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Reduce Person. Yes, that archer just got harder to hit and yes you just got a little easier for the archer to hit. Not to mention Ray spells...
Web. Burn it (with fireball!) and anyone in the webbing takes 2d4 points of fire damage a square. No save. We actuallu used this combo a lot in the last book of RotRl.
predestigitation. cleans the sticky substance off of your clothes
O_o
Oddly enough, prestidigitation is one of my favorite spells too.
Other than that, spectral hand and resilient sphere (or even better, telekinetic sphere) are two of my all time favorite.
'findel
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I like glitterdust. Great spell even with the PRPG nerf. I use it every session. Even if the blindness doesn't take or last long, the -40 to hide kills most badguys chance to hide from you.
Summon monster III always has a special place in my heart because the crocodile is full of bitey goodness. Even better now that it's a large animal. :)
Web, when combined with an incorporial creature to attack those stuck in it is also way fun.
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I shouldn't admit this, but my favorite spell is
3.0 HASTE!!!
Okay, yes, it was totally and absolutely broken, but damn, was it a blast playing a sorcerer with that spell. It was a no-brainer round 1 spell - effectively free to cast because you immediately get an extra action. Then you get to do what a sorcerer does best: unload the artillery.
Good times (at least for me).
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I shouldn't admit this, but my favorite spell is
3.0 HASTE!!!
Okay, yes, it was totally and absolutely broken, but damn, was it a blast playing a sorcerer with that spell. It was a no-brainer round 1 spell - effectively free to cast because you immediately get an extra action. Then you get to do what a sorcerer does best: unload the artillery.
Good times (at least for me).
Not Summon Monster I? I thought the celestial pony would have made that a lock. :)
Magic Aura is one of my favorites. Made a henchman think that a glass ball was the magic item his master sent him to steel from us.
Another one of my favourites: Pyrotechnics! It affects a huge area, and nothing is flashier than a bunch of fireworks!
Oddly enough: create water.
We make lots of mud and ice with it.
2nd place would be Enlarge Person.
We like to cast enlarge person on our entire party and then walk around town, making a scene. We've had quite a few comical situations arise with this spell.
I usually GM..
But the pain in the backside spells that my wizard seems to love is:
Glitterdust
Enlarge Person (on the fighter, using a two-handed weapon)
..and Grease.
Roughly in that order.
Whirling Blade ... who thought a wizard with a greatsword could be just freaking vicious ...
Well actually a wizard is vicious, with or without a great sword.
So what is my favourite spell. I think until I explored them further I'll just say change shape. Never has greater fun been had!
Our party wizard always used it just to mess with random npcs.
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Whirling Blade ... who thought a wizard could be just freaking vicious with a greatsword...Well actually a wizard is vicious, with or without a great sword.
+1 ... corrected the intent of my original post for you, Threeshades. ;)
Typically though, if a wizard pulls out a greatsword, most people would chuckle ... until it went flying from the wizard's hand, striking at everyone along a 60' line and then returned to the wizard's hand. ;)
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Flesh to Stone rocks too, now that I think on it.
Especially if played for horror value. "Failed your Fort save? Ok, well, you're aware of everything but you are completely stoned. Let's hope your friends don't drop you while evac'ing you from the dungeon."
My wife mentions the time her party ran into the Midas Crab, which turned anything it touched into a gold statue. Also aware of everything but unable to do anything.
That's a d20 SAN loss at the very least.
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Whirling Blade ... who thought a wizard could be just freaking vicious with a greatsword...Well actually a wizard is vicious, with or without a great sword.+1 ... corrected the intent of my original post for you, Threeshades. ;)
Typically though, if a wizard pulls out a greatsword, most people would chuckle ... until it went flying from the wizard's hand, striking at everyone along a 60' line and then returned to the wizard's hand. ;)
Fighter/Mage/Thief FTW!!
Or something.
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As a player:
Fireball - 'Cuz I like things that go... boom.
Ring of Blades - Mostly on my clerics as I tend to play more melee-oriented clerics. Yay fighter levels!
Stretch Weapon - Use this one with duskblades, this and blade of blood are typically my work horses.
As a DM:
Mirror Image (1st and 2nd Edition) - 2nd level god mode. Except against magic missiles. :P
Ray of Enfeeblement - No save on a touch attack for a good deal of Strength penalty. Yes please!
Solid fog - Used to keep the party casters out of the hair of their opposition.
Ray of Enfeeblement - No save on a touch attack for a good deal of Strength penalty. Yes please!
Solid fog - Used to keep the party casters out of the hair of their opposition.
Both of these have changed in Parthfinder.
Ray of Enfeeblement now allows for a Fort save that reduces this penalty by 1/2.
Solid Fog no longer reduces movement to 5', but to 1/2 movement.
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Both of these have changed in Parthfinder.Ray of Enfeeblement now allows for a Fort save that reduces this penalty by 1/2.
Solid Fog no longer reduces movement to 5', but to 1/2 movement.
