Custom Spells (Pathfinder)

[Fortunato]

These are a few custom spells I've been working on for my setting.  If you have a some time I'd ask that you look them over or try them out.  Let me know what you think. There are six spells here, Chaos Blessing, Chaos Curse, Prepare Ground, Straw Man, Straw Men, and Straw Horde.

These stats are for Pathfinder.

Thank you!

Edit:  Changed Straw Man and Straw Men.  Added Straw Horde.  Still thinking about Chaos Touch.  Broke Chaos Touch apart, it is now Chaos Blessing and Chaos Curse.  Chaos Touch may still be a flavor only NPC spell but that is another matter.

Chaos Bless
School: transmutation
Level: sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: touch
Area: one creature
Duration: 1d3 rounds + 1 round / level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: yes

The affect creature is momentarily surrounded by a mild distortion, like a heat mirage.  For 1d3 rounds, at the beginning of each round before anyone has an action, one random effect from the following table will affect the creature.  

d%	Effect	d%	Effect	d%	Effect
01-08	+1 to Strength	33-40	+1 to Wisdom	63-76	+1 to Willpower Saves
09-16	+1 to Dexterity	41-48	+1 to Charisma	77-84	+1 to Fortitude Saves
17-24	+1 to Constitution	49-55	+1 to Attack Rolls	85-92	+1 to Reflex Saves
25-32	+1 to Intelligence	56-62	+1 to Damage Rolls	93-00	+1 to Initiative

All effects will expire at once when the spell ends.

Chaos Curse
School: transmutation
Level: sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: touch
Area: one creature
Duration: 1d3 rounds + 1 round / level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: yes

The affect creature is momentarily surrounded by a mild distortion, like a heat mirage.  For 1d3 rounds, at the beginning of each round before anyone has an action, one random effect from the following table will affect the creature.  

d%	Effect	d%	Effect	d%	Effect
01-08	-1 to Strength	33-40	-1 to Wisdom	63-76	-1 to Willpower Saves
09-16	-1 to Dexterity	41-48	-1 to Charisma	77-84	-1 to Fortitude Saves
17-24	-1 to Constitution	49-55	-1 to Attack Rolls	85-92	-1 to Reflex Saves
25-32	-1 to Intelligence	56-62	-1 to Damage Rolls	93-00	-1 to Initiative

All effects will expire at once when the spell ends.

Prepare Ground
School: transmutation
Level: cleric 5, druid 5, sorcerer/wizard 5
Casting Time: 1 hour
Components: V, S, M (herbs, oils, and incense worth at least 1,000 gp)
Range: touch
Area: 100-ft. radius emanating from the touched point
Duration: 3 hours/level
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

This spell aligns the magical energies of an area so the flow is more beneficial for performing rituals.  Withing the affected area, the performance DC of the ritual is lowered by 1 point.  Should the spell's duration end before the ritual is completed then any remaining concentration checks are made without the adjustment to the DC that this spell affords.  

NOTE: for more about rituals in the Middle Lands have a look here, http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,209975.msg225634.html#msg225634

Straw Man
School: transmutation
Level: bard 1, cleric 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (twine and 1 cubic yard of straw or the like)
Range: touch
Effect: one animated construct
Duration: 3 round/level
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

A bale of straw or hay or similar grass is animated.  The resulting construct is a small, dimwitted, humanoid servant that can be commanded to perform simple tasks or attack adversaries.  When the spell duration ends the magic holding the construct together slips away and it reverts to a plain pile of straw.

   Straw Construct I
      N Small construct, created from 1 cubic yard of straw
      Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense
         AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
         hp 15 (1d10+10)
         Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +0
         Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense
         Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +1 (1d4+1)
   Statistics
         Str 13, Dex 15, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 13

Straw Men
School: transmutation
Level: druid 4, sorcerer/wizard 4
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (twine and 1 cubic yard of straw or the like per construct)
Range: touch
Effect: two animated construct + 1/2 levels (max 7)
Duration: 3 rounds/level
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

One or more bales of straw or hay or similar grass is animated.  The resulting constructs are small, dimwitted, humanoid servant that can be commanded to perform simple tasks or attack adversaries.  When the spell duration ends the magic holding the constructs together slips away and they revert to plain piles of straw.

