Re-leveling powerful and potentially useless spells

[logic_error]

I guess everyone on the forum agrees that some spells are very powerful for the level presented and some quite useless irrespective of the level. Glitterdust, Grease come to mind as the powerful ones. What spells do you suggest are like that? Where would you place them? Why? I will make a list of level transforms as you suggest them with the reasons to go with it.

[Elder_Basilisk]

Melf's acid arrow. Level 1. At level 1 it's an interesting alternative to magic missile, but not overpowering. If the various lesser orb spells are in play, it might still need buffing but continuous damage offers some advantages.

Ray of exhaustion. Level 2.
Waves of fatigue. Level 3.
Waves of exhaustion. Level 5

Interesting debuff spells that are just too high level to see much play. At level 2, ray of exhaustion compares a lot better to ray of enfeeblement. (Especially in 3.5--pathfinder ray of enfeeblement has a save and exhaustion/fatigue have some other effects like being unable to rage). Knock them down 1 to two levels each and I think they're much more competitive.

Ice storm. Level 3. No save damage is nice but you don't get much damage with ice storm so being a level higher than fireball is close to putting it out of play except as a spell for emergency scroll based offense. I think at level 3, it would see a lot more play.

Bull's strength, etc. Level 1. In terms of buff and bash, they're inferior to divine favor by level 6 and don't stack with much. In 3.0 they had long duration going for them but 3.5 and pf give them a very narrow shelf-life. Putting them at level 1 extends it a bit.

Shield other. Also level 1. It's an interesting spell but it's not often a good idea. Putting it at level 1 would open up the ability to use it as a strategy earlier and would also make it less spell-slot prohibitive.

[Kayblis]

I disagree with the Ray of Exhaustion being knocked down to level 2. It's a good spell that, on a failed save, ruins any martial character. Even on a sucessful save it restricts you a bit and completely shuts down uberchargers. Its synergy with itself(and therefore great use of Split Ray) also helps boost its potential.
Successful save: -1 to-hit/damage/AC/movement skills, no charging or running
Failed save or hit twice: -3 to-hit/damage/AC/movement skills, 1/2 movement and no rage(I believe you can't rage while Exhausted, can be wrong though)

Now, the Wave ones I agree. They don't stack with themselves and their conditions are lousy for the levels they currently are. Touch is rarely an issue, so the only real change over RoE is affecting more people while setting in stone the debuff given. Leveling them down is also part of the argument of not leveling down RoE, as it stacks with Waves of Fatigue.

[Elder_Basilisk]

I disagree with the Ray of Exhaustion being knocked down to level 2. It's a good spell that, on a failed save, ruins any martial character. Even on a sucessful save it restricts you a bit and completely shuts down uberchargers. Its synergy with itself(and therefore great use of Split Ray) also helps boost its potential.
Successful save: -1 to-hit/damage/AC/movement skills, no charging or running
Failed save or hit twice: -3 to-hit/damage/AC/movement skills, 1/2 movement and no rage(I believe you can't rage while Exhausted, can be wrong though)

Now, the Wave ones I agree. They don't stack with themselves and their conditions are lousy for the levels they currently are. Touch is rarely an issue, so the only real change over RoE is affecting more people while setting in stone the debuff given. Leveling them down is also part of the argument of not leveling down RoE, as it stacks with Waves of Fatigue.

Maybe that's also an argument for leveling ray of enfeeblement to level 2 then or using the Pathfinder version. As it is, it's really hard to see ray of exhaustion 2 star and dex on save, 6 on fail as even in the same ballpark as ray of enfeeblement which maxes at 6-11 strength penalty with no save and goes to 9-16 strength penalty no save if empowered. If 2 to 6 points wrecks a martial's day as a 3rd level spell, then 6-11 as a first level spell is entirely over the top

[Gildedragon]

So I'd drop fabricate to lvl 1 or 2 at most: it is essentially an expedited craft check, the volume of which is limited by caster level.

I'd up bless water a level and remove the material component.

Magic aura is either a bit on the strong side for its level (if it allows no save to realize the false aura) or weak (if it does)

[Jormengand]

So I'd drop fabricate to lvl 1 or 2 at most: it is essentially an expedited craft check, the volume of which is limited by caster level.

So... you'd reduce the level of one of the poster-children for broken 3.5 spells?



Alter Self and Polymorph need to be higher level - being able to add flight and other stuff from character level 3 for a long time is insane.

