[Tome] Blaster Mage Feat v2

[JonSetanta]

I believe I've found the answer to an old attempt at providing Evocation spells more damage.

Last time, and I'll link thread when I find it again, the attempt concerned slapping a progressive damage bonus atop base spell damage.
There was a divide between a few of us Denfags concerning how it would progress, and I think it was eventually rejected for Tome.

This time, it's different.
The spell base damage is replaced with a static amount, replacing Maximize Spell.

Warmage Focus [General]
Your damaging spells get more bang.
Prerequisite: A material focus (special)
Benefit: Each time damage dice for your spells are rolled, if the result is lower than your level instead replace the result with a value equal to your level.
The increased damage for each die can't be higher than twice the original die maximum.
Special: This feat's user can't replace the damage die rolls unless a specific type of spellcaster tool is held at the time of casting. Categories include but are not limited to staves, wands, rods, gloves, bones, or gems.

Code: Select all

Dice    Maximum
d4      8
d6      12
d8      16
d10     20
d12     24

[Surgo]

I don't get it. Or maybe I do get it, but don't see why you'd ever bother wasting a feat on it. You're level 20, and if the spell does less than 20 damage, it now does 20 damage. Or if you're level 1, and the spell does less than 1 damage (which you can't do), then it does 1 damage. That's how it reads, as far as I can tell, and that's stupid.

Or maybe it's supposed to read like "each die does this amount of damage", so your fireball at level 6 does 6*6 = 36 damage, and at level 10 does 10*10=100 damage, and at 12 does 12*12=144 damage, which is better but probably needs some sanity-checking (like everything in life).

[TarkisFlux]

I'm pretty sure it's a per die replacement, which pretty much replaces die rolling entirely at mid to high levels in favor of static results. That's not something I'd particularly enjoy.

[Kaelik]

Indeed. Greater Fireburst doing 49-54 damage when you get access to it is silly. Straight hundred damage at level 10, and 300 damage at level 20.

Which is even sillier since level 4 spells do 300 damage in the same area that level 5 spells do 180.

[JonSetanta]

Points noted, but is it better, same, or worse than a flat-out per maximum spell level or per caster level increase of damage?

Straight hundred seems optimal IMO, given the available defenses and HP boosts. This is 3e after all.

[Username17]

In general there are people who Maximize Order's Wrath and people who Empower Scorching Ray. Spell level efficiencies and DMM/Rod/Sudden shenanigans aside, the two plans are about appealing to different kinds of people. Some people want to drop a 100 point fireball on things and have people make their saves (or not). Other people want to pick up and roll 20 dice and add them up. Both of these schools of thought are essentially D&Desque and neither player is "wrong."

There should probably be two different evocation feats that don't stack and are geared to appeal to the different kinds of wizard player. One where all your base d6s are replaced with 6s, and another where you roll 70% more dice.

But be careful, because this should come hand in hand with a general Evocation overhaul where Polar Ray is a first level spell and Lightning Bolt does not have a cap.

-Username17

[Judging__Eagle]

Most Evocation spells should be 1st level spells with no dice cap Imo.

I never really understood the levels that spells were assigned to.

Fireball could seriously be a 5' radius burst 1d6 damage spell, that grows 1d6 every caster level, and 5' every two caster levels (15' at level 4, 20' at 6; 25' at 8. and 60' at lvl 20). To get a higher DC, you increase the spell slot that you use.

It would certainly make blasting more interesting.

[JonSetanta]

My ultimate goal is to provide magikal blastan to new players.
No, really, it hurts to see someone weeks in to the game try on the Empowered Twinned Scorching Ray crap only to have spent handfuls of feats on a single gimmick.

Optimizing damage should be as easy as going 'Oh, that feat says it's for blasty mages. I like high damage spells with no other effect!' and proceed to combine X feat with Y and Z spells very, very early in the PC career.

I had tried to playtest some early incarnations of this line of feat back in last year on the FnK Fire Mage, but the DM shot it down so fast that my dice tower spun.
"No level 3 PC should put out that much damage in a single round" he said, even though it was no where near what my ex's greatsword-optimized Fighter was doing.
So I proceeded, much to his girlfriend's displeasure, to abuse Color Spray, Glitterdust, and Web with a L2-3 Sorcerer. I think she didn't like seeing him squirm like that.


This feat version observes dice caps, for whatever it's worth.
I pretty much wanted to combine Empower and Maximize in one feat with no spell level adjustment.

Maybe another feat will add various typed damage to otherwise nondamaging target and AoE spells...
Imagine, a painful Scrying.
There would be limitations with the longest ranged ones though, such as "If the target succeeds a save against any specific spell, you can't attempt again with that spell until the next day."

J_E: That's a decent Fireball. Should go in Tome as part of a custom spell list.

[SunTzuWarmaster]

"I pretty much wanted to combine Empower and Maximize in one feat with no spell level adjustment."

I think that I found your problem.

I play Tome and that is a bit much.