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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Elemental Spell Metamagic, Scion Sorcerous Origin, and Spells that manipulate items…



Âmesang
2018-01-01, 03:30 PM
So my oldest and most favorite character, Quintessa, is from 3rd Edition and I've often considered bringing her up to 5th… but feared the loss of so many spells and class features, even though she's just a sorcerer/archmage. Then a thought occurred to me: why not try and update her abilities, too? Among Metamagics "distant spell" is a great substitute for the high arcana, "arcane reach," and "careful spell" is decent enough at matching, "mastery of shaping."

But that wasn't enough for me…

ELEMENTAL SPELL
When you cast a spell that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, you can spend 2 sorcery points to alter the spell so as to utilize a different damage type from the aforementioned list. For example, you could cast a fireball to deal cold damage instead of fire damage.

(NOTE: This just seemed a straight-forward translation of the "mastery of elements" high arcana; the limited number of spells known was already bad in 3rd Edition and feels so much worse in 5th—now sorcerers get fewer spells than the bard does! Then again only they get "quickened spell," now, so I shouldn't complain too much…)

(EDIT: So I poked around the D&D Wiki and I guess I shouldn't be surprised that someone else put up an "Elemental Spell" metamagic; spending 2 points instead of my initial 1 feels a bit more balanced, and should make things less confusing(?).)
SCIONYour innate magic comes from an ancient lineage born during an age of glory, such as the Empire of Netheril of the FORGOTTEN REALMS® or the Suel Imperium of the WORLD OF GREYHAWK®. Your ancestors wielded spells that rivaled the gods and crafted artifacts that shook the pillars of heaven; even generations after their fall a trace of their legendary power courses through your veins. Will you follow after your ancestors' footsteps, or use their legacy to forge a different path?

(NOTE: Heavily inspired by Quintessa being descended from the aforementioned Suel Imperium, with a splash of the sherem transformation spell from the GHOSTWALK Campaign Option™. I wanted an origin that differed from the classic dragons or the spontaneity of wild magic, and the various settings are chock-full of lost, ancient empires with magic as their focus—what if that lost power trickled down through the centuries, welling up in a new vessel?)

ANCIENT MAGIC
Your bloodline allows you to learn spells from the wizard class. When your Spellcasting feature lets you learn or replace a sorcerer cantrip or a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose the new spell from the wizard spell list or the sorcerer spell list. You must otherwise obey all the restrictions for selecting the spell, and it becomes a sorcerer spell for you.

(NOTE: Based on 3rd Edition sorcerers sharing their spell list with wizards and directly mirroring the "divine magic" ability of Xanathar's "divine soul" sorcerous origin; granted, I'm not too happy with the placeholder name.)

FABLED LORE
You can speak, read, and write an ancient or dead language tied to your bloodline; work with your DM to find an appropriate language, such as Loross (High Netherese, FORGOTTEN REALMS®), Nestari (Ancient Elvish, DRAGONLANCE®), or Suloise (Suel Imperium, WORLD OF GREYHAWK®). Alternatively, you may gain fluency in either Draconic, Ruathlek (the language of illusion, FORGOTTEN REALMS®), or Magius (the language of magic, DRAGONLANCE®).
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif Additionally, if you are not already proficient in the Arcana skill you gain proficiency with it, and you also gain expertise in the Arcana skill, which means your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make with it; if your Arcana skill is already benefiting from a feature, such as Expertise, that doubles your proficiency bonus, you may select another skill or tool that you are proficient with.

(NOTE: Just as there are a lot of ancient civilizations, there are a lot of associated ancient/dead languages, and I imagine someone seeking to discover the origin of their power would spend some time delving into such lore; it also kind of bothers me that bards and rogues could be more knowledgeable in Arcana than sorcerers or wizards. Granted, this could use a better name, too.)

MASTER OF COUNTERSPELLING
At 6th level, you learn the counterspell spell, which doesn't count against your number of sorcerer spells known. In addition, if you successfully counterspell a spell that targets only you, the spell is reflected as if by a ring of spell turning and instead targets the caster, using the slot level, spell save DC, attack bonus, and spellcasting ability of the caster.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif You add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any Charisma check you make to cast counterspell against a spell of a higher spell level than the slot you used. At 10th level you instead add your full proficiency bonus to your counterspell Charisma checks.

(NOTE: Directly based on the "mastery of counterspelling" high arcana, with a boost from the bard's "jack of all trades" and the abjurer's "improved abjuration," primarily so that their checks aren't outclassed by others. Honestly I'm not sure if this is overpowered or underpowered compared to the aforementioned abilities—and when compared with the "relatively weak" 1st and 14th level scion abilities. I've considered tossing in a free dispel magic… but then I also wonder why are dispel magic and counterspell separate spells?)

