RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
|
Hmm... suppose that a spellcaster wanted to drop an area-affecting spell on an area that contained his allies as well as his enemies. Could the caster intentionally weaken the spell to allow his allies to more easily make the saving throw (since he doesn't want to hurt them)? Naturally, this would make things easier for the enemies as well, but let's say that the spell is a fireball and the ally is a rogue. You know the enemies are going to take half damage if they save anyway and perhaps that's better than nothing in your situation, but you really don't want to torch your friend and thus make it easier for him to use Evasion to save his bacon.
Thoughts? Would doing this require a Spellcraft check or perhaps a Will save? A caster level check? Should it be allowed at all? I don't see any reason why a caster shouldn't be able to cast his spells at a lower intensity if he wished, but I was curious to see what others thought.
I'm not really fond of the idea.
Couple of reasons for that.
First complaint is that, for me, this defies the way I feel magic works in the context of D&D. Mages channel magic that they learn through research. Its not a tap that they can change the intensity of at will. They can make a fireball but they don't know how to make a weak fireball - the best they can do is go for a different (weaker) spell.
Secondly I think that this works against the wizard and in favour of the spontaneous casters and I don't think the Sorcerer in particular really needs help. A wizard gains much of their power purely from their ability to cast a huge range of spells - sorcerers are stuck only knowing a few. Allowing anyone to change the intensity of a spell makes all spells more versatile and that harms the wizard who's shtick is versatility.
I agree that casters shouldn't be able to weaken their spells at will; how would they learn the consequences of poor spell placement? The whole party should be thinking tactically and working as a team. That includes yelling for the rogue to tumble out of the way and readying to drop the fireball, or at least giving the rogue a save boost or energy resistance beforehand.
However, if a caster is constantly hitting allies with spells I think a feat allowing the reduction of saves is quite reasonable.
If the spellcaster had the Heighten Spell meta-magic feat and raised the spell level of the hypothetical fireball to eighth, it would have the same area of effect and damage dice, but the DC has raised by 5 and it consumes an eighth level spell slot. I see no reason why the door can't swing the other way. I think, with the Heighten Spell feat, the spellcaster should be able to lower the spell level, as well.
However, if that were allowed, you'd end up with powerful casters wielding first level Power Word: Kill. Hey, who cares if it's first level, it doesn't allow a save anyway.
SOLUTION #1: The "lowered" spell costs a higher level slot equal to how many levels it was lowered. For example, a fireball lowered to first level would decrease the DC by 2, but would cost a fifth level slot because it was lowered by two levels. This is the simplest solution, but it raises the "realism" head-scratcher, "So, wait, it'll take a more powerful slot to accomplish something less powerful?"
SOLUTION #2: Make a new feat, Lower Spell, that has the pre-requisite of Heighten Spell and at least one (or two) other meta-magic feats. You push it off a few levels, but then again, powerful wielders of magic should be able to, well, wield powerful magic.
There is also a metamagic feat (shape spell? sculpt spell?) that allows you to cast area of effect spells and exclude allies. Complete arcane maybe? Don't have my books right now.
I personally don't see a problem with allowing a caster to lower their save DCs. The DC already scales one way, so why not the other? Obviously the issue can be argued either way, but the truth is that it depends on the DM's idea of what magic is and how it works.
For example, I do not imagine fireball as a kind of pipe-bomb that can only be modified at the time of construction. A spell has certain parameters and restrictions, but it is not an inflexible object; otherwise, how could things like DC and damage dice be affected by the caster's personal prowess at the time of casting?
If you want to limit how far a caster can lower his spell DCs, say something like 10 + spell level is the lowest it can go.
well, there is a spell feat that you can add to say a fireball so that it only affects living matter and does not affect any materials, constructs, undead and the like; so if your allies are undead this would work just fine. I dont see why their couldnt be the opposite; say a feat that affected undead and constructs and not the living an it might have an application; I also remember reading a feat somewhere where you can have a whole in the center of an area effect or adjust its shape; I think it was called extraordinary spell aim Cadv pg 109. I could also see say a divine or good consecrated spell not harming "Good" players; say if you have two good exalted feats or follow the same diety or some such, I think there is a feat like this in Boed pg 44 called purify spell or some such. I think there is also; energize spell, LM pg 26, which does more damage to undead +150% and only half to others; might be sometimes useful.
I would say a Spellcraft check. Maybe the spell's normal DC+ how much you're trying to lower the DC by. More powerful spells would be more difficult to change. But when you get those spells, your spellcraft bonus could be really monster (20 ranks or so). Maybe like this: Spellcraft check= spell's normal DC (10+lv+ability modifier)+ 2*spell level+how much you want to change the spell level. I'd keep the ability modifier in the DC so that the check truly reflects your arcane (or divine) prowess.
So the spellcraft DC to change the fireball's reflex DC would be at least 21 (10+spell level [3] + two more spell levels + 1 [min ability 13] + at least 1 for change [otherwise you wouldn't be making the check]). With the minimum ability (Not higher, that would change the given DC) and max ranks (8 at 5th level), the caster would have to roll at least a 12... That actually seems a bit low, perhaps.
Also, I think that allowing those sorts of check should be limited to special circumstances, the other party member probably should have been there with the caster's knowledge for a round or more.
I don't have my 3.5 PHB handy, but my 3.0 pp. 152 under "Caster Level" heading states:
"A spell's power often depends on its caster level, which is generally equal to your class level...You can cast a spell at lower caster level than normal, but the caster level must be high enough for you to cast the spell in question, and all level-dependent features must be based on the same caster level. For example, at 10th level, Mialee {a wizard} can cast a fireball to a range of 800 ft for 10d6 points of damage. If she wishes she can cast a fireball that deals less damage by acasting the spell at a lover level but she must reduce the range according to the selected caster level, and she can't cast fireball with a caster level lower than 5th (the minimum level required for a wizard to cast fireball)."
So, unless 3.5 lost this, i'd say the answer is: yes, cast away at lower levels as long as you meet minimum level requirements for that spell level. Of course, you can fiddle with this however you please but it is covered in the core rules.
As ever,
ACE
Thoughts? Would doing this require a Spellcraft check or perhaps a Will save? A caster level check? Should it be allowed at all? I don't see any reason why a caster shouldn't be able to cast his spells at a lower intensity if he wished, but I was curious to see what others thought.
If you like a flexible d20 magic system, you might consider droping 3.5 in favor of Evolved Arcana... It is quite balanced and easy to integrate.
I think it was called extraordinary spell aim Cadv pg 109.
Yeah extraordinary spell aim lets you exclude one allie from an area effect spell, but has a pretty steep requirement like Spellcraft of 12 ranks or something. I also think that with the Sculpt Spell metamagic feat you could turn it into four 10' squares that you could place to avoid your ally.
So, unless 3.5 lost this, i'd say the answer is: yes, cast away at lower levels as long as you meet minimum level requirements for that spell level. Of course, you can fiddle with this however you please but it is covered in the core rules.
IIRC, this clause is still in the 3.5 PHB. In games I DM, I always highly recommend that anyone playing a spellcaster familiarize themselves with Chapter 10, in particular the section covering areas of effect and line of effect, though the "intentional downgrading" clause is good information, too.
Along those lines, it might be a nice houserule to allow the caster to drop the save DC by 1 for every 2 caster levels lowered. It's sort of the counterpart to the way that psionic augmentation works.