[Gildedragon]

So... you'd reduce the level of one of the poster-children for broken 3.5 spells?

Fabricate isn't that broken. It merely brings a skill set (Craft skills) to actually useable time frames. It is mostly broken when paired with Creation spells; but let's say "minor creation" is only one level lower than standard Fabricate: by the time you have one you already have the other.

Lowering Fabricate means wizards can create ordinary items fast, paying what they normally would have paid for creating those same items.

[Cosi]

I don't think there are that many spells that need to be higher level, actually. planar binding lets you do stupid crap, but the stupid crap it lets you do isn't going to be appropriate at any level. It needs to be fixed not re-leveled.

As far as spells that need to be lower, basically every single blasting spell is over-leveled. Here (http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=51736&start=15) is a decent sketch of where evocation spells should really land.

[Kayblis]

Maybe that's also an argument for leveling ray of enfeeblement to level 2 then or using the Pathfinder version. As it is, it's really hard to see ray of exhaustion 2 star and dex on save, 6 on fail as even in the same ballpark as ray of enfeeblement which maxes at 6-11 strength penalty with no save and goes to 9-16 strength penalty no save if empowered. If 2 to 6 points wrecks a martial's day as a 3rd level spell, then 6-11 as a first level spell is entirely over the top

The thing is Enfeeblement scales with level. At level 5, you're looking at 1d6+2 penalty that doesn't stack with most things. The Empowered version only increases the roll, so by level 10 it's still 6-14, not a great improvement. It IS a great spell though. The thing is, the penalties in Exhaustion are just half the effect - denying movement modes locks your enemy into the usual walking routine, ruining entire builds based around charging, pouncing and mounted charges. A -8 to STR is basically -4 to-hit and damage, with no added effects unless the other creature had terrible STR to start with, which means it wouldn't use STR-based stuff in the first place. On the other hand, any mounted lancer would have its damage cut at least in half if its mount was hit by a Ray of Exhaustion regardless of save.

[Jormengand]

Fabricate isn't that broken. It merely brings a skill set (Craft skills) to actually useable time frames.

Yes, and that's dangerous. The one thing that's stopping craft from being overpowered is the time frame it takes.

Suppose fabricate was level 1. Here's roughly what happens:

Fighter: Hey wizard! Wanna risk your life in adventure? I hear there's some treasure worth 200 GP if you wanna join.
Wizard: No thanks.
Wizard: Hey. Hey expert. Can I buy [material components for a 300GP mundane item] please?
Expert: Sure thing buddy, that'll run you 100GP.
Wizard: Neat.
Wizard: Hey expert. Would you like to buy a [300 GP mundane item]?
Expert: Sure thing, buddy. I'll take it off your hands for 150 GP.
Wizard: Deal. Hey, expert, can I buy [material components for a 450GP mundane item] please?
...
Fighter: Man, I wish I had levels in a real class!

[Feantar]

Yes, and that's dangerous. The one thing that's stopping craft from being overpowered is the time frame it takes.

Suppose fabricate was level 1. Here's roughly what happens:

Fighter: Hey wizard! Wanna risk your life in adventure? I hear there's some treasure worth 200 GP if you wanna join.
Wizard: No thanks.
Wizard: Hey. Hey expert. Can I buy [material components for a 300GP mundane item] please?
Expert: Sure thing buddy, that'll run you 100GP.
Wizard: Neat.
Wizard: Hey expert. Would you like to buy a [300 GP mundane item]?
Expert: Sure thing, buddy. I'll take it off your hands for 150 GP.
Wizard: Deal. Hey, expert, can I buy [material components for a 450GP mundane item] please?
...
Fighter: Man, I wish I had levels in a real class!

Let's be honest though, fighters always wish they had levels in a real class.

Joking aside, fabricate is too strong for level 1 or 2, but knocking it down to level 4, the level in which a wizard can have a personal undead army unit, win a war by themselves, Polymorph, and create stone citadels out of mountain sides (by themselves), would be a reasonable level to have them be able to fabricate.

Edit: It would also fit thematically; I learn to change inert matter this level, and on the next I learn to change other living matter (baleful polymorph, flesh to stone)

[logic_error]

How is material component being *created* by fabricate? Doesn't it only *transform* a previously present component?

[rel]

The wizard is buying the raw materials then inst-crafting them into a finished item via fabricate for fun and profit.

