Bedazzle Spell 3.5

[Cranthis]

Fair warning: This is pretty silly.

Bedazzle

Conjuration (Creation)

Level: Any arcane casting class 0 (or level 1, should a class not get 0's)
Component: Somatic
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Range: 10 feet
Target, Area, or Effect: See text.
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None.
Spell Resistance: No.

Bedazzle does exactly what it sounds like. Coat the target in silly patterns of small fake jewels. The target can be anything living or not. If a living creature is targeted, the fake jewels generally fall off over time. However, constructs and undead must have them removed by someone/something else, as would normal objects (Living Constructs and Intelligent Undead are exempt from this). Removing them requires 1 minute per 1 foot cube of material and a dc 5 strength check.

The actual target of this spell is one creature or object. If you choose object, it coats the entire object, i.e you could coat an entire tree. If you choose a creature, it only covers there visible skin, i.e. if someone was wearing gloves, it wouldn't cover there hands, but it would cover there arms, if the skin is showing. You may target an object held or worn by a creature as well.

The jewels created by this spell are easily discerned as fake, it requires only a dc 5 appraise check.

[Frathe]

I immediately thought of glitterdust.

[Cranthis]

Glitterdust has an an intended practical use. This does not.

[Frathe]

Originally Posted by Cranthis

Glitterdust has an an intended practical use. This does not.

True, true. It just reminded me.

Actually, it wouldn't be a big stretch for those fake jewels to provide a (small) armor bonus.

[Jormengand]

Originally Posted by Frathe

True, true. It just reminded me.

Actually, it wouldn't be a big stretch for those fake jewels to provide a (small) armor bonus.

Yes it would.

Let's take a door. This door has an AC of about 7 (4 armour, -5 dex, -2 size, 10 basic). Now, five wizards of first level (Leadership, much?) use all three of their bedazzle spells on the door, each. This means that the door now has an AC of 22. They rest, and do it again, bringing it to 37 - this basically means that you need a fighter of at least about 8th level to be able to hit the damn thing.

Now consider the Big Bad of a low-level one-shot. The Big Bad's front door is probably more heavily armoured but bigger than the aforementioned door, so let's give it an AC of 4 again. The Big Bad probably has at least 3 arcane casters handy to bedazzle the door. After just 24 hours, the door has an AC of 25, making it almost impossible for even the party fighter to score a hit on the door.

Now let's have a look at a war machine in a low-magic setting, where only very low-level wizards exist. It probably has an AC of about -10. But that's okay, because every eight hours you can bump the AC up by 3 even with a level 1 wizard. In a day, that's nine, in a week, forty-five. That means that in a week, you have a warmachine which is nigh impossible to hit even in close range.

Of course, if you gave this AC bonus a type then all the above would be irrelevant, but I like nerd rants. :D

[Frathe]

Originally Posted by Jormengand

Yes it would.

Let's take a door. This door has an AC of about 7 (4 armour, -5 dex, -2 size, 10 basic). Now, five wizards of first level (Leadership, much?) use all three of their bedazzle spells on the door, each. This means that the door now has an AC of 22. They rest, and do it again, bringing it to 37 - this basically means that you need a fighter of at least about 8th level to be able to hit the damn thing.

Now consider the Big Bad of a low-level one-shot. The Big Bad's front door is probably more heavily armoured but bigger than the aforementioned door, so let's give it an AC of 4 again. The Big Bad probably has at least 3 arcane casters handy to bedazzle the door. After just 24 hours, the door has an AC of 25, making it almost impossible for even the party fighter to score a hit on the door.

Now let's have a look at a war machine in a low-magic setting, where only very low-level wizards exist. It probably has an AC of about -10. But that's okay, because every eight hours you can bump the AC up by 3 even with a level 1 wizard. In a day, that's nine, in a week, forty-five. That means that in a week, you have a warmachine which is nigh impossible to hit even in close range.

Of course, if you gave this AC bonus a type then all the above would be irrelevant, but I like nerd rants. :D

...Yeah, if you give it a type, then it won't stack with itself and all of that will be impossible.

