Law/Chaos Metamagic Feats

[GilesTheCleric]

I am working on homebrewing some mages whose magic is based on the law/order axis, and thought that it would be nice if there were a few more feats that would be useful to them specifically.

Here's a whole bunch of things I came up with; the rules text isn't final -- I mostly wanted feedback on whether they generally seemed balanced, and whether they duplicated other feats or would be useless.

I especially would like feedback on the -level adjustment feats: humble spell, ephemeral spell, and tentative spell.

Here's the document for my brew in case you're interested in seeing the classes etc: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hfsdo6tyanebmd7/Colours%20of%20Chaos%20mk4.pdf?dl=0



Feat name
Spell Level
Prereqs
Description


Unstable Spell
+1
-
for 1 rd + ASF% (25%? 50%?)


Born of the Duo Destroyers
+0
Energy Substitution (CAr) (fire or elec) , Knowledge (nature) 4 ranks
Born of the Three Thunders, but fire/elec; spell ends with a noxious smoke cloud that sickens


After-image Spell
+0
Spell focus (Illu), or deceptive spell (Cs), or disguise spell (DaD)
spell leaves illusion of the spell for 1 rd, forces will to disbelieve, then ref to avoid the imagined effects. On failed ref, foe is shaken/fear escalation)


Probing Spell
+0
Favoured Enemy class skill or racial bonus vs a specific creature type
learn what type of magic foes use/ how much they have left; any of your gear with bane is now keyed to that creature type/caster type for rounds = spell level


reaving spell
+2
1 MM feat
target loses one random spell slot 0-9


Silencing spell
+3
1 MM feat
target is unable to cast the same spell they just cast until they refresh their spells


encore spell
+0
-
casting the same spell repeatedly without casting any in-between successively increases the DC by +1


law spell
+1
-
descriptor changes to law, 1/2 damage is lawful


chaos spell
+1
-
descriptor changes to chaos, 1/2 damage is chaotic


judgement spell
+1
any lawful alignment
gains [law], has 1 rd extra effect based on foe's alignment:
lawful: +4 morale grapple and vs bullrush/CMD and cannot be flanked
neutral (L/C): fatigued
chaotic: exhausted


hand-laser spell (needs a better name)
+1
weapon focus (ray)
ray spell range changes to melee touch


fallout spell
+2
-
1 rd later deals 1/2 of spell damage as fire dmg in 20' aoe around original target


medusa's kiss spell
+2
racial natural attack that paralyzes or petrifies
foe gets fort save at spell's DC; saved: paralyze 1 rd, fail: petrified


reflective spell
+0
ability to cast a spell with "armor" in the name
target gains +4 SR and +2 deflect AC for 1 rd


humble spell
-2
1 MM feat
spell deals minimum dice result damage, is prepared/cast from a lower-level slot


ephemeral spell
-1
1 MM feat
uses minimum variable number for effect, range, and duration, is prep/cast from lower-level slot


tentative spell
see text
humble spell or ephemeral spell
minimize all variables, spell with casting time ≤ 1 std action is cast as std action, even if it is spontaneous; it is cast from a 1st level slot, other MM increases the spell level as normal from there


sympathetic spell
+0
ability to cast Status
target is affected by Status if they fail save vs carrier spell


energy tracking spell
+1
-
casting the same spell at a foe who just cast it gets +4 DC, ignores SR


masquerade spell
+0
-
spell spellcrafts as a different one on your list


tracing spell
+1
ability to cast faerie fire
lights up target with faerie fire for rds = spell level


carbuncle spell
+1
-
all w/in 30' make will save or fascinated with the affected target


lodestone spell
+2
carbuncle spell
all w/in 30' make will save or change the focus of their attacks to the affected target if the target is a foe to them


flux-power spell
+1
empower spell or maximize spell
spell deals +/- 1/4 more dice, roll 1d2 to see which; effect is applied before other MM that manipulates # of dice or their values


hardening spell
+1
-
target is treated as an object for purposes of spells/effects (one of my brewed classes can increase the hardness of objects or change their materials)


[law/chaos] exemplar spell
+1
any law/chaos alignment
as purify spell, BoED


sudden x spell
-
MM feat(s)
sudden versions of the other spells here


ineffable spell
+2
-
spell counts as divine for all purposes (ASF, scroll-making, etc)


mystic spell
+2
-
spell counts as arcane for all purposes (ASF, scroll-making, etc)


body battery
-
con score
take con damage to bolster spell -- +1 damage die/con sacrificed


left-handed magic
+0
Shadow Weave Magic (PGtF)
flips [descriptor], eg. law -> chaos, evil -> good, fire -> cold



If anyone is interested in being a playtester, editor, lore/fluff writer, encounter/mapmaker, or artist for my document, I'd be happy to have more hands on deck.


