Anthrowhale
2014-09-06, 11:29 PM
I created a list of spells by volume according to RAW, partly because I've seen a number of posts asking, "How do you nuke things?" and though this might be a handy reference.
There are several tricky interactions that I wanted to mention explicitly and point out.
By RAW, Area is constrained by Range which nerfs some otherwise standout spells like Apocalypse From The Sky or Erupt. The vast majority of area spells are not necessarily constrained by range, but this rule is apparently often ignored by designers with 10s of spells having an area necessarily exceeding their range.
Enlarge spell only works on spells with a range of Close, Medium, or Long. As a consequence spells with range coinciding with area and a special range cannot benefit from Widen Spell. Widen Antimagic Field has the same area as Antimagic Field.
Line of Effect rules greatly weaken circle area spells, because it is unusual to have line of effect to a miles-scale distance at ground level. There may be some cases on the open sea or a salt flat, but otherwise these spells probably don't function as expected---and note that horizon effects rapidly come into play at large scales.
With a few exceptions (call avalanche, whirlwind of teeth), these spells are not overtly damaging. They can nevertheless be seeds for metamagic which affects a very large area. It appears quite possible to create an apocalypse, hellscape a continent, nuke a metropolis, or fumigate a dungeon via the appropriate use of metamagic. Weather eye, Fimbulwinter, Blizzard, and Detect crossroads appear to be the standout metamagic seeds.
My unit of measurement is log_10 of the number of medium creatures which could be effected under ideal conditions by a 20th level caster. Note that I used actual volumes rather than the discretized versions that are RAW correct. As a consequence, the dnd volume will be epsilon smaller since dnd diagonals are longer than geometric ones by 1.5/sqrt(2).
The general notation is: log[volume] level spell: drawbacks: advantages. This would work slightly better in a table, but I'm not sure how to make a table.
Metropolis Scale: 10s of miles.
13.7 L3 Weather Eye: Self, Divination
13.6 L8 Fimbulwinter: Self, Cold: Mobile, Months
11.1 L1 Locate City: Self, Divination, Circle
City Scale: Mile scale
9.7 L9 Greater Cloak of Bravery: Self, SR, Will, Mind-affecting: Mobile
9.5 L1 Find Temple: Self, Divination, Circle: Mobile
9.1 L2 Locate Node: Self, Divination, Circle
8.7 L5 Blizzard, Enlarge, Widen: Self, Cold, Fort: Spread
8.4 L5 Blizzard, Enlarge: Cold, Fort: Spread
7.8 L5 Blizzard: Self, Cold, Fort: Spread
Village/Battlefield Scale: around 1000 feet.
6.9 L7 Shifting Paths, Enlarge: SR, Will, Glamer
6.3 L5 Call Avalanche, Widen: Refl, Cold: Spread
6.3 L3 Defile Snow and Ice, Enlarge, Widen: SR, Cold: Spread
6.0 L7 Shifting Paths: SR, Will, Glamer
6.0 L3 Defile Snow and Ice, Widen: Self, SR, Cold: Spread
5.9 L0 Detect Crossroads: Divination, Quarter Circle: Mobile, LoE-, Persist
5.8 L5 Control Winds: Fort
5.8 L6 Sandstorm: Fort
Hamlet/Skirmish Scale: 100s of feet.
5.8 L2 Aerial Alarm, Enlarge, Widen:
5.6 L7 Whirlwind of Teeth, Enlarge, Widen: SR, Refl: Mobile
5.5 L2 Aerial Alarm, Widen:
5.5 L7 Whirlwind of Teeth, Widen: SR, Refl: Mobile
5.4 L6 Forbiddance, Widen: SR, Will: Permanent
5.4 L3 Defile Snow and Ice: SR, Cold: Spread
5.4 L5 Call Avalanche: Refl, Cold: Spread
5.4 L6 Repulsion: Self, SR, Will: Mobile
5.4 L9 Spread of Savagery: SR, Will, Enchantment: Spread
5.4 L6 Desecrate Battlefield, Widen:
5.4 L6 Consecrate Battlefield, Widen:
5.3 L9 Unbinding:
5.1 L2 Aerial Alarm, Enlarge:
5.1 L9 Utterdark, Enlarge: Self, Light: Spread
5.1 L9 Blinding Glory, Enlarge: Self, Darkness: Spread, Mobile
5.1 L2 Dissonant Chant: Self, SR, Sonic
5.1 L3 Crack Ice, Enlarge: SR, Fort, Force: Spread
5.1 L5 Telepathy Block, Enlarge, Widen: Mobile
5.1 L5 Zone of Revelation, Enlarge, Widen
Note that the low end of this scale is equivalent to a 150' radius ball.
Drawback list:
Divination: Nondetection, for example, plausibly provides an immunity to divination spells
Enchantment: Some creatures are immune to enchantment
Mind-affecting: Some creatures are immune to mind-affecting
Fort, Refl, Will: There is a save associated with the spell. High saves + evasion or mettle provides effective immunity
SR: Spell Resistance applies
Self: The spell effects the caster. There are always work-arounds such as Selective Spell
Force: A rare few creatures are immune to force.
Sonic: Some creatures are immune to sonic.
Cold: Some creatures are immune to cold.
Light, Darkness: Light or Darkness spells negate.
Circle or Quarter Circle: Two-dimensional areas effected.
Glamer: No real effects---limits the value of some metamagic stacking.
Advantage List
Mobile: you can move the area
Persist, Months, Permanent: The spell can be persisted, lasts for months, or is permanent.
Spread: A spread is unusually useful because it can turn corners.
