Molding Magic
When we made Advanced Arcana II, a huge book of magic spells available for only $4.99, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to make spells that are more versatile, and can be used in different ways. One of the things that struck me as a neat idea is spells that don’t just give you a specific effect, but rather give you resources you can “spend” to gain the effect. So, instead of just having your fireball do Xd6 damage to everyone in an area, maybe it could do a certain amount of total d6, which you could divide amongst targets, say. I’ve been experimenting a bit more with the idea, and you’ll find the results below.
Flickershield
This spell causes a floating shield of shimmering golden force to appear before you. It hovers in the air, and does not provide any armor check penalty or arcane spell failure chance. The shield grants you a +4 shield bonus to AC, though you can choose to remove this protection as a swift action, during which time the shield floats limply at your side, and provides no benefit until you use another swift action to resume its protection.
The energy invested in the shield can only withstand so much abuse before the shield collapses: the shield can grant its AC bonus to a total number of attacks equal to 20 + your caster level before it dissipates into nothingness.
Mold Shadows
You cause the light level in the affected area to increase or decrease by one step. By spending two of your 5-foot cubes on a single 5-foot-cube area, you can effectively increase or decrease the light level by up to two steps, though you cannot adjust it further than that. The areas need not be contiguous, but must all be within the spell’s range.
This spell does not stack with itself (except as described above), though it does stack with similar spells, like darkness.
Touch of Flame
This spell allows you to wreathe your hands in magical flames which don’t harm you, but do harm those you touch. Each round, for the duration of the spell, you may make a melee touch attack, which, if successful, deals some amount of fire damage to the target. The amount of damage is up to you: it can deal either 1d6, 2d6, or 3d6 points of fire damage. No matter how many dice are chosen, it also deals an additional point of fire damage per caster level you possess.
The spell only provides enough energy to deal a total of 1d6 points of damage per caster level, to a maximum of 15d6 points of fire damage, and once a total of 15d6 have been used, the spell immediately ends. The target is not allowed a saving throw to resist this effect, but spell resistance (if the target has any) applies to each touch attack separately.
Unstable Summons I
This functions as the spell summon monster I, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +2 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately.
Unstable Summons II
This functions as the spell summon monster II, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +2 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately. If more than one creature was summoned by this spell, all of the creatures summoned gain the chosen benefit.
Unstable Summons III
This functions as the spell summon monster III, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +3 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately. If more than one creature was summoned by this spell, all of the creatures summoned gain the chosen benefit.
Unstable Summons IV
This functions as the spell summon monster IV, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +3 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately. If more than one creature was summoned by this spell, all of the creatures summoned gain the chosen benefit.
Unstable Summons V
This functions as the spell summon monster V, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +4 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately. If more than one creature was summoned by this spell, all of the creatures summoned gain the chosen benefit.
Unstable Summons VI
This functions as the spell summon monster VI, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +4 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately. If more than one creature was summoned by this spell, all of the creatures summoned gain the chosen benefit.
Unstable Summons VII
This functions as the spell summon monster VII, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +4 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately. If more than one creature was summoned by this spell, all of the creatures summoned gain the chosen benefit.
Unstable Summons VIII
This functions as the spell summon monster VIII, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +5 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately. If more than one creature was summoned by this spell, all of the creatures summoned gain the chosen benefit.
Unstable Summons IX
This functions as the spell summon monster IX, except that, as a swift action each round, you can grant the summoned creature a +5 enhancement bonus to your choice of attack rolls, damage rolls, AC, or saving throws. If you do, then the remaining duration of the spell is decreased by 1 round. If this would reduce the remaining duration to 0 rounds, the summoned creature vanishes immediately. If more than one creature was summoned by this spell, all of the creatures summoned gain the chosen benefit.