There's a chance we'll be starting a new game soon, and I have an idea for a character: a wizard with earth elemental blood. I'll take the earth school and the eldritch heritage feats. I haven't picked a race yet, but dwarf sounds appropriate.
Anyway, general advice is appreciated, but this is in the homebrew section for a different reason. I need some spells for my spellbook. Of course I'll take existing acid and stone spells, but I really want to try and make at least one new spell per spell level. I'll run these by my GM later (as in, once we actually start making characters for the game). I'm also not interested in trying to powergame anything and would prefer flavorful and balanced spells (which should also make it easier on the GM).
Ok, so I need one cantrip and one 1st level spell to get started. Is there an existing spell that creates difficult terrain? If not, would a cantrip that makes a single square of stone or dirt into difficult terrain be too powerful?
Thanks.
Any advice on balancing these two spells? As a GM, would you allow a PC to have them? Naming advice is always welcome, as are suggestions about what other classes these would be appropriate for.
School evocation [earth]; Level druid 0, sorcerer/wizard 0
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area 1 5-foot square
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
This spell causes a small area of either stone or dirt to become broken and uneven, counting as difficult terrain.
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School evocation [earth]; Level druid 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a small piece of brittle stone)
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area 20 ft. emanation
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw reflex negates, see text; Spell Resistance no
This spell causes the ground to heave and buckle. Any creature standing in that area must make a reflex save or fall prone. The effected squares become difficult terrain.
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Can anyone see any way to abuse this spell?
School transmutation; Level sorcerer/wizard 0
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range touch
Area 1 dirt, mud or clay object, up to 1 lbs./level
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will negates (object); Spell Resistance yes (object)
This spell causes a small dirt, mud or clay object to solidify into stone. The stone can be of any type, but never anything of value. This spell cannot be used on a creature composed of dirt, mud or clay, nor on any substance currently under the effect of any other spell.
Both of the cantrips seem fine to me.
The instantaneous duration of heave is too much for a first level spell. Compare stone call. The main purpose of that spell is to create a bunch of difficult terrain, and that only lasts 1 round / level. The ability to make a creature prone is pretty powerful too.
I think Heave should be a transmutation spell since "earth" is not a type of energy. I think either of the following version would be fair:
School transmutation[earth]; Level druid 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, ranger 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a small piece of brittle stone)
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area 20 ft. emanation
Duration 1 minute / level
Saving Throw reflex negates, see text; Spell Resistance no
This spell causes the ground to heave and buckle. Any creature standing in that area must make a reflex save or fall prone. The effected squares become difficult terrain for the spells duration.
This spell can only be used in areas of stone. Dirt, grass, wooden floors and the like block it.
School conjuration[earth]; Level druid 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a small piece of brittle stone)
Range short(25 ft. + 5 ft./ 2 levels)
Area 10 ft. radius burst
Duration 1 minute / level
Saving Throw reflex negates, see text; Spell Resistance no
This spell causes conjures boulders that rise from the ground. Any creature standing in that area must make a reflex save or fall prone. The effected squares become difficult terrain for the spells duration
School transmutation[earth]; Level druid 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, ranger 1
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (a small piece of brittle stone)
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area 20 ft. emanation
Duration 1 minute / level
Saving Throw reflex negates, see text; Spell Resistance no
This spell causes the ground to heave and buckle. Any creature standing in that area must make a reflex save or fall prone. The effected squares become difficult terrain for the spells duration.
This spell can only be used in areas that could be affected by an earthquake. You could cast it in a wooden tower, but not on an airship. Only the area covered by the emanation is affected, not any supporting structure, the contact with the earth serves as a conduit.
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I based the first version on entangle, the second on grease, and the third is the same as the first but with less restrictions but a longer casting time.
I was comparing heave to entangle which has a 40 ft. radius. Also grease continues to cause creatures to fall. Other than reducing its area, I can't think of how else to tone it down. (Actually, making it a trip attempt would make it less likely to work on a lot of enemies, but I don't know if there's any precedent for that.)
