I just read through the Words of Power PDF and I have to say I'm impressed. Next time I make a caster I plan to use this system. With that in mind, I have a couple of things I wanted to clarify.
First, the Mass target word; the word Mass is usually associated with positive spells (such as bull's strength or cat's grace). However, the target word doesn't mention anything of the sort. Am I correct in assuming that this can be used for offensive spells as well?
If this is correct, I could combine Mass with Burning Flash (boosted) to create a spell similar to Scorching Ray. A 4th level sorcerer could then deal 4d6 damage to up to 4 targets, with a reflex save for half damage. This seems significantly more powerful than Scorching Ray. If I used Frost Fingers instead of Burning Flash, I could deal the same damage and stagger all the targets.
These are really fun spells, but they seem a little more powerful than the baseline.
My second question is less of a rules clarification, and more of a design question. Can anyone explain why a spell must contain two effect words before a meta word can be used?
I just read through the Words of Power PDF and I have to say I'm impressed. Next time I make a caster I plan to use this system. With that in mind, I have a couple of things I wanted to clarify.
First, the Mass target word; the word Mass is usually associated with positive spells (such as bull's strength or cat's grace). However, the target word doesn't mention anything of the sort. Am I correct in assuming that this can be used for offensive spells as well?
If this is correct, I could combine Mass with Burning Flash (boosted) to create a spell similar to Scorching Ray. A 4th level sorcerer could then deal 4d6 damage to up to 4 targets, with a reflex save for half damage. This seems significantly more powerful than Scorching Ray. If I used Frost Fingers instead of Burning Flash, I could deal the same damage and stagger all the targets.
These are really fun spells, but they seem a little more powerful than the baseline.
My second question is less of a rules clarification, and more of a design question. Can anyone explain why a spell must contain two effect words before a meta word can be used?
Harm, mass.
Also scorching ray was a touch attack with no save.
Harm, mass.
Good point. I guess it's pretty clear that Mass does apply to any word that doesn't specify otherwise.
Also scorching ray was a touch attack with no save.
True, but this version hits more targets, and a "miss" still deals half damage to most enemies. Level up and it even deals more damage to each target.
I'm not saying it's grossly overpowered. I'm more wondering if the difference between a touch attack and a save makes up for the difference in damage.