(3.5) What level would this spell be?

[Gnoman]

Designing a special spell for certain evil wizards, and I prefer to have these things statted out completely. Not sure what level I should set it at, and would like feedback on the spell itself

Powers Below
Necromancy (evil)
Level: Sor/Wiz ?
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Special
Effect: See description
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: Fortitude half.
Spell Resistance: No

The caster summons pure negative energy from the Abyss. On the first round, negative energy pours from the target point in a 20ft radius, inflicting 1d4 negative levels on all creatures in the area. For each round of concentration. additional emanation points equal to the number of rounds the spell has been active (2 on the second round, 3 on the third, 4 on the fourth, etc) begin emitting negative energy, and all existing points double in radius. All points selected must be within line of sight of the caster, and may be placed anywhere he can see.

For each round of concentration, the caster must make a (DC 25+Number of rounds) concentration check or be consumed by the spell, taking 2d20 negative levels. If any other concentration check required is failed, the same applies. Immunity to negative energy does not protect against this backlash.

Due to the extreme concentration of negative energy released by this spell, temporary protections such as Death Ward will last only a single round, while non-artifact magical items that grant such an effect have a 75% chance to be suppressed. Otherwise, they are destroyed. Inherent immunities to negative energy function against this spell, and powerful burst of positive energy can remove the negative energy from an area for a round.

Creatures slain by this spell appear dessicated and extremely withered. The souls of such creatures are rendered dissolute, and the shards of these souls are grafted on to the closest Evil creature in the area, which is almost always the caster.

Each emanation point has a 10% chance to remain active (though the emitted area will not increase) when the spell ends, and there is a 1% chance that the negative energy from a disabled emanation point will linger, causing an unhallow effect. An active emanation point may only be closed by divine intervention or the death of a powerful positive energy being.

[Grod_The_Giant]

It'd be 9th easy, without the 2d20 negative levels. Although... you could easily have a Concentration modifier over 30 by those levels if you tried...

Yeah, I'd go with 9th, still.

[Gnoman]

If I peg it at 9th level, I'll be increasing the save DC to avoid self-immolation. That's a core flavor bit I'm going to keep, rather than an attempt to make the spell less powerful.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Mmm. I think it's still 9th even with the chance of self-immolation; the effect is pretty hideously powerful.

(Also, and I should have mentioned this earlier, really dang cool)

[Gnoman]

I still need to figure out what having shards of soul stuck to your soul would actually do besides invoke insanity.


What should the self-immolation DC start at to be a noticable risk? 35?

[inuyasha]

sorry this isnt a peach but may i use this in a campaign of mine and possibly put it on my tumblr blog that all my players follow (totally optional and you will recieve credit)

BtW my tumblr blog with spells and races and magic items is here
http://shopofhorror.tumblr.com/

[Gnoman]

You may use it, although I prefer that you give me a report on the outcome if practical. You may not repost it in any public place until it has been adequately examined and playtested. I do not care to be associated with a creation until I am convinced it is satisfactory.

[inuyasha]

oh sure yea no problem man :smallsmile:
haha you cant read dis :3
and if you want to see some of my stuff i left that link for you :smallsmile:

[TuggyNE]

Yeah, this is definitely a 9th, no question.

[Mephibosheth]

I really like this spell! It's very cinematic, which is what I want my high level spells to be. Nice work


powerful burst of positive energy can remove the negative energy from an area for a round.

It might be helpful to outline what types of positive energy effects can cause the negative energy to recede. Would turning undead work? Casting a cure spell? How powerful of a cure spell?


I still need to figure out what having shards of soul stuck to your soul would actually do besides invoke insanity.

What about something Shattered Soul (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14570401&postcount=8)-like? Not the whole PrC, but maybe a single soul splinter that only has a few levels in the class/racial HD of the creature that died and that surfaces intermittently.

[Gnoman]

It might be helpful to outline what types of positive energy effects can cause the negative energy to recede. Would turning undead work? Casting a cure spell? How powerful of a cure spell?



That was left vague on purpose. Until I was certain where I was going to peg the spell (9th level, as that's a clear consensus)m I didn't want to put too much detail into it. Right now, I'm thinking of a hallow spell or Turn Undead at 15th level.