Knew about the change to solid fog and it still serves its purpose just fine. As for ray of enfeeblement, while I didn't know about the change, I think it needed to be weakened a bit; it was pretty powerful for a 1st level spell.
2. ShadowCon ++ because it makes you not-sad for Sorcerer spell choice. And that really strange illusionist prestige class that could get you %120 real shadow summoning.....
1. Gaseous form for #1 escape spell, and the reason the boss drilled peepholes in his walls. Although the slime-form one was sweet, too. He slid along the wall into a hallway with 5 doors and we couldn't figure out where he went because none of them were opened, haha. He went under the cracks :(
Also, Enlarge Person... a fun and easy way to shoot arrows that deal 2d6 damage each, not to mention +5' melee reach.
Actuallyyyy... PF makes arrows go shrinky now. You *can* buy Large arrows, drop them before (or after) enlarging, and then shoot them.
Mine used to be Harm. But PF changed it so that it can't kill, period, and I don't like it so much. Still good, but not favorate.
That's odd to me - 3.5 was the only version of D&D I know of where Harm actually *can* kill the target. :) I always thought that was the beautiful thing about it.
"Surrender!"
"Never!"
Cast Harm, "Surrender."
Whimper @ 1hp, "...ok"
Precipitation was always a great one - especially when combined with "Bless" to make it rain holy water on skeletons...
Dispel Magic, the Summon Monster line but the greatest spell of all has to be...
Animate Rope!
I loved the look on my DM's face when a group of Sahuagin used a hemped rope net on our Monk and the "un-knot" command came into play. Just one of those great uses for a mostly unused spell.
This is easy for me, Devlin's Barb from the Complete Book of Eldritch Might. Simply because you can take the Forge Ring feat, create Devlin's Ring and voila!, unlimited ammo for your bow!
On the core rules front it would be all of the beast shape spells, because I'd love to actaully take on the form of animals and use their extraordinary abilities and modes of movement.
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Several wicked awesome choices:
Low Level:
Core: Grease, Color Spray, or Enlarge Person. Battlefield control, fight-winning, or Big Dumb Fighter gets even Bigger; all great choices.
Non-Core: Raging Flame. +1 / Die for fire magic, and we all know how much PC's (and DM's) love fire magic. Also makes alch fire and lava all that more bad ass (doubles damage for natural fire attacks)
Mid Level:
Core: Haste. Favorite spell ever, I think. Of course, I love playing buffer type casters or bards, so it's kind of natural.
Non-Core: Crafter Horde. Not sure if this was a personally researched one or if there's really a written spell, but basically made whole bunches of Unseen Crafters (from Eberron Campaign Setting...unseen servants who can make stuff.) Slap that on a wizard with high craft skills and he makes stuff, fast. Like warships in a day kind of fast.
High Levels:
Core: Teleport, cuz travel is one of the best reasons to use magic.
True Seeing: No, Ms. Succubus, I would not like another kiss, thank you very much...
Non-Core: The Orb Spells, especially when you metamagic them like crazy. Blasting = Fun, even if suboptimal.
-t
Ebby's Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion
phantasmal force or Proctiv's Move Mountain
I'm a fan of Greater Curse. Ability to shut down the enemy's class features? Yes, please.
*zap* No spellcasting for you, Mr. Lich.
Can undead be cursed? I thought they were immune to necromancy effects
PS: I am assuming you mean Bestow Curse, Greater. If not then I don't know the spell.
Fireball - It's all in how you aim that sucker. Or get it aimed at you. I was playing a human fighter once against a drow with fireball in a semi-cleared jungle at night. I took 3 of these before someone was able to distract him long enough for me to fire a longbow at him. Also, it's wonderful to change the energy type with.
Blade Barrier - While I doubt it was entirely legal, the DM allowed it, I was able to position this at angles. Extremely helpful against a jumping barbarian.
Harm - Celestial Armor, Flyby Attack and this. Probably not entirely within the rules, but it had flair which counted for a lot in that campaign. I was touching for either 75 or 150 every time.
My favorite has to be Bestow Curse. Instead of the normal stat penalty I used the optional "create your own curse, but no more powerful that those described above" to make my character's brother impotent. He had been being a jerk and tried forcing himself on a girl. My character was an ancestor worshipper and thought it reflected poorly on their family so bestowed the curse on him in front of their entire town. From that point on, everyone in the town feared/respected my character as did the other player characters. Nobody wanted their manhood put down, so to speak, by the guy who talked to his ancestors. It was pretty cool. Nothing is more effective for controlling a group than proper focused intimidation.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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While it should surprise no one, I like shield.
Esepcially after Tricky Owlbear finishes with it?
Maximized Flame Blade with the Dervish Dance feat and the Vital Strike chain.
Ain't touch attacks druidic lightsabers neat ?
22.5 damage per attack? For a sixth-level spell?
Really?
Melee touch attacks ... yeah, not bad.
