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View Full Version : Help with levelling / balancing new spells please?



Altair_the_Vexed
2007-12-22, 10:56 AM
I've made up three spells for the Wizard / Sorcerer list (and probably Bards, maybe they might get into the Assassins' or others' lists...) - can you help me out with some balance and levelling?

So far, I'm thinking that Message Alarm should be at least 2nd (similarly to other detection spells), Intercept Messages should be 5th and Scry on Messages should be 6th.

Magical Message Alarm
Comp: VSM. Casting Time: 1 standard action. Range: Medium (100ft +10ft / level). Duration: 1 hour per level. Save: none. SR: no
Detects magical messages (for example, from the spells Message, Sending, Dream, etc, or spell-like abilities, or message-sending magical items) being sent or received within range of the caster. Location of message may be determined by concentration for one round.
Mtl Comp / Focus: a crystal bound with wire.

Intercept Magical Messages
Comp: VSM. Casting Time: 1 standard action. Range: Medium (100ft +10ft / level). Duration: 1 min per level. Save: Will negates, see below. SR: Yes.
Diverts magical messages (for example, from the spells Message, Sending, Dream, etc, or spell-like abilities, or message-sending magical items) sent or received within the range to the caster, who can understand the message as easily as described in the messaging spell's description. The sender of the message gets a Will save to successfully send their message. If the sender fails the save, the caster intercepts the message instead of the sender's intended recipient, who receives nothing, and the sender will be unaware that the message has been intercepted (except through the normal operation of their messaging spell - if the recipient should be able to respond, for example). If the sender makes their save, the subtle struggle of wills will alert the sender that an interception has been attempted. The caster is unable to utilise any features of the intercepted messaging spell that require an action on the recipient's part, such as replying.
Mtl Comp / Focus: a crystal bound with wire.

Scry on Magical Messages
Comp: VSM. Casting Time: 1 standard action. Range: Medium (100ft +10ft / level). Duration: Concentration. Save: Will negates. SR: yes.
Allows magical messages (for example, from the spells Message, Sending, Dream, etc, or spell-like abilities, or message-sending magical items) sent or received within range of the caster to be overheard. The caster can understand the message as easily as described in the messaging spell's description. The sender of the message gets a Will save to successfully send their message without eavesdropping. If the sender fails the save, the caster overhears the message and the sender will be unaware that the message has been scryed on. No matter what the result of the sender's save, the intended recipient will receive the message as normal. The caster is unable to utilise any features of the intercepted messaging spell that require an action on the recipient's part, such as replying, but may eavesdrop on any replies allowed by the sender's spell.
Mtl Comp / Focus: a crystal bound with wire

Altair_the_Vexed
2007-12-23, 08:04 AM
So - if no-one's posted any suggestions, can I assume my level suggestions are about right..?

Altair_the_Vexed
2007-12-25, 06:34 PM
Here's another Arcane spell for the Sorcerer or Wizard list:


Veil of Ignorance
Transmutation? Enchantment? (Mind-affecting)
Level: 2?
Components: V S M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Area: 200 ft radius, centred on you
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: Will negates (See below)
Spell Resistance: Yes

You change your demeanour and aura, becoming apparently uninteresting and insignificant, taking on the intangible social aura of something to be avoided, or the subconscious taint of a source of irritation, like an unpleasant chore to a lazy apprentice or a minor infraction to a town guard on his way home after a long tiring night. People don't want to notice you.
Spot and Listen checks made against you are at a -20 penalty. If you are spotted or heard by someone without breaking your concentration, the spell continues to affect others, but no longer affects those who have noticed you.
Fey creatures and creatures of animal intelligence get a Will save to negate the penalty.

I thought of this one ages ago when I read Douglas Adams' So Long and Thanks for All the Fish - the "Someone Else's Problem" Field was what suggested it. I was reminded that I hadn't written it up for 3.x by the witches in His Dark Materials.

What level should that be, d'you think? Is it Transmutation, Enchantment, or what?

Stycotl
2007-12-26, 08:15 PM
i like veil of ignorance. it reminds me of the arcane background from white wolf's mage game. i have been looking for some kind of DnD replacement for that background. nice spell. but for a continuous +20 bonus, i'd make it at least 3rd level. and i personally would make it a transmutation effect, though with a persuasive enough fluff wording you could make it any school you wanted.

the others are pretty cool too. i like the eavesdropping one. 2nd level seems fair to me, though maybe 3rd.

the interception one seems tricky to me. i would either have it work once and make it a 3rd or 4th level spell, or keep it as an ongoing effect like you have worded and make it 6th level or so. and i would probably let the intercepter have access to spell triggers and such on his end of the intercepted spell, unless they were super-secret or something, or in a language he can't identify.

and the alarm seems good to me as a 2nd level spell.

these levels are off the top of my head. in order to really analyze them, you would have to compare them to scry-type/message-type spells of various levels.

aaron out.