[zegram 33]

personally, i'd have magic circle against evil and hallow defend against it in their respective area's, with protection against evil and cosecrate granting an increased save or something.
but yeh, its crazy-powerful.

to be clear, do the area's double in size EVERY turn(ie: the first 20ft area would be an 80ft RADIUS by third turn? cuz thats gonna make it quite easy to friendly-fire either your allies or yourself to all get out.

similarly: if it destroys your soul and grafts it to the nearest evil creature.... what happens when the backlash hits you?
and doesnt that mean it has a MINIMUM one in 20 chance or irrevocably killing you, likely more like 3 in 20 at least, for EVERY turn that you use it. i guess you could be lucky and only roll like 6 negative levels, but its evens/odds of dealing 20 negative levels, so yeh.

although its "city killing" level of strength, its a bloody risky spell to use, and i'm not sure i'd ever use it when stacked against other level 9 spells.

possibly change it to 1d6 negative levels to you per every turn you've had it on for? so second turn would be 2d6, 3rd 3d6, etc. that way its still likely to put you out of the combat if it backfires, but shouldnt immediatley kill you

[Gnoman]

to be clear, do the area's double in size EVERY turn(ie: the first 20ft area would be an 80ft RADIUS by third turn? cuz thats gonna make it quite easy to friendly-fire either your allies or yourself to all get out.



That is correct. It is assumed that most individuals who use this spell would be undead, protected by a death god, or insane. In such a case, excessive area of effect is less of an issue.




similarly: if it destroys your soul and grafts it to the nearest evil creature.... what happens when the backlash hits you?


If it kills you, your soul is destroyed and grafted onto the nearest evil creature. It doesn't matter whether or not you are hit by the primary effect or failed roll backlash.



and doesnt that mean it has a MINIMUM one in 20 chance or irrevocably killing you, likely more like 3 in 20 at least, for EVERY turn that you use it. i guess you could be lucky and only roll like 6 negative levels, but its evens/odds of dealing 20 negative levels, so yeh.


No. Skill checks do not autofail on a natural 1. 1 is simply the lowest possible roll. If your Concentration skill is high enough, using this spell is reasonable safe for a few rounds




although its "city killing" level of strength, its a bloody risky spell to use, and i'm not sure i'd ever use it when stacked against other level 9 spells.

possibly change it to 1d6 negative levels to you per every turn you've had it on for? so second turn would be 2d6, 3rd 3d6, etc. that way its still likely to put you out of the combat if it backfires, but shouldnt immediatley kill you

The backlash is INTENDED to be lethal, or nearly so. This is a spell that reaches through space and time, grabs pure unadulterated evil and uses it to give vast numbers of people a fate far worse than death. It is for the insane. or for those for whom killing their enemies is not nearly satisfying enough. Evil is not a toy.

[nxwtypx]

If I peg it at 9th level, I'll be increasing the save DC to avoid self-immolation. That's a core flavor bit I'm going to keep, rather than an attempt to make the spell less powerful.



The backlash is INTENDED to be lethal, or nearly so. This is a spell that reaches through space and time, grabs pure unadulterated evil and uses it to give vast numbers of people a fate far worse than death. It is for the insane. or for those for whom killing their enemies is not nearly satisfying enough. Evil is not a toy.

This sounds like an epic spell to me, and even by your admission. When you compare it with energy drain (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/energyDrain.htm), it just doesn't stack up lower than 2d4 negative levels to one target, never mind the scorched earth effects of powers below.
Backlash as a concept (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/developingEpicSpells.htm) seems to be an epic spell thing too.

[Deepbluediver]

The problem is that the chance for the caster to essentially kill themselves is not a good check on the spell's power. It is still an uber-powerful effect when it works, even if it essentially a suicide bomb (and there is no guarantee of that).
Also, I don't know exactly which side of the pro/con arugment you would put it on, but since the spell is non-targeting it has the potential to hit your allies at the same time as your enemies. Some people can work around that, but some games make it very risky (all combat takes place in 30x30 ft. rooms, for example :smalltongue:)

I would ask, what level where you aiming for with this spell? If you tell us that, we can make suggestions for how to design or balance the idea with everything else that is/will-be going on around it. If this exact effect is essential to your game for plot-related reasons, I would not make it spell, but a one-time magic ritual, or link it to some artifact so you can control how/when it's used.

[Gnoman]

I don't expect the backlash to act as a "power limiter" or other check on the spell's power. I designed the spell, which is (very) loosely inspired by something from a book, with flavor first, then developed fluff to match what I was going for. Thus, I didn't have an intended level. I would be perfectly fine with it being an epic spell, except for the small detail that I don't understand the epic magic rules. It's meant for killing large numbers of people by the most vile means possible. It's essentially special-written for a lower-tier minion of the evil god who's ressurection my party is trying to prevent. (The spell has actually already been used, but the party showed up after that city was destroyed, and it didn't leave anything but taint behind.)

