Custom Spells

[Archizon]

Hey everyone,
Came by looking for some help with balancing issues and figuring out what spells would be what level, general helpfulness to be able to plug my spells into the game world without breaking anything or making any other spell useless. Any criticism is welcomed.

Edit 1: I created these spells as part of the Eldritch Researcher Story feat, so another criteria I need to meet is making Truly Novel Spells.

[Archizon]

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Magic Artillery Bombardment

Lvl: TBD (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 Full Round Action
Components: V, S, M (100gp worth of Tiny Cannon Balls)
Range: Long (400 ft + 100ft/ Caster Level)
Target: See text
Duration: 1rd / Caster level; see text
Saving Throw: Reflex for Half
Spell Resistance: No

Usable only outdoors, this spell calls an Artillery Bombardment to a targeted location. The first, and every 3 rounds thereafter launch large, perfectly spherical orbs at your enemies. For every 4 caster levels after the first, you may launch one additional orb every 3 rounds.

Resolve these attacks as if using the Standard Bombard. If you have a Forward Observer you may use their skills to fire in replace of your own.

Bombard: Resembling either large cauldrons or more traditional cannons, these firearms lob their ammunition in an arc in order to deliver their deadly payloads over troops or castle walls. Bombards are normally fired indirectly, but can also be fired as direct-fire siege engines. When they are used for direct fire, they take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and have their range increment halved, but do not have a minimum range. Like all firearms, bombards do not suffer mishaps, but instead have a misfire chance.

Standard: These bombards feature the greatest diversity of forms. Many take the cauldron shape of the light bombard, but they may also take the forms of more traditional cannons, albeit featuring stabilizing mechanisms that allow them to fire at a much steeper incline. The targeting DC of a standard bombard is 20. A standard bombard has a misfire range of 1–2 (20 feet). Standard bombards have a hardness of 10 and 140 hit points. Standard bombard balls cost 35 gp each and weigh 30 pounds.

[Archizon]

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Forward Observer

Lvl: TBD (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type:
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: S
Range: Long (400 ft + 100ft/ Caster Level)
Target: See Text
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No

This spell paints a target with a large green laser, only visible if looking at it from over 100 feet away.

Select one seige weapon, they may use your caster level as their BAB and your Casting Ability Score Modifier as theirs for the purposes of aiming at the painted target.

[Archizon]

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Magic Missile Barrage

Lvl: 2 (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Evocation [Force]
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S
Range: Medium (100 ft + 10ft/ Caster Level)
Target: 20ft Radius
Duration: 1rd / Caster Level
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: Yes

Every Enemy target in the radius is struck by a Magic Missile for 1d4+1 damage. This continues every turn for the spells duration.

[Archizon]

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Klaatu Borata Nicto

Lvl: TBD (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Enchantment [Compulsion]
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S, F (Spell Book)
Range: Short (25 ft + 5ft/ Caster Level)
Target: 1 Creature
Duration: 1rd/ Caster Level
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: No

Upon casting this spell on a target he uses the wrong words. instead of saying "Im going to save the city!" The target might say "Im going to save the Kitty".

The true power of the spell comes when cast on caster, whom when affected by this spell must make a concentration check or cast the wrong spell. Ie: haste becomes paste, instead of moving faster he's sticky now. Or, instead of Magic Missile they may accidentally cast Tragic Missile, which instead of damaging a target physically, damages them emotionally.

(I didn't make this spell up, I saw it a while back on REDDIT, but couldn't find it again to give proper source, so sorry OP of this spell ;()

[Archizon]

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Void Sheath

Lvl: 3 (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Abjuration / Evocation (If Weapon) [Cold, Fire]
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S, F
Range: Touch
Target: Weapon
Duration: 24 hours / 1rd per Caster Level
Saving Throw: None (Object)
Spell Resistance: None (Object)

Upon casting this spell a weapon shoots into the skies, exiting the atmosphere. At anytime, as a standard action, you can give the command word for the objects return, granting it special abilities for 1 round/caster level. When the object returns you gain Frost and Flaming qualities on your weapon.

For every 5 levels after the first (Caster levels 10, 15, 20), you gain an additional 1d6 cold & fire damage if its a weapon.

