Okay, here are some sample spell effects in the core book that are the consequences of failing a save:
Instant Death
Permanent Token for the Heroes' Side
Turned into Money
Swap Bodies, Gaining the Best of Both Worlds
So here's the moral. If you're designing a new attack spell that has a save, it should either do at least those things are BETTER or affect a whole fuckton of enemies/target a rare save.
Like in Complete Adventurer, while a lot of the spells were dumb, most weren't a complete waste of space. There are few instances where I went, 'gosh, this is like a PHB spell, only shittier'. I know most of them were buffs or utility spells, but take a design note from them.
This is Lago AM3P, trying to cut down on the number of unnecessary spells (and pages) in supplements. Peace, bitches.
Spell Design for Supplements 101
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