Craig Irvin's page

Missed some suggestions and reworking things again. Removed my reply for now.

sonic and force are rare elemental damage. that few are resistant to or immune as such spells that deal sonic damage are somewhat restricted (mostly to bards) and like force they tend to deal less damage. a lot of enemies are immune to the common elemental energies, like skeletons to cold, but meeting any that can even resist sonic\force is hard.

force and sonic spells of the same level tend to deal one dice lower so in this case it should be 1d4 per level (max 5d4) not 1d6 (look at magic missile for example).

and yes, sneaking in the intimidate bonus (and not even listing how long it last) is a cheap trick. you can tell it is, since it's mentioned as an after thought yet it would come way more often then enemies wearing crystal armor or made out of crystal. it should have been up front and the armor bit mentioned in an after thought. as the more common case is normally mentioned first.

to sum. I'd change the damage to 1d4 per level and drop the intimidate thing (or keep it for one round and drop the crystal bit)

Sound Burst is 1d8 (2nd level). https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/sound-burst/

Ear Piecing Scream is 1d6 (1st level). https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/e/ear-piercing-scream/

Banshee Blast (6th level) does 1d4. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/b/banshee-blast/

Resounding blow (4th/5th) does 1d6. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/r/resounding-blow/

Shatter (2nd) does 1d6. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/shatter/

D&D 3.5 Sound Lance does 1d8 as well. https://dnd.arkalseif.info/spells/spell-compendium--86/sound-lance--3564/

While I acknowledge the information provided regarding spells with sonic damage, their damage output appears to vary widely, ranging from d4 to D8s, with lower-level spells typically dealing d6 damage; Shatter being a very commonly used spell. I appreciate the clarification that the effect should only last for one round. Keep in mind I did say I had my DM look this over and he liked it over all but wanted to see what others would say; so there isn't any "sneaking it in" going on.

My thoughts on the crystalline piece is that at least in our campaigns it's very uncommon to run up against this so the spell itself 1:1 with shocking grasp is loosing some of it's power. The easiest way to address this would be to leave it with a +3 to metal and drop the intimidate.

I would love to hear from more people though so please keep them coming.

Hello all. I am playing a Magus Hexcrafter and loving it! However one of the things I was wanting to do is make my own spell that is similar to Shocking grasp but has a different flavor that fits my motif of being this scary person (Intimidate Int based build)

Suffice to say here is what I whipped up. My DM wanted me to run it through the brain trust in the forums to give some opinions on if the spell is balanced enough.

Boldin’s Dread Resonance
School evocation [sonic]; magus 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, bard 1
Casting
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S

EFFECT
Range: touch
Target: creature or object touched
Duration: instantaneous
Saving Throw none;
Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION
This malevolent spell harmonizes with the creature or object touched, unleashing haunting vibrations that only the target can perceive. Upon a successful melee touch attack, it inflicts 1d6 points of sonic damage per caster level (maximum 5d6). When delivering the dread resonance, you have the choice to gain a +3 bonus on attack rolls if the opponent is adorned in crystalline-based armor (or is carrying a crystalline-based weapon or is made of crystal), or to grant a +3 bonus to demoralize the opponent. The eerie vibrations of Dread Resonance strike fear into the touched individual, leaving a lingering sense of impending doom that only they can hear.

Some feedback from DM was that the "OR" part of the spell may be too much or that the +3 should be a +2 bonus to demoralize.

Thanks so much for the advice!

Thanks all so far for the responses. Has anyone ever seen example characters built by Paizo that uses the magus and then goes through an example combat?