I agree that break ground is potentially too strong, but it can only cause a square to become difficult terrain, not collapse. (I'm sure there are mundane means to accomplish this, but I can't think of what offhand.) Changing the casting time wouldn't help here, but I can't think of anything else to change.
Thanks for the input.
Edit: That was mostly in reply to CountMRVHS. Are there any conditions besides prone that would be appropriate here?
Also, another spell to compare to: Expeditious Excavation.
Also also, earthquake is an evocation [earth] spell.
Hmm... I missed the earthquake bit :p
Entangle is balanced partly because you can only use it in outdoor areas.
I made the spells transmutation because that could explain why they revert.
Also, I just noticed that Break ground was instantaneous. That should be no more that 1 round / level. Otherwise, you could create vast swaths of difficult terrain with only a few minutes of work. That should clearly be beyond a level 0 spell.
I feel like I might've missed something. What are the effects of difficult terrain? All I remember is the double move cost, and possibly not being able to charge through it.
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Difficult terrain is just that. The usefulness of difficult terrain is in how you can shape the battle field. If your archers are behind difficult terrain, they can't be charged. This means you will likely get another round of shooting in.
Mostly I am looking at Stone Call as a metric since that does a similar thing and is a Sorc/Wiz spell.
Would break ground work as written if it was bumped to a level 1 spell? It feels a little weak for that. (Maybe 1 square per level? A 20 foot radius is roughly 50 squares.)
And I agree that if it reverts, it should be transmutation.
I like the ideas, good and fitting for a game, for magic to show off its power. I'll give them to a wizard char next friday, and make call earth a level 2 spell.
Break ground is pretty weak for a level 1 spell. Maybe give it a duration in minutes and during that you can use it to create difficult terrain? Like produce flame works now.
You could even have it do a bit of damage. And if it works out to 1 use per caster level, you could make the damage not revert.
So something like this?
School evocation [earth]; Level sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (a small piece of brittle stone)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area 1 5-foot square per level, see text
Duration 1 minute
Saving Throw reflex negates, see text; Spell Resistance no
While this spell is in effect, the caster can, as a standard action, cause the ground in the area to break and buckle. Each use causes one 5-foot square to become difficult terrain. Anyone standing in that square must make a reflex save or fall prone. This can be done a number of times equal to the caster's level or until the duration expires.
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There's three conditions that could apply here: prone, shaken or staggered. Which of these is do you think is the least severe, assuming they only applied for 1 round? (Or are there rules for moving ground, like on ships? I couldn't find any, but I've probably just overlooked something.)
There's a lot of good stone spells at level 2, but not as many acid spells, so how about this for level 2 (though it'll be a while before I need it, and I still want to hash the other spells out)?
School conjuration (creation) [acid]; Level sorcerer/wizard 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a drop of acid)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area one object or 10 ft. square
Duration 1 min./level
Saving Throw see text; Spell Resistance no
This functions like the grease spell except that the grease it creates is acidic.
Any object or creature that begins a round in contact with the grease takes 1 point of acid damage. Any creature that falls prone in the grease and any object coated with the grease takes 1d6 points of acid damage, though only once per casting.
I was thinking something like this
School evocation [earth]; Level sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a small piece of brittle stone)
Range personal
effect see text
Duration 1 minute / level (D)
Saving Throw reflex negates, see text; Spell Resistance yes
As a standard action, while this spell is in effect, you can point to a 5ft square and cause the earth there to shatter into jagged shards. The square becomes difficult terrain and any creature standing there must make a reflex save of fall prone. Every time you do this, the remaining duration of this spell goes down by 1 minute.
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For the conditions, prone fits the best I feel. Staggered is too easy to stun-lock with.
Shaken is good too, but not very useful if it only lasts one round. If you want to use shaken, I suggest changing the save to fortitude.