[Archizon]

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True Bond

Lvl: 8 (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S, F (Weapon)
Range: Touch
Target: (1 Weapon)
Duration: 1 rd/ lvl
Saving Throw: None (object)
Spell Resistance: None (Object)

Use your caster level as your BAB and your main casting stat as your strength bonus when fighting with one specific weapon of your choice (Decided when casting the spell)

Your weapon forms a physical bond with you, becomes part of your arm and infects your veins for the duration of this spell. (The discoloration of your veins takes upon whatever properties the weapon has, such as black veins for being Adamantium or glowing orange veins for a flaming weapon) This discoloration continues up your neck and connects straight into your mind. You can now control your blade directly with your mind, and your blade knows where to strike to cause the most harm.

[Archizon]

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Bondless

Lvl: 9 (Wizard)
Type: Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S, F (Bonded Weapon)
Range: Melee or Ranged Touch attack
Area: 10/20/40ft Radius
Duration: 3 rounds
Saving Throw: Fort / Will Save
Spell Resistance: Yes

By overloading your Bond with more spells it can hold, you can create a catastrophic event. Your bond becomes a living singularity, doubling in size each round.

All creatures in the radius must make a Fortitude Save or be sucked into the singularity. The original target gets no Fortitude Save.

Anything that touches the singularity must make a Will Save or be sucked into oblivion. Including your Bonded Object after the spell expires. The only way to save the Bond is to be holding it when the singularity sucks your character into oblivion. While holding the weapon you auto succeed the Fortitude Save.

[kestral287]

Artillery Bombardment: Wording is unclear. At higher caster levels do you get multiple shots at once, or a longer duration leading to more shots, or both? Needs to explain targeting as well.

"Bombardment cannon" is also not, to my knowledge, a siege engine. The Bombard is, and the cannon is, but the Bombardment Cannon is not.

Forward Observer: Turning first-level Commoners into snipers with artillery is tremendously exploitable. It's difficult to make use of for PCs, but if they're in any kind of game where that possibility exists you need to consider this spell very carefully.

Magic Missile Barrage: Overpowered for a second-level spell. Third at the least; I'd seriously consider fourth. It combines too well with battlefield control spells to lock down targets that are normally hard to hit with spells and render them impotent.

Klaatu: In addition to being obnoxiously difficult to adjudicate, we should probably leave counterspelling to the actual mechanic for it.

Void Sheath: Is it meant to grant both the resistance and damage bonuses if the object is a weapon? The two capabilities are dramatically out of line with each other; I can't see ever using it on a Ring, but for a weapon it has considerable applications. Fourth to fifth.

True Bond: Significantly better than Transformation, which is a sixth-level spell.

Bondless: Magi don't get 9th level spells. Or bonded weapons, for that matter. The spell is not very well explained in its actual mechanics and needs a good deal more detailing.

[Archizon]

Archizon wrote:

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Void Sheath

Lvl: 3 (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Abjuration / Evocation (If Weapon) [Cold, Fire]
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S, F
Range: Touch
Target: Weapon
Duration: 24 hours / 1rd per Caster Level
Saving Throw: None (Object)
Spell Resistance: None (Object)

Upon casting this spell a weapon shoots into the skies, exiting the atmosphere. At anytime, as a standard action, you can give the command word for the objects return, granting it special abilities for 1 round/caster level. When the object returns you gain Frost and Flaming qualities on your weapon.

For every 5 levels after the first (Caster levels 10, 15, 20), you gain an additional 1d6 cold & fire damage if its a weapon.

Void Sheath

Lvl: 5 (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Conjuration [Cold, Fire]
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S, F
Range: Touch
Target: 1 Weapon / 4 Caster Levels
Duration: 24 hours / 1rd per Caster Level
Saving Throw: None (Object)
Spell Resistance: None (Object)

Upon casting this spell the selected weapon(s) shoot into the skies, exiting the atmosphere. At anytime, as a standard action, you can give the command word for the objects return, granting it special abilities for 1 round/caster level. When the object returns you gain Frost or Flaming qualities on your weapon.

For every 4 levels caster levels the weapon(s) gain an additional 1d6 damage (Caster levels 8,12,16,20) to 5d6 at level 20.

[Archizon]

Archizon wrote:

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Bondless

Lvl: 9 (Wizard)
Type: Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S, F (Bonded Weapon)
Range: Melee or Ranged Touch attack
Area: 10/20/40ft Radius
Duration: 3 rounds
Saving Throw: Fort / Will Save
Spell Resistance: Yes

By overloading your Bond with more spells it can hold, you can create a catastrophic event. Your bond becomes a living singularity, doubling in size each round.