   Straw Construct II
      N Small construct, created from 1 cubic yard of straw
      Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense
         AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 Natural)
         hp 27 (3d10+10)
         Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +1
         DR 2/magic; Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense
         Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +6 (1d6+3)
   Statistics
         Str 16, Dex 18, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 19

Straw Horde
School: transmutation
Level: druid 6, sorcerer/wizard 6
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (twine and up to 3 cubic yards of straw or the like per caster level)
Range:  100-ft.
Effect: see text
Duration: see text
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

One or more bales of straw or hay or similar grass within 100 ft of the caster is animated.  The resulting constructs are dimwitted, humanoid servant that can be commanded to perform simple tasks or attack adversaries.  When the spell duration ends the magic holding the constructs together slips away and they revert to plain piles of straw.  

The horde works a little differently form the rest of the line.  To start, multiply the caster's level by three.  This is the pool that is used to "purchase" constructs for the horde.  The cost is one point for each hit die of the construct created.  The base duration is 1 round/level but that can be altered using points.  Add up to two points for each construct to increase the duration to as much as 3 rounds/level.  Any of the Straw Constructs (I to IV) can be created as part of the horde.  Example, a 12th level wizard uses Straw Horde.  The pool is therefore 36 (12 x 3=36).  The wizard could call 36 Straw Construct I's for 12 rounds.  Or 18 Straw Construct I's for 24 rounds.  Or 2 Straw Construct IV's and 3 Straw Construct II's for 36 rounds (wasting 1 point because it's not enough to buy another construct for that duration).

   Straw Construct III
      N Medium construct, created from 2 cubic yards of straw
      Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense
         AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +4 Natural)
         hp 42 (4d10+20)
         Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +1
         DR 3/magic; Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense
         Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +8 (1d8+4)
   Statistics
         Str 18, Dex 16, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +4; CMB +8; CMD 21

   Straw Construct IV
      N Large construct, created from 3 cubic yards of straw
      Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense
         AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +6 Natural)
         hp 74 (8d10+30)
         Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +2
         DR 5/magic; Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense
         Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +13 (1d10+5)
   Statistics
         Str 20, Dex 16, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +8; CMB +14; CMD 27

[Weave]

These are a few custom spells I've been working on for my setting.  If you have a some time I'd ask that you look them over or try them out.  Let me know what you think. There are four spells here, Chaos Touch, Prepare Ground, Straw Man, and Straw Men.

Sure thing. :)

Chaos Touch
School: transmutation
Level: sorcerer/wizard 2
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: touch
Area: one creature
Duration: 2d4 rounds
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: yes

The affect creature is momentarily surrounded by a mild distortion, like a heat mirage.  For the next 2d4 rounds, at the beginning of each round before anyone has an action, one random effect from the following table will affect the creature.

d%	Effect	d%	Effect	d%	Effect
01-02	Player picks (positive)	35-38	-1 to Wisdom	67-70	-1 to Willpower Saves
03-06	-1 to Strength	39-42	+1 to Wisdom	71-74	+1 to Willpower Saves
07-10	+1 to Strength	43-46	-1 to Charisma	75-78	-1 to Fortitude Saves
11-14	-1 to Dexterity	47-50	+1 to Charisma	79-82	+1 to Fortitude Saves
15-18	+1 to Dexterity	51-54	-1 to Attack Rolls	83-86	-1 to Reflex Saves
19-22	-1 to Constitution	55-58	+1 to Attack Rolls	87-90	+1 to Reflex Saves
23-26	+1 to Constitution	59-62	-1 to Damage Rolls	91-94	-1 to Initiative
27-30	-1 to Intelligence	63-66	+1 to Damage Rolls	95-98	+1 to Initiative
31-34	+1 to Intelligence			99-00	GM picks (negative)

The targeted creature can voluntarily forego the saving throw and submit to the chaos.  In that case they willingly accept the spell's result over the full duration.  Even a character with a special resistance to magic can suppress this quality and submit.

