New Necromantic Spells

[Jorel]

I was hoping Flameskull spell would allow him to lob flaming skulls at people. It is still cool though.

[Blindscout]

Nicely done.

I am going to play around with these and see how it works out with an NPC villain I am working on.

[GaredBattlespike]

Greetings!

I really like these new Spells!

I only would either;
A) Drop the FlameSkull's Fire/Plasma defense or..
B) Increase the Level by One (1) AND the PPE to Cast by Five (5).
C) Increase the PPE to Cast by Ten (10).
Otherwise it's excellent!

Good Gaming, GaredBattlespike

[Cinos]

Spells all look pretty cool. Off the cuff, the S.D hits for Bolt of Decay is awful, never mix different types of D, change it to +3 per Level, rather then mixing 1D4 x 10 + XD6 it's just a pain to do.

In addition, a flat amount per level will give some stability to an otherwise janky damage curve that a single dice multiplier has.

In a similar light, what's the rational that the decay is more effective on normal materials / living MDC beings? Is it meant to represent their greater innate toughness? If so, their innately higher Numbers will do that. Right now it just kills S.D.C beings, and is an effective weapon against MDC ones. Well, it's a viable one compared to modern weaponry.

[GaredBattlespike]

Greetings!

I admit that I had not thought about the "disarm of the Focus = disrupt spell" ! That said, I still think that most 8th Level Spells need 35-40 + PPE to Cast. Not a big deal. If you think the Focus can be disarmed/destroyed = less PPE, then I guess you may have something there. I bow to your wisdom on this, as I usually play Headhunters or Mind Melters, or the odd Ley Line Walker. I do REALLY like the Javelin of Bone Spell! I think that it's simplicity understates it's very well balanced, and elegantly designed nature. I give the Javelin of Bone 5 out of 5 Stars!!!

Good Gaming, GaredBattlespike

[Cinos]

For the most part, it was the fact that it isn't a bolt of force or something with massive levels of thermal intensity that just powers through any material or flat-out incinerates it. Instead, all things rot, corrode, or decay at their own rate. As such, that's why it does M.D.C. to M.D.C. beings and S.D.C. to S.D.C. beings. It adds a little bit of flavor to the spell's effect.

As to why I chose to have it deal M.D.C. to all non-living objects, it was mostly a design decision based on the fact that S.D.C. objects such as doors, automobiles, and the like have hundreds of S.D.C. I wanted the spell to be able to destroy S.D.C. objects relatively quickly without necessarily being an insta-kill vs. S.D.C. creatures, so I chose to have it deal M.D.C. to S.D.C. and M.D.C. objects rather than further complicate it by having yet another damage variation for S.D.C. objects vs. S.D.C. creatures.

I think you missed my point; Why would something that corrodes an object be MORE effective against one type of object than another? Much less a wide range of options for MDC / SDC. Both can include living or non living. It just seems like it would be closer to theme if it was just like Life Drain's damage component "Loses X% of total M/S.D.C", could be something like "Loses 12% of Current M/S.D.C, +2% per Level" In this way, it remains consistent through all target ranges, and better represents a decay ability, nothing is stronger or weaker against it, it's just something is decaying. Naturally this is going to get powerful fast, perhaps a line making AI's or over X M.D.C is immune (or no more then X Damage per casting), otherwise it's still much friendlier then say, Life Drain (no Dodge, right to save, 50% H.P AND horrible effects).

However, keep in mind most M.D.C tech materials never decay. Ever. They're like Styrofoam, they just don't decay. Or Twinkies. But naturally, there is going to be a bit of the rules looking the other way with some spells. Could just have the bolt ignore body armor though, decay the wearer instead, make need like a called shot on non-uniform objects (to hit a pilot / gunner), or just PA's and Tanks are immune / unaffected.

[taalismn]

Good stuff here, even though I'm not predisposed towards necromancy(but hey, if you see dead people...).

[Cinos]

Good stuff here, even though I'm not predisposed towards necromancy(but hey, if you see dead people...).

What's wrong with necromancy? Those corpses where just going to rot and become dirt anyway! I'm just speeding things up!

[taalismn]

Good stuff here, even though I'm not predisposed towards necromancy(but hey, if you see dead people...).

What's wrong with necromancy? Those corpses where just going to rot and become dirt anyway! I'm just speeding things up!

When I kill somebody, I usually don't leave a corpse, pretty or otherwise.

[BIBBI]

nicely done on all the spells, they all seem really fun to use and all are balanced. probably going to use at least one of them on my future necromancer characters.