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For acid grease, I think it would be ok if it could do damage more than once per creature. At level 2, you have spells like flaming sphere that will do far more damage-wise. Also, in my experience a lot of intelligent enemies will just stand in the grease rather than risk falling prone.
Also, traditionally, acid damage does d4s. Though I don't think that it is overpowered with d6s.
Oh right. That wording's a little simpler.
For acidic grease, would it fit about right if the damage were changed to 1d4/round for prone opponents and covered objects? The duration would probably have to be changed or some method of removing the grease from an object would have to be given though. 1d4 a round for at least 3 minutes would be too much for a 2nd level spell.
Love the acidic grease, would be perfect if you could truly immobilise the foe in one spot.
I changed call earth, creating boulders that provide cover, are bigger and more useful than difficult terrain.
I like that idea. Do you think it'd be too much for a second level spell to be able to do either (boulders or rubble)?
Naaa, not everything should be first level. Got to fill those other levels too. If it starts to do quite a bit, starts to involve a fair bit of magic power, movement, shaping, then I have no problem upping the level.
I remember reading some of the older stuff about making spells and determining the spell level. If you improve on an already existing spell, it is +1 level up, added to the spell level.
I meant the second level version of Call Earth. I think I'll go with Break Ground for the first level spell. I probably won't try to get more than 1 or 2 new spells per spell level, unless there happens to be a lot of downtime at a particular level.
So far I have:
0 - Solidify
1 - Break Ground
1 or 2 - Call Earth
2 - Acidic Grease
Except for Solidify, they all still need some refining. Maybe I should make a Wiki page or Google doc. Does anyone else use the RPG.net wiki?
For level 3, I want to reskin fireball, but rather than just change the type to acid, I was thinking of making the results act a little more like other acid spells.
School evocation [acid]; Level sorcerer/wizard 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M ()
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half; Spell Resistance yes
This spell works like fireball except that it creates a sudden burst of acidic vapors. All creatures and unattended objects in the area take 1d4 points of acid damage per caster level (maximum 10d4), plus an extra 1d4 the following two rounds.
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BTW, Nd6 does more max and average damage than (N+2)d4 starting at N=5, so this practically always does less damage than fireball (it's min damage is higher, but not by much).
Edit: AnyDice link
There. I made a Wiki page on RPG.net.
I tweaked a couple of small things while copying over and added a written up version of the level-2 Call Earth. I also bumped Solidify to a full round casting time and lowered Acidic Grease to 1 round per level.
I'll try and keep the wiki page updated with the latest versions of the spells.
Also, my GM mentioned two other things to compare to for some of these spells: the barbarian's Ground Breaker rage power, and the Transmute Mud to Stone spell.
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For level 3, I want to reskin fireball, but rather than just change the type to acid, I was thinking of making the results act a little more like other acid spells.
School evocation [acid]; Level sorcerer/wizard 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M ()
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half; Spell Resistance yesThis spell works like fireball except that it creates a sudden burst of acidic vapors. All creatures and unattended objects in the area take 1d4 points of acid damage per caster level (maximum 10d4), plus an extra 1d4 the following two rounds.
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BTW, Nd6 does more max and average damage than (N+2)d4 starting at N=5, so this practically always does less damage than fireball (it's min damage is higher, but not by much).
Edit: AnyDice link
Did you mean to make this Sorc/wiz 3?
Also, acid spells are usually conjuration. I think its safe to switch it over to conjuration and set SR = No.
I think the number of rounds the acid lingers should scale with caster level. With some math, you should be able to set it up so that it stays on par with fireball. Since damage now is always better than damage later, this should not make Acid Burst over powered.
You should also explicitly say if the damage in the following rounds applies to anyone in the area or just people who failed the save. That is, does the spell make a cloud that burns people, or does it coat those who failed their saves?
Also, do targets who pass their save take half damage or no damage in the following rounds?
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I like the damage-over-time feel of it. In my opinion PF does not have enough long-term damage spells.