The idea of making it linked to an artifact has merit, but I don't like the idea of it being a one-off ritual. Also, the casting time in the description is wrong. I copied the stat block from the SRD in order to keep the format standard, and forgot to change that line. Casting time is 2 rounds.

[nxwtypx]

I don't expect the backlash to act as a "power limiter" or other check on the spell's power. I designed the spell, which is (very) loosely inspired by something from a book, with flavor first, then developed fluff to match what I was going for. Thus, I didn't have an intended level. I would be perfectly fine with it being an epic spell, except for the small detail that I don't understand the epic magic rules. It's meant for killing large numbers of people by the most vile means possible. It's essentially special-written for a lower-tier minion of the evil god who's ressurection my party is trying to prevent. (The spell has actually already been used, but the party showed up after that city was destroyed, and it didn't leave anything but taint behind.)

The idea of making it linked to an artifact has merit, but I don't like the idea of it being a one-off ritual. Also, the casting time in the description is wrong. I copied the stat block from the SRD in order to keep the format standard, and forgot to change that line. Casting time is 2 rounds.

As a plot device, it's awesome. Eldritch WMD's and the moral turpitude required to employ such things and what have you are the stuff of epic drama.

Epic spells are a pain to develop though. I'd worry less about the crunch and just shoot from the hip; if the guy who can or is going to call down (up?) powers below isn't an epic caster and it's not tied to an artifact, consider it an act of your nascent evil god?

[barna10]

"For each round of concentration, the caster must make a (DC 25+Number of rounds) concentration check or be consumed by the spell, taking 2d20 negative levels. If any other concentration check required is failed, the same applies. Immunity to negative energy does not protect against this backlash.

Due to the extreme concentration of negative energy released by this spell, temporary protections such as Death Ward will last only a single round, while non-artifact magical items that grant such an effect have a 75% chance to be suppressed. Otherwise, they are destroyed. Inherent immunities to negative energy function against this spell, and powerful burst of positive energy can remove the negative energy from an area for a round."



That is correct. It is assumed that most individuals who use this spell would be undead, protected by a death god, or insane. In such a case, excessive area of effect is less of an issue.


You might want to define what an "inherent" immunities are and how they differ from "normal" immunity. Are immunities gained from feats "inherent"? From class levels? From a template? From a race? What if one Shapechanges into an undead then casts the spell, is the caster immune then?

Also, I would put this as an Epic spell. Otherwise, it could become fairly common as any mage that leveled up could learn the spell. Also, it just has an epic flavor.

[Ashtagon]

Over 9th level.

The backlash thing is something that only really happens in epic spell-casting or d20 Modern incantations. D&D spells simply work. And given that the likely users will have taken steps to make themselves immune to it anyway, it's not a balancing factor in any way.

1d4 energy drain to everything in 20 feet (and counting) is easily far more powerful than 2d4 to one target.

If you're into the ELH, build it as an epic spell. If not, call it DM fiat and an act of the character's deity.

[Cidolfas]

I know everyone is saying it's a 9th level spell or higher, but is it really? The amount of negative levels generally equate to enervation, which is a 4. Generally mass-affecting spells create a two level bump, which makes this a 6. Without the massive backlash effect, I would say the Concentration duration and scaling AoE would probably make this about a 7 or 8. In terms of the ability to kill equivalent level creatures in a single round, this has nothing on level 9 spells like wail of the banshee, since only the AoE is expanding and the number of negative levels incurred per round by targets is never greater than 1d4. Not to mention the fact that this would seem to be the full extent of all of your actions (since it's maintained by Concentration) as opposed to other long-duration cast-and-forget type spells. Make it Concentration + 1 round per level and everything is flipped on its head and it is probably safely a 9.

I think the backlash can be safely ignored if not removed entirely, since lichdom or some other form of undeath is quite manageable by higher levels of the game and all the backlash really serves to do is force someone to get that particular thing in order to be able to use the spell safely. Straitjacketing someone in said fashion doesn't sit well with me, and were the backlash included I think it would only serve to turn off more players than it attracts.

[Ashtagon]

I know everyone is saying it's a 9th level spell or higher, but is it really? The amount of negative levels generally equate to enervation, which is a 4...

Except enervation only does that damage once. This spell does that damage for as long as the caster maintains concentration.


