Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Super Chris 02-17-05, 07:30 AM	So yeah, I'm wondering what spell level this should be, and what a better name for it would be. Purify Mind Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind Affecting] Level: Divine 5 Components: V, S, M Casting Time: 1 Hour Range: Willing Creature Touched Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: None When this spell is cast, the caster loses a number of ranks equal to his caster level in a skill of his choice. The skill ranks may not be re-allocated to a new skill. This spell also erases a character's memory of the last 24 hours. Material Component: The material component for this spell is a bottle of nymph's tears, mixed with water from the river Lethe. And before I get the inevitable question of "Why would anyone ever want to cast that?", in a game using the sanity variant, you usually want as few ranks in Knowledge (forbidden lore) as possible. And you don't have a choice when you gain ranks in it.
Ra-Tiel 02-17-05, 07:46 AM	Hello Super Chris. Hmm... we've never played with Sanity, but I've read the rules for it. So I would say make it a cleric spell, probably even a domain spell only (perhaps protection?) and give it level 5 or 6. Change the components to V, S, M with something pure and sanctified as material component (perhaps some dust from the horn of a unicorn that willingly allowed you to take it (the dust, not the horn of course!) , or something similar) and you should be fine. Perhaps even increase the casting time to 1hour or even 1day. As far as I can remember the interesting thing about Sanity is that you cannot usually just get rid of it (the drawbacks, I mean ;)) with a simple spell. Only the most powerful spells can help you, and that's not even guaranteed. A suggestion for a better name: "Purify Mind". Just my :twocents: _Ra-Tiel.
Seeker95 02-17-05, 12:56 PM	I don't like the spell as delivered. Even in a game with sanity rules.
Super Chris 02-17-05, 02:15 PM	I couldn't think of any flavorful way to describe what the spell does, so I gave the crunch of it. I made it simply erase skill points rather than re-allocate them because, with ranks in Knowledge (forbidden lore), you'd be getting free skill ranks in other skills, and without ranks in Knowledge (forbidden lore), it gives you free reign to treat your character sheet like Red Mage does his in 8-bit Theater. And I made it self only, because since it permanantly erases skill ranks, if you could use it on other people it would easily be at *least* a 9th level spell. I chose the nymphs tears (at least for now) because nymphs are usually good, a bottle of their tears has got to be pretty rare, it doesn't kill them to collect the material component (as it would for a unicorn horn, IIRC, and thanks for the suggestion on adding a material component), and it isn't a Celesital's blank. I don't want to use a Celestials anything because the human gods in my campaign setting are not on good terms with any angels. The short version of the story is that, millennia ago, lawfulness was an angel's defining trait; not goodness. The main reason I want this spell in my campaign is because according to my setting's rules, the gods are subject to the sanity rules as well, and I want a mechanic in place that exlains why they did not go permanantly insane millennia ago. 5th or 6th level seems to be good for it, I don't use sanity a lot, mostly it comes into play when characters are dealing with the far realm.
Seeker95 02-17-05, 02:25 PM	I want a mechanic in place that exlains why they did not go permanantly insane millennia ago.Why is it necessary that they not be insane? :D
Ilium 02-17-05, 02:26 PM	I believe the correct term for a "self only" spell is Range: Personal. Other than that, I think it's cool. If you also let it do something like erase the memory of any given 24 hour period, it opens up some cool plot lines. :)
Super Chris 02-17-05, 03:12 PM	Why is it necessary that they not be insane? There's a long story and a short story. The short story is, the gods are products of the multiverse, not the other way around. The only thing that differentiates a god from a normal mortal in my universe is that the gods are high level (60-100), they have made themselves genetically immortal, and have access to technology, magic, and psionics which they have refined for a billion years. And the human gods are the group's old PCs from a campaign I ran whose purpose was to explain the origin of mind flayers and of the human gods in my campaign universe, so since there's some old character fondness there, I'd like to keep them sane. Granted, that means that I'm purposely coddling their old characters and protecting them from harsh reality, but the campaign we're playing right now is going to demonstrate to them that that's the intended purpose of the multiverse (the far realm is considered 'outside' the multiverse) - to be a child-safe playpen to protect small, weak fleshy things (like dogs and angels and tarrasques and gods) from the harsh nature of the far realm.
Vatras 02-17-05, 04:48 PM	It would probably fit in 5th or 6th level, and it should be an enchantment, as it affects the mind. Alternative names could be Stabilize Sanity or Dementia. (Remark: in my game, if sanity would be used, you wouldnt have a chance to invent such a spell :))
Ilium 02-17-05, 05:04 PM	Oh, and I think you'd be OK making the target "willing creature touched." That way it can't be used as an attack spell, but it could still help the non-casting members of the group.
Super Chris 02-17-05, 09:06 PM	Alrighty, I've made the changes. The reason I picked transmutation as the original school was because a few other spells I looked up which modified skills were transmutation; but looking up Modify Memory, which this more closely resembles, yeah - enchantment works better. Also modified the material component, to better represent something that erases things from your memory.