IT'SATRAP! - Worst Spells Per Level [3.5]

[Kelpstrand]

baleful polymorph gives a +4 to resist it if you try to polymorph them into a form that cannot survive in current environment, such as a fish on land.

I'd say that this use of it is a trap. You can instead baleful them into something that cannot run away with not extra cost. Such as a slug. or a form that they aren't likely to be able to use effectively to escape, like a bat (they don't know how to fly, they don't know how to ecolocate, and they were just switched into a nocturnal creature). Although, I'd test the bat theory first, if it gives them perfect command of new body then it is risky as they can fly away. Maybe a toad.

The ferret polymorph is a bad idea because it is fast and can get away.

You must be in dire straights if a 20ft move speed Weasel with a -12 grapple mod can escape you. Toad is absolutely the best, since 5ft move and -17 grapple is worse, but yeah. After they fail the save, if you can afford to send anything at all after them, they are trapped.

Heck if they happened to already be within the are of an EBT, they are trapped. Even a summon monster 1 will keep them caught.

[taltamir]

For all the marketing it gets around here, rope trick is also A Trap! As in, everyone climbs into the extradimensional space and then the group's doofus (every group has one) says to the DM, "Hey, now that I'm in here, what happens to the stuff in that bag of holding I picked up the last adventure?" Boom. Really, rope trick is useless for its intended purpose, because I've never known a party not to use extradimensional containers like bags of holding and HHH.

a party above level 8! because a 3rd level party in a rope trick will get 3 hours of sleep before being unceremoniously dumped unto the floor from however many feet in the air they were. (1 hour per caster level)

You must be in dire straights if a 20ft move speed Weasel with a -12 grapple mod can escape you. Toad is absolutely the best, since 5ft move and -17 grapple is worse, but yeah. After they fail the save, if you can afford to send anything at all after them, they are trapped.

Heck if they happened to already be within the are of an EBT, they are trapped. Even a summon monster 1 will keep them caught.

Or kill them :)... summon monster 1: housecat
perfect companion to baleful polymorph... and no need for that pesky +4 to resisting it.
If there are a bunch of other enemies, they might yet escape... especially if they have a contingency teleport now that I think about it...

Is there any creature worse than a toad to turn them into? it should have the minimum possible speed and a grapple resistance.. ideally an immobile creature.

[Tyndmyr]

If you're elves, you can get away with it at level 4...an all elf party is a wee bit unlikely though, and you do run into meditation problems. Im pretty sure suddenly free falling out of a rope trick would count as an interruption.

It's great at the appropriate levels, with the appropriate gear, and can also be used as a way of getting concealment in the middle of nowhere though, so I don't know if it's truly a trap...perhaps just overrated.

[taltamir]

If you're elves, you can get away with it at level 4...an all elf party is a wee bit unlikely though, and you do run into meditation problems. Im pretty sure suddenly free falling out of a rope trick would count as an interruption.

It's great at the appropriate levels, with the appropriate gear, and can also be used as a way of getting concealment in the middle of nowhere though, so I don't know if it's truly a trap...perhaps just overrated.

well, you could also all wear rings of sustenance (2 hour sleep only)... but the only REASON to sleep in dnd is to regain spells... which means 8 hours... 9 technically because 1 hour to prepare spells... and free falling out is interrupting.

[deuxhero]

Is there any creature worse than a toad to turn them into? it should have the minimum possible speed and a grapple resistance.. ideally an immobile creature.

new born puppy? A toad has sight.

[infinitypanda]

Virtue, as a paladin 1 spell. Paladins get hardly any spells. To burn one of those precious spell slots on a spell that grants one temporary hitpoint is a horrible trap. Even the bard doesn't face the insult of weak cantrips masquerading as 1st level spells.

The real kick in the balls there is that paladins also get Cure Light Wounds as a level 1 spell.

[taltamir]

new born puppy?

EPIC! they cannot walk, they cannot see for 2 weeks... perfect!

[Korivan]

I'm assuming he's referring to the Fire Trap spell. Not that I have my book in front of me, just that that seems to be the next spell in alphabetical order.

Want a reall trap of fire...FireBall, Its big, its mean, its loud and in charge.....or not. Unmetamagiked its 10-60 points of fire damage. One of the largest if not thee largest found resistance/immunities out there. Evasion/improved evasion with a nice reflex makes it nill value. That and you need to make sure your not getting your own allies in the mix. In the last campaign, our party's wizard cast this constantly from levels 5-10. At level 10 he launched this in the mix of his 2 fighter companions and 4 enemies. The enemies all made thier save, and had fire resistance 10. He rolled a 36 damage. The enemies ended only taking 8 damage, meanwhile the 2 fighters in platemail took 36 damage. Not cool.