I'll be honest, I'd probably never pick this spell. It's chaotic, certainly, but it also just as easily might benefit you (and even then very slightly) as it would harm you (also slightly). I assume you intentionally left these bonuses untyped so they would stack, which is a good idea, though the likelihood of getting a significant boost or penalty from them doesn't seem likely; you'll probably get a smattering of minor bonuses and penalties. I would honestly either make them all negative or positive random effects, and/or make the effects more immediately impactive. Any of the stat boosting 2nd level spells (like Owl's Wisdom, Fox's Cunning, etc.) all boost their respective stats by 4 and lasts 1 minute per level, which is leagues better than this in terms of one of the possible bonuses. This spell is too random to really be useful in any situation, especially when other spells (Magic Weapon, Ray of Enfeeblement, etc.) make most of these effects superfluous.

Prepare Ground
School: transmutation
Level: cleric 5, druid 5, sorcerer/wizard 5
Casting Time: 1 hour
Components: V, S, M (herbs, oils, and incense worth at least 1,000 gp)
Range: touch
Area: 100-ft. radius emanating from the touched point
Duration: 3 hours/level
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

This spell aligns the magical energies of an area so the flow is more beneficial for performing rituals.  Withing the affected area, the performance DC of the ritual is lowered by 1 point.  Should the spell's duration end before the ritual is completed then any remaining concentration checks are made without the adjustment to the DC that this spell affords.

I don't know what sort of rituals take place in your setting, so maybe they're super awesome and reducing the DC by 1 is really good, but even then it's a 5th level spell to do that. 5th level spells are really good and versatile. If I knew what sort of rituals were available I'd be able to make some suggestions, but as is I think it's too minor a benefit to burn for a 5th level spell slot. Maybe it also extends the rituals duration, or increases the potency of the effect, or something.

Straw Man
School: transmutation
Level: bard 1, cleric 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (twine and 1 cubic yard of straw or the like)
Range: touch
Effect: one animated construct
Duration: 1 round/2 levels
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

A bale of straw or hay or similar grass is animated.  The resulting construct is a small, dimwitted, humanoid servant that can be commanded to perform simple tasks or attack adversaries. 

   Straw Construct I
      N Small construct
      Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense
         AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex)
         hp 15 (1d10+10)
         Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0
         Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense
         Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +1 (1d4+1)
   Statistics
         Str 13, Dex 15, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +1; CMB 0; CMD 13

This is kind of cool. It lacks the versatility of Summon Monster I, but it's a comparable combatant so it's not bad. My only concern is that the duration is half that of Summon Monster or Summon Nature's Ally I. At first I didn't notice the duration and assumed it was sort of like Unseen Servant and Summon Monster rolled into one, which is neat, but I see you didn't go with that. On top of that, there needs to be straw or grass nearby to animate it (I assume). So, it's pretty much completely worse than all the aforementioned spells. If I may, I would  suggest making the duration 2 rounds per level so it has a little oomph over summon monster/nature's ally spells but doesn't invalidate them and also doesn't tread on the toes of unseen servant's ungodly 1 hour/level duration. Overall I like the odea behind this one.

Straw Men
School: transmutation
Level: sorcerer/wizard 4
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (twine and 1 cubic yard of straw or the like per construct)
Range: touch
Effect: one animated construct/2 levels (max 6)
Duration: 2 rounds/level
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

One or more bales of straw or hay or similar grass is animated.  The resulting constructs are small, dimwitted, humanoid servant that can be commanded to perform simple tasks or attack adversaries. 

   Straw Construct II
      N Small construct
      Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense
         AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +1 Natural)
         hp 20 (2d10+10)
         Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +0
         Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense
         Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +1 (1d6+1)
   Statistics
         Str 14, Dex 17, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 15

I'm all in favor of summoning a small horde of straw men, but they honestly might be too weak. A to-hit bonus of only +1 is significantly worse than the caster of the spell's bonus, who already has the worst attack bonus in the game (it would be about a +4 assuming they have no weapon enhancements and a Str or Dex of 10 or 11), so they probably won't really hit anything, ever (and won't do much damage). That, coupled with their low AC and hit points will probably make them one-shotted or just plain ignored. At best, they'll be flanking buddies for the melee brutes, but other than that, nothing more.