If the wizard actually uses this to craft trade goods (which sell for full price) then the problem is even larger.

also if the spell is 1st level the canny wizard can take advantage of the fact that the raw materials are listed as a material component and craft a use activated fabricate item for a few thousand GP.

Getting back to the matter of spells.
Let me have a crack at wizzard spells level 0 and 1
prestidigitation -1st
hold portal -0th
protection from <alignment> -2nd
grease -2nd
comprehend languages -2nd
detect secret doors -3rd
burning hands -0th
colour spray -2nd
magic aura -0th
ventriloquism -0th
ray of enfeeblement - 3rd
animate rope -0th

[Dr_Dinosaur]

The whole point of prestidigitation is that it's the minor magical effects that aren't worth writing out as discrete spells. Making it 1st level just means taking away flavor from casters

[rel]

*shrugs*
prestidigitation only lasts an hour so I craft a continuous item of it ASAP and it is strong enough that i'd drop a 1st level spell on it at levels 5 and above in a lot of circumstances.

moving on 2nd level wizzard spells (from srd)
obscure object - 1st
acid arrow - 1st
glitterdust - 4th
web 4th
see invisibility -1st
daze monster -1st
darkness - 3rd
gust of wind -1st
invisibility -3rd
misdirection -1st
phantom trap -0th
blindness / deafness - 3rd
command undead - 3rd
altar self - 3rd
darkvision -1st
pyrotechnics -3rd
rope trick -3rd
spiderclimb -3rd
whispering wind -1st

[Dragonexx]

Some suggestions of the top of my head.

Magic Missile: 0th
Burning Hands: 0th
Shocking Grasp: 0th
Polar Ray: 1st
Fireball: 1st
Lightning Bolt: 1st
Cone of Cold: 2nd (maybe 1st)
Ice Storm: 2nd
[Animal's] [Trait]: 1st
Prestidigitation: Could honstly just be at will as a class feature.
Meteor Swarm: 6th-7th
Chain Lightning: 3rd
Fabricate: 2nd-3rd
Fire Trap: 3rd
Deeper Darkness: 1st
Daylight: 1st
Animate Dead: 1st-2nd

[rel]

I like the evocation respecs. deeper darkness at 1st leads to problems

a) in 3.5 it isn't darkness, it is the light fantastic. A dark beyond dark that reveals things just as light would (it is shadowy illumination thus you can see by it). A party can use this darkness to navigate a dungeon without light and thus not alert monsters to their presence.

b) darkness imposes concealment thus it invalidates precision based damage; every rogue, assassin, scout and other shady type is basically negated by this one spell.

[Cosi]

Vaguely related: damage dice should not be capped on evocation spells. fireball is not going to compete with 8th level blasting options even if it deals 15d6 damage. Also, saves should probably be 10 + 1/2 * CL + bonus.


Fireball: 1st
Lightning Bolt: 1st
Cone of Cold: 2nd (maybe 1st)

Not sure cone of cold makes that much sense at 2nd (though you do have it maybe at first, so fair). I see that as saying either the cone AoE or cold damage is a level's worth of superior to line AoEs or fire damage, which I don't really buy.


Prestidigitation: Could honstly just be at will as a class feature.

I like PF's solution of making cantrips at will.


Animate Dead: 1st-2nd

An Ogre skeleton is dramatically tankier, and at least slightly more dangerous, than most melee characters at first level. I'm sympathetic to the plight of Necromancers who can't create undead minions until somewhere between 5th and 8th, but this seems super dangerous. At 2nd level, one tanky monster and four skeleton archers just shreds a lot of encounters.

[Snowbluff]

Wow, stop screwing with ray of enfeeblement. It's one of the few 1st spells that actually stays decent.

No PF Ray of Enfeeblement either. That's everything wrong with DnD in pathetic form.

[logic_error]

I feel that 1d6 damage/CL as an AOE is too powerful at levels 1 to 5.

[lord_khaine]

It also stomps solidly on the feets of psionic. Getting more use out of lower level blasting powers is already one of the few advantages psions have.

And its really not like arcane casting needs any sort of buff.

[Cosi]

I feel that 1d6 damage/CL as an AOE is too powerful at levels 1 to 5.

It trails the hit points per hit die of anything stronger than a Rogue. I think the benefit against weak enemies is probably not worth the weakness against strong ones.


