Spell Ideas

[JesterOI]

Looks like my earlier post about ideas for spells got deleted, I'll repost here:

Some ideas as to what focusing in a school could do for some spells...

Stoneskin: focusing in Abj could increase the +5 reduction and increase the dmg cap.
Example:
Focus = +6 reduction, 125dmg cap
GFocus = +7 reduction, 150dmg cap
EFocus = +8 reduction, 175dmg cap

Greater Stoneskin: focusing in Transmutation could do same as above.
Example:
Focus = +6 reduction, 200dmg cap
GFocus = +7 reduction, 250dmg cap
EFocus = +8 reduction, 300dmg cap

Premonition: focusing in Divination could increase the +5 reduction and give bonus to the 10dmg/lvl amount
Example:
Focus = +6 reduction, 12dmg/lvl
GFocus = +7 reduction, 14dmg/lvl
EFocus = +8 reduction, 16dmg/lvl

Direct Damage spells in general could have an increase in their dmg/lvl as well.
Focus in Necro for Horrid Wilting for example:
Base = 1d8
Focus = 1d10 or 1d8+2
GFocus = 1d12 or 1d8+4
EFocus = 2d8 or 1d8+6

BullStr, Cat's, Endurance, etc.
For each focus feat in Transmutation the bonus ability amount increases by 1.
BullStr Example:
Base = 1d4+1
Focus = 1d4+2
GFocus = 1d4+3
EFocus = 1d4+4


Will think of more later, gotta go eat some dinner now

[Binkyuk]

good ideas for boosting the DR spells, but boosting direct damage spells based on focus i'm not sure about. the problem is that they cap at 20ish, but you can have all 3 focus feats by 21 so that doesn't actually solve the main problem with them.

[Alkapwn]

I agree with all but the direct dmg. Thats overthetop. I like the Transmutation stuff i was wonder'd what could be beneficial about taking those focus feats
I agree the direct dmg spells could us a little kick for mob type spells but It would put the balance in casters favor alot. Which already is a pretty awesome class in all regards pvp,mobkillin,Partybuffer etc etc.

[CrazyJ]

Divination and Enchantment both could use some boosts as schools...

[Binkyuk]

the only reason enchantment sucks is because all the spells have saves and saves in general go way higher than DCs at epic, but IMO that's better thought about in general terms than in terms of enchantment foci.

divination focus really doesn't do much right now. maybe make the power word spells work on higher HP (and stun last longer) with divination focus.
(while we're at it maybe make them scale by making them affect a creature if it has less than caster level*X HP.)

[watchwood]

I, for one, would love to see more scalable spells, thought the DD spell bonuses should probably not be quite that high.

[P. Fricebottle]

Transmutation is actually a strong school, if you know how to use it right. Like Tenser's Transformation for a spellword build, a Flesh to Stone build, Time Stop, etc. I think the schools like Enchantment need more boosts.

Stoneskin, Greater Stoneskin, and Premonition are already great buffing spells as is. I think we're trying to balance the Mage in PvP Jester . Also Necro focus is awesome anyway with insta-death spells, I mean really. You see a ton of Necromantic mages as is.

The Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength, and other ability enhancers would be interesting but the +12 cap wouldn't be too helpful. With Epic Focus, max Endurance would give +8. I know of a couple of belts that give +6 and such, so a lot of it would go to waste. Also it would nullify the need to take Empower Spell.

[MasterYoda]

I agree with jester on the damage spells for mages. I also understand they shouldn't be overpowered.

mabey instead of horids and igms gtting a bost y not more convienient spells like fireball and chain lightning scaling with level.

at least elemental damage can be resisted and usually has a save for it too. mages post epic vs mobs suck... there awesome support for haste and ii and that's about it.

spell ideas of my own.

Black Blade of disaster:

make it a weapon enchant.

just spell:

+5 ab 5 neg damage

focus:

+6 ab 7 neg damage

greater focus:

+7 ab 9 neg damabe

epic focus:

+8 ab 13 neg damage

also give it a on hit confusion

dc 10+ 1/2 caster levels rounded up for a max of 30 dc

this I think would be a good adition for summoning mages and would help promote those pure class builds

I think armor skin should increase as well.

+1 nat ac every 5 levels after 5th.

so it will get a innitial +3 then +7 for +10 nat to undead summons.

[CrazyJ]

this I think would be a good adition for summoning mages and would help promote those pure class builds

Except for the fact that most of the neutral summons don't have weapons...

[MasterYoda]

what if it was a straight char buff...

not so much a weapon enchant?

problem solved.

granted then summons with weapons would be stackable with this but it would make the saalad and mummydust more worth while

[JesterOI]

In general I think adding dmg according to focus to direct damage spells is a good idea, the only question is how much?

