Is it just me or is this (sorcerer only)spell vastly overpowered for a 2nd level spell?
As an immediate action it allows the caster to gain total cover against any melee or ranged attack, psionic power or spell, thus totally negating the effect, Furthermore if the caster is dragonblooded he may extend the effect to one adjacent ally for every three caster levels. All this for a 2nd level spell.
Also I wonder if the spell would work against spell-like and supernatural abilities. As written I don't think it should, but the intention of the spell would seem to work against such effects.
I recently got into quite a heated debate about this when the sorcerer one of my players played were affected by a sea hags Evil eye ability and he argued that he could use wings of cover to protect himself against this supernatural ability. I disallowed it since a strict reading of the spell excludes spell-like and supernatural abilities as far as I interpret it. This lead to my player leaving the session quite angry (although the evil eye ability only dazed him as he made the secondary save against dying).
It's a bit too much, I agree. Likewise with Power Word: Pain from the same book (at least at low levels).
RAW: It doesn't apply to Supernatural or Spell-like abilities.
Picture it as ghostly wings of force....an evil eye can still peer through it at someone.
But I don't think it's that powerful. At 4th level, it's the Sorcerer's ONLY 2nd level spell, and it has to be used reactively, no proactively, so it's possible for NPCs to take advantage of it, like using their secondary attacks on the Sorcerer, then whaling on him with primary attacks later on in the round.
Standard Invisibility has more irritation factor to me. Now, I wouldn't want to see a wizard with this, which is probably why it's sorceror only. The dragonblooded ability to shield allies is nice, and anything that encourages teamwork besides screaming "Heal me!" is good in my book.
Powerwise, it blocks one attack being made at you. An enemy aware of this particular trick could try to bluff you into thinking his attack was at you, as he tries to shoot the person behind you. It lists the attack forms it blocks, which means Spell Like Abilities and Supernatural Abilities, and any Extraordinary abilities that don't involve melee or ranged attacks (Troglodyte Stench) work just fine.
Some might argue that it should be able to be used against Spell Like Abilities. I disagree. SLAs can not be counterspelled, which I always thought was less of an argument of "the energy is too different to interact with counterspelling attempts" and more of "even though its a standard action, its mostly just the monster staring at you then it's eyes flash red and fire explodes around you, you barely have time to dodge, much less counterspell".
Supernatural abilities strike me as being the opposite, too long to block with an instant flash of cover. Take a breath weapon. Most breath weapons are portayed, in film, video game, and other media, as a roaring stream, a sustained force that lasts for several seconds. An instantaneous blip isn't going to stop that tide. But it works just fine against the instant explosion of a fireball, or the darting zap of a lightning bolt. Against the searing torrent of fire from a red dragon, or the snapping and arcing Tesla-Coil stream from a blue dragon, it won't cut the mustard.
Standard Invisibility has more irritation factor to me. Now, I wouldn't want to see a wizard with this, which is probably why it's sorceror only. The dragonblooded ability to shield allies is nice, and anything that encourages teamwork besides screaming "Heal me!" is good in my book.
Powerwise, it blocks one attack being made at you. An enemy aware of this particular trick could try to bluff you into thinking his attack was at you, as he tries to shoot the person behind you. It lists the attack forms it blocks, which means Spell Like Abilities and Supernatural Abilities, and any Extraordinary abilities that don't involve melee or ranged attacks (Troglodyte Stench) work just fine.
Some might argue that it should be able to be used against Spell Like Abilities. I disagree. SLAs can not be counterspelled, which I always thought was less of an argument of "the energy is too different to interact with counterspelling attempts" and more of "even though its a standard action, its mostly just the monster staring at you then it's eyes flash red and fire explodes around you, you barely have time to dodge, much less counterspell".
Supernatural abilities strike me as being the opposite, too long to block with an instant flash of cover. Take a breath weapon. Most breath weapons are portayed, in film, video game, and other media, as a roaring stream, a sustained force that lasts for several seconds. An instantaneous blip isn't going to stop that tide. But it works just fine against the instant explosion of a fireball, or the darting zap of a lightning bolt. Against the searing torrent of fire from a red dragon, or the snapping and arcing Tesla-Coil stream from a blue dragon, it won't cut the mustard.
This is how I read the spell as well. After my friend got home he had time to cool down and re-read the spell and it seems that he now agrees. As the attacker has a chance got change his actions if he's interrupted by this spell, it limits it's usefulness somewhat. I still think the spell is quite good, but perhaps not as good as my player first wanted it to be.