant missions (the majority of the story is contained within one city).

Fetch quests always require substantial investigation when I write them, so no issue there.

And I'm fine with hard to trace movement modes.

Cool.


Level 5 seems a decent level to allow these sorts of things IMO, but your narrative concerns may be different than mine. That's really early for some people. But since you could already call people and get them to act on your behalf at those distances at level 1 without any powers or abilities, I think the level is good (and by similar argument, so is the unlimited distance). It's a much 'smaller' world than the typical DnD world, and this reflects that.

Alright. In our day and age, you could equally easily take a plane to where you want to go. Slower, but you needn't be a wizard.


There's a few other related things that would make this more or less stronger that you might want to sort out. How easy it is to get a reliable phone number? What happens if you dial a random number, and is there a way to randomly determine if someone picks up? Can a number be setup to block this sort of transit, or is all voice communication a potential invasion threat? Can trackers/rogues trace called phone numbers to potentially follow your path?

Pretty much as hard as it is here in the real world. For some people, just find a local phone book.

You dial a random number, and you're pretty much at the DM's mercy.

That one is on the DM. Can they answer; would they answer?

Any call could be a sound warp. The main way to stop it would be to not answer the phone. Needless to say, some people in the know are a bit paranoid about calls from places they don't know (The usefulness of this spell for infiltration is intentional; the group that made the spell is an underground resistance).

Yeah, just check the call history of the targeted phone, and you've got your warper.

[tarkisflux]

Ok then. Assuming your previous "lag limit" only applies, that opens up a few interesting and possibly unintentional uses as well as some possible defenses other than 'don't use a phone'.

On the use side, you can cast the spell, charge into a place, and then try to open a connection after a few rounds. So long as someone is expecting a call, you can probably get out within 5 rounds, making this a decent exit for a standard snatch and grab plan. You could avoid that by making the call part of the cast time and having the cast time be up to 1 minute, instead of having the call happen afterwards, but I'm not sure you're worried about it.

On the defense side, you just need to have a secretary. They pick up, and you get warped to them instead of your actual target. So long as there's sufficient distance between the target and the person answering the phone (and with modern PBXes and VOIP they don't even need to be in the same state) a sound warp won't get in to see anyone who doesn't want you to. Alternately, a simple automated system that lasts for at least a minute frustrates every sound warp (you may want to specify that you have to reach a live person within a minute or the spell fails, not just that you must make a connection).

I think you might want rules for how quickly someone answers a phone, because not getting to it before voicemail picks up is a problem if you didn't prepare it properly. If someone is trying to sound warp to you quickly and didn't set it up ahead of time, you may not get to it in time even if you want to answer the phone. Setting up some tables that answer "what ring it gets answered on" and giving bonuses or penalties to that roll based on level of preparation that went into planning the warp (extensive / moderate / some / none / calling an old friend who hasn't heard from you in forever / calling a random number) would probably help nail that sort of thing down, if it was a concern for your games. I'd certainly like to have it in mine to avoid having to come up with it when it came up (and it would in my games).

[qwertyu63]

Ok then. Assuming your previous "lag limit" only applies, that opens up a few interesting and possibly unintentional uses as well as some possible defenses other than 'don't use a phone'.

On the use side, you can cast the spell, charge into a place, and then try to open a connection after a few rounds. So long as someone is expecting a call, you can probably get out within 5 rounds, making this a decent exit for a standard snatch and grab plan. You could avoid that by making the call part of the cast time and having the cast time be up to 1 minute, instead of having the call happen afterwards, but I'm not sure you're worried about it.

...I'm OK with people doing that.


On the defense side, you just need to have a secretary. They pick up, and you get warped to them instead of your actual target. So long as there's sufficient distance between the target and the person answering the phone (and with modern PBXes and VOIP they don't even need to be in the same state) a sound warp won't get in to see anyone who doesn't want you to. Alternately, a simple automated system that lasts for at least a minute frustrates every sound warp (you may want to specify that you have to reach a live person within a minute or the spell fails, not just that you must make a connection).

And thank you for helping me devise defences. My mind was drawing a blank on that.


I think you might want rules for how quickly someone answers a phone, because not getting to it before voicemail picks up is a problem if you didn't prepare it properly. If someone is trying to sound warp to you quickly and didn't set it up ahead of time, you may not get to it in time even if you want to answer the phone. Setting up some tables that answer "what ring it gets answered on" and giving bonuses or penalties to that roll based on level of preparation that went into planning the warp (extensive / moderate / some / none / calling an old friend who hasn't heard from you in forever / calling a random number) would probably help nail that sort of thing down, if it was a concern for your games. I'd certainly like to have it in mine to avoid having to come up with it when it came up (and it would in my games).

I'll whip something up. I don't see it being that big a deal in my games, but I see your point.

[tarkisflux]

If you're allowing VOIP phone systems to carry a warp, you may want to decide if a Skype / Voice Chat could do a similar transfer. It opens up questions about multi-user calls though (can you go to anyone in a Ventrillo / Google Hangout room?), which don't normally happen within a minute in the direct call scenario.

One other defense is to just never answer your phone, but call back numbers that you recognize. It works so long as "make a connection within a minute" doesn't involve picking up an incoming call. Which I don't think you intend, but you only have "making the call" in an example text.

[Grimsage Matt]

So, Instant Connectivity then? (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:Magic#Instant_Connectivity)

What I find funny is that when people make a modern game and don't try and look at d20 modern, which has what you need for a modern game.

Even the spells have equlivents, or things you could base it off.

Edit; Also here are D20 Moderns rules for casting through E-mail;


Casting Spells through Email

Any spell that can be scribed onto a scroll can likewise be saved in electronic format—as email. In order to accomplish this, the caster must have the Scribe Scroll ability and a minimum of 8 ranks in Computer Use.

All the spellcaster needs is a computer with Internet access and the usual components necessary to cast the spell. First she writes the email, which takes one minute per level of the spell. At the end of that time, the spellcaster must cast the spell and succeed at a Computer Use check (DC 15 + spell level). If the check fails, the email is not correctly typed, the spell is ruined, and the spellcaster must begin anew. If the check succeeds, the email carries the spell through cyberspace and delivers it to the mailbox of the target.

A spellcaster casting a spell through email must expend XP as if scribing a scroll.

There are several rules and restrictions pertaining to spells sent through email:

Target: The target of the spell is always the person who first opens the email. Any target with 10 or more ranks in Computer Use, Knowledge (arcane lore or technology), or Spellcraft receives a +5 competence bonus to any saving throws required by the spell.

No Spam: The email may only be sent to a single account. If you put more than one address in the “Recipient” line, the spell is ruined and wasted.

Subject Line: The spell’s name must be typed into the “Subject” line of the email. One can attempt to disguise the name by writing it in an obscure language, an illegible font, or burying it in the middle of a larger phrase.

Duration: All spells begin immediately upon the email being opened. It is not possible for a spellcaster to save the power from an email spell and discharge it later.

Undeliverable: If the email is not opened within 72 hours, it becomes undeliverable. The account that sent the original email will receive an email notification of this. If the target opens the email after 72 hours have elapsed, the body of the message will be blank.

And yes, I know it's a D&D game, but it is a modern setting right? So what has the rules for a modern setting/problems in mind?