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(hard ch, like k)
Chalaronopsis
School: Divination
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 9
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, M (a 1-inch diamond tesseract worth 1,000 gp)
Range: personal
Target: you
Duration: 1 min./level
Your perception is elevated to transcendental levels as your eyes unfold into higher dimensions. In areas without a connection to either the Astral or Ethereal Planes, this spell does not function. This heightened perception extends out to 120 feet, but the limits of the mortal mind are such that you cannot see beyond that while this spell is in effect. You can suppress or resume chalaronopsis as a swift action, regaining your normal sight while so suppressed, but rounds spent suppressed still count against the remaining duration.
You see in all directions at once, gaining all-around vision, and cannot be flanked. You do not take distance penalties on Perception checks related to sight when the subject is within 120 feet. However, you cannot avert your eyes when faced with a gaze attack or similar effect.
You can see through solid objects, even those made of iron or lead, perceiving both the object and what is behind or inside it simultaneously; therefore you have unobstructed line of sight, but not necessarily line of effect, to all points within 120 feet.
You see all things as they truly are, as if by true seeing, and see magic auras and spellcasting creatures as if by greater arcane sight, save that determining a creature’s spellcasting potential does not require an action, and your eyes do not glow.
If a creature you see fails a Will save and you penetrate its spell resistance, you can see its alignment, its surface thoughts, its current hit points, its creature type and subtypes, and any adverse conditions it might be suffering, such as whether they are disabled, staggered, unconscious, dying, nauseated, panicked, stunned, confused, exhausted, fatigued, dazed, shaken, frightened, fascinated, or the like.
A nondetection spell, a ring of mind shielding, mind blank, undetectable alignment, and similar effects can wholly or partially block chalaronopsis, but you can always attempt a caster level check to penetrate the effect, even if the effect would not normally allow such a check.
These heightened perceptions cannot penetrate an antimagic field or an area without a connection to the Astral or Ethereal Planes, such as the area of a dimensional lock spell. However they do not block line of sight to things outside their area even if they would break line of effect. Chalaronopsis provides no information about creatures affected by dimensional anchor. If you are prevented from accessing other planes, such as by entering a dimensional lock or being affected by dimensional anchor, chalaronopsis is suppressed until the restriction is removed or the spell's duration expires. Spells such as teleport trap have no effect on chalaronopsis.
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It seems seriously overpowered when compared to foresight (though it provides no mechanical bonuses), but I have absolutely no idea why that is a 9th-level spell.
Is it good as-is? Should I make it more expensive? Should I pare down some of the effects? Remove others entirely?
Foresight is a poorly worded spell. Your spell doesn't seem overpowered at all. I might even give it 10 minutes/level.
Minor nitpicks:
*The material components raises unnecessary questions - maybe make it a "diamond prism of a particular cut, worth...". Also, should probably be a focus component.
*The caster level check needs better definition.
(hard ch, like k)
Chalaronopsis
School: Divination
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 9
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, M (a 1-inch diamond tesseract worth 1,000 gp)
Range: personal
Target: you
Duration: 1 min./levelYour perception is elevated to transcendental levels as your eyes unfold into higher dimensions. In areas without a connection to either the Astral or Ethereal Planes, this spell does not function. This heightened perception extends out to 120 feet, but the limits of the mortal mind are such that you cannot see beyond that while this spell is in effect. You can suppress or resume chalaronopsis as a swift action, regaining your normal sight while so suppressed, but rounds spent suppressed still count against the remaining duration.
You see in all directions at once, gaining all-around vision, and cannot be flanked. You do not take distance penalties on Perception checks related to sight when the subject is within 120 feet. However, you cannot avert your eyes when faced with a gaze attack or similar effect.
You can see through solid objects, even those made of iron or lead, perceiving both the object and what is behind or inside it simultaneously; therefore you have unobstructed line of sight, but not necessarily line of effect, to all points within 120 feet.
You see all things as they truly are, as if by true seeing, and see magic auras and spellcasting creatures as if by greater arcane sight, save that determining a creature’s spellcasting potential does not require an action, and your eyes do not glow.
If a creature you see fails a Will save and you penetrate its spell resistance, you can see its alignment, its surface thoughts, its current hit points, its creature type and subtypes, and any adverse conditions it might be suffering, such as whether they are disabled, staggered, unconscious, dying, nauseated, panicked, stunned, confused, exhausted, fatigued, dazed, shaken, frightened,...
Let's review what the full benefits of the spell are:
-All-Around Vision (Flanking Immunity)
-"Vulnerability" to Gaze Attacks
-Ignore Perception Penalties via Distance for targets within 120'
-Combined Effects of True Sight and Greater Arcane Sight on caster, both are very powerful spells in their own right
-Combined Effects of Detect Alignment/Deathwatch Spells on all within 120' with failed Will Save
-Ability to penetrate methods to shield several Divinations with a check, even if one is not normally given
Let's see what mimicks the effects of this spell;
-Arachnid Goggles or Robe of Eyes grant Flanking Immunity (for cheapening, let's go with Arachnid Goggles for 15K Gold)
-Robe of Eyes disallows ability to avert eyes during gaze attacks
-Goggles of True Sight, worth ~184K Gold (otherwise, a level 5 to level 7 Divination spell)
-Greater Arcane Sight spell (7th level Divination spell)
-Deathwatch Eyes, worth 2K Gold
-Detect Alignment and Detect Thoughts spells
-Miscellaneous Effects (not replicated through any Paizo source)
This is perhaps the strongest in-combat Divination spell in a game, and would easily rank as a level 10+ Spell. It even makes True Seeing be a complete joke. But leaving it as a 9th level spell I suppose should work, considering it's still just a Divination spell, after all...