EDIT: Updated with feedback.


least reaving spell
+0
-
target loses one random level-0 spell slot


lesser reaving spell
+1
1 MM feat
target loses one random level 1-2 spell slot


reaving spell
+2
lesser reaving spell
target loses one random level 1-4 spell slot


greater reaving spell
+3
reaving spell
target loses one random level 1-6 spell slot


targeted reaving spell
+4
reaving spell, heighten spell
target loses one random spell of a level equal to the final slot that the targeted reaving spell is cast from


touch spell (hand-laser renamed)
+0
weapon focus (ray)
ray spell range changes to melee touch


humble spell
-1
1 MM feat
spell deals minimum dice result damage per die, is prepared/cast from a lower-level slot; spell must deal damage dice in order to have this MM applied


ephemeral spell
-1
1 MM feat
uses minimum variable number for effect, range, and duration, is prep/cast from lower-level slot; spell must have a variable effect, range, or duration in order to apply this MM


tentative spell
see text
humble spell or ephemeral spell
minimize all variables, spell with casting time ≤ 1 std action is cast as std action, even if it is spontaneous; it is cast from a slot half that of the original spell, rounded up; other MM increases the spell level as normal from there. The spell must have both variables in its description and in any one or more of effect, range, or duration


After-image Spell
+0
Spell focus (Illu), or deceptive spell (Cs), or disguise spell (DaD)
spell leaves illusion of the spell for 1 rd. On the next round, the original target(s) must make a will save or be shaken


body battery
-
con score
take con damage to bolster spell. For each point of con sacced, the spell deals one additional die of damage, which may bring the spell up to or above its normal maximum. Only spells that already deal damage dice may be used with this feat


Silencing spell
+1
1 MM feat
target is unable to cast the same spell they just cast until they refresh their spells

[gr8artist]

Need a better description of After Image Spell. And, for heaven's sake simplify that mechanic. Just say a Will disbelieves or a Reflex negates, failure causes shaken.
Reaving is too good, I think a +4 modifier is better, though it depends on how the random spell is selected. If you're rolling a d10 for spell level, then a d-whatever for individual spell from that level, then it's way better than rolling a d-whatever to determine the individual spell from the whole list. This is because most casters have many more available low-level spell slots than higher spell slots. Perhaps break it up: Lesser Reaving (+1, loss of a random 1st or 2nd spell), Reaving (+2, loss of a random 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th level spell), and Greater Reaving (+3, loss of a random 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th level spell)
Hand Laser should be "Touch Spell" or "Contact Spell". Also, if you're nerfing range, make it +0, if not –1.

I'll try and check more later.

[Atomburster]

You may need to fix the humble spell metamagic. As it is, every spellcaster is going to take it.

Humble Cure Moderate wounds will restore (2+level)hp instead of cure minor wounds for 1. And then you have tentative cure critical wounds as level 1 for up to 24 hp per member instead of a level 1 cure light wounds which would give 6-13. Possibly, an incantatrix may start doing a tentative repeat twinned meteor swarm in a 6th-level slot. It would toss 16 meteors for up to 32 bludgeoning damage and 96 fire damage in a 6-th level slot. A normal meteor swarm deals 8d6 of bludgeoning, 24d6 of fire, or an average of 28 bludgeoning, 84 fire in a 9-th level slot.

EDIT: Or Tentative repeat twinned time stop for 8 seconds in a 6-th level slot.

[Alent]

I don't play enough casters and am a little out of it today, so I'm not sure I can fully help with all this, but I'll give it a good shot:

For "hand laser", I'm going to suggest "Inner Ray Spell" and fluff it off of your Ley Magic concept, something like "Discharging Ray spells along your inner ley-lines." I second the +0 suggestion, seems kind of strange to make something like that more expensive unless it specifically grants a class feature access to something it wasn't meant to access for balance reasons. I'm not familiar enough with most of the insane caster tricks, so I'm mostly guessing at the existence of such a thing.

I agree with the opinions on Reaving Spell. I would suggest making the spell lost matched against the elevated level of the spell. (Elevate a level 1 spell to level 3, hit the enemy, they lose a random level 3 spell.) If used by one of your homebrew classes, this would be very easy to target between them being spontaneous point based casters and being able to Humble/Elevate Reaving Spell and land whatever level you need to land to bleed off spell levels. Does this have a save attached?

Silencing Spell seems strange to me somehow. I can definitely picture your Order Mage using this as a defensive lockout against another ley mage or a spontaneous caster, but it doesn't really seem like it would help against prepared casters and for some reason I can't picture any other kind of caster except for maybe a psionicist using this skill. Perhaps this could be a candidate for being repurposed as a class feature?

