Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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A fun but weird spell in 1st Edition when it first appeared in Dragon #68, chain lightning has a great name and a great visual, but perhaps even more than the other evocation/direct damage spells it got kind of a kick in the nards in 3rd Ed.
It's plainly true that being able to select your targets is neat, although having to select them within a small area is less cool.
Still, the fact that everyone besides your initial target only takes half damage just pokes a finger in the eye of the poor evoker even more than usual. You end up with a spell that does the same base damage as cone of cold, except it only does that damage to ONE creature, and HALF of that to your other targets. Again, it's cool that you get to exclude allies in the AoE, but honestly, the damage is so minor at 11th+ level that you almost wouldn't care if your allies DID get hit with it.
The most comparable core spell to CL is horrid wilting, which is 2 levels higher, so it should be better, and it is, but consider this:
Both have long range.
HW affects EVERY living creature you want within a 30' r.
CL affects 1 living creature/level you want within a 30' r., as long as the primary target is in the center.
HW is Fort half (no evasion)
CL is Ref half (subject to evasion)
HW is untyped damage (no energy resistance)
CL is electricity damage (subject to energy resistance)
HW does max 20d6 (20d8 vs. plant/water)
CL does max 15d6
HW does full damage to EVERY target
CL does full damage to only ONE target, half damage to everyone else
The untyped damage is the big one, but HW clearly wails all over CL. It is better and it SHOULD be better - it's 2 levels higher. That's fine.
My point is that CL should be at least a little bit better than it is, and the solution is simple: make chain lightning do full damage to all targets.
HW is still a much better spell and worthy of being 2 levels higher, but it gives CL back a little of its luster. A spell like CoC is still good for hitting a big area, but CL doesn't seem so weak compared to its lower level cousin.
I concur.
Chain lightning has a lot of style going for it as a spell, but it's a little lacking in power.
But would making this change make it strictly better than Cone of Cold?
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Who uses Cone of Cold, anyway? (As in yes, it would, but that's not a bad thing because CoC also sucks).I concur.
Chain lightning has a lot of style going for it as a spell, but it's a little lacking in power.
But would making this change make it strictly better than Cone of Cold?
CoC is decent against large groups of enemies that are conveniently grouped, esp. if your DM likes the fire subtype...
I made good use of a staff of frost in the STAP against a bunch of swarms (both CoC and wall of ice were handy against them)
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I agree that CL is not as nice as it could/should be.
Here is my suggestion for fixing it.
Change the text description to:
This spell creates an electrical discharge that begins as a single
stroke commencing from your fingertips. Unlike lightning bolt, chain
lightning strikes one object or creature initially, then arcs to other
targets.
The bolt deals 1d6 points of electricity damage per caster level
(maximum 20d6) to the primary target. After it strikes, the bolt arcs
to a series of secondary targets equal to your caster level (maximum
20). This arcing bolt strikes from one target to the next, and deals
half as much damage as the primary one did (rounded down).
Each target can attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage. You
choose secondary targets as you like, but the distance the bolt can
travel (after striking the primary target) is a cumulative 120 feet,
and no target can be struck more than once. You can choose to affect
fewer secondary targets than the maximum.
This way, the spell actually "chains" from one to the next.
It gets the same danger zone as the original lighting bolt.
I would even feel that the half damage for secondary targets could be changed to full damage, but personally, it's not the lower damage that nerfs this spell, it's the tight AoE that it currently has. With my version, this spell could rip through several ranks of low level fodder and still streak across the battlefield to put a little hurt on that pesky guy hiding in back barking orders.
Like it? Hate it? Wish I would stop calling? Let me know.
I think chain lightning would be a pretty snazzy spell with one small change: the original target doesn't get a save.
If you think about it, a CL spell couldn't really arc if the initial target avoided the damage ( a la evasion), so the initial hit should be a sure thing.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Another option would be to keep the mechaninc of half damage to secondary targets, but change the original damage to 3d6/2 caster levels, with a max of 21d6. This is approximately 150% normal damage of the existing version to both the primary and the secondary targets.
I think chain lightning would be a pretty snazzy spell with one small change: the original target doesn't get a save.
If you think about it, a CL spell couldn't really arc if the initial target avoided the damage ( a la evasion), so the initial hit should be a sure thing.
Make it a ranged touch attack. No save to primary target, and it can crit!
Take the target cap off the AOE, change it from dice to a flat 2 damage/level, reflex half (applying the crit to everyone makes no sense IMO, and rolling it all twice would be a bit sluggish).
Per SRD the die cap is already 20d6 (which would be 40 points to secondaries with this version).
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Make it a ranged touch attack. No save to primary target, and it can crit!I think chain lightning would be a pretty snazzy spell with one small change: the original target doesn't get a save.
If you think about it, a CL spell couldn't really arc if the initial target avoided the damage ( a la evasion), so the initial hit should be a sure thing.
Actually, it's not a bad idea at all. Makes me think of two things, actually:
1. Make it ranged touch. If you hit, you can arc to a new target. If you hit again, you can attack again, etc., up to a max of 1 target/level. Once you miss, the spell is over. You crap out with the initial die roll and you get nobody. You can only target a creature once per casting. Each arc could be 30 feet, or it could be longer (5' per level?). Since it is arcing around to targets, I would say let it ignore cover bonuses to AC (except total cover) and ignore the "-4 for firing into melee) rule.
2. Have it be a Ref save spell, but rather than hopping from target to target, have it be a 5' line that goes from target to target.
That is, it's a long-range spell as it is now to the original target; however once that target is hit you can bounce the lightning around the battlefield. Essentially, it would be, say one continguous 5-foot square per level (or maybe two, so we could have some better arcability). You hit the primary, then a 20' bolt from there to target #2, then it zigs 15 feet to target 3, zags 15 more feet to target 4, and finally hops 5 feet to target 5 right next to him.
And perhaps here's the neat trick - the target points get full damage. The lines in between do half damage.
I dunno, it makes for a neat visual, but maybe it's mechanically icky. I like the idea though.
Take the target cap off the AOE, change it from dice to a flat 2 damage/level, reflex half (applying the crit to everyone makes no sense IMO, and rolling it all twice would be a bit sluggish).
Per SRD the die cap is already 20d6 (which would be 40 points to secondaries with this version).
You are probably right about the SRD.
Alternatively, we could say that every secondary target gets some dice less over the primary target, cumulative, to a minimum of half the dice of the primary target.
For example, with caster level 12:
1)first target, 12d6
second target, 10d6
third target, 8d6
fourth to 12th target, 6d6
Or:
2)first target, 12d6
second target, 11d6
third target, 10d6
fourth target, 9d6
fifth target, 8d6
sixth target, 7d6
seventh to 12th target, 6d6
I know, however , that's a lot of micro-managing...