...Generally mass-affecting spells create a two level bump, which makes this a 6...

Based on the cure/inflict lines, the area-effect bump is +4 , not +2.


...Without the massive backlash effect, I would say the Concentration duration and scaling AoE would probably make this about a 7 or 8. In terms of the ability to kill equivalent level creatures in a single round, this has nothing on level 9 spells like wail of the banshee, since only the AoE is expanding and the number of negative levels incurred per round by targets is never greater than 1d4. Not to mention the fact that this would seem to be the full extent of all of your actions (since it's maintained by Concentration) as opposed to other long-duration cast-and-forget type spells. Make it Concentration + 1 round per level and everything is flipped on its head and it is probably safely a 9.

The spell might not instantly take down opponents as a wail of the banshee does, but if maintained for two rounds, zapping an average 5 levels off every enemy turns it from an even fight to a mop-up operation that wouldn't technically even merit earning XP for the challenge presented.

[Cidolfas]

Except enervation only does that damage once. This spell does that damage for as long as the caster maintains concentration.

Which of course assumes you can maintain that concentration despite getting pummeled by everything that can try and hit you, especially since the spell doesn't discriminate between friend or foe. Unless your competition is total crap and you take appropriate measures to keep yourself safe, you will probably have difficulty keeping the spell up.


Based on the cure/inflict lines, the area-effect bump is +4 , not +2.

I'm hardly inclined to believe that the cure/inflict lines are useful guidelines for determining spell level. For the level at which they are available, everything short of heal/harm pretty much sucks. And even mass heal/mass harm as a 9 is very much a stretch, to me.


The spell might not instantly take down opponents as a wail of the banshee does, but if maintained for two rounds, zapping an average 5 levels off every enemy turns it from an even fight to a mop-up operation that wouldn't technically even merit earning XP for the challenge presented.

Don't underestimate the importance of Instantaneous castings. Assuming enemies have access to similar abilities as you (which is reasonable, since you are fighting things like balors that have blasphemy at will and the like), you will get destroyed before you actually get to make use of this spell's full effect.

It's more of a role-playing device than a legitimately useful combat spell beyond the first round, at which point it's still the same as an AoE enervation. On the off chance that you do get another round off, more power to you, but is it on par with wail or gate? Doubtful.

[Ashtagon]

The caster summons pure negative energy from the Abyss. On the first round, negative energy pours from the target point in a 20ft radius, inflicting 1d4 negative levels on all creatures in the area. For each round of concentration. additional emanation points equal to the number of rounds the spell has been active (2 on the second round, 3 on the third, 4 on the fourth, etc) begin emitting negative energy, and all existing points double in radius. All points selected must be within line of sight of the caster, and may be placed anywhere he can see.

See that bit about the new emanation points? This spell has an effective range measured in miles when above ground. That Concentration check (DC 25+rounds)? Assuming you're undead already (reasonable, considering the feedback effect), you're playing off Charisma and a maxed out Concentration skill. If you aren't pulling a minimum of +37 in modifiers on that check at L20, you're doing it wrong (+23 skill ranks, +5 skill enhancement bonus item, +2 masterwork item (stress ball?), +4 Charisma modifier, +3 Charisma bonus item boosting Charisma modifier).

This spell is pretty much the ultimate scry 'n' die tool. It's level 9 if not epic.

[DracoDei]

Due to the extreme concentration of negative energy released by this spell, temporary protections such as Death Ward will last only a single round, while non-artifact magical items that grant such an effect have a 75% chance to be suppressed. Otherwise, they are destroyed.
I would have the items provide a single round of protection, but have this overlap between all items and spell. You should also specify that the surpression lasts until the end of the spell, or perhaps 1d4 rounds afterwards.



Creatures slain by this spell appear dessicated and extremely withered. The souls of such creatures are rendered dissolute, and the shards of these souls are grafted on to the closest Evil creature in the area, which is almost always the caster.
You need more crunch here. I assume this prevents resurrection of the slain until the creature their soul is grafted to dies(including due to this spell...)? Or can it be dispeled out of them?



Each emanation point has a 10% chance to remain active (though the emitted area will not increase) when the spell ends, and there is a 1% chance that the negative energy from a disabled emanation point will linger, causing an unhallow effect. An active emanation point may only be closed by divine intervention or the death of a powerful positive energy being.
This says to me that this should have a non-trivial XP cost to it. About what it would take to Permanency a 9th level spell... or maybe half that because it won't always work. Or you could get fancy and say that the XP cost is based on how many level-draining emanations remain (or if you want to get really fancy, make it proportional to area or volume by making it based on the sum of the squares or cubes of the radii of all surviving level-draining emanations). The Unhallow stuff is wonderful flavor (as is everything about this spell, don't remove anything!) but it isn't powerful or frequent enough to be worth XPs or added complications.