USE MAGIC DEVICE
By 14th level, your bloodline has enhanced your natural abilities, allowing you to use items even when they are not intended for you. You ignore all class, race, and level requirements on the use of magic items.

(NOTE: Mirror of the thief's ability of the same name, due to Quintessa having been trained in the skill in 3rd Edition—even though she had to cross-class; it just felt weird to suddenly lose that ability to wield items she previously had access to and I always liked to imagine the ability was due to the sorcerer's inherit connection with magic, as opposed to thieves who learn how to manipulate them because… they just do. Still, it comes one level after the thief and is less significant in comparison.)

ARCANE FIRE
Beginning at 18th level, you gain the ability to channel arcane spell energy into arcane fire, manifesting it as a bolt of raw magical energy. The bolt is a ranged spell attack with a range of 150 ft. that deals 1d6 damage per point of your Charisma modifier (minimum 1d6) plus 1d6 damage per level of the sorcerer spell slot used to create the effect (0d6 for a cantrip).
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif For example, if you have a Charisma of 20 and you channel a 5th-level slot into arcane fire you deal 10d6 points of damage to the target if it hits. The damage dealt is of no particular type—it is a purely destructive impulse.

(NOTE: I'm not ashamed to admit that "arcane fire" is my favorite high arcana—it reminds me of "Force lightning" from Star Wars; with that said, I'm not sure if a "one-for-one" translation is all that effective, with the sorcerer's Charisma modifier replacing the archmage prestige class level. The 150 ft. range matches chain lighting, since they both had a "long range" in 3rd Edition.)
QUINTESSA'S DWEOMERSHIELD
4th-level abjuration

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a piece of jewelry embedded with a diamond worth at least 1,000 gp, to be worn by the warded subject)
Duration: 24 hours

You touch a willing creature. Until the spell ends, the target ignores the effects of one common magic item, either on hand or specified by name, history, description, or indentified by some other manner. Magic weapons still deal damage as a non-magical weapon of the same type. Only one casting of Quintessa's dweomershield can affect a subject at a time; if a second is cast, the first one (if still active) is dispelled.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level, the target ignores the effects of an uncommon magic item; 6th level ignores the effects of a rare magic item; 7th level ignores the effects of a very rare magic item; 8th level ignores the effects of a legendary magic item; 9th level ignores the effects of an artifact.

(NOTE: A fairly simplistic spell inspired by the "Bringer of Doom," a devastating magic item of the Suel Imperium—you press its button and EVERYTHING within 100 ft. is destroyed… and unleashes hordes of hordlings… so for one researching the Suel I felt a spell that could shield one from its power would be useful, and antimagic field isn't specific or long-lasting enough. I've considered giving it the option to shield the target from a chosen spell's effect, but more than that I'm wondering how I'd go about backporting it to 3rd Edition—probably have to make it Caster Level based, akin to create magic tattoo… though I have had a friend suggest creating "lesser" and "greater" versions.)

QUINTESSA'S DWEOMERDRAIN
5th-level abjuration

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous and 1 hour or until expended; see text

A magic item you target with a melee spell attack must succeed on a Charisma saving throw; on a failure you drain a pool of raw magic from the magic item and retain it for the purpose of casting spells that have a consumable material component cost. Each casting drains from a single magic item an amount of gold pieces worth of effective consumable material components, dependent on the item's rarity (see table), and renders the item nonmagical.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif You may draw from this pool whenever casting a spell that has a consumable material component cost, paying any leftover cost yourself. For example, if you touch a rare magic item you drain an average of 500 gp worth of raw magic with which to cast a spell such as true seeing. Drained magic is retained for 1 hour; any raw magic not spent when the spell's duration expires is wasted.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif An item in a creature's possession uses its own Charisma save bonus or its possessor's Charisma save bonus, whichever is higher.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif This spell does not work on artifacts.



Magic Item
Rarity
Saving Throw
Bonus
Die
Roll


Common
+2
1d4×5 gp


Uncommon
+3
1d4×25 gp


Rare
+4
1d10×100 gp


Very rare
+5
1d10×1,000 gp


Legendary
+6
1d10×10,000 gp



(NOTE: An attempt at translating my homebrew 3rd Edition spell of the same name, but instead of acting as a substitute for XP—strictly for the purpose of casting spells with an XP cost—it acts as a substitute for consumable material components, using Pathfinder as a middleman; in 3rd Edition 1 XP was worth 5 gp, so if you hired a mage to cast limited wish you'd pay an extra 1,500 gp on top of the normal spellcasting cost; likewise it would appear that the majority of XP costs for the Pathfinder version of spells have been replaced by material components worth, on average, five times the amount—thus you need a 1,500 gp diamond to cast limited wish.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif With that said, magic items in 3rd Edition required 1/25th of the base price in XP… so multiply that by five means the "equivalent cost" is 1/5th of the base price—in other words, a 7,500 gp magic item = 300 XP, and 300 XP = 1,500 gp in material components.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif So… I took the random price generation from the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide, divided each value by five, and then converted them into dice rolls—so if you drain a magic item that had a value of 7,500 gp, it's power could be used as a substitute for any consumable material component up to 1,500 gp—the equivalent of what was once 300 XP.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif Since the previous spell allowed the magic item to make a saving throw, I wanted to retain that for this spell, basing the modifiers on proficiency bonuses—matches up surprisingly well. I felt making it a Charisma save made sense since it seems, to me, to represent personal power. The saving throw is also due to its short casting time, allowing it to be used against a foe's magic item in combat.