I'd like to see something like acid-arrow but with an area effect. I think that would be cool.
Yeah, the math isn't too hard, but it doesn't make a very nice progression. 1d6 has an average of 3.5, so fireball does an average of 3.5 * level. 1d4 has an average of 2.5. To match the average (which with a smaller die also means a higher min and lower max), you'd need 1.4 times as many dice. If you take the 1 to be the initial damage and the .4 to be the lingering damage, it'd work out, but 2d4 every 5 levels isn't a useful progression.
I'm hesitant to round that up to 1.5x (so 1d4 every 2 levels) since fireball is considered the best direct damage spell at that level. (And yeah, I meant 3. I think I fixed that on the wiki.) Rounding down to 1d4 every 3 levels might work. Also, I figured those that make their saves continue to take damage, but continue to half it (without further saves).
Edit: Oh yeah. I also wanted to ask what spell-level tremorsense would be, roughly? Most other ways of getting it are for between level 7 and 10, so I figure either a 4th or 5th level spell, depending on duration and restrictions.
I'd make acid burst three, but you can also tap around the damage to make it a level 2. Perhaps 1d3. You can hit so many with a fireball, but less fire orb and others can also bring up great damage for low level spells.
I'm actually throwing together a fireball variant of my own soon. The pcs are tooling around with a necromancer carrying and refining the old exterminate spell (kill all petty vermin nearby, 3hp worth per level, level 1), who is focusing his research on death spells on vermin. So he will soon be able to let off an anti-vermin fireball. Very specific negative damage to that sub-type. Vermin (giant bees) and insects are a problem in Nim the necromancer's home.
In the past, I've taken element swapping feats and made sonic fireballs, chain acid and water-steam subdual lightning bolt. Sonic and steam for me.
A spell that just gave you tremor sense could be actually low level, if it was only in a very short range.
Acid burst was supposed to be level 3. I just made a typo.
The earliest PC tremorsense I could find was in the druid's cave domain where they get tremorsense 30 ft. at 6th level. There's a (mainly) dwarf feat that's 10th level. I figure a spell with a 30 ft. radius would be somewhere in between (30 ft. for 1 min/level might work as a 4th level spell).
As an Earth school wizard, my guy's not going to be casting fly very often. Instead, I was thinking of making it so the bad guys can't fly either. Since Fly is a level 3 spell, would anti-fly (maybe -20 to fly checks) be a level 3 spell too?
I added two new spells just to get my ideas written down: Ground and Stone Sense. I still need to get the level 0 and 1 spells fully hashed out before I focus too much on the rest though.
Anti-fly would be higher than 3rd level. Think of it this way, when fighting flyers, a casting of fly lets 1 person fight them effectively. A casting of ant-fly would let your whole party fight them effectively.
I think control winds does sort of what you want.
I think level 5 would be the lowest at which you could get a hard counter to fly.
Keep in mind, that -20 to fly checks does not make creatures crash, it just makes them less manoeuvrable.
Earth elementals don't have blood.
Anti-fly would be higher than 3rd level. Think of it this way, when fighting flyers, a casting of fly lets 1 person fight them effectively. A casting of ant-fly would let your whole party fight them effectively.
I think control winds does sort of what you want.
I think level 5 would be the lowest at which you could get a hard counter to fly.
Keep in mind, that -20 to fly checks does not make creatures crash, it just makes them less manoeuvrable.
Would it be ok if I took out the counter to Fly, and changed the wording so it causes them to lose altitude as if damaged every round?
I'm not sure. It depends on how it is worded :) I don't think a multi-target anti-fly can balanced bellow 4th level.
It occurs to me that Black Tentacles has 20ft of vertical reach :)
Also, Mass Daze may be what you want. A flying creature that does not move, and takes no action to hover, falls.
