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BobTheDog
2007-04-06, 04:39 AM
Okay, I was looking at the spell list (namely Symbols), looking for some nifty (or nasty) trap to maul my players with, and Symbol of Death is just screaming to be used.

Now, Symbol of Death is a lvl 8 spell that kills up to 150 HP (Fort negates).

The CR for a Trap is either:

a) 1 + spell level = 9

or

b) 1 + 1/7 * damage = 21

Now, I don't really think a Symbol of Death is an Epic trap (after all, any lvl 15 wizard can do it). But it is neither a good trap for a 9th level group (Search and Disable DC 33), unless I was planning to kill one or two PCs in one shot.

Thoughts?

Lolzords
2007-04-06, 02:13 PM
Don't underestimate what characters can do, a 9th level group probably could manage with symbol of death. After all, some characters have really decent skills. I remember a level 8 fighter I had who could get a 57 on jump, climb and swim.

Matthew
2007-04-08, 09:13 PM
Seems fairly typical of what is available at that Spell Level. I suppose it would use up 20% of the resources of a party...

Trap CRs aren't iron clad any more than Monster CRs, they are just guidelines. In this case the CR clearly falls somewhere between 9 and 21 by the guidelines, which should tell you that 21 is too high and 9 is too low. Split the difference and call it CR 15.