All creatures in the radius must make a Fortitude Save or be sucked into the singularity. The original target gets no Fortitude Save.

Anything that touches the singularity must make a Will Save or be sucked into oblivion. Including your Bonded Object after the spell expires. The only way to save the Bond is to be holding it when the singularity sucks your character into oblivion. While holding the weapon you auto succeed the Fortitude Save.

Singularity

Lvl: 9 (Wizard)
Type: Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S, F
Range: Melee or Ranged Touch attack
Area: 10 Radius
Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Anything that touches the singularity must make a Will Save or be shunted to a random plane of existence. If you roll a plane on which the spell was casted, simply reroll.

1. Material Plane
2. Shadow Plane
3. Heaven
4. Hell
5. Limbo
6. Purgatory
7. Plane of Fire
8. Plane of Earth
9. Plane of Water
10.Plane of Air

You can edit these planes based on GM Discretion that may suit your campaign setting.

[Archizon]

Archizon wrote:

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Magic Missile Barrage

Lvl: 2 (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Evocation [Force]
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S
Range: Medium (100 ft + 10ft/ Caster Level)
Target: 20ft Radius
Duration: 1rd / Caster Level
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: Yes

Every Enemy target in the radius is struck by a Magic Missile for 1d4+1 damage. This continues every turn for the spells duration.

Magic Missile Barrage

Lvl: 2 (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Evocation [Force]
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: V, S
Range: Medium (100 ft + 10ft/ Caster Level)
Target: 20ft Radius
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: Yes

Every Enemy target in the radius is struck by a Magic Missile for 1d4+1 damage. This continues every turn for the spells duration.

The missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat, so long as it has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a creature can't be singled out. Objects are not damaged by the spell.

Treat this spell as Magic Missile for the purposes of being negated by the spell "Shield".

(After talking at lengths with the GM, we agreed that making the spell concentration was sufficient enough to make it a level 2 spell.)

[Archizon]

Archizon wrote:

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Magic Artillery Bombardment

Lvl: TBD (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 Full Round Action
Components: V, S, M (100gp worth of Tiny Cannon Balls)
Range: Long (400 ft + 100ft/ Caster Level)
Target: See text
Duration: 1rd / Caster level; see text
Saving Throw: Reflex for Half
Spell Resistance: No

Usable only outdoors, this spell calls an Artillery Bombardment to a targeted location. The first, and every 3 rounds thereafter launch large, perfectly spherical orbs at your enemies. For every 4 caster levels after the first, you may launch one additional orb every 3 rounds.

Resolve these attacks as if using the Standard Bombard. If you have a Forward Observer you may use their skills to fire in replace of your own.

Bombard: Resembling either large cauldrons or more traditional cannons, these firearms lob their ammunition in an arc in order to deliver their deadly payloads over troops or castle walls. Bombards are normally fired indirectly, but can also be fired as direct-fire siege engines. When they are used for direct fire, they take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and have their range increment halved, but do not have a minimum range. Like all firearms, bombards do not suffer mishaps, but instead have a misfire chance.

Standard: These bombards feature the greatest diversity of forms. Many take the cauldron shape of the light bombard, but they may also take the forms of more traditional cannons, albeit featuring stabilizing mechanisms that allow them to fire at a much steeper incline. The targeting DC of a standard bombard is 20. A standard bombard has a misfire range of 1–2 (20 feet). Standard bombards have a hardness of 10 and 140 hit points. Standard bombard balls cost 35 gp each and weigh 30 pounds.

Magic Artillery Bombardment

Lvl: TBD (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 Full Round Action
Components: V, S, M (100gp worth of Tiny Cannon Balls)
Range: Long (400 ft + 100ft/ Caster Level)
Target: See text
Duration: 1rd / Caster level; see text
Saving Throw: Reflex for Half
Spell Resistance: No

Usable only outdoors, this spell calls an Artillery Bombardment to a targeted location. The first, and every 3 rounds thereafter launch large, perfectly spherical orbs at your enemies. For every 4 caster levels after the first, you may launch one additional orb every 3 rounds. (I could probably make this clearer once I found a suitable level for the spell)

Resolve these attacks as if using the Standard Bombard.