Imprisonment - Slain foes can be raised, resurrected, or reincarnated, but even the gods can't pinpoint someone who has been imprisoned...
And Flame Blade / Produce Flame really does rock for druids; can't beat touch attacks.
Speaking of druids, in 3.0 one of my favorite combinations was briar web plus insect plague, or as I called it, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Briar web was essentially entangle that did a little bit of damage if one moved, while insect plague had a huge radius of stinging insects that did a little bit of damage each round. The durations for each were terribly long and the area of effects were similarly huge, meaning entire battlefields became a slow, agonizing death, just like Nature would like. >8D
Maximized Flame Blade with the Dervish Dance feat and the Vital Strike chain.
Ain't touch attacks druidic lightsabers neat ?
22.5 damage per attack? For a sixth-level spell?
Really?
Let us remember that this is favorite spell, not most powerful... you can leave the derision at the door, it's not really welcome here.
Got to say my favorite spell of all time is prestidigitation.
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Lightning Bolt...and here is why.
(this all happened in a 3.5 game, before i discovered the joy that is pathfinder)
I was playing a neutral evil wizard in a party that included a paladin. The player had never thought to use Detect Evil on me, but I knew eventually he would. Since it's a reflex save, and I noticed he had poured power into strength (for his greatsword) instead of charisma, and he clearly had a low dex (he was wearing full plate) i accurately deduced he had a slim chance of passing the reflex save of my Lightning bolt spell. So during battle with a half dragon minotaur and his spellcasting master, I made a deal to eliminate the Paladin for protection from the Minotaur if I could get one shot on the Minotaur of Doom. Lining up the spell with the minotaur and the Paladin (who had taken quite a beating by this point) and using Sudden Maximize to give me that juicy instant 60 damage, I cast the spell. And as I suspected/hoped to god for, it barely phased the minotaur and killed the paladin. Since no one else cast spells in the group, I bluffed successfully claiming it was a magical misfire.
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I have to fully agree with prestidigitation. The flavor it can add is wonderful.
And since forever in time of D&D/PF/Eberron/all of it.....Fireball.
What are wizards known for? Throwing fireballs. It's always been my all purpose spell.
Take out the catapult crew....fireball.
Take out the guy at the end of the hall....fireball.
Catch the theif the just stole from you as he runs away....fireball.
It's been my favorite for years. The spell has saved lives in my games.
Personal favorite: Animate Dead, and in 3.5 its big brother Plague of Undead.
Make fun pets, and keep them! Take the first encounter of every dungeon against the second! Abuse area of affect cold spells with immune to cold corpse-puppets! Keep some brainless beefy bodies to possess with your Magic Jar! Have your expendable pets walk down sketchy hallways and open dangerous doors and chests to flush out traps!
In 3.5 there was no end of fun things you could do with Animate Dead, and dozens of ways to improve it. Grab 'Corpse Crafter' and Desecrate for extra tough minions. 'Destruction Retribution' for hordes of squishy cat bombs to punish pesky divine casters! Cast Awaken Undead and Vile Death for fiendishly tricky creatures with dozens of potential abilities to abuse (Awakened skeletal hellwasp swarms FTW!). Get 'Cold Substitution' and 'Lord of the Uttercold' and laugh as your 'uttercold' Walls of Fire damage your enemies while healing your army. Animate Skeletal and Zombie dragons from the Draconomicon for bigger, badder monsters. Arcane? Grab 'Craft Wondrous Item' and spellstitch your favorite low level spells into your pets for added utility. High Cha? Grab Leadership and have your horde of arcane followers cast Command Undead with all of their 2+ level spell slots to control your excess deadies for an insanely huge army of high hit dice monstrosities. Do all of this as a Dread Necromancer, for cha synergy, extra deadies, bigger deadies, and unlimited free healing of all your minions (and yourself if you're 'Tomb Tainted') outside of battle.
Most of these tools didn't make the transition to Pathfinder, at least not in Core, but we do get the new Bloody Skeleton, Fast Zombie, and Plague Zombie templates to play with, and I'm sure with time even more fun little toys will appear to make sure Animate Dead remains the drop dead coolest spell in the inventory of any spell caster with sufficiently malleable ethical standards and a sufficiently non-judgmental party.
Flame Sphere. Yea, I know, not the "best" spell by any stretch. But I just really like the idea of conjuring a rolling ball of fire to harass my enemies. Beyond that, my second votes goes to Flame Blade and Produce Flame (yes, I am a little obsessed with pyromaniac druids).
Hmm, come to think of it, I guess I just like any spell that involves a druid lightning things on fire...slash and burn baby, yea!
Obscuring mist. Because if things go wrong you can pop the smoke and the party can fall back and regroup. It can be surprising powerful at defusing bad situations, cutting sneak attacks, cutting line of sight, neutralizing enemy ranged attacks, and defusing surprise situations, all for the price of a first level spell! And it pretty much works anywhere and anytime.
Glitterdust.