Out of combat, they'd be kinda cool, at least flavorfully. Having 6 or so little straw guys scurrying about for 8 rounds or more if neat, but not neat enough that I'd want to spend a 4th level spell slot on it. Call me picky. I'd suggest upping their stats a bit, but otherwise a cool spell. Maybe strawmen should have damage reduction 5/slashing; I can't see bludgeoning or piercing weapons being that effective (unless they have a trident, in which case they could probably shovel them apart à la impromptu pitchfork :P).

I hope my criticisms weren't too harsh - you have some good ideas here, and I'd love to see what other spells you come up with :).

[Fortunato]

On Chaos Touch

I'll be honest, I'd probably never pick this spell. It's chaotic, certainly, but it also just as easily might benefit you (and even then very slightly) as it would harm you (also slightly). I assume you intentionally left these bonuses untyped so they would stack, which is a good idea, though the likelihood of getting a significant boost or penalty from them doesn't seem likely; you'll probably get a smattering of minor bonuses and penalties. I would honestly either make them all negative or positive random effects, and/or make the effects more immediately impactive. Any of the stat boosting 2nd level spells (like Owl's Wisdom, Fox's Cunning, etc.) all boost their respective stats by 4 and lasts 1 minute per level, which is leagues better than this in terms of one of the possible bonuses. This spell is too random to really be useful in any situation, especially when other spells (Magic Weapon, Ray of Enfeeblement, etc.) make most of these effects superfluous.

Excellent points.  This spell was originally two spells, Chaos Blessing and Chaos Curse.  What made me think that merging them would be better was partly due to the storyline it would be introduced under.  That being, it was used by insane worshipers of a Lovecraft inspired dark deity who all look on the chaotic element as being of paramount importance.  Looking at the description it may not be clear that by the end of the spells duration the subject would have multiple, stacking, effects.  For that reason I wouldn't want to up the duration much more.  

What do you think about making it two spells again?  Level one spells with 1d4 rounds of duration and splitting the good and bad effects out.

On Prepare Ground

I don't know what sort of rituals take place in your setting, so maybe they're super awesome and reducing the DC by 1 is really good, but even then it's a 5th level spell to do that. 5th level spells are really good and versatile. If I knew what sort of rituals were available I'd be able to make some suggestions, but as is I think it's too minor a benefit to burn for a 5th level spell slot. Maybe it also extends the rituals duration, or increases the potency of the effect, or something.

Sorry, I spaced adding that link to the rituals.  I'll edit the original post in a moment.

On Straw Man

This is kind of cool. It lacks the versatility of Summon Monster I, but it's a comparable combatant so it's not bad. My only concern is that the duration is half that of Summon Monster or Summon Nature's Ally I. At first I didn't notice the duration and assumed it was sort of like Unseen Servant and Summon Monster rolled into one, which is neat, but I see you didn't go with that. On top of that, there needs to be straw or grass nearby to animate it (I assume). So, it's pretty much completely worse than all the aforementioned spells. If I may, I would  suggest making the duration 2 rounds per level so it has a little oomph over summon monster/nature's ally spells but doesn't invalidate them and also doesn't tread on the toes of unseen servant's ungodly 1 hour/level duration. Overall I like the odea behind this one.

Good points, I could see increasing the duration.  The required source material is a steep price so that will limit use and allow the spell to be more powerful in other areas to compensate.  Maybe even 3 rounds / level.


On Straw Men

I'm all in favor of summoning a small horde of straw men, but they honestly might be too weak. A to-hit bonus of only +1 is significantly worse than the caster of the spell's bonus, who already has the worst attack bonus in the game (it would be about a +4 assuming they have no weapon enhancements and a Str or Dex of 10 or 11), so they probably won't really hit anything, ever (and won't do much damage). That, coupled with their low AC and hit points will probably make them one-shotted or just plain ignored. At best, they'll be flanking buddies for the melee brutes, but other than that, nothing more.

