Amputate - A homebrew spell that does, uh, exactly what it sounds like

[Keinnicht]

Amputate
Evocation
Level: Cleric 7, Sor/Wiz 7, Druid 7
Components: Verbal, Somatic, Focus
Casting Time: Standard Action
Range: Close (25 feet+5 feet per caster level)
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell severs one of the target’s appendages, such as an arm, leg, tentacle, or tail if the target fails a saving throw. It also inflicts 5D6 points of damage, and deals 1D4 points of constitution drain, which cannot be removed unless the limb is reattached, regenerated, or replaced in some other way. Penalties for the loss of common appendages are listed below



Arm: Cannot use the arm or any body part also severed (Such as a hand) to make attacks, hold objects, or do anything else. Spells with somatic components fail unless a successful concentration check (DC 10+Caster Level of Amputate effect) is made.

Leg: If the creature still has more than half of its original legs, then movement speed is reduced by 5' per leg severed. Creature must make a balance check (DC 10) to avoid falling prone when attempting to hustle or run. Creature suffers a -1 penalty on jump, climb, tumble, move silently, balance, and swim checks per leg lost. (Maximum penalty -5)

If the creature has lost half of its original legs, such as a dog that has lost two legs or a human that has lost one, its movement speed is instead halved. Creature must make a balance check (DC 15) to avoid falling prone when attempting to move more than 5' in a single round. The creature cannot hustle or run. Creature suffers a -10 penalty on jump, climb, tumble, move silently, balance, and swim checks.

Tentacle: Creature cannot make attacks with the tentacle. If the creature has a natural bonus to grapple checks due to its tentacles, reduce it by 2.
Wing: Creature cannot use the wing to make attacks. If half or more of it's wings are severed, the creature can no longer fly. If the creature is in the air, it descends in a spinning loop and takes 1d6 damage per 20 feet descended (Maximum 10d6.) [Falling damage is slightly reduced since the creature's other wings will presumably at least slow its descent.)

Other appendage: Varies. It is generally safe to assume that the creature can no longer make natural attacks using the lost appendage, and usually suffers some kind of penalty.



These penalties stack. It is up to the DM to decide what the effects of the loss of multiple limbs are, although common sense can usually be used (For example, a human with no arms automatically fails any climb checks.)

In addition, the stump of the severed limb is not sealed, and the creature takes 1 damage per round from blood loss. This can be stopped with a successful heal check (DC = 10+The Caster Level of the amputate spell) or with any kind of magical healing. The blood loss damage stacks.



Focus: A stylized silver and ruby razor worth 750 GP
Somatic Component: The razor is drawn down in a slashing motion at the appendage in question, as though the caster were cutting it off from a distance.



So, what do you guys think? The spell level is kind of a guesstimate, but seems roughly correct. I realize I left a lot of stuff up to the DM, but figured it was for the best, since listing every possible effect of every possible combination of severed limbs seemed like it would take a good deal more time than I'm willing to commit, and I figured most of the possible combinations would have fairly obvious effects.


Also, bonus spell:

Vile Amputation
Evocation (Evil)
Level: Sor/Wiz 9, Cleric 9, Druid 9
Components: Verbal, Somatic, Focus

This spell functions like Amputation, except the initial damage dealt is vile damage, and the limb cannot regenerate (magically or nonmagically) unless the victim is in an area that would also allow vile damage to be healed.

Focus: The same style of razor required for Amputate, but it must have been used to sacrifice at least 50 HD of good-aligned, sentient creatures.

[Cipher Stars]

An amputation should deal Constitution Damage that becomes Constitution Drain if it is not healed regenerated.
Since your loosing limbs and overall health, and such.

If this is worked out, I would be glad of it. There is afterall a spell that regenerates limbs but No mechanics whatsoever that would result in missing limbs.
If I'm wrong on that, please by all means redirect me to rules for amputation and limb-severing.

[Hanuman]

I was thinking of adding a psionic power similar to this

Remove Feature
Psion/Wilder 4
PP7

Remove a feature from the target creature, this feature may be up to 4 form points (see: Ozodrin).
Removing a feature in this way deals equal form point damage as the total cost of the feature removed (FP damage recovers as ability damage), if the creature does not have form points they take one con damage for every 4FP of the feature's cost.

Augment:
You may spend an additional 2PP to be able to remove features of 1FP larger.



Because of the wording here you can choose to have the limb come off, have it vanish, or have it blend into the features-- a mouth for instance is an opening so it would be a "you have no mouth" moment from the matrix.

[Cieyrin]

The arm's anti-casting bit seems a bit much, as I'm not sure why differences in CL is gonna make it harder to cast when your arm is off, especially since such effects are usually based off the save DC vs. Concentration.

The penalty for losing a leg is really off, unless your just talking humanoids. I mean, I've seen a 3 legged dog running with little trouble, so I'd make it a -5' penalty until half your legs are gone, then inflict what you got going. A behir or basilisk suddenly going half speed after losing a leg is ludicrous when it has 5 legs left, let along a centipede or spider.

Otherwise, looks just about right to me.

[RedWarlock]

I'd be tempted to draft these bonuses into an Injury system, and add more detail into the attack and armor systems.. But then I like complex additional systems.. Mmm. You go this far with one spell, and it needs to go back and be reflected in the melee and other subsystems.

You might also consider delineating differences between a lost limb at the base versus the end. Like losing an arm at the wrist versus losing it just below the shoulder, or losing a leg on the thigh, versus the knee, versus the ankle. Heroic willpower to ignore the injury is one thing, but there's just some stuff you can't *do*.

(I'm an amputee myself, as it happens, so I happen to know there's a big difference between losing the leg all together, versus losing it at the ankle or something. I lost my foot when I was a year or two old due to birth defect, and as a kid, I used to hop or stump around at a fair clip.)

