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Emperor Demonking
2007-11-08, 11:53 AM
Part of our refresh week, here on ITP

How far can you bend fluff?

Is doing something like making your magic missiles look like butterfliesa mechanical advantage?

cupkeyk
2007-11-08, 11:55 AM
That's an effect of thematic spell, a metamagic feat. You can make all your spells follow a theme, and spell craft checks made to identify them are at +2 dc.

Emperor Demonking
2007-11-08, 11:57 AM
Another question, if you don't want a mechanical bonus should you havre to pay a feat.

Duke of URL
2007-11-08, 11:59 AM
It's precisely for things like Spell Thematics that I came up with the idiosyncrasies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57241)concept. (I even specifically mention that feat.)

Jimp
2007-11-08, 12:02 PM
Another question, if you don't want a mechanical bonus should you havre to pay a feat.

Not really. I'm pretty sure that in either the PHB1 or 2 or the DMG it talks about customising spell appearance fluff for your own character. For example, your wizard might cast fireballs that look like flaming skulls instead of a ball of fire. Changing the fluff without any mechanical benefit is generally fine as long as the DM agrees. If you do want mechanical benefit then a feat is the way to go.

elliott20
2007-11-08, 12:07 PM
I do this regularly. My reasoning? to prevent meta-gaming knowledge that is all too easy to access as is.

Why the hell do they need to know that it's a hold person spell until it's too late? That's what a spellcraft check is for.

Examples of this I've done:

fireball spells - while the energy damage type is the same, sometimes they are molded to the spell casters liking. One particular spell caster will throw not a fireball, but a bird-shaped flame that he calls the phoenix strike.

hold person - a rastafarian styled wizard is smoking a pipe in the PCs room. The smokes themselves float towards the PC and become shackles upon the PC's limbs.

any bigby spell - c'mon, these spells are just begging to be described creatively. sometimes, the fist is that of a demon, sometimes, it's a guantlet, sometimes it's something else. who knows?

skywalker
2007-11-08, 12:07 PM
Yeah, Jimp's got it in general, but in specific, Magic Missile's spell description specifically states that the caster chooses the appearance of the spell(IE, an arrow of force, or a big fist, or a pair of smoochy lips, etc. :smallbiggrin: )

elliott20
2007-11-08, 12:13 PM
a pair of smoochy lips, etc. :smallbiggrin:

Professor Farnsworth: "It's a cheek seeker, aaaaaaaand GOTCHA!!"
Qubert Farnswroth: "NOOOOOOOOOO~~~!!!!"

daggaz
2007-11-08, 12:21 PM
Professor Farnsworth: "It's a cheek seeker, aaaaaaaand GOTCHA!!"
Qubert Farnswroth: "NOOOOOOOOOO~~~!!!!"

Maybe just my opinion, I dunno, I have a lingering belief that I am echoed by millions.

Other than the actual cancellation of the series, íntroducing those damned kids was the worst thing ever done to Futurama.

MCerberus
2007-11-08, 12:27 PM
I prefer the "artillery shell of force that creates a flash of light while being fired" for my MMs.


How about a Picasso in your Color Spray?

elliott20
2007-11-08, 12:35 PM
Maybe just my opinion, I dunno, I have a lingering belief that I am echoed by millions.

Other than the actual cancellation of the series, íntroducing those damned kids was the worst thing ever done to Futurama.

to be honest, I wasn't quite sure exactly what capacity they were meant to served on the show. they just weren't very likeable.

Roderick_BR
2007-11-08, 02:03 PM
As long as it doesn't change the crunch. For example, a flamming flying skull is as obvious a damaging effect as a fireball. You have all the normal rules against it.
If you want to make your magic missile look like butterflies, you can expect people to worry that the glowing, obvious magically made butterflies, flying at him at high speed, is likely to harm them.
If you summon a creature, it doesn't matter what are the colors it have. An eagle with the tip of the feathers in brown have the same stats as the one in white.
If you do want something to actually change crunch (for example make a spell so ridiculously looking to make people react slowly to it, I.E., give a penalty to his saving throws) you'll have to follow the normal rules.

"I want my prismatic spray to look like multicolored bubbles that float towards the targeted area."
"Does it still works like the normal one? It affects the same HDs, the same area, with the same effects, and same save DC?"
"Yup"
"Alright then."