A new 6th level spell (not the poll yet) Options

[Sikret]

Before I create the main poll to choose the replacement for Mislead spell, I want to gather suggestions to be the candidates and options of the poll. So, feel free to send your suggestions here.

So far, I have thought of three possible spells. My own favorite one (so far) is the third one below:

1- Moster Summoning 4:

Advantages: A classic 6th level spell form pnp. Easy to make and not controversial at all.

Disadvantages: There are already a few summoning spells among the 6th level spells; so this spell can hardly encourage the player to choose it.

2- Improved Enchanted Weapon:

An improved version of the 4th level spell, "Enchanted Weapon". This spell will create +4 weapons but for much shorter duration compared to the 4th level spell which creates +3 weapons which remain for a long time.

Advantages: This spell can be a great help for players who don't have +4 weapons for when they unexpectedly encounter an enemy who requires +4 (or better) weapons to hit. The scrolls of this spell can also be used as upgrade ingredients to forge powerful weapons.

Disadvantages: The spell will severely decrease the importance of +4 weapons and artifacts in the game. If every 12th level mage is capabale of fabricating +4 weapons, what's the significance of artifacts and relics. It will also decrease the significance of those powerful foes which are immune to +3 weapons. For these reasons, this choice is my least favorite one so far, but feel free to argue for it if you think it's a good choice.

3- Giant Strength:

An improved version of the second level spell, "Strength". This spell grants the strength of a giant type to the recipient for its duration or until dispelled successfully. A 12th level mage can raise the recipient's strength to the strength of a Hill giant (19); a 14th level mage can increase the strength to that of a Stone Giant (20); a 16th level mage can create the strength of a Frost Giant (21); an 18th level mage can increase the recipient's strength to that of a Fire Giant (22) and a 20th level mage can create the strength of a Cloud Giant (23).

Advantages: Potions of Giant Strength are relatively rare (compared to other types of potions) in the game and this spell can excellently work as a replacement for those rare potions.

Disadvantages: As the game proceeds, the party will have items which grant permanent giant strengths and this spell may gradually become less useful.

Please, comment on these options and also offer your own suggestions. After having enough discussions here and collecting the best possible options, I will create a final poll to decide over the new spell.

As in the case of previous similar threads for new spells, any suggestions for a new spell which can lower enemies' resistances (such as resistances to elemental and physical damage types) won't be accepted; so, please don't suggest that kind of spells.

This post has been edited by Sikret: Jan 8 2008, 10:23 AM

[rbeverjr]

At sixth level, we are rich in great spells. I think that Improved Haste, PfMW, and PfME are often more useful than Mislead. Of all the great spells, I think that PfMW is easily the most unbalanced and that it has really distorted the play of the game. In virtually all tactical mods, you can expect the spamming of PfMW, sometimes through uninterruptible scrolls. This becomes a serious issue when the monsters have innate immunity to normal weapons (such as liches).

I kind of like Mislead as my favorite way of dealing with beholders. It also had a great possibility of allowing your bard to sing (a clone) and fight. (I don’t believe in stacking song effects with multiple clones, however.) Why can’t bards sing and fight at the same time? In my army, everyone fights. If Mislead goes, then bards become even less a desirable choice to me despite the love Sikret has shown Haer’ Dalis. I would suggest keeping Mislead and assigning it perhaps a shorter duration. Maybe 4 rds +1 rd/3 levels?

I don’t particularly like any of the proposed spell choices because they simply don’t compare to the other choices at level 6. The only one that I would find particularly useful is the second choice (+4 weapons). That’s probably a decent idea, as almost all of the weapons are +3 or less in SoA. Who wants to be frustrated with a monster simply because it must have a +4 weapon and you don’t have one?

The third option, strength, probably wouldn’t be so useful because the enemies will always successfully remove magic – up until the time you are high level and have items of permanent strength enhancement. (I really want to use my mages for direct offense in battles rather than putting back stripped buffs.)

This post has been edited by rbeverjr: Jan 10 2008, 02:49 PM