[chrispedersen]

I dont believe that the attackers defenses matter - I think it is just a straightline damage applied. Sympathetic magic - you hit me for 20 damage - so if you fail the mr you take the damage.

Seems in keeping with the name of the spell and description.

I did a fair bit of testing with FFA's. I could still find no real way to make BV interesting. There aren't enough items or spells that add to BV to make it interesting - as in you can't get a high enough BV value (combined with hp and regen) to make it a viable strategy.

Although I would ask the original poster if it occured in a +magic or -magic province, where the penalty or bonus to the save might have made a difference.