How to create the spell 'summon wilderbeast herd'.

[Harlot]

My friend the 4th level druid wants to be able to summon a wilderbeast, prefereably a herd of them.

We have never tried making our own spells before. How do we create a spell like that? Where do I find the rules for creating new spells and are there any caveats?

Also; cost and what would be the spell level for one wilderbeast vs. the herd?

And: how many wilderbeasts in the herd and how much damage output for the stampede?

Thanks for helping :-)
/Harlot

[Thorvaldr]

With higher levels of summon Nature's Ally, you can summon multiple lower level animals. As a 2nd level spell, Summon Nature's Ally II can summon 1d3 1st level creatures, which I would consider a wilderbeast to be.

A light horse can deal 1d4+1 damage? That sounds close-ish...

So with Summon Nature's Ally 1, you can summon 1 wilderbeast.
Summon Nature's Ally 2: 1d3 wilderbeasts.
Summon Nature's Ally 3: 1d4+1 wilderbeasts.

[Fouredged Sword]

I would just use a variation of Regal Procession. It summons 1 horse per CL, and they last 2 hours per CL. I would drop the duration to 10 min per level and have them not count as trained for riding, and not have any equipment appear with them, to account for the animal being slightly stronger than a light horse. This would still be a 3rd level spell.

Summon Herd
Conjuration (Summoning)
Level: Druid 3, Ranger 3
Components: V, S, M,
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One beast/level
Duration: 10 min/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

The spell summons a heard of wildabeast. These creatures are not trained for riding or combat, and although of helpful disposition to the caster, but be handled like normal for an animal of their kind.

You wouldn't have the control over creature like summoning a bison with summon monster, but you would get a lot of them.

[Chronos]

Well, a third-level spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonMonsterIII.htm) can summon a bison (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/bison.htm), which is pretty close to a wildebeest (note spelling). I'm not sure why it's on the Summon Monster list but not Summon Nature's Ally, which is usually a bit better for animals, but that gives you the general idea. If the spell is just Summon Wildebeest, then you'd probably want to make it 2nd level, since it'd be less versatile than the standard summon spells.

The bison listing also gives rules for how to handle a stampede.

For a whole herd of them, I guess it'd depend on how many are a "herd", but my gut reaction would be 7th level.

[Thorvaldr]

The bison-part brings up an interesting point...

A wildebeest (...wow that's a very weirdly spelled word...) is about 500 pounds, a bison about 2000...

Also, with that 3rd level spell, you're summoning a celestial bison... which is a very interesting thing to consider. Celestial is a +2 LA, so I guess a regular bison would be level 1?

[Sith_Happens]

There are no hard and fast rules for designing new spells (well, except Epic Spellcasting, but friends don't let friends use that), you just decide what you want the spell to do and then reach an agreement with your DM on what level it should be.

As for this particular spell:

1. Approximately how many wildebeest does he want to be able to summon?

2. How long does he want them to last?

3. What if anything in particular does he want them to do once summoned?

[Troacctid]

Pathfinder has a "Summon Stampede" spell that you could port over. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/summon-stampede

[Harlot]

Thanks for helping!
I don't think we need a Celestial wildebeest (Spelling noted - it's weird because it's Dutch, right?), any plain common wildebeest will do. So as for these questions:




1. Approximately how many wildebeest does he want to be able to summon?

2. How long does he want them to last?

3. What if anything in particular does he want them to do once summoned?

ad 1) I guess he (we) would want maybe 6-10 wildebeest, enough to cause mayhem, but few enough to keep caster level somewhat low?
ad 2) Not long - maybe 5 rounds/30 seconds? That would be enough to cause chaos in a battlefield and distraction anywhere else
ad 3) run around at random, or as a stampede. Not complicated stuff.

Also thanks Troacctid for the Pathfinder link. Don't know how to convert Pathfinder into AD&D, but will read up on that. (Or rather, make my brainy caster friend do it.)

[TuggyNE]

The bison-part brings up an interesting point...

A wildebeest (...wow that's a very weirdly spelled word...) is about 500 pounds, a bison about 2000...

Also, with that 3rd level spell, you're summoning a celestial bison... which is a very interesting thing to consider. Celestial is a +2 LA, so I guess a regular bison would be level 1?

LA is not what you want, because it is entirely irrelevant for all creatures except PCs and cohorts. The CR adjustment for a 5-HD creature like a bison is +1, and a bison is CR 2.