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View Full Version : Pathfinder "Book of Explosive Runes" has been power creeped.



deuxhero
2014-12-17, 10:50 PM
The "book of explosive runes" thing is old hat, and always had the argument that you couldn't decide to NOT auto-dispel your own spells (and potentially that the book being closed blocked line of sight)

Giant Hunter's Handbook added this new spell


This spell charges magical runes to an explosive degree. If cast on a creature with magical runes on its body, such as a rune giant or a runescarred creature, it deals 1d6 points of sonic damage per caster level (maximum 20d6) to the target and stuns the target for 1 round. When the spell is cast in this way, it must overcome the target's spell resistance. A successful Will save halves the damage and negates the stun effect.

The spell can also be cast on other magical runes, such as those from arcane mark or explosive runes. In this case, the resulting explosion deals 1d8 points of sonic damage per 2 caster levels (maximum 10d8) to all creatures within a 5-foot radius. Creatures in the area that succeed at a Reflex save take half damage. This spell doesn't destroy runes; targeted runes continue to function normally. Mundane runes, such as ones in writing or runic tattoos, cannot be affected by this spell.

Put a bunch (it's a permanent cantrip with a standard action casting time. You can add a mark every 6 seconds) of Arcane Marks on something (don't even need to worry about space, as nothing stops overlapping Arcane Marks. I think Eberron even had overlapping marks used to forgery proof papers back in 3.5), put it in extra dimensional space and have your familiar toss it at the enemy (hitting a square is easy) in combat and then cast this. Best part is you can reuse it

Kraken
2014-12-17, 10:57 PM
I love that arcane mark is even an example spell. I mean, I get that in game design new stuff can have unforeseen consequences, but how in the hell did they miss the abuse potential here?

Thiyr
2014-12-17, 11:02 PM
Unfortunately, the problem with this idea is that the spell is cast on the runes themselves, and it only has a single target. Having a bunch of copies of arcane mark doesn't seem to actually do anything with regards to Runic Overload, you're just gonna get the one overload, doing exactly what the spell says, rather than multiplying it by the runes you've got in the book. If you had a way to make it an area spell, then it works, but without that it's not really doing anything out of the ordinary. Sorry D:

animewatcha
2014-12-17, 11:07 PM
Is there a pathfinder version of twinn'ed, repeating, echo'ing, etc. ?

Andezzar
2014-12-18, 12:31 AM
The "book of explosive runes" thing is old hat, and always had the argument that you couldn't decide to NOT auto-dispel your own spells (and potentially that the book being closed blocked line of sight)Just put runes on the covers of the book. The chain reaction does not need LoS.

Psyren
2014-12-18, 02:22 AM
The book of runes bomb trick is a fun thought exercise, but rules-wise, a book is a single object. On top of that, you auto-succeed on your own dispel attempts (failing is not optional) so "detonating" the book will require the assistance of another spellcaster even if it could carry a bevy of runes.

Simply put, this trick is fun to bandy about on forums but there is plenty of reason not to see this at actual tables.

Andezzar
2014-12-18, 02:47 AM
Take a folder (1 object) and put as many sheets of paper (1 object each) as will fit into it. To get around the other problem, I asked a question in the simple question thread. Even if it is a two man job, being able to kill (nearly) everything in a 10 ft radius is worth a lot.

Psyren
2014-12-18, 03:01 AM
What is a "folder" and where can I find its entry?

Basically you have to rely on your DM to allow you to assemble objects piecemeal like this, and even when you're done, due to RAW you might just end up with a single object with a single rune on it after all your hard work.

Extra Anchovies
2014-12-18, 03:03 AM
You don't even need a second person for the book of runes bomb: just use a minimum-possible-CL scroll of Dispel Magic. You actually have higher odds of failing to dispel than if a companion casts it at full CL.


What is a "folder" and where can I find its entry?

Basically you have to rely on your DM to allow you to assemble objects piecemeal like this, and even when you're done, due to RAW you might just end up with a single object with a single rune on it after all your hard work.

Fine, then, a bunch of empty flasks tied together with string. "Flask" is a RAW object, and "string of flasks" is not.

Psyren
2014-12-18, 03:07 AM
You don't even need a second person for the book of runes bomb: just use a minimum-possible-CL scroll of Dispel Magic. You actually have higher odds of failing to dispel than if a companion casts it at full CL.

Even if you use a scroll, you are still the caster of the dispel and thus automatically succeed regardless of CL. No failure, no boom.



Fine, then, a bunch of empty flasks tied together with string. "Flask" is a RAW object, and "string of flasks" is not.

Bandolier :smalltongue:

Joking aside, you will need GDM for that since only an area spell will affect each flask, and even then you run into the problem above.