[Gnoman]

You might want to define what an "inherent" immunities are and how they differ from "normal" immunity. Are immunities gained from feats "inherent"? From class levels? From a template? From a race? What if one Shapechanges into an undead then casts the spell, is the caster immune then?

Also, I would put this as an Epic spell. Otherwise, it could become fairly common as any mage that leveled up could learn the spell. Also, it just has an epic flavor.

"Inherent" abilities are those that you retain while stark-naked and unable to cast for 24 hours. Thus, all of your examples would qualify, though most simply aren't options in my campaign. Proliferation of the spell is less of a concern than it might normally be due to fluff reasons. There is an Order of paladins who's sole purpose is archiving a single copy (which they constantly copy as the medium degrades) of every book/spell ever written, and destroying all other copies of highly Evil works. Even if the caster that invented it/was granted knowledge of it did write it down somewhere, there's a high chance of it being simply locked in a monastery for all eternity.


@Draco


You need more crunch here. I assume this prevents resurrection of the slain until the creature their soul is grafted to dies(including due to this spell...)? Or can it be dispeled out of them?


In essence, the soul is destroyed, except that it can be restored by direct divine intervention by the most powerful gods, and the person who the soul belongs to remains conscious for all eternity instead of simply vanishing. Slaying the creature that they are grafted to only scatters the shards, and speeds the progression into insanity.



I would have the items provide a single round of protection, but have this overlap between all items and spell. You should also specify that the surpression lasts until the end of the spell, or perhaps 1d4 rounds afterwards.

You're quite right about the lack of duration. The effect lasts for 1d4 weeks. Not sure what you mean by overlap.


This says to me that this should have a non-trivial XP cost to it. About what it would take to Permanency a 9th level spell... or maybe half that because it won't always work. Or you could get fancy and say that the XP cost is based on how many emanations remain (or if you want to get really fancy, make it proportional to area or volume by making it based on the sum of the squares or cubes of the radii of all surviving emanations).

An XP cost is reasonable, but I'd have no idea what it should be. It does fit the notion of it being a draining, dangerous spell.

@Ashtagon

It is completely impossible to be immune to the backlash damage (which exists for fluff reasons, AND IS NOT INTENDED AS A BALANCING FACTOR (why do I have to keep repeating that?)). NOTHING protects against it. Also, I've omitted an intended word from the description. It's supposed to be


The caster summons pure negative energy from the Abyss. On the first round, negative energy pours from the target point in a 20ft radius, inflicting 1d4 negative levels on all creatures in the area. For each round of concentration. additional emanation points equal to the number of rounds the spell has been active (2 on the second round, 3 on the third, 4 on the fourth, etc) begin emitting negative energy, and all existing points double in radius. All points selected must be within line of sight of the caster, and may be placed anywhere he can DIRECTLY see.


The spell cannot be aimed via scrying.

[DracoDei]

In essence, the soul is destroyed, except that it can be restored by direct divine intervention by the most powerful gods, and the person who the soul belongs to remains conscious for all eternity instead of simply vanishing. Slaying the creature that they are grafted to only scatters the shards, and speeds the progression into insanity.
You need to explain that in the spell description.



You're quite right about the lack of duration. The effect lasts for 1d4 weeks. Not sure what you mean by overlap.
I mean that a character with Death Ward cast on them, plus the armor enchantment that does the same thing for one effect I(one round?) per day should still only be protected for one round total.

But, the armor enchantment should protect them from the effect for that one round.

@Ashtagon

It is completely impossible to be immune to the backlash damage (which exists for fluff reasons, AND IS NOT INTENDED AS A BALANCING FACTOR (why do I have to keep repeating that?)).

People may be only reading the first post before responding, or at least not all of the posts. I would use an asterisk in the spell to point this out, with the footnote being RIGHT after the end of the spell, if not at the end of the paragraph.

Appropriately enough, I did not reread the thread to see if the evidence supports this idea.

[Ashtagon]

Even if the new emanantion points can only be places the caster can directly see, that still gives the spell a range measured in miles.

Even without actual immunity to the backlash, a properly optimised character can pass the concentration DC long enough to severely ruin anyone's day, then end the spell before it collapses into backlash.