Body Battery seems like it would be popular with Bind Naberius blaster builds. It probably needs more detail, does it work by increasing CL or just bonus dice? There's issues either way- If it works by increasing effective CL, it doesn't affect spells with arbitrary caps (EG magic missile, fireball), if it just increases damage the spells that don't do damage don't benefit from this.

I'd like to see a more detailed writeup on Ephemeral Spell and Tentative Spell. With just that vague statblock, I'm not sure if they simply crap out all the spell's particulars or actually scales down the caster level below the standard minimum. If they work pretty much as the synopsis reads, I'm not sure this is a good idea? If either of your classes cast an Ephemeral Tentative spell it would be a 0th level spell? I'm thinking particularly of your classes, since if I understand their subsystem correctly they have infinite cantrip casting. (Edit: I'd also suggest prohibiting crafting wands with tentative spell, or everyone's going to have Tentative Wish Wands in their back pocket)

I find Lodestone spell interesting. I'd like to see that one in play. If applied to a Summon spell, would the summon be the target of the lodestone effect? Also, what is the duration? Is it shared with the original spell duration?

[GilesTheCleric]

Need a better description of After Image Spell. And, for heaven's sake simplify that mechanic. Just say a Will disbelieves or a Reflex negates, failure causes shaken.
Reaving is too good, I think a +4 modifier is better, though it depends on how the random spell is selected. If you're rolling a d10 for spell level, then a d-whatever for individual spell from that level, then it's way better than rolling a d-whatever to determine the individual spell from the whole list. This is because most casters have many more available low-level spell slots than higher spell slots. Perhaps break it up: Lesser Reaving (+1, loss of a random 1st or 2nd spell), Reaving (+2, loss of a random 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th level spell), and Greater Reaving (+3, loss of a random 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th level spell)
Hand Laser should be "Touch Spell" or "Contact Spell". Also, if you're nerfing range, make it +0, if not –1.

I'll try and check more later.

Do you think that After-image should allow either will+ref, or just one? You're right about reaving. Something more like this:



least reaving spell
+0
-
target loses one random level-0 spell slot


lesser reaving spell
+1
1 MM feat
target loses one random level 1-2 spell slot


reaving spell
+2
lesser reaving spell
target loses one random level 1-4 spell slot


greater reaving spell
+3
reaving spell
target loses one random level 1-6 spell slot


I suppose the few benefits that you get from changing a ray to touch don't quite outweigh having lost the range. I was thinking most about the ability to hold the charge, and that the spell becomes a valid target for spell flower.


You may need to fix the humble spell metamagic. As it is, every spellcaster is going to take it.

Humble Cure Moderate wounds will restore (2+level)hp instead of cure minor wounds for 1. And then you have tentative cure critical wounds as level 1 for up to 24 hp per member instead of a level 1 cure light wounds which would give 6-13. Possibly, an incantatrix may start doing a tentative repeat twinned meteor swarm in a 6th-level slot. It would toss 16 meteors for up to 32 bludgeoning damage and 96 fire damage in a 6-th level slot. A normal meteor swarm deals 8d6 of bludgeoning, 24d6 of fire, or an average of 28 bludgeoning, 84 fire in a 9-th level slot.

EDIT: Or Tentative repeat twinned time stop for 8 seconds in a 6-th level slot.

I was worried that those would be too imbalanced, and you have confirmed my fears. I suppose changing humble to -1 would make it a bit better -- humble CMW from a level 3 caster is 5 vs CLW for 4. It would make the most difference for higher-level casters, by allowing them to make more efficient use of their level for the spell slot. Humble CMW from a lvl 15 caster would end up being 17, vs CLW for 6.

Perhaps changing tentative to half of the original spell's level (rounded up) would be better? Then a tentative 9th would be a 5th, allowing for it to take up to +4 of MM, so the tentative twin meteor swarm would do (8+24)*2 = 64 damage from a 9th; tentative MS from a 5th would be 32 compared to cone of cold's average of 31.5 (from a 9th level caster; 17th caster gets 52.5). That seems much more balanced, since the meteor swarm would then most benefit from rider effects rather than twinning or echoing etc to increase the damage.

Do you think that for all of these level-reducing spells there ought to be an extra prerequisite -- perhaps 1 MM and heighten spell or something? A caster would then have to invest fairly heavily to obtain them, and of course these feats don't help until you are able to cast the higher-level spell normally. Perhaps they should only be applicable to spells that have variables to begin with as well.


