True(-ish?) Strike

[Trouvere]

True Strike - as we all know, a 1st level spell that adds 20 to your next attack roll.

If there were a spell just like True Strike, except that instead it added 1d20 to your next roll, what level do you think it would be? (If there is such a spell, could you direct me to it?)

What if it were a swift action to cast?

Note that presumably this new spell could be empowered, which would give a bigger bonus than True Strike on a roll of 14 or more. But how often would you need that extra bonus?

[Kyace]

About the only way it could work in a campaign that has True Strike is being a cantrip, in which case I'd make it add 1d6 to the attack, not 1d20.

[F.L.]

Well, a quickened true strke is a swift action anyway, so that's l.5. As for adding to any roll, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe guidance (+1 to a roll) moved up 1 level per dice, so 1d2,1d3,1d4,1d6,1d8,2d6,2d8,d20, or level 8.

[Trouvere]

A standard action "Trueish" Strike doesn't really work at all - too strong for a cantrip, as Kyace said, and far weaker than regular True Strike.

As a swift action, 5th level is too high - quickened True Strike beats it.

If 3rd level, it could be empowered back up to 5th, where it would add an irregular 1 to 30 to a roll, with a mean of 15.5. Is that pretty much comparable to quickened True Strike, or better, or worse?

I'm just not clear how often you need the full +20 bonus of True Strike, how often an average 15/16 would be enough, or how often a bonus greater than 20 would let you do things otherwise impossible.

I'm notoriously poor at game balance.

[EldritchExMachina]

3rd level or 4th level would probably do it fine. Might I advise 1d10 + 1 per Caster Level (Max 10) as a swift action. This would make it a solid 6-15 (avg 10.5) when one can cast it, putting it well within the range of worth. It also makes it less powerful than a quickened true strike at CL 9 (1d10 + 9, AVG 14.5).

However, a move-action truestrike would be perfectly acceptable for a level 3 spell.

[Baron Corm]

Well, unmaximize it for a 3 level drop, then quicken it for a 4 level rise, and you have a level 2 spell. I would hardly say it's overpowered in any way as a level 2 spell; I might even prefer True Strike.

[magic8BALL]

I agree with ^, but will make a slight modification so it actually is better than True Strike.

Call it Swift Strike, swift action to cast, 2nd level sor/wiz spell. +1d10 per three caster levels bonus to the next attack roll (to a maximum of +4d10), provided it is made within the next round.

IE,
+2d10 at 3rd level
+3d10 at 6th level
+4d10 at 9th level

What do we think?

[brian c]

Well, unmaximize it for a 3 level drop, then quicken it for a 4 level rise, and you have a level 2 spell. I would hardly say it's overpowered in any way as a level 2 spell; I might even prefer True Strike.

I think this is a good course of action. For slightly less randomness, maybe have it add 2d10 instead of 1d20; it would still maximize to 20, but you're now less likely to waste a spell for a minor bonus and also less likely to luck out and get a quickened True Strike for a level 2 slot.