It also stomps solidly on the feets of psionic. Getting more use out of lower level blasting powers is already one of the few advantages psions have.

And its really not like arcane casting needs any sort of buff.

Arcane casting is not a monolith. Casters are strong, but evokers are not. Making evocation viable simply increases the number of viable tactics, which is good. It doesn't make the guy casting stinking cloud better.

[SirNibbles]

You can safely increase the level of most Divination spells by at least 1. I hate Divination spells. So many of them are 'replace this DC 40 skill check with a 2nd level spell'.

[Jormengand]

I mean, the other problem is "What point are you measuring from?" If you want fireball to be a real third-level spell, then polymorph needs to be at least 6th or 7th even for most of its tamer uses. If you think that fly is fine at third, then fireball should be at second and Alter Self needs to be at least 4th (because it's usually just better than fly, as it can give you flight and other stuff). If you think that Alter Self is fine as a 2nd-level spell, then almost all evocations should be very low levels indeed.

[logic_error]

I mean, the other problem is "What point are you measuring from?" If you want fireball to be a real third-level spell, then polymorph needs to be at least 6th or 7th even for most of its tamer uses. If you think that fly is fine at third, then fireball should be at second and Alter Self needs to be at least 4th (because it's usually just better than fly, as it can give you flight and other stuff). If you think that Alter Self is fine as a 2nd-level spell, then almost all evocations should be very low levels indeed.

That's a very good point. What base class is considered average in terms of goodness? Ranger? Rogue?

[Cosi]

That's a very good point. What base class is considered average in terms of goodness? Ranger? Rogue?

First, it seems fair to measure Wizard spells on Wizard spells. So I guess the question should probably be whether you think flaming sphere, web, or alter self is the correct power level for a second level spell.

Second, I'm not sure "average" is the right answer, so much as "appropriate". The existence of classes so bad as to be pointless shouldn't lower our expectations for the power level of the rest of the game.

[rel]

So we start by balancing the wizard spells against each other only and create a more internally consistant spell list
then we modify the wizard classes progression to balance said consistant list and by extension the wizard class against other classes.

[Kayblis]

So we start by balancing the wizard spells against each other only and create a more internally consistant spell list
then we modify the wizard classes progression to balance said consistant list and by extension the wizard class against other classes.

That's a good idea by itself, but the problem is that you need some form of standard. Say you pick Fireball as the average 3rd level spell like the previous guy did - now everything is set and 'balanced' using that standard, which means increasing the level of most useful spells like Alter Self, Web, Grease...
But what if we picked Alter Self or Web as the standard? Then Fireball would be the one to change, we'd have blast spells on lower levels and the very versatile spells would stay around the same as now.
Fireball, even though it's the most famous 3rd level spell, is widely considered sub-standard on most forums. Therefore, balancing everything around it would make the class way weaker. The opposite is true for Polymorph. Baseline is, there is no "optimal" spell for each level because there are different levels of optimization, so balancing them is hard because of that. Any large-scale overhaul must set beforehand what is considered "level-appropriated standard" and work up from there. That's why we have one list sending Fireball to 1st level and another sending Glitterdust to 4th - lack of direction just makes the extremes switch places.

[TotallyNotEvil]

While not a powerhouse, fireball is nowhere near as weak as many tout.

Unsurprisingly, it compares unfavorably against a single target if measured against singe target spells. But put in three or four enemies and suddenly damage skyrockets.

And I found one can fit a whole lot of targets in a 20ft radius sphere.

Death is the best kind of crowd control, as some would say.

[logic_error]

While not a powerhouse, fireball is nowhere near as weak as many tout.

Unsurprisingly, it compares unfavorably against a single target if measured against singe target spells. But put in three or four enemies and suddenly damage skyrockets.

And I found one can fit a whole lot of targets in a 20ft radius sphere.

Death is the best kind of crowd control, as some would say.

Indeed. I think direct damage spells get a lot of flack around here. AoE DD are great spells. Situationally, very powerful just like everything else.

[Cosi]

fireball is pretty crap as a combat spell. It doesn't do enough damage to kill single opponents, and you'd rather have stinking cloud against groups. I'm sure you can construct a scenario where you'd want it, but that doesn't make it good -- you have to justify using a slot on it before you know what encounters you'll face. The main thing that makes it interesting is it's range. When you get it, you can throw a fireball 600ft and destroy things that you aren't even close to combat with. That's not always useful, but it's something.

