New Spell: Lodestone Curse, pls PEACH

[BerzerkerUnit]

Lodestone Curse
2nd level Transmutation
Target: One Creature
Range: 30 ft
Components: V, M (a magnet or lodestone and iron dust)
When you cast this spell the target must succeed on a Constitution Saving throw or become cursed for 1 minute, a successful saving throw reduces the curse duration to the start of your next turn. At the start of its turn, a cursed creature attracts 1d10 random unattended metal objects weighing 1 pound or less within within 30 ft which begin to rattle and slide toward them. At the end of a cursed creature's turn, the objects fly up to 60 feet in a direct line toward the target and each deal 1d4 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage as appropriate for their type. If a cursed creature has total cover from an object's point of origin, the object strikes the obstruction instead.

Casting with higher level spell slots: One additional creature can be targeted for each level of the spell slot above 2nd.


__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Rationale: The average fight lasts about 3-4 rounds, so this might be oodles of damage or nearly none depending on availability of cover and loose metal. That said, scattered bags of ball bearings are your friends. I'll be play testing vs a PC next weekend.

As it stands I think it's fun, it encourages tactical movement, strategic sacrifice, as well as use of terrain and loose objects. It's a great "trap room" spell to replicate a haunted kitchen or workshop.

Pls give it a look and let me know what you think! Any feedback is appreciated.

[JNAProductions]

Lodestone Curse
2nd level Transmutation
Target: One Creature
Range: 30 ft
Components: V, M (a magnet or lodestone and iron dust)
When you cast this spell the target must succeed on a Constitution Saving throw or become cursed for 1 minute, a successful saving throw reduces the curse duration to the start of your next turn. At the start of its turn, a cursed creature attracts 1d10 random unattended metal objects weighing 1 pound or less within within 30 ft which begin to rattle and slide toward them. At the end of a cursed creature's turn, the objects fly up to 60 feet in a direct line toward the target and each deal 1d4 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage as appropriate for their type. If a cursed creature has total cover from an object's point of origin, the object strikes the obstruction instead.

Casting with higher level spell slots: One additional creature can be targeted for each level of the spell slot above 2nd.


__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Rationale: The average fight lasts about 3-4 rounds, so this might be oodles of damage or nearly none depending on availability of cover and loose metal. That said, scattered bags of ball bearings are your friends. I'll be play testing vs a PC next weekend.

As it stands I think it's fun, it encourages tactical movement, strategic sacrifice, as well as use of terrain and loose objects. It's a great "trap room" spell to replicate a haunted kitchen or workshop.

Pls give it a look and let me know what you think! Any feedback is appreciated.

So it averages to 5.5d4, or 12.5-15 damage a round. It's kinda swingy, but compare to Magic Missile from a 1st level slot. That's a guaranteed 3d4+3, average 10.5, damage. Which is less than the average damage of this spell on a passed save.
On a failed save, that gets multiplied by 10. You could use Lodestone Curse, drop a bag of ball bearings (not even an action) and then run away. If they pass the save, it's not terribly effective-better than a Magic Missile, but not by a ton. If they FAIL, though, they're taking 10d10*1d4 damage, with no further saves.

That is...
75% chance of 74+ damage.
68% chance of 100+ damage.
50% chance of 132+ damage.
25% chance of 189+ damage.

The 1/(6.22*10^71) chance of doing 400 damage is a funny number, but not what I'm worried about.
But the realistic chance of killing something with three digits of HP... That's an issue.

Edit: I am terribly sorry, I don't know why I read this a first level spell.

It's still insanely problematic, but it's at least worse than a Missile on a passed save.

[BerzerkerUnit]

So it averages to 5.5d4, or 12.5-15 damage a round. It's kinda swingy, but compare to Magic Missile from a 1st level slot. That's a guaranteed 3d4+3, average 10.5, damage. Which is less than the average damage of this spell on a passed save.
On a failed save, that gets multiplied by 10. You could use Lodestone Curse, drop a bag of ball bearings (not even an action) and then run away. If they pass the save, it's not terribly effective-better than a Magic Missile, but not by a ton. If they FAIL, though, they're taking 10d10*1d4 damage, with no further saves.

That is...
75% chance of 74+ damage.
68% chance of 100+ damage.
50% chance of 132+ damage.
25% chance of 189+ damage.

The 1/(6.22*10^71) chance of doing 400 damage is a funny number, but not what I'm worried about.
But the realistic chance of killing something with three digits of HP... That's an issue.

Edit: I am terribly sorry, I don't know why I read this a first level spell.

It's still insanely problematic, but it's at least worse than a Missile on a passed save.

Thank you so much for your feedback!

Are you accounting for the creature's ability to mitigate damage on a round by round basis by running and hiding? Dashing or tactical movement behind total cover can negate some or all of the damage and on rounds it's only drawing 1 or 2 objects, the creature can act normally for a small amount damage.

