Sculpt Spell question.

[Abstruse]

Am I correct in assuming that the sculpt spell feat can be used on defensive as well as offensive spells? For example, could I use it on lesser globe of invulnerability to provide a 40' cone that excludes the effects of all first- thru third-level spells within its area? That could be far more useful while fighters are advancing against an opposing mage than a mere 10' radius sphere.

[ImperiousLeader]

Remember Sculpt does not change the range of a spell. So if you sculpted Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, you'd get a cone that only extends 10 ft.

[Abstruse]

Um... somehow I doubt that. The new area overwrites the old area. Thus, forty-foot cone. Or four disconnected 10' square blocks of color spray. Or a 120' line of acid breath. If it was any other way, the feat would effectively be worthless.

[Kyace]

Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser
...
Range: 10 ft.
Area: 10-ft.-radius spherical emanation, centered on you

You could change the area of the spell, but the range isn't changed. So, yes, if the range would allow it, you could change the sphere into a cone but the cone is still limited by the 10 ft range.

[Ivius]

The rules don't really say much either way. It's basically up to the DM.

[Abstruse]

Doesn't it make sense to have it handled as Widen Spell is, though? In that case, if the area was doubled but the range remained the same, you'd be gaining nothing either.

Additionally, that interpretation suggests that to increase the area affected by a cone or a line spell one should take Enlarge Spell rather than Widen spell. To me, that makes virtually no sense.

[Kyace]

From the listing of Sculpt Spell:

The sculpted spell works normally in all respects except for its shape.

All respects except for shape would include range.

Glitterdust has the range to turn its 10 ft spread into a 120 ft line. Lesser globe of invulnerability doesn't, sorry.

Hmm, it appears that you can use sculpt spell on Forcecage and make a 40 ft windowless cone or a 120 ft windowless line. Who knew? :/

[Jacob Orlove]

You can also get four 10' cubes, which seems pretty good.

But yeah, if you want to Sculpt that Color Spray, all four of those 10' squares have to be within 15' of you.

[Abstruse]

That's not all that bad, though -- four 10-foot cubes of color spray centered up to 15 feet away means a nice long segment of battlefront. I'd definitely go for that were I in the second row of a party trying to hold off hordes of opponents.

... mind you, a flanking maneuver with that hypothetical 120-foot line or 40-foot cone could be even better, but that would require exposing oneself to the enemy's charge attacks.

[Tor the Fallen]

You can also sculpt Antimagic Field, but it still orients from you. It gets better when you're an Archmage. Then you can put the field up leave yourself out to take some time to cast buffs.