[Jormengand]

Originally Posted by Frathe

...Yeah, if you give it a type, then it won't stack with itself and all of that will be impossible.

Silence, mortal!

[nxwtypx]

I'd roll the function of this spell into prestidigitation, after considering the "Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial. The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components..." part.

It's fine as a 0th level effect.

[Cranthis]

Originally Posted by nxwtypx

I'd roll the function of this spell into prestidigitation, after considering the "Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial. The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components..." part.

It's fine as a 0th level effect.

The counter balance to Presto is anything it creates last for a single hour. This is instantaneous, but only has a singular affect, where as Presto has many.

Edit: And I updated the casting time, as I had forgotten it.

[erikun]

I note that you can cover some absurdly large objects with this spell, thanks to is coating an entire object. Trees can grow to be hundreds of feet tall and dozens of feet in diameter. They aren't even the largest living plants in existence, either. That is an absolutely massive number of sequins to produce, and if you have an easy way of removing them (a healthy breeze would probably knock them off a tree) then you get to deal with 0-level spells creating possibly tons of matter.

I also note that Warforged and intelligent undead (mummies, vampires, liches) are somehow magically unable to remove said objects from themselves, and must resort to having someone else do so.

[Cranthis]

Originally Posted by erikun

I note that you can cover some absurdly large objects with this spell, thanks to is coating an entire object. Trees can grow to be hundreds of feet tall and dozens of feet in diameter. They aren't even the largest living plants in existence, either. That is an absolutely massive number of sequins to produce, and if you have an easy way of removing them (a healthy breeze would probably knock them off a tree) then you get to deal with 0-level spells creating possibly tons of matter.

Tons of matter worth nothing. I thought about adding an amount limit, but the point is its silliness.

I also note that Warforged and intelligent undead (mummies, vampires, liches) are somehow magically unable to remove said objects from themselves, and must resort to having someone else do so.

I added in an exemption for Warforged and intelligent undead.

[Frathe]

Originally Posted by Cranthis

Tons of matter worth nothing. I thought about adding an amount limit, but the point is its silliness.

But what if it falls on someone? Or you drop it on them?

[Cranthis]

Originally Posted by Frathe

But what if it falls on someone? Or you drop it on them?

Thats up to each dm to decide, but it should probably remain harmless

[Debihuman]

The text could use a little tightening:

Bedazzle coats the target in silly patterns of small fake jewels. If a living creature is targeted, the fake jewels fall off over time.* Living creatures as well as Living Constructs and Intelligent Undead may remove the gems themselves. Mindless Undead, Constructs and Objects must have the gems removed for them. Removing the fake gems requires DC 5 strength check and takes 1 minute per 1-foot cube. The gems do not adhere to armor, clothing, etc. so only a creature's natural skin may be covered in fake gems. For example, bare arms are bedazzled but not gloved hands.

The jewels created by this spell are easily discerned as fake, requiring only a DC 5 Appraise check.
________________________

*How long does this take? An hour? 1/2 hour? Do they fall off faster if the creature is moving?

What effect does being coated in fake gems have? If it has no effect in game other than fluff, it's not worth casting this spell. If a bedazzled creature can use the gems to dazzle opponents, that would be cool. It would be useful to cast on an ally in that case.

You could say:
If a bedazzled creature is within 5 feet of a bright light source, it reflects that light in a 10-foot radius, dazzling anyone within range for as long as the light is reflected. Creatures that are immune to dazzling are also immune to this.

Casting time should be one standard action. Most spells require 1 standard action to cast.

There should probably be a saving throw to avoid being bedazzled. Since the creature isn't harmed, it should be Saving Throw: Harmless. Obviously willing creatures could choose to fail their save and even creatures with spell resistance could suppress that quality.

SR should apply as well.

Otherwise, it looks pretty good.

Debby

[Cranthis]

Thank you for the advice, but you are adding on an entire level or seriousness on something meant to just be silly fun. Also, you can target worn and held equipment (Edited this in)