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So I just read the description of the Minor Creation spell:
School conjuration (creation); Level sorcerer/wizard 4Casting Time 1 minute
Components V, S, M (a tiny piece of matter of the same sort of item you plan to create with minor creation)
Range 0 ft.
Effect unattended, nonmagical object of nonliving plant matter, up to 1 cu. ft./level
Duration 1 hour/level (D)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
You create a nonmagical, unattended object of nonliving vegetable matter. The volume of the item created cannot exceed 1 cubic foot per caster level. You must succeed on an appropriate Craft skill check to make a complex item.
Attempting to use any created object as a material component causes the spell to fail.
The only useful application I can think of is to cast it while flying directly above an enemy, so you're freshly summoned heavy pile of wood falls on them.
Why is this a level 4 spell? What am I missing? It's got a versatility advantage over the level 0 bard cantrip Summon Instrument, but at the expense of needing a craft check. This seems like a level 1 type of thing, at best.
The only reason I even noticed this spell is that I was looking at sorcerer bloodlines for a character I'm making, and this seems to be the only stinker in the otherwise awesome Djinni bloodline's bonus spells. It just sorta bugs me that I honestly can't understand the point of this spell. Needless to say, Major Creation doesn't impress me either, at least not at level 5.
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It's a tent to shelter in! It's a boat to cross the river with! It's a table for signing the treaty on! It's a battering ram to breach the gate! It's a wagon to haul the loot away! It's a sack of sugar for the birthday cake! It's a suit of ironwood armor! It's a cask of wine for the wedding! It's a howdah for the elephant demon you want to ride! It's a bunch of oats for your horses to eat!
Minor creation, like illusions, is limited only by your imagination, the limitation to "vegetable" matter, and how willing your DM is to run with it. (Think about herbs? Tobacco is vegetable matter. So are a lot of poisons. So are a whole bunch of tools. How about fine clothing for a party?)
This one is not primarily a combat spell, though such applications exist. It's designed to let you do things like the Djinn from Aladinn creating tents, carpets, wine, etc., with a snap of his fingers. (He probably had a LOT of craft skills...) There are a LOT of occasions when this sort of thing is useful. The size of the created object (particularly if you consider "actual volume of item when rolled up" versus "total area covered when extended" -- remember the story of the guy who bought "as much land as one oxhide could cover" and then carved it up into fine leather strips and outlined his city site")
The application to con games should be obvious, if you roll that way.
And don't think "load of wood" falling from the sky. Think "sharpened telephone pole with wood fins" -- i.e., "Gargantuan arrow" -- or "Rope net". Or consider that "finely refined olive oil" is "vegetable matter" and "1 cubic foot" is several gallons, PER LEVEL... how much fire damage will that do if you pour it over someone in a created pit who can't get out, and then toss a torch in?
But do remember the rules of Conjuration spells. Specifically:
A creature or object brought into being or transported to your location by a conjuration spell cannot appear inside another creature or object, nor can it appear floating in an empty space. It must arrive in an open location on a surface capable of supporting it.
You can't summon something above the heads of your target, and have it fall on them. You would have to summon it on the ground (or possibly held), then hit people with it.
The only useful application I can think of is to cast it while flying directly above an enemy, so you're freshly summoned heavy pile of wood falls on them.
Summon sawdust... inside someone's lungs... probably not legal.
1 min casting time kills it as an attack spell. this one's strictly utility.
Really, best used to poison the arrowheads of several squads of archers preparing to take a charge. Arrows already knocked, little chance of poisoning themselves.
Cast, cast, cast; OK, FIRE!
It's always so disappointing when someone sees a spell with as much potential as Minor Creation and their only response is, "Well, I guess you could make a pile of wood and drop it on someone..."
Honestly, it's like looking at Wish and saying, "Well, I guess you could use it to cast Horrid Wilting without preparing it..."
It's an awesome mundane utility spell. That's it.
Not every spell has to be about destroying monsters and saving the world single-handed. For the vast majority of sorcerers in any world, this would be one of the most useful spells in the entire canon.
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I get that it's a useful utility type spell, though the requirement that you be able to craft what you're summoning really cuts back on that quite a bit.
But level 4? When there are so many other spells that do the same things some of you are listing at lower levels? Major Image can do much more than this with illusions at 3rd level, albeit with continued concentration, but with more detail and no crafting required. Tiny hut and rope trick can give you shelters in the wild with lower level spells. Water breathing eliminates the need for boats in many situations. I can't imagine any DM letting you create poisons with this unless you had the appropriate poison skills on the side to know exactly what to create.
If this was lower level, I'd think it was a pretty good level 2 or maybe a mediocre level 3 spell. It just seems like a waste of a slot at level 4.
But level 4? When there are so many other spells that do the same things some of you are listing at lower levels? Major Image can do much more than this with illusions at 3rd level, albeit with continued concentration, but with more detail and no crafting required. Tiny hut and rope trick can give you shelters in the wild with lower level spells. Water breathing eliminates the need for boats in many situations. I can't imagine any DM letting you create poisons with this unless you had the appropriate poison skills on the side to know exactly what to create.
First off, it actually creates things, not just illusions. Big difference. (Also, the difference between a 1 hour/level duration and a duration of concentration is HUGE. I can't even begin to comprehend how that would seem like a non-issue.) Second, I can think of plenty of situations where Water Breathing would not be preferable to having a boat. And third, even if there are other spells that can do the same thing, this is ONE spell that can take the place of MANY spells. If one spell could produce the effects of Water Breathing, Tiny Hut, Rope Trick, Major Image, as well as many others, along with plenty of other uses as the situation called for it, how could that not seem worth a 4th-level spell?
I second the utility of this spell and add that, as a 4th level spell your wizard gets it at 7th level. That's 7 cubic feet of tent or rope or what have you. That's a really decent instant room he can make for himself with a minute's time. Make yourself a wondrous item with this spell; now you have a pair of gloves that LITERALLY makes some simple, vegetable-matter-base thing for you with the clap of your hands.
And as long as you focus on this ONLY being a utility spell then look at those other utilities you mention then you're right - I can make a shelter w/rope trick. But that's ALL I can make w/rope trick. With this spell written on a few spells at 700 gp ea you can make ANYTHING you want replacing multiple utilites at once. Those other utility spells are situation specific while this spell just simply fills itself into whatever you need.
If you want to name ANY flaw with the spell it's the duration making your creation temporary.
I'll point out JUST one more situation then be on my way. You're looking to barricade yourself in somwhere for the night; you're 8th level and in the heart of a dungeon that for some reason you can't just dimenstion door out of. Within a minute you could have 8 cubic feet of door or wall space to seal you into even an open hall. You can't do that with Tiny Hut
agree with above. also, if you're a wizard you have high int (decent crafting skills right there), can throw down crafters fortune for +5 to your check, and if you allocate 1 skill point per level to 1 rank crafting skills (which are all craft skills, and you have skills to spare because of your high int) then by the time you get this skill you'll have seven skills at a base check of +8 or so, easily enough to make most checks by taking ten.