The Gaming Den

You mean you need someone to tell you to cast polymorph?

Seriously, though, aren't buffs a little goal-specific to be categorized easily? Just as there are spells that kill people, there are buffs that serve different ends. Alter self, polymorph, and shapechange are of the few that don't limit themselves in purpose, and therefore people cry broken, even before they get into Zodar abuse.

re: Shadow Spray.

I looked at it, and it seems to me that you get a single burst of strength damage and dazing, with fort negates and the effects last for 1 round per level.

How am I reading it wrong? What rules interaction did I miss?

I looked at it, and it seems to me that you get a single burst of strength damage and dazing, with fort negates and the effects last for 1 round per level.

How am I reading it wrong? What rules interaction did I miss?

Strength Damage doesn't have a duration, it's damage. Furthermore, the Dazing effect already has its own listed duration of 1 round.

The only thing that is available to have a 1 round/level duration is the area of black tendrils. Then, like all areas of damage with a duration, it inflicts that damage once per turn.

-Username17

FrankTrollman at [unixtime wrote:1174676153[/unixtime]]

I looked at it, and it seems to me that you get a single burst of strength damage and dazing, with fort negates and the effects last for 1 round per level.

How am I reading it wrong? What rules interaction did I miss?

Strength Damage doesn't have a duration, it's damage. Furthermore, the Dazing effect already has its own listed duration of 1 round.

The only thing that is available to have a 1 round/level duration is the area of black tendrils. Then, like all areas of damage with a duration, it inflicts that damage once per turn.

-Username17

Ahhh... I get it. I must have been subconsciously acting as if it were a penalty, instead.

Thanks go out to you for writing such a good list. I recently recieved the Spell Compendium as a gift, and this has helped significantly to find the spells that I want my wizard to pay inflated prices for the following day.

Playing an Ultimate Magus, this list is expecially handy. Sculpt is practically a prerequisite to the class. Just core, looking at free sculpting of color spray, grease, and glitterdust is enough. Adding Cloud of Bewilderment and Shadowspray to this list is just awesome. It especially goes with the theme, my mage doesn't kill people, that's what fighters do.

I would like to see Wizards put more spells like FlashBurst, that have a save-or-suck combined with a "even if you save, you get part of this too" effect.

Where can I find the list of utility spells that you guys are talking about (I expect Overland Flight, Polymorph, Benign Transposition, Nerveskitter and the like)?

Here is the thread you are looking for on utility spells.

If you like cloud of bewilderment, don't forget to mention
[counturl=75]fengut[/counturl], the 1st-level single-target version.

I don't know why fengut is an illusion with a Fort save, and I prefer color spray at the level it becomes available (1st). But for characters of level 7-11, fengut is probably the best spell ever printed. I seriously would expect wizards to walk around with rods of lesser quickening just for extended fengut in every single game that spell was allowed.

-Username17

With the new SpC errata, Shadow Spray has an instantaneous duration, so it's no longer a "save or die"ish spell.

You can still spam them out to pretty decent effect, though. Anything with an AoE and a save-or-daze is pretty reasonable (since you can trade your one action for many of theirs), and the stacking Str damage can actually take people out of a fight.

Of course, having to throw down 3-4 to get that effect, instead of 1, is worse, but it's still better than most 2nd level spells.

Hey Everybody.

I saw this list of Frank's posted over at WotC/Gleemax. It's a truely fantastic resource for arcanists everywhere.

My question to you is, why did Frank list 'Major Image' as a "spell that fvckin' kills people'?

I realize that it's an awesome spell for getting enemies to waste actions on attacking the image - and for battlefield control. Perhaps that's an oblique way of stating it kills people?

All insight is welcome! Thanks.

Dig a pit. Put an image over it. Boom.

-Crissa

Yeah that works. Also you can send in "reinforcements" that will send any sane enemies packing, which is just like killing them. Or you can get them to waste actions, or in the case of mindless opponents actually simply disable them indefinitely.

It's the most versatile spell at its level, and it can remove opponents temporarily or permanently in a number of ways.

-Username17

Ability score damage/drain, poison, disease as a duration effect.. interesting...
Another possibility is a template for disease, acquired when a character fails the Fort save. They then infect others according to the template "special attack".
Pardon, random ideas..

Also, does anyone think this list of spells that etc etc has become the biggest draw of gamers to TGD?
Sure got my attention.

I think it's the Tome series, and me, Judging Eagle, Leress, Catharz, Cielingcat/Kresalak and NineInchNall linking them around at WotC.

Yeah. I was drawn here by reading the Tomes (it was hard to not laugh at work), and by getting linked by Kresalak after thinking "Wow, someone on the WotC boards who seems pretty smart and will actually just come out and say the Warlock sucks."

I clicked a link ("Variant: Warlocks that don't suck" had a link back to the Warlock Frank was working on) and found my way here. I haven't looked back since.

I came here after looking up Frank's name during a discussion about the first "dead levels" article. I never even heard of the Tomes before coming here and I read them and liked them.

Crissa at [unixtime wrote:1200099530[/unixtime]]Dig a pit. Put an image over it. Boom.

-Crissa

You're forgetting in D&D that digging a pit takes days of skill checks and thousands of GP for some stupid reason.

Count_Arioch_the_28th at [unixtime wrote:1200204914[/unixtime]]

Crissa at [unixtime wrote:1200099530[/unixtime]]Dig a pit. Put an image over it. Boom.

-Crissa

You're forgetting in D&D that digging a pit takes days of skill checks and thousands of GP for some stupid reason.

Find a pit. Problem solved.

Oh come on. Who's going to waste 1800 gp on a stupid pit?

Yeah, especially when a scroll of Disintegrate is only 1,650 gp!

4 scrolls of stone shape: 1500 gp, 60' pit.

If you can disintegrate a pit then make an illusion of ground, I put it to you that you could just do one of the following:

1. Disintegrate a pit beneath them, then and there. Fuck the illusion.

2. Jut disintegrate THEM. Seriously.

It'd Dungeons and Dragons, it's not like there aren't any pits.

-Username17

Oh I know, they're all over the place. You wouldn't believe where people decide to dig these things - in front of the goddamn grocery store, for instance. I mean, what the fuck?

But yeah. There's no reason to actually dig one ahead of time. There should be one.

And I see the better illusions as being useful more for "Here come my allies." (or "I bet you didn't know there was a Summon Monster X spell!") or for making big walls that people don't try to walk through, or surrounding golems with lava pits they won't touch, rather than hiding pits. I suppose it's because Silent Image can do that one too, whereas the others require a bit more effort.

And if you're being chased, I want to see a Silent Image of a tunnel on a wall, followed by a Dimension Door to the other side. Hilarity ensues.