It's almost the perfect spell for assassinating any high level enemy who ever shows their face above ground outdoors.

"Line of sight" really needs limitations. On a clear day, you can see across the English channel, a distance of twenty-something miles. No scrying needed. Might not be able to see a specific individual, but you can aim at a position easy enough under RAW.

[Deepbluediver]

{{scrubbed}}

[Gnoman]

Taking current feedback into consideration, this is the spell as it now stands. Any further feedback should be directed at this version only. The original will be left unaltered to make it more easy to see what feedback is being directed at.




Powers Below
Necromancy (evil)
Level: Sor/Wiz ? 9
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action 2 rounds
Range: Special
Effect: See description
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: Fortitude half.
Spell Resistance: No

The caster summons pure negative energy from the Abyss. On the first round, negative energy pours from the target point in a 20ft radius, inflicting 1d4 negative levels on all creatures in the area. For each round of concentration. additional emanation points equal to the number of rounds the spell has been active (2 on the second round, 3 on the third, 4 on the fourth, etc) begin emitting negative energy, and all existing points double in radius. All points selected must be within line of sight of the caster, and may be placed anywhere he can directly see.

For each round of concentration, the caster must make a (DC 25 40+Number of rounds active emanation points) concentration check or be consumed by the spell, taking 2d20 negative levels. If any other concentration check required is failed, the same applies. Immunity to negative energy does not protect against this backlash.

Due to the extreme concentration of negative energy released by this spell, temporary protections such as Death Ward will last only a single round, while non-artifact magical items that grant such an effect have a 75% chance to be suppressed. Otherwise, they are destroyed. Inherent immunities to negative energy function against this spell, and powerful burst of positive energy can remove the negative energy from an area for a round.

Creatures slain by this spell appear dessicated and extremely withered. The souls of such creatures are rendered dissolute, and the shards of these souls are grafted on to the closest Evil creature in the area, which is almost always the caster.

Souls that are destroyed in this manner remain conscious, though that consciousness is fragmented among all the various shards of the soul. The mental effect of this is much similar to the worst forms of physical torture, though somewhat more painful. In addition, such souls are part of all experiences that the soul they are grafted on to partake in, which is an additional form of torture for most, both due to the limited nature of such experience as well as the evil deeds that they will be forced to be a part of,

Each emanation point has a 10% chance to remain active (though the emitted area will not increase) when the spell ends, and there is a 1% chance that the negative energy from a disabled emanation point will linger, causing an unhallow effect. An active emanation point may only be closed by divine intervention or the death of a powerful positive energy being.

[Ashtagon]

Two issues:

The save DC is still a balance point. Depending on where you set the DC level, it's either "who cares, I just maintain it for 2-3 rounds then end it", or "this is never worth casting". There's not really a middle ground on that point when the backlash is so severe. Note that if custom magic item crafting is allowed, skill bonuses will get crazy high. A Hat of Concentration +20 only costs 40,000 gp - a steal at 20th level, and enough to trivialise even the new higher DC level you have set.

The save DC is better left as N + number of rounds rather than N + number of emanation points. That way, it follows the same presentation pattern as pretty much every other effect that becomes harder with time, and based on the details of the spell description, it is functionally the same. I have no strong advice on where to set N.

The range is still potentially several miles for the additional emanation points. "Directly see" is a remarkably long distance when in a tower or flying, or looking towards high ground. If you want to restrict the range, be obvious about it, and set a number (or "long range" as the SRD defines spell ranges).

[Gnoman]

I'm OK with the range being potentially quite large in the tactical sense. It's the strategic "scry and die" sense that I really want to limit.

Setting the DC based on number of points ramps up far faster than by number of rounds, due to the way the points scale. At the third round, there are six points, for example. There is the slight difficulty that I'm not actually certain what a reasonable DC is. Most of the online advice I've seen assumes a fairly high optimization level of the sort you described, and I never play in such a campaign.

I want more than a simple flat 1 negative level per round, but I'm beginning to agree that 1d4 is a little high. Is 1d2 (coin) or 1d3 (treat 1-2 as 1, 3-4 as 2, 5-6 as 3 on a d6) more reasonable?

[Ashtagon]

I'm OK with the range being potentially quite large in the tactical sense. It's the strategic "scry and die" sense that I really want to limit.

If that's your goal, then you really do need to set a maximum range. "Direct sight" and line of sight" alone just don't do what you need, simply because outdoors, you really can see to strategic distances.