[deuxhero]

EPIC! they cannot walk, they cannot see for 2 weeks... perfect!

Killing puppys (even if they are deranged serial killers or virgin kidnaping dragons turned into puppys) might kick your alignment to evil.

Do cats suffer the same disabilitys at birth?

[taltamir]

Killing puppys (even if they are deranged serial killers or virgin kidnaping dragons turned into puppys) might kick your alignment to evil.

Do cats suffer the same disabilitys at birth?

yes... actually, you can just do a human newborn :)

[deuxhero]

yes... actually, you can just do a human newborn :)

Not really. While humans are scientifically animals, the spell calls for creature of the "animal" type.

But yeah, you can get away with polymorphing a monster into a kitten and killing it (before you can do the same with a puppy or human baby)

[Akal Saris]

The real kick in the balls there is that paladins also get Cure Light Wounds as a level 1 spell.

Yeah - I'd have to agree with Virtue for the Paladin being possibly the worst spell for any 1st level list.

Eye of Power (Spell Compendium Wiz/Sorc 9) is another horribly weak one - spend a 9th level slot to cast Arcane Eye (Wiz 4) only with the ability to cast up to 3rd level spells through it? With a 10 minute casting time but a duration of minutes/level, and unlike Arcane Eye the summoned eye is visible, corporal, and has a low AC and low HPs? Who on earth would ever take this?

[deuxhero]

Because uh... um... I have no idea what so ever. Eye of Power is the winner (loser?) of the thread.

[jiriku]

a party above level 8! because a 3rd level party in a rope trick will get 3 hours of sleep before being unceremoniously dumped unto the floor from however many feet in the air they were. (1 hour per caster level)

Lol yes...you're having one of those nightmares that you're falling, and you can't wake up...then you fall and wake up.

[taltamir]

Yeah - I'd have to agree with Virtue for the Paladin being possibly the worst spell for any 1st level list.

Eye of Power (Spell Compendium Wiz/Sorc 9) is another horribly weak one - spend a 9th level slot to cast Arcane Eye (Wiz 4) only with the ability to cast up to 3rd level spells through it? With a 10 minute casting time but a duration of minutes/level, and unlike Arcane Eye the summoned eye is visible, corporal, and has a low AC and low HPs? Who on earth would ever take this?

well... for sorc it would be stupid... but a wizard can have infinite spells... and if he needs to assassinate a specific person.. eye of power to their home at night, cast fireball. or anything else for that matter... summon poison snake... It sounds like an awesome spell for a very "intrigue" and RP based game...

it only fails if there is something that allows you to cast higher level spells through it at someone.

[deuxhero]

well... for sorc it would be stupid... but a wizard can have infinite spells... and if he needs to assassinate a specific person.. eye of power to their home at night, cast fireball. or anything else for that matter... summon poison snake... It sounds like an awesome spell for a very "intrigue" and RP based game...

it only fails if there is something that allows you to cast higher level spells through it at someone.

2 castings of Teleport can be obtained many levels earlier.

[Godskook]

phantasmal killer

Problems with it(each one alone, wouldn't make a trap)
-mind-affecting
-fear effect
-death effect
-will save
-fort save
-chance of backfire

Now, if you can get through all that, you kill the subject, but that's a lot of weak points in a single spell.

[jiriku]

I took a diviner to level 20 in a previous campaign, and took eye of power because I had to -- there weren't any other divination spells available to fill my requirement of one per level. I never used that spell. Ever.

[ericgrau]

2 castings of Teleport can be obtained many levels earlier.

As can dimensional anchor, a sword to the gut (or harmful spell) and similar things. I mean any major political figure without defenses would already be dead. The spell does seem a bit situational though.

[Milskidasith]

You couldn't have just taken Foresight? That's a far better spell. (Then again, it can cause DM headaches.)

[Akal Saris]

Well, it probably went like this:
17: Foresight
18: Hindsight
19: Eye of Power
20: Holy Moly, there's only 3 divination spells this level?!

[jiriku]

Well, it probably went like this:
17: Foresight
18: Hindsight
19: Eye of Power
20: Holy Moly, there's only 3 divination spells this level?!

Yup. I made it worse by picking up all of the good 8th and 9th level divination spells by level 18. By level 19 it was eye of power, and for level 20 I had to pick some lame 5th level divination or other.

[Teron]

phantasmal killer

Problems with it(each one alone, wouldn't make a trap)
-mind-affecting
-fear effect
-death effect
-will save
-fort save
-chance of backfire

Now, if you can get through all that, you kill the subject, but that's a lot of weak points in a single spell.

It's not a death effect, actually, and the possibility of backfiring is pretty negligible. It's still not a great spell, though, and weird is even worse. At that level, immunity to mind affecting effects is readily available to humanoids in addition to being inherent to many monsters, and you have a lot of better SoDs to choose from.