It's a single target spell as written. I changed the penalty to be equal to the caster level. Cast at high levels, that could potentially hamper most creatures (the Jabberwocky has a +21, so you'd have to be caster level 15 before it wouldn't be able to take 10). At lower levels, it may not do much, but not much has a great Fly check. Hopefully that's not too weak.
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Oops, I missed the link to your wiki :)
Ground actually seems kinda weak for a level 3 spell. When you said anti-fly, I thought that it would automatically bring the target to the ground. Compared to something like web it is really underwhelming.
I think as written, you can drop Ground to level 2 and have it target multiple creatures.
Also, 10ft per round is basically nothing. A half-way competent flyer will be able to regain that with a move action.
I think something like this would work:
School transmutation; Level sorcerer/wizard 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a chip of lodestone)
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
target 1 creature per caster level, no two of which may be more than 30 ft. apart
Duration 1 round per level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates (see text); [b]Spell Resistance yes
This spell draws flying creatures to the earth. An affected creature loses 10ft of altitude per caster level and cannot gain altitude while under the effect of Ground. This does not cause falling damage. Affected creatures gain a new save at the end of each each turn to end this effect.
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So after pondering it a little, I think ground is a pretty niche spell. Its not as powerful as Fly, since you can always use fly, but your enemies need to already be flying to use ground. 10ft per caster level should be enough to negate flying in smaller encounters. I didn't make it skill based like yours because I think ranks in fly are too variable. For example, a big dragon should be less affected since it is stronger, but because it has low manoeuvrability it is more affected than a pixie. This seems weird.
On an unrelated note, you can't take 10 on fly checks in combat. This differs from climb and swim speeds which explicitly let you take 10 in combat.
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While I was writing this, I kept wanting to call the spell Tyranny of Gravitation. I just have this image in my mind of a dragon strafing a geomancer and the mage calling out "Come down here and say that to my face!"
Having to roll a Fort save for everyone every round is a bit much bookkeeping. Maybe just say they automatically lose 10 ft. per round and can't gain altitude. It's 1 round per level, so the height difference is the same (at least for the last round).
My group's comments on taking Air as an opposed school were that Fly is a useful spell. My response was something along the lines of 'I may not fly, but I'll make sure they don't either.'
Edit: I updated the spell on the wiki.
Edit again: Maybe for a 5th level spell, one that gives you construct traits would work.
So are the level 0 and level 1 spells fairly balanced? Can anyone think of any ways to abuse either spell or any existing spells or options these would be strictly better than?
Ok. I need to get these ideas on paper before I forget:
- Previously mentioned, a spell that gives construct traits, but prevents healing.
- Are there existing spells that increase an object's hardness?
- A spell that transmutes lava to rock, but gives you a fire attack from all the absorbed heat.
- Transmute mud to acid?
- Warp Stone
- Something that creates a field of stone spines
Ok. I need to get these ideas on paper before I forget:
- Something that creates a field of stone spines
You should look into the Field of Icy Razors spell from the 3.5 Spell Compendium, I'm sure you could re-skin that into something like what you are looking for.
As for a race, how about Oread from the Bestiary 2? They are humanoids with a touch of earth elemental blood in their heritage. They are on page 205, here is the splat in case you don't have the book.
+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
Darkvision 60ft
Magic stone 1/day as a spell-like ability (caster level equals your total HD)
Acid Resistance 5
Elemental Affinity: Oread Sorcerers with the Elemental (earth) bloodline treat their Charisma as 2 points higher for all their spells and class abilities. Oread clerics with the Earth domain cast their domain powers and spells at +1 caster level.
Unfortunately, I don't think anyone here has the spell compendium.
Also, I settled on a dwarf, though the oread are pretty cool. But as a wizard, I would have to spend a feat to be proficient with slings. :P
Let's see if I can't eyeball some spell level targets for these:
- Previously mentioned, a spell that gives construct traits, but prevents healing.
I think this would compare to Undead Anatomy II, so level 5.
- Are there existing spells that increase an object's hardness?
Maybe level 3, assuming it's not instantaneous.