With that said, as it stands with what it offers in comparison to what needs to be accomplished in order to receive the same effects, it's safe to say that the 1,000 Gold component should stay, and that there is also a 10,000 Gold-valued Focus (I'd guess something symbolic to what the spell is supposed to do, granting awareness to that which is there spiritually as well as physically; perhaps Eyes of a Blind Zen Archer). Of course, I would also suggest that this spell's duration be increased to 1 hour/level, with the material costs and the added 10K Gold Focus material.
The material component seems to make sure that noone can actually cast the spell. A tesseract is a four-dimensional construct, basically the four-dimensional analogue to the two-dimensional square and the three-dimensional cube. So, it is a four-dimensonal construct for which all of its eight surface solids are cubes. Seems to me it would be difficult to obtain for regular three-dimensional spellcasters.
Well it's powerful, but it's a 9th level spell, they tend to be powerful spells. It's not like this is going to be your only 9th level spell though, it's just really good at what it does (which is what all 9th level spells should be, and are iirc). And it looks like you included all forms of perception that are spells and stuff, so I guess that part is fine.
And as Zaister mentioned, you should probably change it from a tesseract... unless that's what you want it to be, in which can, why?
Maybe change it to "a diamond representation of a tesseract worth 1,000 GP"?
There's some confusion about terms. Some people call a 4-D equivalent to a cube a tesseract or hypercube interchangeably, while others refer to it solely as a hypercube, and reserve tesseract for the 3D unfolding of a hypercube.
A tesseract can be "unfolded" into a three-dimensional object, just like a cardboard box can be unfolded into a crucifix-like shape, in which case the tesseract would look like this.
Casting the spell causes the tesseract to fold back up and assume the appearance of a cube. If it gets changed to a focus, it unfolds when the spell ends or is suppressed. If it stays as a material component, the final cube blinks out into a higher dimension and disappears when the spell ends.
Although come to think of it, a three dimensional being could still hold a diamond tesseract in their hand, it would just look indistinguishable from a cube; the other seven cubic faces would be on another plane. If nobody asks where a first-level caster gets devil's blood for infernal healing, I wouldn't ask where a 17th-level one got a hyperdimensional object.
Though to be honest, my original idea was in fact for the tesseract to be a 10,000 gp focus
Some clarifications:
Moving more than 120 feet away from the caster and then turning back does not grant or require another caster level check, spell resistance check, or Will save.
If multiple anti-detection effects are at work on a single creature at once, the caster makes a single check and applies the result to all effects, potentially overcoming some but not others if the effects have different caster levels.
If the caster fails to overcome a nondetection, ring of mind shielding, undetectable alignment, mind blank, or similar protection from divination, that protection is not automatically visible via the arcane sight provided by chalaronopsis. The caster must spend a standard action to scan a specific creature within line of sight to determine the presence and effects of the ability or item. This does not actually break the protection, it merely reveals that it is there.
If a creature is warded by nondetection, it is not visible to the caster unless it approaches within 120 feet and enters his normal, unaltered line of sight (objects transparent to their X-ray vision provide cover and concealment to the creature normally), nor can any of the information provided by a failed Will save be gleaned from this casting of the spell. Perception checks related to sight take the normal distance penalty regarding the subject. The DM makes a hidden caster level check (DC 11 + enemy caster level or 15 + enemy caster level if the creature produced the nondetection effect on itself) when the creature comes within 120 feet. Only make this check the first time the creature enters the area for that particular casting. If the check succeeds, the creature is revealed by the X-ray vision and subject to the Will save.
If a creature is warded by undetectable alignment and fails to resist the spell via save or SR, the caster must still succeed on a caster level check (DC 11 + enemy caster level), or the creature's alignment and alignment aura is not revealed, instead returning a result of neutral and no alignment aura. If the creature has an alignment subtype, that subtype is not revealed, either.
If a creature is wearing a ring of mind shielding or similar effect and fails to resist the spell, the caster must make a caster level check (DC 11 + the caster level of the item). If the check fails, the caster cannot read the creature's surface thoughts, and its alignment is hidden as per undetectable alignment above.
If a creature is protected by mind blank, this protection functions identically to nondetection as described above. Overcoming it requires a successful caster level check (DC 19 + enemy caster level). Additionally, the creature gains the +8 save bonus on the Will save to resist the spell.
Dimensional anchor provides the same protection against detection that nondetection does, but chalaronopsis cannot penetrate the effect with a caster level check. Objects and creatures inside a dimensional lock or antimagic field are likewise warded, and creatures within the blocking effect can hide behind or inside objects also within the effect's area normally. Creatures outside the effect's area cannot use protected objects or creatures for cover or concealment, even if the warded object or creature would normally block line of effect to the creature in question, such as a solid stone wall between it and you.
To see if I can clear some stuff, this image is probably a better representation of a tesseract's net / an unfolded tesseract. Higher dimension stuff it weird.
So I imagine the material component would be something like: "A diamond tesseract net worth 1000 gp" or something and the first sentence would be like "When you cast this spell, the diamond tesseract net folds into a tesseract, and when the spell effect ends it disappears into another dimension." or something like that, maybe it just gets destroyed.
Yes, that's exactly what a tesseract becomes in our humble 3D world.
But you should seriously check out the image I linked. It's awesome.