Not sure if this is the right place to put this pretty new to these forums
So if for example you maximised and empowered a Fire ball (ignoring spell level increases) as a tenth level caster it would do 90 damage 60 from maximised*1.5 from empowered is that right?
Close, but not right.
You would deal 60 + (10d6*0.5) damage, for an average of 77.5 damage.
An empowered, maximized spell gains the separate benefits of each feat: the maximum result plus half the normally rolled result.
The answer is actually in the text of the maximize feat. Saethori has it correct.
Your spells have the maximum possible effect.
Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of a spell modified by this feat are maximized. Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are spells without random variables. A maximized spell uses up a spell slot three levels higher than the spell's actual level.
An empowered, maximized spell gains the separate benefits of each feat: the maximum result plus half the normally rolled result.
So 10d6 average 35/2 =17.5 +60
So 10d6 average 35/2 =17.5 +60
That would be the average roll. You still roll the D6's and divide by 2 to see how much gets added to the maximized number each time you cast.
Doesn't empower add half as much dice, without multiplying the total? For example, 10d6 becoming 15d6, or maximized becoming 5d6+60?
"All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by half."
It says nothing about increasing dice rolled, and there is a FAQ that verifies that if the spell involves a flat number added on, you increase that too.
You roll 10d6 to get what the numeric effect is, and increase this by half (by adding 50%, multiplying by 1.5, it all amounts to about the same thing.) So, let's say you rolled 37 as the sum of your 10d6, and now you multiply it to get 55.
Then you treat the original result of the 10d6 (pre-multiply) as if they rolled maximum, instead. So you change the 37 into 60, but the 50% of the 10d6 is still there, so you get 78.
Doesn't empower add half as much dice, without multiplying the total? For example, 10d6 becoming 15d6, or maximized becoming 5d6+60?
That's not how it works. If it was, you'd be screwed out of an extra die of damage half the time.
It also slightly changes the probability distribution function of the result.Doesn't empower add half as much dice, without multiplying the total? For example, 10d6 becoming 15d6, or maximized becoming 5d6+60?That's not how it works. If it was, you'd be screwed out of an extra die of damage half the time.
I've heard that before as well. Does it generally skew in favor of the caster, or not?
It's easiest to look at the difference between rolling 1d6 vs 2d6/2. In the 1d6 case, all numbers are equally likely giving a 1/6 chance for every number. In the 2d6/2 case, there are only 3 ways of the 36 possibilities to get a 1 (1,1),(1,2) and (2,1). So to get a result of one, there is only a 1/12 chance, while 3 and 4 have better odds than the 1/6, and 6 is back to being worse. You tend toward the average doing 2d6/2 and have a flat distribution doing 1d6. Adding more dices just continues this pattern.
It's like the greataxe and greatsword. The greataxe is just as likely to roll a 1 as a 12, but the greatsword is more likely to get a 7 with 2 and 12 being rare.