a spell idea that i had

[pevetos]

Mocking shadow:

Mocking Shadow
School illusion (shadow) [shadow]; Level bard 4, sorcerer/wizard 4

CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S

EFFECT

Range see text
Effect see text
Duration see text
Saving Throw Will disbelief (if interacted with); Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

You tap energy from the Plane of Shadow to cast a quasi-real, illusory version of a spell of 4th level or lower that you see being casted and you have identified it in the last 5 minutes. Spells that deal damage have normal effects unless an affected creature succeeds on a Will save. Each disbelieving creature takes only one-fifth damage from the attack. If the disbelieved attack has a special effect other than damage, that effect is one-fifth as strong (if applicable) or only 20% likely to occur. If recognized as a shadow evocation, a damaging spell deals only one-fifth (20%) damage. Regardless of the result of the save to disbelieve, an affected creature is also allowed any save (or spell resistance) that the spell being simulated allows, but the save DC is set according to shadow evocation’s level (5th) rather than the spell’s normal level.

Non-damaging effects have normal effects except against those who disbelieve them. Against disbelievers, they have no effect.

Healing effects give temporary health that can't exceed the target total life instead of healing.

Objects automatically succeed on their Will saves against this spell.

thoughts? i want it to be balanced and make sense of corse, is there something i should type of spell i should not include to avoid some sploit

[TxSam88]

"see being cast" (casted means to have been made a member of a caste, the past tense of cast; as in "he casts a spell"; is cast, as in "I just saw him cast a spell".)

Aside form that, I like the spell, and it seems balanced overall, in fact, it might almost be too limiting, as you have to have seen the spell recently

[Azothath]

there is a design issue and a couple of mechanical issues.

1) the shadow spells are arcane school specific (part of divide & conquer; shadow conj, shadow evoc...) and your spell violates that design theme.
2) the targetable copied spells drop a spell level, so a 4th could copy 3rd spell level effects not 4th or 5th spell level.
3) the copied spell effect may lose the original school but gains illusion(shadow) along with higher DC and some school mechanics/interactions.
4) you need to define range, AoE, etc.
5) by opening up #1 to everything, it becomes too flexible & powerful. It also means you have to define 7 school transitions (#3) rather than the three you did.
6) some English grammar & spelling issues.
7) some restatement of known RAW.
8) simplify the targeting condition to one sentence.

An obvious control would be an expendable material component like a black Pearl 100gp (as this functions like a Pearl of Power for identified spells).

Only one copy per another's spell identified preventing multiple recasting of better spells or your own spells.

Many combats only last 5-7 rounds. Successive combats are usually a few minutes to hours apart. Why 5 min? Why not 'attune' a material component to a specific spell to cast before the attunement fades.

[Pizza Lord]

My observations are that most such spells; shadow conjuration, shadow enchantment, and shadow evocation only allow copying of spells up to one level lower than their spell level (There are greater version with higher limits). Shadow transmutation (6th-level spell) does not have this specific limiter, but has a list of allowed spells, the highest of which seems to be polymorph, a 5th-level spell.

Your spell is a 4th-level spell that can copy up to a 4th-level spell, which seems to diverge from the common practice. That's not necessarily wrong, it's just something that should be known and considered. Maybe you think because it requires seeing a spell cast (and identifying it) within 5 minutes makes this reasonable (and maybe it is). I am just mentioning it.

Other than that, I would want it clarified whether the caster has to see a spell cast by another caster, or whether it can just be a spell they've cast themselves (and presumably automatically identify with Spellcraft). I want to say that the impression is that they have to see it cast by another caster other than themselves.

After that, I'd want to know if must be a spell cast, or whether a wand, potion, or staff would count or whether a spell-like ability would count. I am sure an SLA wouldn't but would want it clarified if a potion, wand, or staff would (I would normally rule No, but this isn't my spell).

As for the wording, it takes up a lot of space just repeating shadow evocation or conjuration, etc. It leaves me looking for this spell's crunch or impact. Might be better to just write,
'This functions like shadow evocation except the caster can copy the effects of any school of spells of 4th-level or lower they've successfully identified with Spellcraft as it was being cast by another caster within the past five minutes. Spell-like abilities and spells cast from magic items, like wands or scrolls are not copyable (Unless you want them to be, in which case, mention that they are.)'

Then add in the spells specific effects, like you did.

Quote:

Healing effects give temporary health that can't exceed the target total life instead of healing.

Okay, so what does this mean? Do you mean it grants 'temporary hit points', which will go away at some point? Because otherwise there's nothing that makes this different from normal healing. If it is temporary, then give it a duration, like 'that fade after 1 hour' or some other length of time.

Example: 'Healing effects grant only temporary hit points that can't exceed the target's maximum hit points and fade after one hour.'

Also, like Azothath mentioned, you have a Verbal and Somatic component, but nothing else. This could allow copying of spells with expensive components (even if the effects are illusory or temporary). As he suggested, adding a costly Material component can limit or mitigate this even a 1 gp item or requiring the actual material component of the copied spell (or something of equal value).
For example:
'Components: V, S, M (a gemstone worth at least 1 gp) (see below)'
and somewhere at the end, you add 'Copied spells with focuses or material components require those focuses or a gemstone of value worth the material component cost.'
or something along those lines (I like the more generic use of equal value, since otherwise it would be harder to carry all the possible exact materials that might be required).

[pevetos]

Mocking Shadow:

Mocking Shadow
School illusion (shadow) [shadow]; Level bard 4, sorcerer/wizard 4
CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S

EFFECT

Range see text
Effect see text
Duration see text
Saving Throw Will disbelief (if interacted with); Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

You tap energy from the Plane of Shadow to cast a quasi-real, illusory version of a non-harmless spell of 4th level or lower that you see being casted and you have identified it in the last 5 minutes by another caster and have the casting time of a full round action or less.

this spell work as one casted using shadow evocation or shadow conjuration and you can ignore material component of 100gp or less.

made some changes based on feedback here and from discord.

[Azothath]

in an SKR vein; if a spell is so good you can ditch the regulars and just use it - then it is too good. aka overpowered.

hmmm... I'd split it into two spells for off spell list spells of Conj then Evoc of 3rd SplLvl or less. Trans tend to be on the arcane list. I think the casting time needs to be the copied spell's casting time (move actn minimum) to full-round action. non-"harmless", hmmm... I see what they're trying to do but it's a wide wide shotgun blast. Try non-personal spell.
You'll need 2 caveats;
• Summon Monster, Nature Ally, or any spell that calls/creates/or conjures a monster has 50% of the usual HPs and gains darkvision 60ft, +4 comp to Stealth checks, a 10% miss chance to be hit in normal lighting, 20% in dim lighting, and 50% in darkness or 20% against dark vision. While flavorful, the OGL versions are too weak and a PITA to run.
• Illusory cures and ability restoration only provide 20% of the actual healing/recovery, 1 minimum, the balance is temporary for 15*CstrLvl min. hail razmir

Lastly - run it through an american english grammar checker.