I don't play enough casters and am a little out of it today, so I'm not sure I can fully help with all this, but I'll give it a good shot:

For "hand laser", I'm going to suggest "Inner Ray Spell" and fluff it off of your Ley Magic concept, something like "Discharging Ray spells along your inner ley-lines." I second the +0 suggestion, seems kind of strange to make something like that more expensive unless it specifically grants a class feature access to something it wasn't meant to access for balance reasons. I'm not familiar enough with most of the insane caster tricks, so I'm mostly guessing at the existence of such a thing.
Inner Ray benefits duskblades quite a lot, since they can then use ray-based spells for their melee attacks; I have been considering giving my classes the same ability, so that's my greatest concern.



I agree with the opinions on Reaving Spell. I would suggest making the spell lost matched against the elevated level of the spell. (Elevate a level 1 spell to level 3, hit the enemy, they lose a random level 3 spell.) If used by one of your homebrew classes, this would be very easy to target between them being spontaneous point based casters and being able to Humble/Elevate Reaving Spell and land whatever level you need to land to bleed off spell levels. Does this have a save attached?
Hmn, the idea of making the final level of the spell match is a good one. I didn't give it a save since Stars of Mystra gets up to five spells, and this feat only does one. Do you think it should have a will save?

targeted reaving spell
+4
reaving spell, heighten spell
target loses one random spell of a level equal to the final slot that the targeted reaving spell is cast from




Silencing Spell seems strange to me somehow. I can definitely picture your Order Mage using this as a defensive lockout against another ley mage or a spontaneous caster, but it doesn't really seem like it would help against prepared casters and for some reason I can't picture any other kind of caster except for maybe a psionicist using this skill. Perhaps this could be a candidate for being repurposed as a class feature?
It is certainly a niche feat -- I saw it as being useful against casters who focus on just one or two spells (mailman, fell drain, arcane thesis, etc; also very good for a DM to give to an NPC, or for a PC to use against a BBEG's signature spell), and of course spontaneous casters. Making it a class feature for the order mage is a good idea. Given how niche it is, perhaps the level adjustment should be +1 instead of +3? It's unusual for combat to last more than three or so rounds, so this feat wouldn't get too much use within a single combat.



Body Battery seems like it would be popular with Bind Naberius blaster builds. It probably needs more detail, does it work by increasing CL or just bonus dice? There's issues either way- If it works by increasing effective CL, it doesn't affect spells with arbitrary caps (EG magic missile, fireball), if it just increases damage the spells that don't do damage don't benefit from this.
I hadn't quite decided on its final details. Adding dice of damage should only apply to spells that already have damage, otherwise there's malarkey that can happen. There's only a few spells that don't have damage caps, so just going straight to increasing dice would be the most generally useful I think. It could be con drain instead of damage, but that seems very harsh for such a small benefit. Naberius is fine, since it's only gaining back one point per round -- adding one die of damage in return for a feat and a class seems like a fair trade, especially since creatures that go after you in the initiative count have an easier time dropping you.




I'd like to see a more detailed writeup on Ephemeral Spell and Tentative Spell. With just that vague statblock, I'm not sure if they simply crap out all the spell's particulars or actually scales down the caster level below the standard minimum. If they work pretty much as the synopsis reads, I'm not sure this is a good idea? If either of your classes cast an Ephemeral Tentative spell it would be a 0th level spell? I'm thinking particularly of your classes, since if I understand their subsystem correctly they have infinite cantrip casting. (Edit: I'd also suggest prohibiting crafting wands with tentative spell, or everyone's going to have Tentative Wish Wands in their back pocket)
The way I intended them to be was essentially the opposite of maximize spell -- minimize spell. Scaling down the CL to the minimum for the purposes of the effect, range, etc. is a good idea.

I've been on the fence about PF cantrips; for the time being, I'm intending 0th-level spells to cost .5 spell points, which is a little ugly.

Tentative spell is looking pretty broken, even after making it into 1/2 spell level adjustment. Any spell that has a fixed effect and instantaneous duration (wish, divination, etc) benefits greatly and has no downsides. Maybe it should just be axed, or else the list of types of things that it doesn't work would have to be pretty long.



I find Lodestone spell interesting. I'd like to see that one in play. If applied to a Summon spell, would the summon be the target of the lodestone effect? Also, what is the duration? Is it shared with the original spell duration?

Lodestone spell + imbued summoning with some retributive debuff or BFC-type buff would be neat. I think the summon is the target of the summon spell, so it would be. Putting lodestone on a (naturally) 24-hour spell seems a bit overkill, so perhaps it should be spell level rounds of duration. However, doing that means it isn't useful for min/level things like Bear's endurance, only for in-combat buffs. What do you think?