Not a purchasable side effect in MY game!
First up for today, it’s a quick answer to one of the more common Eclipse questions – how a spellcaster can modify how particular groups of spells work.
Sometimes that’s merely special effects, and so doesn’t actually require a power; it simply requires the consent of your game master. You want all your spells to have a “green flame” aspect to them? That doesn’t really do anything? So be it. These are fantasy games. Looking cool, exotic, outright weird, or appallingly evil, is all free.
A lot of characters, however, want something that actually makes a difference.
- They may want their fire spells to operate underwater – call it Phosphorescent Mastery.
- They may want their ice spells to briefly paralyze those they damage – call it Glacial Wind.
- They may want to be able to cast spells that normally require plants to work and have them grow their own plants – call it Green Thumb.
- They may want their fire spells to actually set things on fire and to leave clouds of smoke – call it Incendiary Mania.
They may want hundreds of different things.
Fortunately, in Eclipse, that’s really, really, easy to set up.
Practically any modification you want on a spell can be produced by one of the Metamagical Theorems. Buying the ability to apply a couple of levels of free metamagic – enough to tweak the spells in a particular category to do something unusual – is straightforward.
Purchase the appropriate Metamagical Theorem (6 CP) and two levels of Streamline (12 CP). Specialize and Corrupt both of those items to reduce the cost; only to apply a specific +2 spell level modifier to a particular – and relatively narrow – group of spells.
That will suffice in the vast majority of cases – and at a net cost of only 6 CP, the same as any normal feat. So go right ahead. Give your spellcaster some interesting specialty or option. Make his or her favorite spells a bit more powerful – and make both him and them thoroughly distinctive. Don’t make playing pieces. Make CHARACTERS.
Eclipse: The Codex Persona is available in a Freeware PDF Version, in Print, and in a Paid PDF Version that includes Eclipse II (245 pages of Eclipse races, character and power builds, items, relics, martial arts, and other material) and the web expansion.
The Practical Enchanter can be found in a Print Edition (Lulu), an Electronic Edition (RPGNow), and a Shareware Edition (RPGNow). There’s an RPGNow Staff Review too.
Related Articles
- Dramatic Spell Research and Radius Potions (ruscumag.wordpress.com)
- Eclipse d20 – Casting while Grappled (ruscumag.wordpress.com)
- D20 and Megalithic Magic (ruscumag.wordpress.com)
- Spell Research – Changing Spell Types (ruscumag.wordpress.com)
Filed under: Background, d20, Game Rules Tagged: | Characters, Classless d20, d20, d20 Point Buy, Magic, Role Playing Game, RPG, Spells
Heh. Some time I am going to have to try this with an idea that I have been playing around with since 2e- damaging spells combined with monster summoning spells. The damage represents the flesh lost to create the creature.
I think you get the best creep factor with transmuting your targets flesh into swarms of dangerous bugs or other small menaces. Given that practically all the players will have seen the newer “Mummy” movies, they have some ready-to-go imagery buried in their memories when you describe the effect, and they’re all going to be well aware of how unpleasant it is to be swarmed by bugs.
The problem is Summon Swarm and Insect Plague suck (and don’t get me started on Creeping Doom). They weren’t that great in 1/2e and they weren’t improved in 3e (sort of like pyrotechnics).
Eh, I will come up with something.
Ah well. When you’re inventing your own spells, there’s nothing preventing you from creating a bunch of flesh-devouring, virulently poisonous, scorpion-things that grow to be the size of a horse during the round the spell is cast.
That’s still just a conjoined set of spells (damage plus summon giant scorpions). The “made from the flesh lost to the damaging spell” and “grows in moments” parts are just special effects, and those are free.
Of course, you could summon whatever you want and just have it look like giant scorpions – but they aren’t at all a bad choice for their CR. Vermin usually have fairly good combat stats to make up for their general lack of other abilities.
I don’t think you’re looking closely enough at any fo the above. Summon Swarm and Insect Plague were absolute murder against spellcasters, and a Druid could easily play keepaway against most melee enemies while whittling them down with such spells.
Creeping Doom was the single most deadly spell in the game, mitigated only by the fact that you could avoid the worst with magical armor. This was quite often of no help whatsoever to the Thief, Wizard, or another Druid depending on how generous (or not) the GM was.
The spells did lose a little in 3rd edition, but honestly, who cares? The Druid was monstrously powerful in the hands of a wise player.
However, none of that matters now. It’s not a “problem” if you don’t like the aforementioned spells. You’re combining a damage effect and a summon effect. Nothing wrong with either, and you can base them off of any spell you want.
Amen on Druids. Very strong class. A metamagic theorem to allow control over an otherwise uncontrollable spell would be great (ie Swarm, Cloudkill etc)
Secondly though, I was thinking of a Metamagic Theorem that allows one to modify the target type of a spell.
Some Psionic Powers have it as an augment (Charm, Psionic for instance allows you to change to animal, fey, etc for 2cp or more)
Found ‘racial’ spell feat but not quite right.
My thinking is:
“Racial Metamagic”
Change the target type of spell.
Any other ‘living’ natural target: +1 Spell Level (humanoid, elf, animal, etc)
Any ‘monstrous’ version: +2 SL (Ie Monstrous Humanoid) – this equaits to Hold Person (Level 2 Cleric) to Hold Monster (Level 4 spell)
Any non-local: +4 SL (Outsider, Elemental, etc)
What you think?
Well, there are two ways to go about that;
If you want to increase the range of creatures that can be affected – usually going from ordinary creatures with no special innate magics (“Persons”) to “Monsters”, or expanding a spell that normally only affects Animals to more intelligent or somewhat-magical creatures “Magical Beasts”) you’re upgrading it’s power level to bypass whatever-it-is that normally stops if from affecting such targets. That’s the Lacing Metamagic, with one or more levels of the Bypass option.
To control an otherwise uncontrollable spell can be tricky, since it depends a lot on what the spell does. Summon Swarm is a summoning, so if you wanted to control what it does you need to influence the creatures which make it up. Given that most Summonings do include some influence, and you just want to expand on that part of the spell, it would probably be simplest to use the Amplify metamagic. Cloudkill simply creates a cloud, but evidently includes some component that keeps it moving in a particular direction rather than with the wind. Ergo, Amplify again – possibly adding a level of Stabilize (the +1 spell level option under Obliging will do) to make it actively chase your enemies or creep under doors and such. Fora third example, a Wall of Fire has some minor component that holds it’s form and makes it’s sides different. Either of those could be amplified – for example, making an Obliging Wall of Fire that opens holes for your friends to shoot and move through.
If you want to limit a spell to particular groups of targets – say, producing a Fireball that only burned elves – there’s a discussion of doing that over HERE.
I hope that helps!
The costs there depends greatly on the setting. I see no reason normal d20 magic shouldn’t be able to identify targets – but only hurting specific races is tougher. The key issue is in area-effect magic, where you’d best get creative in explaining why the giant explosion now targets only the goblins and not the party’s orcs or humans. That said, we already have the ability to shape your magical effects in Eclipse, so it’s not impossible.
I’d be much more willing to allow it on spells which only target living creatures. Further, it would be easier to target only weird creatures like Outsiders than, say, a specific variety of humanoid – I would reverse your chart of costs to start. Note, too, that Hold Monster can afect anything. It isn’t a spell with metamagic to limit it, but a more powerful, more flexible spell straight off.
Cool stuff. Thanks Editorial :)
Mainly thought of it for charms and the like rather than big fireballs and damage.
Sleep, Hold Person, Charm Person, that kind of thing.
There are a few spells to that target enemies only which is cool :)