Quote:
Jack Simth said:
Douglas is thinking about running a 5th level game (not started, but apparently mostly set up to run).
|
That's Ashton, not me.
Quote:
Jack Simth said:
However, Medium range, VSM, 15 gp MC, randomly one of four or five elements, 20-foot spread, Reflex half and SR works. Starting to push the bounds, but it works.
Why? Well, it has inherent drawbacks ... you can't prep your allies for it with such spells as Resist Energy or Protection from Energy as you could with Fireball or Lightning Bolt; it does have an extra save (sort of) for any creature with some kind of elemental immunity (1 in 6 chance of no damage to a Red Dragon, for instance), as well as having the inherent drawback to most area-effect spells: can't really use it much after your allies have mixed it up with your opponents. Now, if the element was chosen, those would not apply, as you could prep allies or be sure of dealing something to the Red Dragon - but that's not the case here, so it works.
|
Take out the randomness of the damage type and the expensive MC, and it is almost exactly on par with Cone of Cold. I don't think making the damage type random is worth any adjustment at all, as long as sonic is left out of the lineup. Either the damage type doesn't matter, or you're giving up the
certainty of getting maximum effect against foes with known vulnerabilities in exchange for having a
chance of it working well against anything.