Guidance, Resistance, Virtue

[Hypersmurf]

These three spells have always felt particularly pointless to me.

Virtue especially... 1 temporary hit point for 1 minute?

Guidance and Resistance - admittedly, they're 0 level, so one can't expect high power. But with a 1 minute duration, they're fairly definitely cast-when-required... and there are usually better things to cast when trouble strikes.

I've been thinking about an alternative spell... something I can see going on Witch and Adept lists.

Good Omen
Duration: 24 hours or until discharged

The subject of the spell receives a +1 bonus to the first saving throw, attack roll, skill check, or ability check he would otherwise fail.

In other words, if an attack roll totalled 15 vs AC 16, the bonus would kick in, the attack would hit, and the spell would discharge. A roll of 7 or a roll of 19 would not trigger the spell. Unlike Guidance, the subject does not choose to add the bonus before the roll is made.

Now, the duration might be better at 1 hour/level, but it feels like a "good luck day" type of spell.

I'm considering a "can only benefit from this spell once per day" restriction.

I'm not sure if it should be Divination for a competence bonus (like Guidance), Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting] for a morale bonus (like Bless), or an unnamed bonus.

There's also the reverse spell, Ill Omen, which gives the subject a -1 penalty to the first roll they make that would otherwise succeed, Will negates.

Comments? And thoughts on an appropriate level?

-Hyp.

 

[Crothian]

That's a very useful spell, and at first seems a little powerful. But then again if it doesn't come in to play that dfay, which is a real possibility, that makes it more limited. I agree with limiting it to onle once person per day. I like the day duration, makes it equally useful at all level. And unlike many orisone and cantrips this is actually useful at high levels. I'd make it a morale bonus. And the bad luck version sounds cool as well. Nice job.

 

[Hypersmurf]

That's a very useful spell, and at first seems a little powerful.

It certainly overpowers Guidance. But it doesn't seem as tough as Bull's Strength or Cat's Grace, so I'd call it definitely-below-2nd.

Not sure where it fits in the 0-1st category, though.

-Hyp.

 

[rpgd20.de]

a definitive 0.5th-level spell more like 1st-level

 

[IndyPendant]

I like it! In fact, I'll likely place it in my campaigns. The only thing I'd change is maybe the name; I'd call it 'Touch of Luck' or something. Of course, then there's got to be something appropriate for the reverse, like 'Touch of Curse' but not quite...

--And I agree with you as well about Virtue. What do you think about giving it a 1-hour duration? Would it be too unbalanced then?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Of course, then there's got to be something appropriate for the reverse, like 'Touch of Curse' but not quite...

Misfortune, perhaps?

--And I agree with you as well about Virtue. What do you think about giving it a 1-hour duration? Would it be too unbalanced then?

I personally don't think so. It means you can get some useful stacking out of it, too... a first-level cleric could cast three of them on the fighter before his duel with the bandit champion, that sort of thing.

-Hyp.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I find guidance to be a useful spell from time to time. Usually it gets used when a character knows he'll need to make a saving throw in advance--against the secondary effects of poison or the saving throw to avoid having a negative level become perament. Or the saving throw to avoid lycanthropy after eating belladonna or receiving a Remove Curse.

Resistance I've only found to be useful for making cloaks of resistance in general (although at low levels it gets the same use as guidance unless the save was caused by something evil in which case it's protection from evil instead).

Virtue, I've never seen much of any use for.

The Good Omen spell looks like the spell that would use up all of a cleric's 0-level spells every day--even if it didn't stack. For a wizard, it would probably use up at least half of the slots. The only competition would be detect magic and possibly light. (Dancing lights, presdigitation, and detect magic all compete with it for usefulness). At first level, it would probably still be used but only when the cleric or wizard had enough 1st level spells to go around. (ie. 3rd level you might see it once or twice; by 7th level, it would see regular use). As others have said, it's a good .5 level spell. I'd go with it at 0-level though. It's not useful enough to really compete with other 1st level spells like protection from evil, bless, magic missile, shield, and Divine Favor, etc. And although it's a very cool and potentially useful 0-level spell, other 0-level spells like Light, Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Presdigitation, etc. are far more useful in the limited circumstances in which they're useful at all.

BTW, Hypersmurf as far as I know, temporary hit points don't stack. . . .