Spell Fire: Explain this to me please?

[kirinke]

SpellFire
Persons gifted with the spellfire ability can do amazing things dependent upon their skill, talent and the amount of magical energy they hvae within them at the time. In general spellfire can be used to heal, create blasts of destructive fire or absorb magical effects it contacts, altho the exact effets vary by circumstance and user. Talented weilders can release multiple blasts at once or even fly using this ability.

A spell fire wielder can ready an action to absorb spells targeted at her as if she were a rod of absorption. She gets on level of spell fire energy for every spell level absorbed and can a number of spell fire energy levels equal to her constitition score.

As a standard action, she may expend these spell fire energy levels as a range touch attack (max range 400 feet) dealing 1d6 points of spell fire damage per level expended (reflex half DC 20). Spell fire damage is half fire damage and half raw magical power, just like the damage of a flame strike spell is half fire and half divine energy. Creatures with immunity, resistance or protection against fire apply these effects to half the damage.

A spellfire weilder can also heal a target by touch, restoring 2 hit points per spell fire energy level expended for this purpose.

Unlike most supernatural abilities, spellfire is affected by spells and magic items that affect spell-like abilities, such as a rod of absorption or a rod of negation (if pointed at the manifestation rather than the wielder). It can be thwarted or countersplled by dispel magic and theoretically a spellfire wielder could counterspell another's spellfire. However spellfire is a supernatural ability and does not provoke an attack of opportunity when used, nor is it subject to spell resistance.


Ok. Could somebody explain spellfire energy level? And why is this ability constitution based rather than Intelligence or even Wisdom based? That seems to be a screw up since we are dealing with a magical effect. And when they say equal to constitition score, do they mean the modifier or the actual constitution level?

 

[Michael Morris]

Read Shandril's Saga. Or read some cliff notes in the spoiler block below as to how GOD AWFUL POWERFUL this ability is (Basically a spellfire character can drop line of site nuclear bombs at the high end).

[sblock]
Shandril Shessair, the only character to have spellfire in the novels, was statted out in the 1992 supplement halls of heroes, Non of her stats exceeded 16, and she was listed as 9th level at the conclusion of Crown of Fire, having started from 1st in Spellfire.

Exploits
Spellfire

• The first time she uses spellfire she absorbed a Nishrull that had itself sucked out all the magic from a dracolich's horde over time. She killed some 200 cultist of the cult of the dragon, a great wyrm dracolich, blew out the side of a mountain, passed out and awoke to blow up Manshoon and the dragon he rode in on. - this is 1 charge mind you on presumably a 1st level character!!
• Elminster decides to test how much she can hold before having to release it - he casts HIS ENTIRE SPELL PROGRESSION in her and works is way through some 3 scrolls filled with 9th level spells before she erupts in a column of flame 100' in diameter (fortunately for Elminster, his shielding spell held. Shandril's clothes weren't so lucky).
• She eventually kills 2 other dracoliches with reserve potential, both times with a single blast. At the end of the book she learns how to heal with the power.

Crown of Fire

• Around page 90 you'll lose head count on the magelings of 10th level or lower she dusts.
• She offs a demilich - the most powerful undead in the game.
• She kills Manshoon twice.
• At the end of the book she levels 2/3rds of the Citadel of the Raven, 20 beholders, some 50 mages of 10th to 15th level and who knows how many lower than that. She also unlocks the secret of the Crown of Fire, destroys a spell engine, nearly kills Fzoul Chembryl and Semmenon in the same fight.

Hand of Fire

• The spellfire builds in her in this book to where she can no longer control it, and the destructive capacity magnifies. In the final climatic battle she fears she has killed her love with a blast and kills herself by feeding spellfire to herself (creating a magical feedback loop). The resultant blast is clearly seen 200 miles away and the ripple in the magical weave is so intense it is felt by every single mage in the Forgotten Realms plane regardless of power level.

[/sblock]

If you allow this in your game it will certainly revolve around the character with that ability. Not many players will be willing to play second fiddle to such a character, and as DM you will certainly have difficulty challenging or controlling such a character without presenting obstacles which will mortally threaten any character without epic standing.

