I'm playing an air elementalist who's starting to get high enough in level that he'll be flying at will soon (woot!), and I'd like to create a couple of buff spells for him that will affect his flying abilities in something like the way expeditious retreat affects his land speed. I've basically had two ideas so far, and I'd like input from other people as a check on my reasonableness.
Idea 1: Call it "Expeditious Flight". I'm thinking 2nd level transmutation, standard action, V and S, Target you, 1 min/level. It would boost fly speed by 30', and I'm thinking provide an addition to Fly skill as well, whether by improving your flight category a step or by a boost tied to caster level, either straight +1/caster level or half of that. And of course this would not give you a flight speed if you didn't have one, only increase a pre-existing one.
Idea 2: Call it "Jet". I'm thinking 2nd level evocation, swift action, S, Target you, instantaneous. It would produce a powerful blast of air that would push one forcefully 60' in any direction -- basically a poor man's dimension door, but with shorter range and requiring you to go through the intervening space. It might even carry the same disorienting effect as dimension door does, as you have to take a moment to get yourself under control when you arrive at the end of the movement. Must use the full movement, and take equivalent falling damage if you slam into anything solid. Not sure how it should interact with attacks of opportunity (for movement through threatened spaces) or with attempts to escape a grapple. I'm not sure this needs to require a fly speed; one could use it like a one-shot jetpack, though you risk falling damage if you don't have a way to get back down safely.
I'd welcome thoughts on these spells. Do they seem reasonable and not OP for the level?
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I think I'd call that second one "Jetstream" instead. Has a nicer ring to it, at least to me. The two spells actually seem pretty balanced if you ask me. The first is essentially an aerial expedious retreat that, I assume, will also have the same duration. The second one actually reminds me more of bladed dash than dimension door to be perfectly honest, and therefore is quite appropriate as a level two spell.
I would suggest not having Jet provoke for the simple fact that Bladed Dash won't provoke either, and again, it seems closer to that spell than dimension door to me. I'd also recommend allowing it to work even on non-flying creatures with the risks you have already covered. Overall both of these appear well balanced, functional, and appropriate as spells your character might develop on its own.
Edit: Almost forgot grapple! Recommendation would be that Jet, like bladed dash, will not work while you are grappled. It is after all only a level 2 spell; suggestion is that it simply fizzles if cast while grappled even if you make the requisite check to cast.
Ok, this is all encouraging! As for the proposed casting time of a swift action, I was thinking that was justified by comparison with other air spells of the same level. Levitate, for instance, can be used to give you considerably more total movement over its duration, but it's doled out in small amounts per round and it can only be up or down. The Expeditious Flight spell I'm suggesting would give you *way* more total movement, but would require you to already have a flight speed, which is a substantial investment for most characters. The thought was that making it a swift action to cast would keep it closer to parity with the other spells of its level, especially if it made any further action that round after its casting impossible, a la dimension door. That would mean you couldn't cast the jetstream spell (I like that name too ;-), arrive at your more optimal location, and then turn around and blast off another spell. (Though you could still blast off a spell or other attack and then jet away.)
And keep in mind, you've got a classic 1st level spell with an immediate action casting time, feather fall, that similarly affects movement in mid-air.
And now that I've read Bladed Dash, yeah, I see what you mean! Though I don't think I want this to allow an attack along the way.
As far as Winds of Vengeance goes, I've also always felt it was underpowered for 9th level. I'd definitely like, at a minimum, a spell that keeps out larger projectiles like giant-thrown boulders. Maybe I could write up something like a souped-up version of Cloak of Winds that can keep larger projectiles away and hold back larger creatures. What sort of level would be appropriate for that? 4th? 5th?
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Fickle Winds would be the spell to compare that to.
And remember, Dimension Door and Bladed Dash are both standard actions to cast. Changing the casting time to Swift would mean a BIG change in power level - just compare Lightning Bolt to Cold Ice Strike.
As for a grapple: perhaps they need to make a Reflex save to hold on to you? Although if it's purely somatic components to cast, I think grapple stops you cold anyway.