…and all this because Quintessa was just too selfish/egotistical to sacrifice her own wealth/power to cast her powerful spells; it's not a one-for-one substitution, but I feel the balance comes from using any more expensive magic item to substitute a specific material component, so it's cost-versus-convenience—still doesn't work on non-consumable material components… which are no longer called focuses/foci for some reason.)
I'd welcome a critique, especially with regards to balancing the sorcerous origin and cleaning up the text; I've also got some old 2nd and 3rd Edition spells I attempted to translate—typically fairly harmless stuff like runefinger and Thundaerl's universal taster, or "copypastes" like Keraptis' flaming missiles and Keraptis' flamecone (no wonder he was Acererak's lesser!).

Âmesang
2018-03-04, 12:05 AM
RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE…

So I'm aware that thread necromancy is looked down upon… but for a thread that never received any replies in the first place I feel like creating a brand-new thread that'd contain all of the same information would just be a waste; with that said, this is more than a mere "bump" — I added some clarification to the 5th Edition version of Quintessa's dweomershield, and finally attempted a 3rd Edition conversion, plus tossed in a new 3e spell to swap magical weapon/armor/shield abilities and recharge wands and staffs; admittedly I'm not sure how the latter could work in 5e, or even if it could…

QUINTESSA'S DWEOMERSHIELD
Abjuration
Level Sorcerer/Wizard 4
Components V, S, F
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range Touch
Target Creature touched
Duration 24 hours
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance Yes (harmless)

With but a touch you ward a subject from the effects of one magic item of up to 15th level, on hand or specified by name, history, description, or indentified by some other like manner. Your caster level must be equal to or greater than the magic item's caster level. Magic weapons still deal damage as a non-magical weapon of the same type.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif Only one casting of Quintessa's dweomershield can affect a subject at a time; if a second is cast, the first one (if still active) is dispelled.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif This spell does not work on artifacts.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif Focus: A piece of jewelry embedded with a diamond worth at least 1,000 gp, to be worn by the warded subject.

QUINTESSA'S GREATER DWEOMERSHIELD
Abjuration
Level Sorcerer/Wizard 8

This spell works like Quintessa's dweomershield, but can affect a magic item of any caster level, including artifacts; artifacts without a stated caster level are treated as being 21st level for this purpose.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif Focus: A piece of jewelry embedded with a diamond worth at least 5,000 gp, to be worn by the warded subject.

(NOTE: So I took that friend's advice to split this spell into two… which is amusing, since Quintessa, at present, can not cast 8th-level spells yet. It does make me wish that more major artifacts had stated caster levels, though…)

QUINTESSA'S DWEOMERCRAFT
Transmutation
Level Sorcerer/Wizard 3
Components V, S
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range Touch
Target Object(s) touched
Duration Instantaneous
Saving Throw Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance Yes (object)

With but a touch you exchange powers between arms and armor, or recharge wands or staffs.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif Arms and Armor: You can exchange armor, shield, or weapon abilities, respectively, of equivalent value, either in effective enhancement bonus or gold piece value. For example, if you have a +2 longsword and a +1 flaming greataxe, you can exchange one point of enhancement from the first weapon and the flaming quality of the second weapon, to produce a +1 flaming longsword and a +2 greataxe. Likewise, you can exchange the etherealness ability of one armor with the undead controlling ability of another armor.
https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/backup/pictures/indent.gif Wands or Staffs: You can grant an additional charge to a wand or a staff for each prepared spell or unused spell slot you expend of equal or greater value as part of the casting of this spell (for staffs, use the highest level spell present). If you expend a spell slot that is a multiple of the wand or staff's spell level, you grant the wand or staff an equivalent number of charges. For example, for each 6th-level spell slot you expend to recharge a wand of lightning bolt, you grant it two additional charges; for each 9th-level spell slot you expend, you grant it three additional charges. A wand or staff can not exceed 50 charges.

(NOTE: Initially I sought to write out a spell that would allow for the creation of temporary magical items, akin to Darsson's/quick potion… but I honestly couldn't think of a logical way to balance it, so this seemed a simpler alternative; there's no official way to recharge wands or staffs (that I'm aware of), and the ability to swap special abilities seemed fine enough. I'll be the first to admit the wording on some of these could still be better.)