Out of combat, they'd be kinda cool, at least flavorfully. Having 6 or so little straw guys scurrying about for 8 rounds or more if neat, but not neat enough that I'd want to spend a 4th level spell slot on it. Call me picky. I'd suggest upping their stats a bit, but otherwise a cool spell. Maybe strawmen should have damage reduction 5/slashing; I can't see bludgeoning or piercing weapons being that effective (unless they have a trident, in which case they could probably shovel them apart à la impromptu pitchfork :P).

I want to keep them small sized (for the flavor), maybe increasing their strength and/or hit dice.  DR maybe good too, they are constructs after all, I do like the idea a "weakness" vs pitchforks heheh.  The problem with small things is it's hard to justify little "fists" doing more than 1d6+str damage.  Their BAB should go up with the increased hit dice and strength. I could increase the number that are made. 

On the other hand I could take it down to a 3rd level spell, but then who would take it over ligthning bolt or fireball.

I hope my criticisms weren't too harsh - you have some good ideas here, and I'd love to see what other spells you come up with :).

Not at all, I'm good with criticism.  Thank you again and if you have other ideas I'd love to hear them :)

[Fortunato]

Updated the spells a bit.  Still thinking about other changes.  Let me know if you have questions or comments!

[Fortunato]

A few more changes.  Broke up Chaos Touch as the flavor version of the spell has no real place outside of the storyline it was developed for.

[Cheomesh]

A horde of straw minions is actually a pretty cool kind of spell for a hedge wizard or rural druid type, I think.  Unfortunately, I don't have much pathfinder experience, and have not really touched it since beta, so it's absolute power is lost on me.

What about having some scaleability, like say you can summon one normal sized straw man, two dwarf sized ones, three smaller ones, etc?

M.

[Fortunato]

A horde of straw minions is actually a pretty cool kind of spell for a hedge wizard or rural druid type, I think.  Unfortunately, I don't have much pathfinder experience, and have not really touched it since beta, so it's absolute power is lost on me.

What about having some scaleability, like say you can summon one normal sized straw man, two dwarf sized ones, three smaller ones, etc?

M.

I liked the imagery of a hoard of straw critters also :)  and I did toy with the idea of a hit die pool that would allow the caster to trade size for number and/or extra duration.  It got a little complex, some of my players liked the idea and others didn't.  As envisioned it was a more powerful spell than Straw Men.  Maybe I should add a Straw Hoard as the next step, maybe level 6 with a 4 x level HD pool that allows the trade off of size for number.  heheh that level 10 warrior may not have to worry about one Straw Construct I but a swarm of 40 may make one pause  :suprised:

[LordVreeg]

I like the imagery.
I'm a big fan of lots of setting specific stuff, even when using a generic system.  I love spells that are embedded in the culture, or a very specific time of a setting.

I think these are great.   Plus, I love Broom golems.  And a small army of them, pure genius.

[Cheomesh]

Wicker men.

I swear I've seen some movie or another where the antagonist used scarecrows as their minions - straw men, without a doubt.  Might have been one of the old Goosebumps shows.

M.

[Fortunato]

I like the imagery.
I'm a big fan of lots of setting specific stuff, even when using a generic system.  I love spells that are embedded in the culture, or a very specific time of a setting.

I think these are great.   Plus, I love Broom golems.  And a small army of them, pure genius.

Glad you like it :)

Wicker men.

I swear I've seen some movie or another where the antagonist used scarecrows as their minions - straw men, without a doubt.  Might have been one of the old Goosebumps shows.

M.

I never watched Goosebumps, I do have a vague memory of some old Saturday morning cartoon that may have had a horde of little scarecrows or strawmen of some type in one episode.  Something from the late 70's or early 80's...maybe the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon.  If you've never seen it, have a look.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAaakkz2KSc