[Mehangel]

Some suggestions of the top of my head.

Magic Missile: 0th
Burning Hands: 0th
Shocking Grasp: 0th
Polar Ray: 1st
Fireball: 1st
Lightning Bolt: 1st
Cone of Cold: 2nd (maybe 1st)
Ice Storm: 2nd
[Animal's] [Trait]: 1st
Prestidigitation: Could honstly just be at will as a class feature.
Meteor Swarm: 6th-7th
Chain Lightning: 3rd
Fabricate: 2nd-3rd
Fire Trap: 3rd
Deeper Darkness: 1st
Daylight: 1st
Animate Dead: 1st-2nd

Or you could just use Spheres of Power

[logic_error]

fireball is pretty crap as a combat spell. It doesn't do enough damage to kill single opponents, and you'd rather have stinking cloud against groups. I'm sure you can construct a scenario where you'd want it, but that doesn't make it good -- you have to justify using a slot on it before you know what encounters you'll face. The main thing that makes it interesting is it's range. When you get it, you can throw a fireball 600ft and destroy things that you aren't even close to combat with. That's not always useful, but it's something.

First: Not everyone plays an optimized party game where the melee/ranged fighters are effective combatants. A sorcerer/Wizard can occasionally add to the damage output especially when facing enemies with vulnerability to energy type damages / force damage.

Second: The damage scaling in the core spell *might* be low (it isn't because of the AOE) but it can be improved to ridiculous levels quite easily with the proper use of meta-magic reducers. A wizard with arcane thesis can lay down the holy smackdown while doing crowd control simultaneously. This works especially well with multithreat evocation spells.

[Cosi]

Or you could just use Spheres of Power

Or you could just stay on topic. Not every thread needs to turn into "have you heard the good word of Spheres of Power?"


First: Not everyone plays an optimized party game where the melee/ranged fighters are effective combatants. A sorcerer/Wizard can occasionally add to the damage output especially when facing enemies with vulnerability to energy type damages / force damage.

Okay, but that game is vulnerable to being disrupted if the Wizard picks spells that let him bat above the rest of his party, because they are better than fireball. The better solution is to reduce the variability of spell power levels for a given spell level, then scale the Wizard as appropriate.


Second: The damage scaling in the core spell *might* be low (it isn't because of the AOE) but it can be improved to ridiculous levels quite easily with the proper use of meta-magic reducers. A wizard with arcane thesis can lay down the holy smackdown while doing crowd control simultaneously. This works especially well with multithreat evocation spells.

Metamagic reduction breaks the game when you put it on Persistent Spell, or when you multiply spells that are already good. The better solution is to reduce the variability of spell power levels for a given spell level, then fix metamagic.

[TotallyNotEvil]

fireball is pretty crap as a combat spell. It doesn't do enough damage to kill single opponents, and you'd rather have stinking cloud against groups. I'm sure you can construct a scenario where you'd want it, but that doesn't make it good -- you have to justify using a slot on it before you know what encounters you'll face. The main thing that makes it interesting is it's range. When you get it, you can throw a fireball 600ft and destroy things that you aren't even close to combat with. That's not always useful, but it's something.
See, I never disputed that it's not the best choice against groups, but foes occasionally make their saving throws, you know? And nine out of ten times Ref is the lowest save your foe has, and the one DMs rarely bother to buff in case of heavy discrepancy.

I can think of plenty of situations in which Fireball is superior to Stinking Cloud. Now, I'm not disputing that Stinking Cloud is a great spell, but what if, for example:
- Your melee is disabled. What happens after they exit the Cloud or it runs out? Thy hack you up to pieces.
- You are fighting undead.
- You are fighting constructs.
- You are fighting hulking high-con types.
- You have a truly high numbers of enemies. For example, a siege, or an army fight.
- There is wind.
- Your enemy is inherently mobile. For example, he is on a ship.
- You need the intimidation factor.
- There are enemy mages that can dispel it. Even low level ones just need to roll well.

Your contribution to the fight is actually Xd6*CL damage, where X is the number of enemies you can fit into a huge 20ft radius sphere. A Boss and his three underlings, for example, means you just contributed 4d6*CL in damage with that one standard action. That's no mean number.

It's not the end-all, be-all of spells, but it's not ****.

