Has anyone used Control Winds to level a city or army? In looking at the spell, which I have reprinted from the SRD for your reference, a high level caster may create a tornado. With a simple enlarge, this spell has a radius of 1200 ft at 15th caster level. 2400 ft is about a half mile area, enough to encompass many city blocks. Even better, you keep a safe area around you to Dimensional Door with the party wizard to decimate another half mile area before escaping.
This spell is heinous. Unlike Control Weather, which takes 10 minutes to cast and manifest (and thus may be dealt with), Control Winds takes one action.
Thoughts?
3.5 DMG p 95 & SRD
Here are the effects of creating a half mile tornado in the middle of town:
Tornado 175–300 mph Impossible/impossible Fort Save DC
Large or smaller Blown away 30
Huge Knocked down N/A
Gargantuan or Colossal Checked N/A
*The siege weapon category includes ballista and catapult attacks as well as boulders tossed by giants.
**Flying or airborne creatures are treated as one size class smaller than their actual size, so an airborne Gargantuan dragon is treated as Huge for purposes of wind effects.
Checked: Creatures are unable to move forward against the force of the wind. Flying creatures are blown back 1d6x5 feet.
Knocked Down: Creatures are knocked prone by the force of the wind. Flying creatures are instead blown back 1d6x10 feet.
Blown Away: Creatures on the ground are knocked prone and rolled 1d4X10 feet, sustaining 1d4 points of subdual damage per 10 feet. Flying creatures are blown back 2d6X10 feet and sustain 2d6 points of subdual damage due to battering and buffeting.
SRD
Tornado: All flames are extinguished. All ranged attacks are impossible (even with siege weapons), as are Listen checks. Instead of being blown away (see Table: Wind Effects), characters in close proximity to a tornado who fail their Fortitude saves are sucked toward the tornado. Those who come in contact with the actual funnel cloud are picked up and whirled around for 1d10 rounds, taking 6d6 points of damage per round, before being violently expelled (falling damage may apply). While a tornado’s rotational speed can be as great as 300 mph, the funnel itself moves forward at an average of 30 mph. A tornado uproots trees, destroys buildings, and causes other similar forms of major destruction.
Control Winds
Transmutation
Level: Air 5, Drd 5
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 40 ft./level
Area: 40 ft./level radius centered on the character
Duration: 10 minutes/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: No
The character alters wind force in the area surrounding the character. The character can make the wind blow in a certain direction or manner, increase its strength, or decrease its strength. The new wind direction and strength persist until the spell ends or the character chooses to alter his or her handiwork, which requires concentration. The character may create an "eye" of calm air up to 80 feet in diameter at the center of the area if the character so desires, and the character may choose to limit the effect to any circular area less than the character's full range.
Wind Direction: The character may choose one of four basic wind patterns to function over the spell’s area:
A downdraft blows from the center outward in equal strength in all directions.
An updraft blows from the outer edges in toward the center in equal strength from all directions, veering upward before impinging on the eye in the center.
A rotation causes the winds to circle the center in clockwise or counterclockwise fashion.
A blast simply causes the winds to blow in one direction across the entire area from one side to the other.
Wind Force: For every three caster levels, the character can increase or decrease wind force by one level of strength. Each round, a creature in the wind must make a Fortitude save or suffer the effect.
Strong winds (21+ mph) make sailing difficult. A severe wind (31+ mph) causes minor ship and building damage. A windstorm (51+ mph) drives most flying creatures from the skies, uproots small trees, knocks down light wooden structures, tears off roofs, and endangers ships. Hurricane force winds (75+ mph) destroy wooden buildings, sometimes uproot even large trees, and cause most ships to founder. A tornado (175+ mph) destroys all nonfortified buildings and often uproots large trees.
This spell is heinous. Unlike Control Weather, which takes 10 minutes to cast and manifest (and thus may be dealt with), Control Winds takes one action.
Thoughts?
3.5 DMG p 95 & SRD
Here are the effects of creating a half mile tornado in the middle of town:
Tornado 175–300 mph Impossible/impossible Fort Save DC
Large or smaller Blown away 30
Huge Knocked down N/A
Gargantuan or Colossal Checked N/A
*The siege weapon category includes ballista and catapult attacks as well as boulders tossed by giants.
**Flying or airborne creatures are treated as one size class smaller than their actual size, so an airborne Gargantuan dragon is treated as Huge for purposes of wind effects.
Checked: Creatures are unable to move forward against the force of the wind. Flying creatures are blown back 1d6x5 feet.
Knocked Down: Creatures are knocked prone by the force of the wind. Flying creatures are instead blown back 1d6x10 feet.
Blown Away: Creatures on the ground are knocked prone and rolled 1d4X10 feet, sustaining 1d4 points of subdual damage per 10 feet. Flying creatures are blown back 2d6X10 feet and sustain 2d6 points of subdual damage due to battering and buffeting.
SRD
Tornado: All flames are extinguished. All ranged attacks are impossible (even with siege weapons), as are Listen checks. Instead of being blown away (see Table: Wind Effects), characters in close proximity to a tornado who fail their Fortitude saves are sucked toward the tornado. Those who come in contact with the actual funnel cloud are picked up and whirled around for 1d10 rounds, taking 6d6 points of damage per round, before being violently expelled (falling damage may apply). While a tornado’s rotational speed can be as great as 300 mph, the funnel itself moves forward at an average of 30 mph. A tornado uproots trees, destroys buildings, and causes other similar forms of major destruction.
Control Winds
Transmutation
Level: Air 5, Drd 5
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 40 ft./level
Area: 40 ft./level radius centered on the character
Duration: 10 minutes/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: No
The character alters wind force in the area surrounding the character. The character can make the wind blow in a certain direction or manner, increase its strength, or decrease its strength. The new wind direction and strength persist until the spell ends or the character chooses to alter his or her handiwork, which requires concentration. The character may create an "eye" of calm air up to 80 feet in diameter at the center of the area if the character so desires, and the character may choose to limit the effect to any circular area less than the character's full range.
Wind Direction: The character may choose one of four basic wind patterns to function over the spell’s area:
A downdraft blows from the center outward in equal strength in all directions.
An updraft blows from the outer edges in toward the center in equal strength from all directions, veering upward before impinging on the eye in the center.
A rotation causes the winds to circle the center in clockwise or counterclockwise fashion.
A blast simply causes the winds to blow in one direction across the entire area from one side to the other.
Wind Force: For every three caster levels, the character can increase or decrease wind force by one level of strength. Each round, a creature in the wind must make a Fortitude save or suffer the effect.
Strong winds (21+ mph) make sailing difficult. A severe wind (31+ mph) causes minor ship and building damage. A windstorm (51+ mph) drives most flying creatures from the skies, uproots small trees, knocks down light wooden structures, tears off roofs, and endangers ships. Hurricane force winds (75+ mph) destroy wooden buildings, sometimes uproot even large trees, and cause most ships to founder. A tornado (175+ mph) destroys all nonfortified buildings and often uproots large trees.