Indirect Attack: To fire an indirect-fire ranged siege engine, make a targeting check against the DC of the siege engine (20). This check uses his base attack bonus, his Intelligence modifier (if not trained in Knowledge [engineering]) or Knowledge (engineering) skill modifier (if trained in that skill), any penalty for not being proficient in the siege engine, and the appropriate modifiers from Table: Indirect Attack Check Modifiers. If the check succeeds, the ammunition of the indirect attack hits the square the siege engine was aimed at, dealing the indicated damage or effect to any object or creature within the area of its attack.

If the attack misses the intended square, roll 1d8 to determine in what direction the shot veers. A roll of 1 indicates the ammunition falls short (toward the siege engine), with rolls of 2 through 8 counting squares clockwise around the target square. Roll 1d4 for every range increment at which the attack was made (1d4 if the target square is within the engine’s first range increment, 2d4 if the target square is within the second range increment, and so on). The total is the number of squares by which the attack misses, with the direction in which the squares are counted determined by the d8 roll. The ammunition deals its damage and any other effects in the square it lands on.

[Archizon]

Archizon wrote:

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Forward Observer

Lvl: TBD (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type:
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: S
Range: Long (400 ft + 100ft/ Caster Level)
Target: See Text
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No

This spell paints a target with a large green laser, only visible if looking at it from over 100 feet away.

Allies may use your caster level as their BAB and your Casting Ability Score Modifier as theirs for the purposes of aiming at the painted target.

Forward Observer

Lvl: TBD (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus)
Type:
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Components: S
Range: Long (400 ft + 100ft/ Caster Level)
Target: See Text
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No

This spell paints a target with a large green laser, only visible if looking at it from over 100 feet away.

Select one seige weapon, they may use your caster level as their BAB and your Casting Ability Score Modifier as theirs for the purposes of aiming at the painted target.

[Archizon]

kestral287 wrote:

True Bond: Significantly better than Transformation, which is a sixth-level spell.

Level 8?

[Myrryr]

(Made this spell for my stone oracle kobold. He used the same rock every cast.)

Name Pet Rock
School Transmutation (earth)
Level Witch 1, Clr/Ora 1, Drd 1, Brd 1, Shm 1
Components V, S, F (a rock no bigger than a tiny sized creature)
Cast Time Full-round action
Target 1 rock no bigger than a tiny sized creature and weighing no more than 20lbs
Range Touch
Duration 1hr/lvl
Save Will (object); Spell Resistance Yes (object)
Description This spell animates a rock, causing the rock to grow a fluffy appearing tail, small legs, a move speed of thirty feet, and the ability to bark similar to a small dog. It cannot attack or perform aggressive actions.

[kestral287]

Void Sheath: With additional weapons I'd say up the spell level. The first version was looking at, at CL10 (about when you'd get it, realistically), 2D6 damage * 10 rounds or duration of the fight * number of attacks that your martial has. Even figuring a three-round fight, that's going to be ~18D6 damage. Now we're turning it into (*number of attacks that your martial party has), which is probably doubling, maybe tripling its effectiveness.

Singularity: The range/duration combination doesn't make much sense. Beyond that... what's the difference between this and Plane Shift, exactly?

Artillery:

So you get 7D6 damage, +7D6 at CL 5, 9, 13, 17, etc. This is repeated every three rounds, so double your damage at 4rd, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th, etc.

That's... way too strong.

If you slotted it in at first level, CL 1 it blows away Shocking Grasp.

At second level, CL3 it's almost double Admonishing Ray's power and gets to be lethal.

At third, CL5, it's doing more damage than Fireball will ever do (14D6 on the initial shot, 14D6 more three rounds later; Fireball is 5D6 at this level and caps at 10D6).

At fourth, CL7, it's doing far more than Dragon's Breath-- which caps at 12D6; Bombardment is doing twice as much damage than Breath in the initial shot and gets two follow-up shots.

At fifth, CL9, it's massively outclassing Cone of Cold. Cone caps at 15D6. This level Bombardment will deal 21D6, repeated twice times for a total of 63D6.

63D6 is, incidentally, at least double what any ninth level attack spell will do, so let's not keep going. It's way too strong.

The spell also has a lot of loose rules. Call Lightning is the most similar spell we have and requires actions to direct; is the Bombardment demanding a standard action for each volley or is it a free action? Does the Wizard count as the one 'firing', i.e. does he get to use his own Knowledge (Engineering) check or is it automated? How closely can he aim them-- right on top of each other at the same target or no?