LoE-: The text of the spell states that Line of Effect rules do not apply.
If you see anything incorrect or have suggestions, please speak up.
There are several tricky interactions that I wanted to mention explicitly and point out.
By RAW, Area is constrained by Range which nerfs some otherwise standout spells like Apocalypse From The Sky or Erupt. The vast majority of area spells are not necessarily constrained by range, but this rule is apparently often ignored by designers with 10s of spells having an area necessarily exceeding their range.
Enlarge spell only works on spells with a range of Close, Medium, or Long. As a consequence spells with range coinciding with area and a special range cannot benefit from Widen Spell. Widen Antimagic Field has the same area as Antimagic Field.
Line of Effect rules greatly weaken circle area spells, because it is unusual to have line of effect to a miles-scale distance at ground level. There may be some cases on the open sea or a salt flat, but otherwise these spells probably don't function as expected---and note that horizon effects rapidly come into play at large scales.
With a few exceptions (call avalanche, whirlwind of teeth), these spells are not overtly damaging. They can nevertheless be seeds for metamagic which affects a very large area. It appears quite possible to create an apocalypse, hellscape a continent, nuke a metropolis, or fumigate a dungeon via the appropriate use of metamagic. Weather eye, Fimbulwinter, Blizzard, and Detect crossroads appear to be the standout metamagic seeds.
My unit of measurement is log_10 of the number of medium creatures which could be effected under ideal conditions by a 20th level caster. Note that I used actual volumes rather than the discretized versions that are RAW correct. As a consequence, the dnd volume will be epsilon smaller since dnd diagonals are longer than geometric ones by 1.5/sqrt(2).
The general notation is: log[volume] level spell: drawbacks: advantages. This would work slightly better in a table, but I'm not sure how to make a table.
Metropolis Scale: 10s of miles.
13.7 L3 Weather Eye: Self, Divination
13.6 L8 Fimbulwinter: Self, Cold: Mobile, Months
11.1 L1 Locate City: Self, Divination, Circle
City Scale: Mile scale
9.7 L9 Greater Cloak of Bravery: Self, SR, Will, Mind-affecting: Mobile
9.5 L1 Find Temple: Self, Divination, Circle: Mobile
9.1 L2 Locate Node: Self, Divination, Circle
8.7 L5 Blizzard, Enlarge, Widen: Self, Cold, Fort: Spread
8.4 L5 Blizzard, Enlarge: Cold, Fort: Spread
7.8 L5 Blizzard: Self, Cold, Fort: Spread
Village/Battlefield Scale: around 1000 feet.
6.9 L7 Shifting Paths, Enlarge: SR, Will, Glamer
6.3 L5 Call Avalanche, Widen: Refl, Cold: Spread
6.3 L3 Defile Snow and Ice, Enlarge, Widen: SR, Cold: Spread
6.0 L7 Shifting Paths: SR, Will, Glamer
6.0 L3 Defile Snow and Ice, Widen: Self, SR, Cold: Spread
5.9 L0 Detect Crossroads: Divination, Quarter Circle: Mobile, LoE-, Persist
5.8 L5 Control Winds: Fort
5.8 L6 Sandstorm: Fort
Hamlet/Skirmish Scale: 100s of feet.
5.8 L2 Aerial Alarm, Enlarge, Widen:
5.6 L7 Whirlwind of Teeth, Enlarge, Widen: SR, Refl: Mobile
5.5 L2 Aerial Alarm, Widen:
5.5 L7 Whirlwind of Teeth, Widen: SR, Refl: Mobile
5.4 L6 Forbiddance, Widen: SR, Will: Permanent
5.4 L3 Defile Snow and Ice: SR, Cold: Spread
5.4 L5 Call Avalanche: Refl, Cold: Spread
5.4 L6 Repulsion: Self, SR, Will: Mobile
5.4 L9 Spread of Savagery: SR, Will, Enchantment: Spread
5.4 L6 Desecrate Battlefield, Widen:
5.4 L6 Consecrate Battlefield, Widen:
5.3 L9 Unbinding:
5.1 L2 Aerial Alarm, Enlarge:
5.1 L9 Utterdark, Enlarge: Self, Light: Spread
5.1 L9 Blinding Glory, Enlarge: Self, Darkness: Spread, Mobile
5.1 L2 Dissonant Chant: Self, SR, Sonic
5.1 L3 Crack Ice, Enlarge: SR, Fort, Force: Spread
5.1 L5 Telepathy Block, Enlarge, Widen: Mobile
5.1 L5 Zone of Revelation, Enlarge, Widen
Note that the low end of this scale is equivalent to a 150' radius ball.
Drawback list:
Divination: Nondetection, for example, plausibly provides an immunity to divination spells
Enchantment: Some creatures are immune to enchantment
Mind-affecting: Some creatures are immune to mind-affecting
Fort, Refl, Will: There is a save associated with the spell. High saves + evasion or mettle provides effective immunity
SR: Spell Resistance applies
Self: The spell effects the caster. There are always work-arounds such as Selective Spell
Force: A rare few creatures are immune to force.
Sonic: Some creatures are immune to sonic.
Cold: Some creatures are immune to cold.
Light, Darkness: Light or Darkness spells negate.
Circle or Quarter Circle: Two-dimensional areas effected.
Glamer: No real effects---limits the value of some metamagic stacking.
Advantage List
Mobile: you can move the area
Persist, Months, Permanent: The spell can be persisted, lasts for months, or is permanent.
Spread: A spread is unusually useful because it can turn corners.
LoE-: The text of the spell states that Line of Effect rules do not apply.
If you see anything incorrect or have suggestions, please speak up.