Can someone walk me through developing epic spells?

[RoboEmperor]

I'm not the best with rules, as I often misinterpret things, so could someone give me a step-by-step walkthrough of developing epic spells?
Like
1. Pick a seed
2. do changes to the spell
3. add up the +spellcraft DC
etc.

and probably give a nice simple example.

My goal is True polymorph/shapechange, where the effect is permanent, undispellable change in your physical body (just like how grafts are permanent changes). The spell need not grant any supernatural or spell-like abilities, just the permanent change in ability score and racial traits are fine (like immunity to aging)

I know this uses the transform seed... and that's about it. I am reading the epic level handbook but it's a little hard to understand. Permanent duration is x5 the spellcraft DC, but is this dispellable? How do I make it undispellable or "True"?

Another fun goal is a spell that casts 999 magic missiles, but it's my understanding this cannot be done, at best I can make the magic missile each do 21d6+1 damage.

There are a lot of crazy spell ideas I want to try to develop so fully understanding this is important!

[Necroticplague]

Gonna need a few more details. What range, target, time are you looking for? Are you willing to have it be a ritual? How much damage are you fine with taking? Do you want to be able to cast this on others, or just yourself? A combination of transform and heal could easily give you what you want (and probably being much cheaper than using "permanent" modifier).

A permanent spell can be dispelled. An Instantaneous one, however, can't (thus my recommendation for heal seed).

[RoboEmperor]

Gonna need a few more details. What range, target, time are you looking for? Are you willing to have it be a ritual? How much damage are you fine with taking? Do you want to be able to cast this on others, or just yourself? A combination of transform and heal could easily give you what you want (and probably being much cheaper than using "permanent" modifier).

A permanent spell can be dispelled. An Instantaneous one, however, can't (thus my recommendation for heal seed).

Yeah, this is the kind of thing i wanted! Instantaneous over permanent!

I want the spell, to be only for me, one time use ever is fine. Before I've been madly toying around with the wish spell and true mind switch to become a pitfiend, but now I just want to remove psionics completely from the equation and tackle this purely magically.

So once again, only me, become a pitifiend/succubus/incubus or some other outsider that can talk, has hands, and is reasonably powerful (and preferably not hideous as #)*% like a vrock, dretch, etc. Maybe I'll pick a celestial outsider instead of a fiendish one!).

As for ritual, xp cost, etc, I believe is only to lower spellcraft DC so I'll pick and choose and see what's acceptable :). Looking up heal seed right now!

edit: read it, don't fully understand it >.<
How would you combine heal and transform? Can you show me your work please? :D

[Necroticplague]

Yeah, this is the kind of thing i wanted! Instantaneous over permanent!

I want the spell, to be only for me, one time use ever is fine. Before I've been madly toying around with the wish spell and true mind switch to become a pitfiend, but now I just want to remove psionics completely from the equation and tackle this purely magically.

So once again, only me, become a pitifiend/succubus/incubus or some other outsider that can talk, has hands, and is reasonably powerful (and preferably not hideous as #)*% like a vrock, dretch, etc. Maybe I'll pick a celestial outsider instead of a fiendish one!).

As for ritual, xp cost, etc, I believe is only to lower spellcraft DC so I'll pick and choose and see what's acceptable :). Looking up heal seed right now!

edit: read it, don't fully understand it >.<
How would you combine heal and transform? Can you show me your work please? :D
Don't worry, I started working on it once I saw this thread. You can combine seeds by simply adding DCs together.
Just a crude version, without any mitigation:

Spellcraft DC:44
Transmutation
Components:Verbal, Somatic, Divine Focus
Cast time:1 minute
Range:Personal
Duration:Instantaneous
Save:Fort Negates
SR:yes
When cast, the target briefly seems to melt into their base components, before being reconstituted into a new form. This restorative process cures the target all diseases, blindness, deafness, hit point damage, and temporary ability damage, and dispels all magical effects penalizing the character’s abilities. This spell does not restore levels or Constitution points lost due to death. They then transform into a form of the caster's choosing, with a size between diminutive and one larger than the target's normal form's size.The transformed subject can have no more Hit Dice than the caster has , nor can the form of something with more than 15 HD be assumed.If slain or destroyed, the transformed creature or object reverts to its original form. The subject’s equipment, if any, remains untransformed or melds into the new form’s body, at the caster’s option. The transformed creature or object acquires the physical and natural abilities of the creature or object it has been changed into while retaining its own memories and mental ability scores. It does not gain any supernatural, extraordinary, or spell like abilities of its new form, though it keeps the spell-like and extraordinary abilities of its own form. Mental abilities include personality, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, level and class, hit points (despite any change in its Constitution score), alignment, base attack bonus, base saves, extraordinary abilities, spells, and spell-like abilities, but not its supernatural abilities. Physical abilities include natural size and Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores. Natural abilities include armor, natural weapons, and similar gross physical qualities (presence or absence of wings, number of extremities, and so forth), and possibly hardness.



Note I originally built this assuming you cast it on someone else, thus the references to subjects and targets, with only change from that being the -2 to make it personal range.

[Tryxx]

Personally, as a DM I would allow an Instantaneous duration on the Transform seed with an x10 ad hoc DC adjustment before mitigating factors. I don't really feel like you would need to include the heal seed. Something like this:


Draconic Transformation
Transmutation
Spellcraft DC: 109
Components: V, S, Ritual, XP
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Effect: You
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude Negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
Special: Caster level 22
To Develop: 981,000 gp; 20 days; 39,240 XP. Seed: transform (adult red dragon) (DC 21). Factors: huge creature (+12 DC), dragon type (+5 DC), extraordinary abilities: frightful presence, immunities, spell resistance, blindsense, keen senses +50 DC), supernatural abilities: breath weapon (+10 DC), instantaneous duration (ad hoc x10 DC), increase casting time by 9 minutes (-18 DC), 9 additional casters contributing 9th-level spell slots (-153 DC), burn 8,000 XP per 9th-level spell contributor plus caster (-800 DC), change target and range to personal (ad hoc -5 DC).

This spell transforms the form of the caster into an adult red dragon. You gain the adult dragon's physical and natural abilities (including it's Strength, Dexterity, Constitution scores, attacks, flight, and natural armor) as well as the following extraordinary qualities: Frightful Presense, Immunities, Spell Resistance, Blindsense, and Keen Senses, and the supernatural quality of the dragon's Breath Weapon. You do not gain the dragons Spells, or Spell-Like Abilities.

XP Cost.
8,000 XP


21 (Base DC) + 12 (Size Huge from Medium), + 5 (Humanoid to Dragon), +50 (Extraordinary Abilities) + 10 (Supernatural Abilities) * 10 (Instantaneous Duration) = 1080

1080 - 18 (Reduce Casting Time) - 153 (Nine Additional Casters Contributing 9th-Level Spells [9*17]) - 800 (Each Caster Burns 8,000 XP [80*10]) = 109

109 * 9,000 = 981,000 gp to develop
981,000 / 50,000 = 20 days (19.62)
981,000 / 25 = 39,240 XP

[RoboEmperor]

Alright! Thanks everyone! You have no idea how happy this makes me :)
This solves all of my issues.
1. Immortality with any character, any race.
2. Badassness
3. It's all legit
4. No psionics
5. No need for a savage species start

[Phelix-Mu]

Alright! Thanks everyone! You have no idea how happy this makes me :)
This solves all of my issues.
1. Immortality with any character, any race.
2. Badassness
3. It's all legit
4. No psionics
5. No need for a savage species start

Yeah, that's pretty much the minimum of what can be accomplished via epic spells. Any craziness you can think of and more is possible, and with enough mitigation, it isn't just possible, it's EASY.

Things I've done with epic spells:
- Bind a solar to my character's body in incorporeal form as a perfect slave, effectively granting an extra set of actions and access to divine spellcasting.

- Bind multiple mythals together to forge sentient trees into a massive spaceship made of thousands of supragenius trees bound together in a kind of telepathic hivemind.

- Manifest an area of invisible crystals controlled by free action telekinetic control, capable of blocking line of effect, and grouping together for a shaper character to forge larger items out of living crystal. Explosive, living crystal. (Epic Manifesting, but potatoes, potAtoes.)