Upheaval the new king of battlefield control spells?

[Ravingdork]

Is it me or is the new upheaval spell from Extinction Curse #6 one of the best battlefield control/wall spells now?

Also, am I correct in assuming that there is no limit to the number of pillars you can create? If not, you could conjure adjoining pillars to create 300-foot long walls, labyrinthine mazes, a circular small plateau with 300-foot diameter, boxes/rings with which to separate and divide foes or protect the party, etc.

What's more, there's no duration. The resulting pillars appear to be there FOREVER. Insofar as I can tell, there's nothing stopping a person from using multiple castings to conjure new pillars on top of old ones.

Aside from a few skill DCs, there are no stats for the pillars themselves, so I assume it defaults to those for a stone structure (56 HP, BT 28; or perhaps can only be broken down with tools over time).

Upheaval Spell:

UPHEAVAL (SPELL 9)
[UNCOMMON] [CONJURATION] [EARTH]
Traditions arcane, primal
Cast two-actions; somatic, verbal
Range 500 feet; Area 150-foot burst
The ground in the area shudders and crumbles as huge pillars of stone erupt into the air, rending the terrain around them.

The GM might add additional effects in certain areas. Cliffs might collapse, causing creatures to fall, or a river might be blocked and flood the surrounding area.

• Stone Debris The area becomes difficult terrain.
• Rising Pillars Pillars of smooth stone rise from your chosen number of 10-foot squares on a surface in the area, ascending up to 60 feet in height. Each pillar stops when it hits a structure or ceiling unless that structure collapses (see below). The DC to Climb or Grab an Edge on a pillar is 30. Each creature on a pillar after it rises must succeed at a Reflex saving throw or fall off the nearest edge (the creature can choose which edge, if several are equally close). A creature on a pillar that is stopped by a structure falls without attempting a save.
• Structural Collapse Structures and ceilings might collapse. The GM rolls a flat check for each (DC 14 for a sturdy structure, DC 9 for an average structure and most natural formations, all adjusted higher or lower as the GM sees fit). In general, shoddy structures automatically collapse. A collapse deals 11d6 bludgeoning damage to creatures beneath it; each creature caught in a collapse must attempt a Reflex save to avoid it. If the creature is forced to attempt a Reflex save because it was on a rising pillar, it uses the same result.

Critical Success The creature takes half collapse damage.
Success The creature takes half the collapse damage
and falls prone.
Failure The creature takes the full collapse damage and
falls prone.
Critical Failure The creature takes the full collapse
damage and is restrained by debris until it successfully
Escapes (DC equal to the spell’s save DC).

Reminds me of the evil wizard, Wagnard from episode 11 of Record of Lodoss War, when he conjured a giant pillar of earth underneath Parn and Deedlit to prevent their escape.

What do you think? Is this the best battlefield control spell you've seen, or at least up there among the best? Seems to me that only flying and teleporting creatures will be able to easily navigate such an area (and even they may be significantly delayed).

[masda_gib]

The missing limit on the number of pillars was the first thing I noticed, too. Seems to be intended to create walls with it since "blocking a river" is mentioned.

Also, you can make a whole 300ft diameter plateau with the spell if you raise pillars everywhere. :O

[ZomB]

Ah, so this is how the Irespan was built, and the Storval stairs.

I expect seriously large castles and designer dwellings are built this way - or at least start out with this as foundation.

[Megistone]

Being level 9, I would be surprised if it wasn't really good.

[vagrant-poet]

Megistone wrote:

Being level 9, I would be surprised if it wasn't really good.

And Uncommon. Right? This SHOULD be powerful, and if it's a bit much, it can be restricted.

[Ravingdork]

Not like I'm saying it's too powerful, or shouldn't be used, or anything like that guys.

It just made my eyes pop and jaw drop a little.

[voideternal]

Looks like Wall of Stone, except higher level.

Coincidentally, my table recently houserule-banned Wall of Stone because it was too strong.

[Wind Chime]

High level wall spells can be climbed, flown over, leapt over etc. Its good but mainly it's cool, too few spells in this edition allow you effect your environment in such a dramatic way even it higher level.

[lemeres]

Of course there is a limit to how many pillars you can create.

It is just a math question of how many 10' squares can fit into a 150' burst.

....ok, functionally, it might as well be infinite for player purpose.

[QuidEst]

This is absolutely a spell that we've been missing. The earth mage slams their hand on the ground, and pillars burst up throughout the room/arena/field.

I love the range on it too. 100 squares away, 60 squares across? That's great.

[Squiggit]

Not sure I'd call it king. It's a nice spell, but it's kind of overkill.

The pillars have a pretty huge base size, which can make them kind of unwieldy to place depending on the shape of your battle map. You're also turning everything into difficult terrain, which might be a good thing but since it's the whole area, again, that can kind of be unwieldy.

And then on top of that using it inside anywhere runs the risk of collapsing the roof on top of you.

It's definitely a potent spell and really cool, but I feel like it's better used for narrative power and shaping terrain in advance than traditional BFC, simply because it kind of lacks precision.

[TheGoofyGE3K]

Sounds like the spell you cast before fighting the fire lord

[Themetricsystem]

TheGoofyGE3K wrote:

Sounds like the spell you cast before fighting the fire lord

!!Kyoshi rage intensifies!!