I know a lot of combats devolve into rock'em sock'em London Prize Ring boxing matches, but that's why I'm trying to create more elements to motivate movement round to round.

[JNAProductions]

Thank you so much for your feedback!

Are you accounting for the creature's ability to mitigate damage on a round by round basis by running and hiding? Dashing or tactical movement behind total cover can negate some or all of the damage and on rounds it's only drawing 1 or 2 objects, the creature can act normally for a small amount damage.

I know a lot of combats devolve into rock'em sock'em London Prize Ring boxing matches, but that's why I'm trying to create more elements to motivate movement round to round.

Throw a bag of ball bearings after them, if they choose to run. That'll scatter small metallic objects everywhere for a pittance of GP.

Moreover, even with potential counterplay (far from guaranteed, but possible) the sheer numbers this spell can put out are insane. A single failed save inflicts as much as (10d10)d4 damage-on average, that's more damage than a 9th level Magic Missile. It's not even close-11d4+11 isn't even 40 damage without a good roll. This spell averages more d4s rolled than the average damage.

From what I can see, it seems like you're designing for a well-intentioned use. But the issue with this spell is it's incredibly easy to break.

Edit: Let me add to this.

Anything vaguely appropriate for a fight will die to this spell's failed save damage, at lower levels. A beefy PC can grapple and Dodge and tank anything an appropriate foe can throw their way, while the foe is stuck in place getting pelted and massacred.
At higher levels, they might not die or might be able to take down a Dodging PC... But you can cast this early in a fight then just do your normal stuff, adding an extra 12-15 damage per enemy turn for a very minor cost. Compare now to Cloud Of Daggers-4d4 damage, once per turn. But it requires Concentration, and is much, MUCH easier to avoid than 1,000 tiny metal balls scattered everywhere.

[BerzerkerUnit]

Throw a bag of ball bearings after them, if they choose to run. That'll scatter small metallic objects everywhere for a pittance of GP.

Moreover, even with potential counterplay (far from guaranteed, but possible) the sheer numbers this spell can put out are insane. A single failed save inflicts as much as (10d10)d4 damage-on average, that's more damage than a 9th level Magic Missile. It's not even close-11d4+11 isn't even 40 damage without a good roll. This spell averages more d4s rolled than the average damage.

From what I can see, it seems like you're designing for a well-intentioned use. But the issue with this spell is it's incredibly easy to break.

Edit: Let me add to this.

Anything vaguely appropriate for a fight will die to this spell's failed save damage, at lower levels. A beefy PC can grapple and Dodge and tank anything an appropriate foe can throw their way, while the foe is stuck in place getting pelted and massacred.
At higher levels, they might not die or might be able to take down a Dodging PC... But you can cast this early in a fight then just do your normal stuff, adding an extra 12-15 damage per enemy turn for a very minor cost. Compare now to Cloud Of Daggers-4d4 damage, once per turn. But it requires Concentration, and is much, MUCH easier to avoid than 1,000 tiny metal balls scattered everywhere.

Thank you so much for your feedback!

If I compare it to Suggestion. Suggestion requires a reasonable directive "you're in combat, you should run away because you might die" is pretty consistently held as reasonable. That's a one shot at a more easily failed save.

This targets the statistically strongest save and a creature that fails can reliably avoid all damage by dashing every round, possibly just running around a corner. In an area that isn't littered with tiny metal objects the player likely requires a round of set up to throw their ball bearings. Kind DMs might allow them to be dropped but by default they're only going to fill a 10ft square. On a larger map, just staying 35 feet away from said square might be enough to negate this (though that does make it some good soft control).

If combined with spells that lock down the target, I won't argue it's not great, but then it's dependent on multiple failed saves across 2 turns to initiate and the creature will still probably have chances to escape its effects.

I recognize the potential damage is pretty spicy, but the average damage is probably so so. I'll assume a 60% chance to succeed on the save.
Guaranteed damage is 3.5 x 4=14 for Magic Missile at 2nd level.
Guaranteed damage is 5.5 x 2.5=13.75 for Lodestone Curse.

On a failed save that's 13.75 damage per round for 9 more rounds. Sounds terrifying and OP, but, the target can dash or take cover on its turn to avoid all damage. So maybe 0 extra damage for all 9 rounds. Target can also opt in on rounds they are only attracting 1-2 items, taking 2.5-5 damage to act normally.
Compare that to Suggestion which immediately removes the target from the fight with potentially no reasonable chance to return.

Now Suggestion is all or nothing, if they succeed on the save, you've wasted your turn casting.
Lodestone Curse is not nothing, but with a successful save and a poor d10 roll, it might be 1d4 damage, which is almost nothing. Fortunately I'll find out more this weekend.

I hope you're all having a great week!