+1 dmg / focus / dmg die
Example: Fireball
Base 1d6
Focus 1d6+1
GFocus 1d6+2
Efocus 1d6+4
Fireball would do 10d6+40 with EFocus
Horrid Wilting would do 25d8+100dmg with EFocus (consider horrid CAN'T be empowered or maxed)


Change Grease so that multiple spells from same mage don't stack on same area. (This could help with spamming the spell and causing lag)
But with Focus Conj. the spell cause extra rolls per round for the target.
Base 1 reflex save required
Focus 2 reflex saves required
GFocus 3 reflex saves required
EFocus 4 reflex saves required AND saves are triggered same round spell is cast, not the round after.
If any single save is failed by the target, it drops.

Mage Armor
Base 4 AC (1deflection, 1natural, 1dodge, 1armor)
Focus 5 AC (same as above, but +2 dodge)
GFocus 6 AC (+3dodge)
EFocus 7 AC (+4dodge) AND 10% physical dmg immunity (for each of the 3 dmg types)

Darkness
Base - Whatever it is now
Focus -1ab for enemies targetting friendlies in the darkness plus Base effect
GFocus -2ab
EFocus -3ab

Elemental Dmg Protection spells (Resist Elements, Energy Buffer, etc.)
Focus +20 to dmg cap
GFocus +40 to dmg cap
Efocus +75 to dmg cap

Haste (transmutation) / Mass Haste (enchantment)
Focus +2ab
GFocus +2ab, +2ac (dodge)
Efocus +2ab, +2ac, +2reflex, and a 2nd Extra Attack (2 extra attacks total)

Neg Energy Burst
Focus +10 dmg to dmg cap, +2 STR dmg
GFocus +20 dmg cap, +4 STR dmg
EFocus +30 dmg cap, +6 STR dmg (16STR dmg total at level 40)

Enchantment Spells
Focus +1round duration / 6 casterlvls
GFocus +1round / 5 casterlvls
EFocus +1round / 4 casterlvls AND Spells Skip Immunity on creatures < or = casterlvl

[Metis]

1 thing to remember any changes also effect npc spells, just a friendly reminder

[Binkyuk]

it's not that adding damage bonuses to damage spells for foci is a bad idea, it's just that it doesn't solve the #1 problem which is that they max at 20. you can have all 3 foci by 21, so you're just making the level 20 'hump' bigger without solving the underlying problem.

re: enchantment focus bypassing immunities and boosting duration - the problem is saves, not duration or immunities (all immunities in NS4 can be defeated with a mords and abj foci, then you also synergy between schools, which is cool).

grease is already boosted by conj focus by it's save.

is negaburst actually capped here? according to nwnwiki bioware forgot that minor detail.

the main problem with SS, GSS and Prem. (and ethereal visage) is that their DR is X/+5 so it's useless after a certain level. boosting the enhancement needed to get through is a great idea.

Turning Black Blade into a weapon enchant I *love*. there are few high level weapon enchants, but there are already loads of high level summons anyway.

I have mixed feelings about enhancing Haste - it's indispensible enough as it is.

[JesterOI]

Never realised Mord's removes mind immune from Ice Giants and Dwarves.

[CrazyJ]

1 thing to remember any changes also effect npc spells, just a friendly reminder

So does this mean that my lowbies in MA won't get instakilled by Medusas/etc., just badly slowed now? If so, good.


I think part of the problem is that WOTC or Bioware (whoever) changed a lot of things when moving from 2 to 3.5, such as saves and HP progression, but failed to update most of the direct-damage spells. Back in BG2, a level 20 mage would have, at most, 120 hp (20d4+2/level, as the con modifier varied by class); a level 20 fighter, at most 280 hp. Fireball maxed at 10d10 damage, just as it does now. Look at NWN, and a mage is likely to have 180 hp at 20 (20d4+toughness + con 18 after belt), and a fighter ~ 320hp (20d10+tough + con 20)--yet even with more hp out there, fireball, and most of the other damage spells, are only as powerful as they were in 2nd ed (or in BG2, which is what I know). The problem is that, in the old system, after level 20, everyone just gained 3 hp/level, making those damage spells still able to knock off a good % of someone's hp. In NWN, a level 40 mage will have 400 hp, and a fighter 600-800 (vs 380+- in the old system).
The damage spells just don't scale to keep up with that, or with the saves (which in BG2 are fixed after 20).

Suggestion: Increase saves on some (but not all) spells by (Casterlevel-7)/5. This increases spell DCs by a max of 6. The save gains in Epic total up to 10, so this doesn't bring the DCs fully up--but casters will be taking focus feats and more stat points to help their DCs some, too.

Similarly, capped damage spells can simply have an added 1dx of damage for every 3 levels over the cap... so that a fireball cast by a level 25 mage will do 15d10 damage rather than 10d10.

Horrid Wilting just needs its damage die changed from d8 to d10. It used to be the most lethal AOE spell in BG2 before epic.... in NWN it's pathetic because it does a max of 100 damage at a time when everyone's got several hundred HP.