Concentrate area spell

[Samir Sardinha]

Whenever we compare martial vs caster damage, the caster always falls behind unless they are attacking multiple targets, but that simple doesn't happen every encounter, for example against a "boss".

I would like to suggest:
Concentrate area spell, one action, metamagic
Only usable on damaging spells with an area of effect of 10+ feet's.
Instead of an area of effect it become a point in one of the possible target areas that you have a clear path. The target gets -3 status on the save.

[Themetricsystem]

Spellcasters are not MEANT to be boss killers anymore, that kind of playstyle was braindead and killed the fun for hundreds of thousands of players who choose martial characters for over 20 years as they sat there splashing in the kiddy pool while the Wizards did all the work. If your aim is to make sure that the spellcasters are preparing nothing but Fireball but ALSO still getting frustrated because they cannot 1-shot things... I guess this works but other then that I think adjusting the player expectations is going to be much easier than trying to fix something that's not broken.

A 1-action tax for a -3 unavoidable penalty is literally more powerful than most level 20 Class Feats.

I might suggest instead tweaking this to instead apply a -1 penalty for one Action, or a -2 for two Actions spent.

[HumbleGamer]

I think that even a -1 might be too much.

It has to be considered that quickened casting is a lvl 10 spell, available once per day.

a -1 should be something similar ( in terms of levels and use per day ), because how much it would be strong.

[voideternal]

Cut him some slack, this is the homebrew forum. If he wants to have OP casters, it's ok.

Personally, I wouldn't put the penalty higher than -2.

[Megistone]

The problem is not damage, but rider effects that are usually very powerful against lone enemies and would be applied much more easily with a big penalty like -3.
If concentrating the area only increased basic damage without affecting the save, it would be nice IMO.

[Davido1000]

I think casters just need more single target damage spells which will hopefully be in the upcoming book or maybe a evocation school line of feats that let you be the blaster caster with some investment. perhaps even bring back a form of the opposition schools mechanic to sacrifice versatility for focus on your school.