- A spell that transmutes lava to rock, but gives you a fire attack from all the absorbed heat.
This would be high level. About 7, I think.
- Transmute mud to acid?
Transmute mud to rock is 5, some this would be about 6.
- Warp Stone
Warp Wood is druid 2, so maybe a level 3 spell here. I think I'd need to add a little more to it for the level bump though.
- Something that creates a field of stone spines
I like spells that do a little more than just damage things, so maybe I'd aim for 5th level here with a below average damage but a nice side effect.
One more spell idea: A spell that surrounds you in a stone cocoon/shell. Other than total cover, I'm not sure what else it could do for you. Depending on how limited you were while inside, it could either give you fast healing or be more like sanctuary or secure shelter. (I was thinking it should be battle-useful though, so I probably won't base it on secure shelter.) I think I'll try and fit this one in a level 4 since there's a gap there.
In that case, let me transcribe it for you, straight from the horses mouth. :3
FIELD OF ICY RAZORS
Evocation [Cold]
Levl: Sorcerer/wizard 8
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range" Medium (100ft + 10ft/leve;)
Targets: One creature/level, no two
of which are more than 60ft apart.
Duration: Instantaneous plus 1 round/level; see text
Saving Throw: Reflex partial
Spell Resistance: Yes
Razor-sharp ice crystals surround the targets. Each target takes 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 20d6); half of this damage is cold damage, and half is slashing. In addition, each target's speed is reduced by 20 feet for 1 round per caster level. Creatures that succeed on Reflex saving throws take half damage and their movement is unaffected.
Focus: A silver shuriken worth 50gp that looks like a snowflake.
Level 8 huh. I'll have to cut it down quite a bit to make it fit in around 5th level. :) That is very similar to what I was imagining though.
The easiest thing to do would be to limit the maximum number of damage dice, say 10d6, and perhaps impose a cap on the number of targets effected. you could also slap a requirement of an earth or stone surface required for casting the spell.
What I linked is just something to work from. :3
Yeah, there are several options. I'd probably also change it to a normal area instead of choosing targets.
(Note to self: One more spell to compare to/learn. Obsidian Flow)
(Edit: And Tar Pool.)
Oooooo, those are sexy.
You should pick up the Elemental Focus feat as well if you have room, anything to bump up those save DC's.
One of the dwarven alternate racial traits (stonesinger) gives a similar bonus.
In that case, let me transcribe it for you, straight from the horses mouth. :3
FIELD OF ICY RAZORS
...
Conjuration [earth]
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 5
Components: V, S, M (a sharp thorn, quill or spine)
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100ft + 10ft/leve;)
Area: 20-ft.-radius emanation
Duration: 1 round/level; see text
Saving Throw: Reflex negates
Spell Resistance: No
Sharp thorns of stone sprout in the area of this spell. Creatures in the area when this happens take 1d6 points of slashing damage per caster level (maximum 15d6). Creatures entering the effected area must make a reflex save or take 1d6 points of slashing damage. Any creature damaged by this spell has their movement reduced to half for 1 round per caster level.
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That's weaker than the original, but I don't know if it's enough to bring it down to 5. Any thoughts?
I would reduce movement speed by a static amount, rather than straight up half, as that penalizes creatures with higher movement rates more than ones with lower, damage scaling looks okay to me. Slashing damage is good and as a conjuration effect SR: no is fairly par for the course. What really brings this down to a 5th level spell though is the 20ft emanation effect rather than selective targeting.
Looks good.
Thanks. I added that one to the wiki page and changed the speed penalty to just 10 feet. (Although I notice caltrops reduce speed to half.) 20 feet would bring a slower character to a stop.
(Note to self: Tar Ball is another one to compare to.)
I could add a fissure spell that would cause a crack in the ground. It sounds like something that might already exist though.
Just to get ideas on paper: the earthbending move where they raised boulders out of the ground and then fired them at enemies would make a neat spell.