[Steward]

I was thinking of adding a psionic power similar to this

Remove Feature
Psion/Wilder 4
PP7

Remove a feature from the target creature, this feature may be up to 4 form points (see: Ozodrin).
Removing a feature in this way deals equal form point damage as the total cost of the feature removed (FP damage recovers as ability damage), if the creature does not have form points they take one con damage for every 4FP of the feature's cost.

Augment:
You may spend an additional 2PP to be able to remove features of 1FP larger.



Because of the wording here you can choose to have the limb come off, have it vanish, or have it blend into the features-- a mouth for instance is an opening so it would be a "you have no mouth" moment from the matrix.

This is a little off-topic, but wasn't it you who designed a (melee) feature that involved damaging/destroying other people's limbs? Those rules could be easily adapted for use in the Amputate spell, right?

[Hanuman]

This is a little off-topic, but wasn't it you who designed a (melee) feature that involved damaging/destroying other people's limbs? Those rules could be easily adapted for use in the Amputate spell, right?

That was Sunder Limb, yes it could but it was more of a melee buff where as body parts and attended objects are generally protected from spells unless it's a condition such as blinded.

[Keinnicht]

Edited a little.

Casting with a severed arm now requires a concentration check, with a DC equal to 10+Caster level of the amputate effect. I kept the caster level thing in just so it scales better, since at higher levels having to make a concentration, even a relatively hard one, is not a problem. This way it remains at least kind of a threat.

Edited the legs section.

Now deals 1D4 constitution drain that cannot be removed until the limb is replaced.

[sidhe3141]

A series of spells that I think would make interesting variants on this:

Amputate, Safe
Evocation
Level: Clr 6, Sor/Wiz 6, Drd 6

As amputate, except as follows:
No damage or ability drain is done by this spell, and the severed limb may be reattached by a cure moderate wounds spell. If this spell is somehow cast as a swift or immediate action, the caster may choose to have the target ignore up to 1d3 slashing damage per caster level resulting from any one attack.

Animate Limb [Evil]
Necromancy
Clr 2, Death 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: S,M,V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One severed limb touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You reanimate a severed limb, granting it the zombie template with the following modifications:
Size and Type: The limb is treated as two sizes smaller than its original owner.
Hit Dice: In addition to losing all hit dice gained through levels, the limb has one-third the hit dice of its original owner.
Speed: The limb's speed is half that of its original owner. Unless the limb is a wing or belongs to a creature granted a fly speed by a (Su) ability, it loses any fly speed; unless it is a foreleg or arm, it loses any burrow or climb speed; unless it is a fin or has webbing, it loses any swim speed.
Attacks: The limb loses any attacks not connected to that specific part of the creature (a leg, for instance, loses most manufactured weapons and proficiencies). It still gains a slam attack.
The limb counts as having one fewer HD than normal for purposes of control, or two fewer if it was originally your limb.
Material Component: Onyx dust worth at least 6 gp per hit die of the limb's owner.

Sum Of My Parts
Transmutation
Clr 8, Drd 8, Sor/Wiz 8
Components: S,F,V
Casting Time: 1 full-round action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: One round/caster level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You gain the ability to detach and reattach appendages at will. You undergo the following changes for the duration of the spell:

• You are immune to slashing damage, and critical hits against you are only confirmed if the second roll would also indicate a threat.
• You may detach or reattach any part of your body within your reach as a free action. A detached part is two size categories smaller than you.
• You may cause any or all of your detached parts to fly with perfect maneuverability up to your speed as a move-equivalent action provoking attacks of opportunity.
• If any part of you is subject to any effect, including damage, all of you is subject to that effect. If more than one part of you is subject to an effect, it only counts once.
• You may spend the action that would normally be involved for any part of you to take any action that would normally involve that part. For instance, you may make Open Lock checks with your hands, but not with your feet; or may make Listen checks with your head or your ear, but not with your hands.
• You gain a +5 circumstance bonus to Escape Artist, Hide, and Move Silently.
• Any part of you that is not attached when this spell's duration runs out, or when it is suppressed or dispelled, is treated as though it had been amputated. If the detached part is the head, you are instead treated as though you had been subject to a critical hit from a vorpal weapon.

Focus Component: A rare fruit worth at least 1500 gp.

[Ankhman]

Sum Of My Parts
Transmutation
Clr 8, Drd 8, Sor/Wiz 8
Components: S,F,V
Casting Time: 1 full-round action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: One round/caster level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

...

Focus Component: A rare fruit worth at least 1500 gp.

reminds me somehow of buggy the clown from one piece .. am I right?

[sidhe3141]

reminds me somehow of buggy the clown from one piece .. am I right?

Yeah. That's why the focus is a rare fruit.

[Keinnicht]

I'm back. I've been looking over it, and I feel like I need to either change what saving throw it allows, or lower its level. I sort of guesstimated that it should be 7th level, since Regenerate is 7th level and spells that inflict status effects tend to be the same level as the ones that remove them (Stone to Flesh and Flesh to Stone, for instance.)

However, Finger of Death is a 7th level spell. Which makes me question why you'd seriously cast a spell to sever someone's arm if they fail a fortitude save when you can use the same spell slot to cast a spell that KILLS someone if they fail a fortitude save.

So I've been thinking about either:

-Making if a fortitude partial effect that deals damage
-Removing the save and making it a ranged touch attack instead
-Lowering the spell's level
-Some combination of the above.

[Rainbownaga]

However, Finger of Death is a 7th level spell. Which makes me question why you'd seriously cast a spell to sever someone's arm if they fail a fortitude save when you can use the same spell slot to cast a spell that KILLS someone if they fail a fortitude save.

I would say Death Ward would be a good reason.