Epic Spell Help

[kkay529]

Hello all!

Wanted to get some thoughts from people about an epic spell I've been thinking about. My character, a high-level eco-terrorist spellcaster, wants to design a spell, "Terraform." We're using the epic spellcasting rules from 3.0. The terraformed area/planet would ideally be able to support intelligent plant creatures, sylvan, fey, may or may not harm existing sentient creatures.

I have numerous spellcasters to help with the final spell: 25 epic casters, and probably 300,000 level 1-3 casters, 50,000 4-6, 20k 7-8, 5k 9

Soooo...a big project. Any help would be appreciated!

[Chronos]

The biggest challenge in designing an epic spell is figuring out what the Spellcraft DC should be. But no matter what DC you (and your DM) decide is appropriate for that effect, it's not going to be above a few hundred. And with that many other casters to help out, it would be trivially easy to reduce the DC by close to a million points. So this is going to end up being a DC 0 spell, effortlessly easy to research and cast, and the only thing left to figure out is how many of your myriad followers will need to help.

Which is not really game-breaking, when you consider that a work force that large could probably do the terraforming without epic magic, and possibly without magic at all (depending on what the land is starting off like).

[Emperor Tippy]

With just the level 1 casters you can mitigate away 300,000 DC.

Not quite at the stage where you can make your own planet but your getting there.

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You have a couple of ways you can go about this.

1) Use Origin of the Species
2) Use a the Transform seed with a couple ad hoc rulings.
3) Use the Conjure seed to make a world like you want it

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Origin of the Species you make a new type of creature that makes nature flourish and grow within a radius of a mile or so, make it extra small and fast breeding but with a dead man switch (if the original dies all its descendants die as well) so you don't mess up nature.

Transform you just make a spell that turns the world or a large area of it into whatever environment you want. Perhaps with some use of the Energy seed for weather control.

Conjure you just make a new world thats however you want.
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The first two you can meet the DC's for but not the conjuring a planet one.

[Emperor Tippy]

Terraform
Transmutation
Spellcraft DC: 0
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 300 ft.
Area: 1,500,000 foot radius
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

To Develop: 0 gp; 0 days; 0 XP. Seed: Transform (DC 21). Factors: nonliving substance to plant type (+15 DC), change Target to 20 foot radius (+10 DC), increase radius to 1,500,000 feet (+300,000 DC), increase CL to beat dispel checks by 75,000 (+150,000 DC). Mitigating factors: 300,000 additional casters contributing 1 first level slot (-300,000 DC), 50,000 additional casters contributing 1 second level slot (-150,000 DC), 6 additional casters contributing 1 fifth level slot (-54 DC).

Terraform turns all of the land in a 284 mile radius into any type of terrain the caster chooses, from lush forests to forbidding deserts.


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There you go. You have a bit more mitigation you can do if you want to add other things but that seems to be what you wanted.

[Chronos]

Range: 300 ft.
Area: 1,500,000 foot radius

Minor problem: I don't think any portion of a spell's area is allowed to extend beyond the range (Distant Inferno notwithstanding). So you'll need to increase that, as well.

[Emperor Tippy]

Minor problem: I don't think any portion of a spell's area is allowed to extend beyond the range (Distant Inferno notwithstanding). So you'll need to increase that, as well.

Ever seen a range: personal spell with a 20 foot radius?

Range is just where the target spot is (the epiccenter).

[Chrismith]

Ever seen a range: personal spell with a 20 foot radius?

Range is just where the target spot is (the epiccenter).

Nope, Chronos is, as usual, correct on this. From the SRD:

A spell’s range indicates how far from you it can reach, as defined in the Range entry of the spell description. A spell’s range is the maximum distance from you that the spell’s effect can occur, as well as the maximum distance at which you can designate the spell’s point of origin. If any portion of the spell’s area would extend beyond this range, that area is wasted.

[Emperor Tippy]

Actually he isn't. Look at something like Magic Circle against Evil

Level: Clr 3, Good 3, Pal 3, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Area: 10-ft.-radius emanation from touched creature
Duration: 10 min./level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: No; see text

I bolded the important part.

[Collin152]

I thought emenations were exempt, but maybe I'm insane.
Well, I know I'm insane, but you know what I meant.

[Emperor Tippy]

And if for some god only know why reason you can make personal or touch range spells with areas larger than that then Terraform will just become personal range.

[Balkash]

Well instead of getting in an SRD Battle, can I just ask how the hell do you have 300,000 1st levels alone? and 25 epics!? what level are you? what continent do you control? Where is Pun-Pun?

[Collin152]

Where is Pun-Pun?

Everywhere he wants to be, and even a few places he doesn't.

[FlyMolo]

Everywhere he wants to be, and even a few places he doesn't.

He technically has arms of infinite length, and so can threaten any part of any plane. Probably uncomfortable, as you'd have arms poking bits of fire, and being nibbled by fishes, and so on and so forth. If you say an infinitely long kobold arm, you'd cut it off at the elbow, just to see what would happen, wouldn't you?

[Collin152]

He technically has arms of infinite length, and so can threaten any part of any plane. Probably uncomfortable, as you'd have arms poking bits of fire, and being nibbled by fishes, and so on and so forth. If you say an infinitely long kobold arm, you'd cut it off at the elbow, just to see what would happen, wouldn't you?

You'd try, but he only takes onlethal damage from all weapons, and regenerates at least 40 nonlethal damage a round.
Course, his arms are also invisible and can pass through things, so long as he wants them to.

[kkay529]

Thank you for the insights! Truthfully, I rather like the idea of this being an emanation spell anyway. I must combine this with something to increase my speed exponentially and I shall be able to terraform away.

In response to your question Balkash...think about it as a pyramid scheme. If you use the power of faerun rules for leadership it assumes that your cohorts and followers are being ruled by you. If you have more cohorts you get more followers. Then you have your cohort(s) take all the leadership skills too (leadership, extra cohort, additional followers, close cohort, epic leadership, and potentially legendary commander). Keep repeating (as long as they have high enough charisma). So, what happens is that you end up with a massive number of followers. I have something like 535,000 right now but that could have been more. I didn't have everyone take every leadership feat. Anyway, it is sad to admit, but I have a special spreadsheet to keep track of each person's followers and the respective classes. I tried to keep the class selections to a minimum so there are only 10 different classes represented. I keep generic stats for each level of follower of certain classes along with equipment lists, feats, everything like that. (I use DM genie).

Sooo...um yeah, that's how I have that many followers available.

:P

I enjoy my level 29 bard/weretiger(level adj bought off)/fighter/sublime chord/warshaper/lolthed-touched character.

Hey, don't snicker, this is our first real success at an epic game (now lasting 2.5 years,) and I've leveled her from 4th level to her present level.

success!