[Pizza Lord]

These are just my own suggestions, thoughts, and opinions here. You can agree or disagree with them. They are just based on my eye for how spells are read and how they are used... and then with some arbitrary quirk or trait thrown in.

Magic Artillery Bombardment
I found this confusing. I couldn't tell if a bombardment was flying from the caster's location every 3 rounds or if there was a patch of ground nearby that just launched projectiles up to 400+ feet away. or a glowing, ghostly siege engine of force appeared somewhere in the vicinity, etc.

As far as I'm concerned you'd just have a way easier time calling this spell Summon Bombard and making it a Conjuration [Creation] spell. Just make an actual bombard that magically loads itself and you can fire without a crew. Then point towards Siege Weapon rules and people can see how they work, fire, deal damage, etc.

Spell Level:I would say it would be a Level 3 or 4 spell for a Wiz or Sor. At 7d6 damage that's about where it stands per shot.
School: I'm leaning to Conjuration [Creation] I'm not seeing the blast of energy or force that says Evocation to me.
Casting Time: 1 full-round action seems fine, though if you make it summon a bombard, then 1 round.
Components: Get rid of the 100 gp of tiny cannon balls Material component. It's cute but hard to imagine where you're going to get them and store them. Instead, make it V,S,M (10 doses of blackpowder) which, conveniently equals 100 gp and also, conveniently, is the amount needed to fire a cannon. That makes it a component a character could legitimately find/harvest/purchase/scrounge on a battlefield or siege scenario.
Range: Change this to Close and make a note that the caster has to stay within Close Range of where the Bombard is or it disappears. No need for Long range, since the bombard is what this spell [should] be focusing on and a bombard has its own ranges that can either be listed in the spell or directed towards. All the caster has to really worry about is placing it too close to a desired target within minimum range for a bombard's attacks.
Target: Change to 'Effect: One summoned bombard.
Duration: I would suggest '1 min./level (see text)'. In the text, you should indicate that the bombard can fire 1 shot per caster level, the first being as the spell is completed. After that, it can be fired every 3 rounds by the caster directing it with a move action. Once it has fired once per caster level, the spell ends. This means it can be used more tactically, holding shots without having the caster trying to rush through every possible attack or fear of 'wasting' rounds in between every 3rd level.

Additional notes that should go into the spell are that the caster can aim (not move) the bombard by directing it as a move action (typically done during the 2 round 'cool down' or that he can expend a move action to direct the bombard to automatically fire itself every 3 rounds (although it will always attack the same square it was firing at previously. If it fired at a creature previously, it attacks one of the same squares where the creature was on its last shot, it doesn't track targets.

If you feel the need to get creative or press the envelope, you could add in the option for the caster to fire, or have the bombard automatically fire, once every 2 rounds instead of 3, but that all penalties for range are doubled, as are penalties for firing at creature targets smaller than the bombard.

One of the benefits to using this spell should be that this bombard does not suffer mishaps (though a 1 on the attack or targeting check is a miss, it won't become broken this way) or you could make the Reflex save for half damage equal to what the spell's DC would be if it had a saving throw (Typically 10 + spell level + ability modifier) instead of the standard DC 15 (if it would be higher).

[Pizza Lord]

Magic Missile Barrage

In my opinion, this spell is need a lot of work before an incarnation like this should come into play.

It has an impressive range with a very large AoE radius. A lot of targets can fit in a 40 ft. space. Magic missile is already a very good spell in terms of damage, targeting, range, being a [force] effect, and even scaling very well as casters level. In fact, they (rightly) had to allow a similar-level shield spell offer protection just for the (completely likely) chance of it blowing other casters away at lower levels.

The other thing I don't like thematically about it, and granted it's mostly because you use magic missiles specifically, is that magic missiles have to be targeted. By that I don't just mean that they can't hit creatures that you can't see which, unlike most other AoE spells your spell actually keeps, oddly. I mean that your spell specifically only hits enemies.

This is really a very rare and unusual spell benefit. Other than some divine spells like bless or prayer the rest are typically based on alignments and such. For the longest time magic missile even went out its way to say you can't just fire "at the bandit leader" or "the bad guy", you had to pick your targets.

As it is, this spell just comes into the game too soon behind magic missile and does so much it almost invalidates that spell. Add to which allowing a non-restricted duration of concentration with no mitigators, even maximum of caster level is just asking for trouble. Again, that's just my opinion.