For an example, my three-man 7th level party (of which one is a straight monk) opened a 40ft chamber with ten-twelve zombie ogres. Which were either immune to my cleric's strong disable spells (including Nauseating Breath), but one application of Goggles of the Sun and all but two dropped, at which point the Monk's full attack killed them both.

Should I have spent uses of Blindness? Of Bestow Curse? I think immediately removing 80-90% of enemies was a pretty good use of a third level slot.

And such a situation isn't even unusual. That's a Monte Cook adventure we ran through.

[logic_error]

Actually, such a situation is more of a norm than unusual. How many people really play optimized melees?

[rel]

That's a good idea by itself, but the problem is that you need some form of standard...

What if you make the standard

'direct damage spells a highly likely to kill level appropriate opposition'

and scale from there?

[Godskook]

fireball is pretty crap as a combat spell.

No its not. I've been meaning to write the thread about this, but Fireball is *BIG* victim of the Power-Gamer Fallacy. Fireball is a perfectly fine spell against CR-appropriate *GROUPS* because it is quite likely to kill half of them at level 5/6. Just imagine the enemies. For most encounters, if there's 4+ enemies, most enemies are going to CR 2 or less. 21 damage(avg 6CL roll) is going to take at least 75% off every CR 2 in the monster manual, and kill most of them outright on a failed save.

Fireball struggles in a world where DMs add HP to NPCs and monsters to compensate for the power PCs got either from DM generosity or PC optimization, but in a world where PCs are facing "CR appropriate" threats, a fireball is going to be *AMAZING* as a 3rd level spell.

And that's without going into the range, which is absolutely absurd, or actually investing in optimizing it.


It doesn't do enough damage to kill single opponents,

As is appropriate for an AoE spell.


and you'd rather have stinking cloud against groups.

Not if you want them dead, you'd probably rather have the fireball. Fireball synergizes with your team, while Stinking Cloud inhibits your team. A Fireball results in dead or near-dead opponents, while stinking cloud results in some unseen and unseeable opponents, but also some seeable opponents who are full health and fully capable of firinging back. Worse, unless you actually follow up, you've done nothing but annoy them.

I'm sure you can construct a scenario where you'd want Stinking Cloud, but that doesn't make it better.

[VisitingDaGulag]

I mean, the other problem is "What point are you measuring from?" If you want fireball to be a real third-level spell, then polymorph needs to be at least 6th or 7th even for most of its tamer uses. If you think that fly is fine at third, then fireball should be at second and Alter Self needs to be at least 4th (because it's usually just better than fly, as it can give you flight and other stuff). If you think that Alter Self is fine as a 2nd-level spell, then almost all evocations should be very low levels indeed.So the question becomes what's the "center" or medium of the spells. I don't think 9th level spells like wish, genesis and shapechange are even comparable to most 8th level spells, so if we throw them out 4th level ones are in the middle.

But what's the most balanced 4th level spell? It was be something you'd enjoy but never break a campaign. You would find it too powerful for a 3rd level slot, but wouldn't want to spend a 5th level slot on it. If you were to "rank" all the 4th (and only 4th) level spells, it would have an average grade in whatever rubick used like purple blue green orange red. Hmmm...

[Metahuman1]

I nominate Shivering Touch to be raised to like a 5th level spell.

I nominate Spectral Hand, conversely, to be dropped to a 1st level or even a Cantrip. By itself it's just an alternative attack mode for most players and I don't think it's really broken with out Shivering Touch, and if that's a higher level spell, then that should even things out.

I nominate the various wall of spells, except Wall of Force, to be lowered by 1-2 levels each on a case by case basis.

[Elder_Basilisk]

I'd go for wall of fire and wall of ice getting a 1 level discount but wall of stone and wall of iron have too many non-combat applications to consider a level reduction.

Prismatic wall would be good at 7th but it's still a pretty decent 8th level spell so I don't know that it really deserves a reduction.

Non core walls could probably get a reduction too but there may be some that don't deserve it. In general though, my impression is that wall of gears/dorkiness/whatever the heck else they wrote up are strange and not particularly effective for their level so I didn't pay much attention to them.

[johnbragg]

Aside from the proper power level of any given spell level, a pet peeve of mine for years and years.

Word of Recall should be lower level than Teleport. Single destination of "your sanctuary" is much more limited than "anywhere you can scry." Yes I know it's a divine spell and divine casters aren't as good at teleporting. That's dumb.