School necromancy; Level sorcerer/wizard 2, witch 2
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a dead wasp)
EFFECT
Range 20 ft.
Target 1 creature
Duration special (see below)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes
DESCRIPTION
You create a dark whip-shaped field of energy that wraps around an enemy’s neck, leaving everything except his head paralyzed until you let go of the whip or it is destroyed. You must make a ranged touch attack with this spell. If you strike your target, he takes a 1d6 penalty to his Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution each round. This penalty cannot reduce any attribute to less than 1, and once any of these attributes reaches 1 the target collapses and his body, except his head, becomes paralyzed. While paralyzed in this way, the target retains full use of his senses, including the ability to feel pain, and can speak (including casting spells with only verbal components). The whip has a maximum length of 20 feet, 15 hit points, and a hardness of 5. The spell ends immediately if you let go of the whip or it is destroyed. When the spell ends, all penalties the target took from this spell also end.
So... the awkward wording seems to be, "...once any of these attributes reaches 1 the target collapses and his body, except his head, becomes paralyzed."
I find this strange since the target is already paralyzed upon the casting.
I surmise that the spell was changed before publication and the two versions sort of got mixed together. It seems awfully powerful for a second level spell in that it allows no save (although it does allow SR) and completely immobilizes the target. It's just a shot in the dark, but I think one version of the spell allowed for a save and upon failing it, you were immobilized and another version had no save, but you did not become immobilized until an attribute fell to 1, thus allowing you to try to free yourself by attacking the whip or caster.
I only noticed this after my wizard found the spellbook of a necromancer we defeated and I was familiarizing myself with the new spells. The Necromancer (6th level) used it to completely neuter a 10th level Minotaur fighter that was going to chew him up. After reading over the spell, I felt that it would be really cheesy to use on my own spell list, but I thought I would get the opinions of folk who are more experienced at playing casters.
So... I guess my questions are these:
Do you think that it is overpowered as written?
If so, how would you change it?
My witch has this spell but only uses it rarely (usually if we want the target alive).
I want some clarity about what happens if you miss with the ranged touch attack. Does it work like a held charge in that you can try again ? Even if you only get the one attempt, can you cast the spell and then move into attack range like you can with a touch spell ?
I'd also like some clarification about what others can do. Obviously if someone threatens the caster, they can attack the whip as if sundering a weapon. What if they only threaten the target ? Can they do the same (attempt to sunder the whip) ? What if they are half-way between (see bad ascii art below)
W_A_T (Witch, empty square, Attacker, empty square, Target)
Can A attack the whip that must be stretched between the witch and the target ? (I think not by RAW).
So... the first sentence is just a sort of overview? It seems really confusing that way. My DM reads it as paralyzing upon hitting and then draining.
I feel this is poorly written.
Mind you, I like the spell a lot better if it only paralyzes after a stat falls to 1. It feels less like clubbing a baby seal when I use it.