[KellKheraptis]

well... for sorc it would be stupid... but a wizard can have infinite spells... and if he needs to assassinate a specific person.. eye of power to their home at night, cast fireball. or anything else for that matter... summon poison snake... It sounds like an awesome spell for a very "intrigue" and RP based game...

it only fails if there is something that allows you to cast higher level spells through it at someone.

If you're familiar with 2nd Ed spells that got converted in 3rd Ed Dragon Mag, sticks to snakes would be THE assassination spell with this. Limited duration, can be used on his freaking FERNS, and at that CL, can get something like Gargantuan Constrictors. Average of like 4 of them per casting, and against a sleeping opponent...ouch. Enemy captain walks in to find the king turned into pulp, assuming you don't benign transposition his remains through the sensor (swapping with some random summon that'll go away shortly) to properly dispose of him permanently (big fan of casting his ashen remains into a dozen different planes, and doing the disintegrating there as well, to make sure there's nothing left at home or at the demiplane).

[taltamir]

As can dimensional anchor, a sword to the gut (or harmful spell) and similar things. I mean any major political figure without defenses would already be dead. The spell does seem a bit situational though.

exactly... remember how well teleporting worked for V? teleporting means putting yourself in harms way...

I love the benign transposition idea... or heck, just make it baleful transposition and teleport him to you... then disintegrate them... or sic the presummed large elemental on him... A naked level 20 fighter being awoken by being grappled by a CR 20 monster... not pretty.

EDIT: benign means you swap with a party member. baleful means you swap with an enemy... either seems to be a terrible idea. you want to swap a level 1 summon with the victim, not yourself...

[Myrmex]

water is better then coke...

Yeah, but coke is cheaper.

[Myrmex]

Useless spells:

Virtue, as a paladin 1 spell. Paladins get hardly any spells. To burn one of those precious spell slots on a spell that grants one temporary hitpoint is a horrible trap. Even the bard doesn't face the insult of weak cantrips masquerading as 1st level spells.

He can cast it out of a wand or scroll at low levels, though. Pretty cheaply, I might add.

[taltamir]

He can cast it out of a wand or scroll at low levels, though. Pretty cheaply, I might add.

or he could cast cure instead.
are you suggesting using it as a very low level buff pre combat from a wand? too expensive to be worth it

[Saph]

Just from the Wiz/Sorc core choices, here would be my list.

0-level

• Resistance - wow, spend a standard action to give someone a 5% extra chance of passing a save . . . for 1 minute. Pass.
• Flare - Give a creature a 5% chance of missing their attacks. For 1 minute. Unless they make their Fort save. Or have SR. Or are sightless. Pass.

1st-level

• Hold Portal - Okay, it holds a door shut, that's useful. Except wait, it only lasts for a few minutes? And you can still kick the door down with only +5 to the DC? Truly, Vaarsuvius was having an off-day when he scribed this one.
• Erase - It lets you get rid of magical writing, like explosive runes or a glyph of warding. Except you have to be touching the writing for it to work. And pass a DC 15 CL check. And if you roll a 1 or 2, it goes off anyway. Of all the ways of removing a magic trap, this is probably the worst.

2nd-level

• Daze Monster - Sucks horribly, for reasons mentioned above.
• Summon Monster II - Gets you roughly the same sort of creatures Druids can get with Summon Nature's Ally I. And if you just want a disposable creature, you'll be using Summon I. You have to be truly desperate for extra allies to use this spell.

3rd-level

• Rage - Like a barbarian's rage . . . except suckier. Only half the bonuses, but all the drawbacks. Plus it only affects 1 target per three levels. Given the wealth of good 3rd-level spells, there is literally no good reason to take this one - you'd have to be nuts to choose this over Haste.
• Summon Monster III - As above. I'll stop listing these now.

4th-level

• Crushing Despair - Why would you ever hit a group of enemies with this when you could use Confusion?
• Contagion - Wow, if the enemy fails a Fort save, they now have a disease. Quick everybody, let's retreat for a couple of weeks and wait for him to sicken to death!

5th-level

• Mind Fog - If the targets fail a Will save, it gives them -10 to their Will saves. Except, if you can get them to fail a Will save, why not hit them with something that'll actually take them out of the fight? While this one isn't totally useless, it's really hard to make it effective.
• Blight - Deals 1d6/level damage to a plant, and only a plant, and no more than one plant . . . oh, and it's Fort half, and guess which creature type are good at Fort saves? Plants. What on earth's the point of this spell?

[Kurald Galain]

It's worth mentioning that the Fool's Gold spell from second edition, in its most powerful version, requires more actual gold in material components than the illusory gold it produces.