It is my opinion that Spellfire is completely unplayable unless you water it down far from how it is presented in the books.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Ok. Could somebody explain spellfire energy level?

Sure! Think of a spellfire wielder as a magical battery. They can hold a certain amount of "charge," measured in levels.

A spellfire wielder recharges by absorbing spells that are targeted at them, and they gain an amount of charge equal to the spell level of the spell they're absorbing. So, let's say Shandrila is a spellfire wielder. She needs to recharge because she has none left, and the enemy mage is looking dangerous, so she readies an action to absorb a spell. The enemy wizard looks at her, wiggles his fingers, and tries to make her his friend (Charm Person). Shandrila's readied action goes off, she magically opens herself to the spell energy, and she absorbs the Charm Person spell. Since it's a 1st-level spell, Shandrila gains 1 charge.

If the wizard does it again, and Shandrila absorbs it again, she gains 1 more charge, for a total of 2.

On Shandrila's turn, she decides to blast the wizard. She channels her spellfire into a magical blast, and decides to expend 1 spell fire level (or 1 charge). She has 1 charge left. She makes a ranged touch attack and, if she hits, does 1d6 damage - half of which is fire, and the other half of which is straight magical damage. If she had instead elected to expend two charges, she would have done 2d6 damage, but she would once again be out of charges.

And why is this ability constitution based rather than Intelligence or even Wisdom based?

The ability to hold the spellfire energy inside you isn't based on your understanding of the energy, it's based on your body's ability to physically hold all that power.

And when they say equal to constitition score, do they mean the modifier or the actual constitution level?

Actual score. Someone with a Consitution of 14 can hold 14 "charges." There's a Prestige Class - Spellfire Channeler, I believe - that increases the number of charges you can hold at one time.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Uh, Michael? It was watered down from the books when they wrote it into the FRCS - and it was done very, very intentionally, as well.

The newer rules on it are actually pretty decent - and probably underpowered.

 

[Michael Morris]

Like I said, way, way, way watered down from what the books imply. In the book Shandril absorbs spells that she isn't aware care coming, sometimes literally hundreds of spells in a single minute.

 

[kirinke]

Thankies!

 

[Michael Morris]

Uh, Michael? It was watered down from the books when they wrote it into the FRCS - and it was done very, very intentionally, as well.

The newer rules on it are actually pretty decent - and probably underpowered.

And an insult to the books. I'd rather have the ability be off limits than water it down to that point. Spellfire is supposed to be a thing of legend that appears only once in a generation. Making it anything else insults the original work.

Players don't get to start play with great wyrm gold dragons do they? No. For the same reason, player's shouldn't play spellfire wielders.

 

[kirinke]

And an insult to the books. I'd rather have the ability be off limits than water it down to that point. Spellfire is supposed to be a thing of legend that appears only once in a generation. Making it anything else insults the original work.

Players don't get to start play with great wyrm gold dragons do they? No. For the same reason, player's shouldn't play spellfire wielders.

Whoever said we had to play by the books? By default any DnD game based in Faerun is an alternate universe anyway as the characters played by the players are the focus instead of the bigshots.

And from what I've read in the little blurbs in the Source book, the spellfire ability and use is largely dependant on the DM and player.

It's like with any supernatural ability you read about. Some people just have more talent/power than others.

 

[Michael Morris]

Whoever said we had to play by the books? By default any DnD game based in Faerun is an alternate universe anyway as the characters played by the players are the focus instead of the bigshots.

And from what I've read in the little blurbs in the Source book, the spellfire ability and use is largely dependant on the DM and player.

It's like with any supernatural ability you read about. Some people just have more talent/power than others.

K - just keep in mind that if you do allow the ability to even approach the power it has in the novel it's going to be a headache unless you and you're players are real good.

And I strongly recommend a thorough reading of those books before proceeding with any game based on the power that is the namesake of the first book.

 

[EricNoah]

A PC in one of my games used the Magic of Faerun version of spellfire and it was no big deal. I even let him learn some alternate tricks he could do with it to make it more interesting.