If I was researching a spell to boost my flight, even though it's anacronistic, I'd want to call it Full Afterburners and have it leave a contrail.
Generally, spells only increase a creature's base speed. Longstrider and expeditious retreat, for instance, only increase a creature's land speed; other movement types (flying, swimming) are not affected. Even the spell strong wings contains the following: "This spell has no effect on wingless creatures or winged creatures that cannot fly."
A (lower level) spell that makes another spell effect better is something that I'd be hesitant to authorize as a GM. However, I'd be OK with researching a higher-level "improved flight" spell with a higher top speed and/or better maneuverability rating (or the option of "trading" maneuverability for speed).
Perhaps a 4th- or 5th-level version that allows the target to change between 30 ft (perfect), 60 ft (good), and 90 ft (average) as a swift action. And a 6th- or 7th-level version that allows a change between 40 ft (perfect), 80 ft (good), and 120 ft (average). Note that the mythic version of the fly spell has a top speed of 120 ft (perfect), so no spell should allow faster flight (or even match the speed and maneuverability without changing to a different form altogether; see elemental body IV). Also, beast shape IV, monstrous physique IV, and undead anatomy IV allow flight up to 120 ft (good); you probably want to avoid making it too easy to gain similar benefits.
I guess I just can't see either of my original two spells as anything in the vicinity of 4th or 5th level. Keep in mind, one of the things you have to do in spell design is keep the spell roughly equivalent to benchmark spells of the same level. The jet spell I was imagining, for instance, shouldn't be as good as dimension door; hence the shorter range, the possibility of doing yourself damage if you collide with something or don't provide for a soft landing, and the fact that you have to pass through all the intervening squares. If my suggested swift casting time makes it too good for 2nd level, then I agree it should be a standard casting time. But I just don't see a one-shot aerial movement spell like this being in the same ballpark as dimension door. I think it's much closer to levitate in value, i.e., around 2nd level. I can imagine it being hard to pick between the two.
As for increasing speeds other than land speed, I'm pretty sure I've seen spells that increase swim speeds, though I can't afford to hunt for them right now. But regardless, even if that's true, the question again should be, to what level of benchmark spell would it be comparable in value? The fly speed booster wouldn't, it seems to me, be as good as fly itself, since it would be useless unless you had already given yourself a fly speed. Under normal circumstances, a person would need to spend both a 3rd and 2nd level slot to gain the effect, and I'd say that's pretty closely equivalent to the 4th level slot you're suggesting. But if a person has a fly speed via other means (e.g. wings, or an air elementalist's power), I can think of lots of other 2nd level spells that would be worth as much to me as an extra 30' of aerial movement. (Invisibility, flaming sphere, web, and several others come to mind.)
On the other hand, I like your idea of the fly spell that lets you trade flight skill for speed! That's a nifty notion that I might steal for my wizard!
The issue with specific "spell-boosting spells" is that it 1) devalues metamagic feats and 2) gives characters more powerful spell effects without requiring a higher spell-level slot. This causes issues with game balance.
Yes, spells boosting other movement modes exist, but they either grant a specific value (touch of the sea) or have specific wording on how it interacts with existing movement speeds (strong wings, as noted above, and slipstream). Also note that the schools/effects of slipstream and touch of the sea are very different: slipstream conjures a wave of water, while touch of the sea transforms the hands and feet.
For a single-round boost to existing flight speed, I'd look at an effect based on gust of wind ("wind at your back?"), that affects any mode of flight; probably 2nd-level. An air-based version of slipstream ("ride the wind?"), granting flight/bonus to fly speed instead of swimming, I'd put at 3rd-level, since flight is both more useful and harder to gain.
Accelerated Locomotion: 1st level spell that doubles the speed of any magically enhanced movement for 1 round/level.
And of course you can create Communal Accelerated Locomotion (2nd level spell) and Greater Accelerated Locomotion (3rd level spell - 10 min/level)
In other words, it will work as an add-on to a spell or spell-like ability like Fly or Expeditious Retreat or even Burrow, but won't affect non-magical means of movement. Depending on how you feel about it, this spell can even stack with itself...