Meteor swarm plus spawn...(3.5 spell revamp+more spells) PEACH

[bobthe6th]

So I was looking at the meteor swarm revamp thread, and I had an idea. As this was off the topic of the thread starter, I figured this needed its own thread...

Lesser Meteor Swarm: Evocation [Force][Fire]
Level:Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time:one standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: one or more meteors.
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: Reflex against prone
Spell Resistance:Yes

Immediately upon completion of the spell, and once per round thereafter, you may launch a ball of force(called a meteor). This meteor flies out from your space up to it's maximum range. You may target a foe but hitting them requires a ranged touch attack. foes struck by a meteor are take 1d4/2 caster levels points of force damage, and make a reflex save or be knocked prone.

You need not call a meteor immediately; other actions, even spellcasting, can be performed. However, each round after the first you may use a standard action (concentrating on the spell) to call a meteor. You may call a total number of meteors equal to your caster level(maximum 10).


Meteor Swarm: Evocation [Fire]
Level:Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S
Casting Time:one minute
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect: one or more 10ft burst(s).
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Reflex against prone
Spell Resistance:Yes

Immediately upon completion of the spell, and once per round thereafter, you may launch a fiery meteor. This meteor flies out from your space up to it's maximum range. You may target a foe but hitting them requires a ranged touch attack. Foes struck by a meteor are dealt 1d4/2 caster levels force damage, and must make a reflex save or be knocked prone. The meteor then explodes, dealing 1d6/2 caster levels points of half fire/half force damage in a 10ft burst, requiring a reflex save for half damage.

You need not call a meteor immediately; other actions, even spellcasting, can be performed. However, each round after the first you may use a standard action (concentrating on the spell) to call a meteor. You may call a total number of meteors equal to your caster level(maximum 15).


Greater Meteor Swarm: Evocation [Fire]
Level:Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, S
Casting Time:one minute
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect: one or more 20ft burst(s).
Duration: 24 hours
Saving Throw: Reflex against prone and half area damage
Spell Resistance:Yes

Immediately upon completion of the spell, and once per round thereafter, you may launch a fiery meteor. This meteor flies out from your space up to it's maximum range. You may target a foe but hitting them requires a ranged touch attack. Foes struck by a meteor are dealt 2d4 force damage per caster level, and must make a reflex save or be knocked prone. The meteor then explodes in a twenty foot burst dealing 1d10 half fire/half force damage per caster level, allowing a reflex save for half damage and another or be knocked prone.

You need not call a meteor immediately; other actions, even spellcasting, can be performed. However, each round after the first you may use a standard action (concentrating on the spell) to call a meteor. You may call a total number of meteors equal to your caster level.


(I justify force damage as this is evocation, and therefore should be energy based. it isn't actually a ball of rock, but a ball of force with some fire inside it. and ghosts can take some damage...)

so thoughts? it is a bit different from call lightning I admit...

to powerful? to weak? lots of prone, and a good bit of force damage...
edit: messed with some wording, made damage scale better...

[Kane0]

If i may ask, why force damage and why is it static instead of dice?

Bludgeoning damage of 1d4 or even 1d6 would feel more like an evocation to me.

That said id use these in a fight for sure.

[bobthe6th]

but are they to much? I made a point to make them much weaker then an orb of the same level, but still... this would be one spell slot for blasting an entire encounter, maybe two(then the 9th is all day long... yeah the 6th needs to be hour level)


also, why bludgeoning? Evocation is energy based, so I figured energy damage was the way to go. would it be better to make it a weaker damage type and boost the damage.


also, I made it fi... ok, found the answer, be right back

edit: back. removed the fixed damage, and made the damage similer to call lightning and call lightning storm... so Kane0, would you use lesser meteor swarm instead of a fire ball? or would it be a toss up? or would that be ridiculous? My goal is to make each a toss up...

[bobthe6th]

bump for comment...

[Kane0]

Caster level -3 for an evocation seems a little small still. I mean when you get fireball at say level 5 youd be doing far more than the equal 2d4 force that meteor would get you.

Edit: Hang on, multiple meteors equal to caster level means you would get 10d4 at level 5 plus knockback. Does the target save for each meteor hitting them?

With that in mind, yes it certainly does provide a nice alternative to fireball.

[bobthe6th]

its call lightning in essence, so I call on the telekinesis rule"lots of attacks are nice, but 2d6 for each of five attack roles not equal to 10d6 damage."

so, 10d4 with 5 saves for knock back over 5 rounds, each 2d4 getting an attack roll. less damage in the end, but lots over time, with a nice rider. then normal adds burst to the picture, and greater makes it fire ball on a stick...

[tuggyne]

The language of (lesser) meteor swarm confuses me: is the force damage 1d4 for every caster level beyond 3rd, or what?

[bobthe6th]

1d4 for CL-3. so a 5th level caster deals 2d4, a 6th 3d4 and so on. It was to limit the damage as the spell has several uses before it ends...

[bobthe6th]

ok, fixed some errors, and changed the damage to scale better.

question for the playground: would shifting the spell to a ranged attack rather then a touch attack make sense?

[tuggyne]

Originally Posted by bobthe6th

question for the playground: would shifting the spell to a ranged attack rather then a touch attack make sense?

Not really. All that's necessary is that you kinda more or less tap them with one of these; armor will not help you.

Also, all of these should probably be Effect spells, not Area.

[Veklim]

Definitely Effect, not Area, yes.

You might wanna put the damage down like this:

'Foes struck by a meteor take force damage equal to 1D4 / 2 caster levels, and must succeed a reflex save or be knocked prone.'

Should make it a little easier to read. On the whole, I like it bob, it offers a reasonably utilitarian alternative to the standard Evocations of the same levels, and has the added benefit of a knockdown rider. As we both know, BFC options are a great way of adding interest to a blaster, and these do that nicely.

[bobthe6th]

Originally Posted by Veklim

Definitely Effect, not Area, yes.

fixed.

You might wanna put the damage down like this:

'Foes struck by a meteor take force damage equal to 1D4 / 2 caster levels, and must succeed a reflex save or be knocked prone.'

done to a degree.

Should make it a little easier to read. On the whole, I like it bob, it offers a reasonably utilitarian alternative to the standard Evocations of the same levels, and has the added benefit of a knockdown rider. As we both know, BFC options are a great way of adding interest to a blaster, and these do that nicely.

Well, just another level d6 in x area would be boring.

so, is the damage reasonable? should there be an option to fire more as a full round action?

[Veklim]

The damage is fine, yeah. Since a good chunk of it is force, you shouldn't have to worry about really high damage values because more od the damage will be getting through defences.

It might be an idea to allow for multiple attacks as a full attack option, keying off your BAB. Basically treat each meteor like a normal attack and grant iteratives. Offers a little more to a gish build (if it can attain 9th levels this spell chain would be awesome for such), and offers more variety it spell application.