Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Darius2301 05-23-07, 12:51 PM	I'm surprised that I cannot seem to find any Errata on this, but this feat seems to have been reprinted exactly from the old 3.0 books in the 3.5 Complete Arcane book. The problem is that the wording makes no sense. The wording of this feat gives absolute values that seem to apply only to fireball and lightning bolt. So how do you apply this to other spells? For example, how would you apply this to Giltterdust? Surely the intent is not to increase the area of Glitterdust to a 40' cone or 4 10' squares. That wouldn't make sense since this is only +1 spell level and "Widen Spell" is +3 spell levels. Also, say you "sculpt" a fireball into 4 10' squares? What are the limitations on the positioning of those squares? Do they have to be touching one another or can the simply be placed anywhere in the range of the spell? I apologize if this has been discussed before, but search is disabled in these forums and google didn't come up with anything. Thanks!
CantripN 05-23-07, 12:57 PM	For reference: Sculpt Spell Prerequisite: Any metamagic feat. Benefit: You can modify an area spell by changing the area's shape to either a cylinder (10-foot radius, 30 feet high), a 40-foot cone, four 10-foot cubes, a ball (20-foot-radius spread), or a 120-foot line. The sculpted spell works normally in all respects except for its shape. For example, a lightning bolt whose area is changed to a ball deals the same amount of damage, but affects a 20-foot-radius spread. A sculpted spell uses a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level. No worries... The feat in question doesn't change Range, so a Burning Hands spell will only become a 15' line, rather than a 120' line. On the other hand, yes, you can split ANY spell with an area to one of the types listed. Splitting a Lightning Bolt to four 10-foot cubes is possible, and those don't have to touch each other. What's more, Glitterdust can become a 40' cone, yes. It's probably my favourite Metamagic feat...
Darius2301 05-23-07, 01:16 PM	OK, so just to be clear: For only +1 spell level, the Glitterdust that normallly just affects 1 10' cube can then affect 4 10' cubes? In addition, I can place those 4 10' cubes anywhere within the spell range? If that's the case, I know my DM is gonna insist that is totally broken. Especially when you consider that Widen spell (for +3 spell levels) will only take my 10' square area of glitterdust to 20' area. Although maybe the argument is that Sculpt really boosts the area of some spells but not others, yet widen boots the area of all area spells.
CantripN 05-23-07, 01:20 PM	Fact is, Widen is a CRAP feat. No one ever, ever takes it. Sculpt is one of the few feats actually worth the spell level adjustment. And it requires another Metamagic feat to take, to boot.
Darius2301 05-23-07, 01:25 PM	Right, I'm with you on that one. Thanks for the info!
kalyb 05-26-07, 04:27 AM	Actually, you should count the number of 10' squares in each of the spell area templates at the back of the DMG. The 10' radius template (area for glitterdust spell) consists of 3 10' squares. Widen Spell makes that area into 11 10' squares (20' radius). Sculpt Spell is nice because you can choice where those squares are, not because it greatly increases the area.
navar100 05-26-07, 11:49 AM	OK, so just to be clear: For only +1 spell level, the Glitterdust that normallly just affects 1 10' cube can then affect 4 10' cubes? In addition, I can place those 4 10' cubes anywhere within the spell range? If that's the case, I know my DM is gonna insist that is totally broken. Especially when you consider that Widen spell (for +3 spell levels) will only take my 10' square area of glitterdust to 20' area. Although maybe the argument is that Sculpt really boosts the area of some spells but not others, yet widen boots the area of all area spells. I'm thinking since it's already a cube, you could only change it to a 10' cone, a 10' line, a 10' radius sphere, etc. The feat doesn't change the amount of feet it affects, only the shape.
Obi-Wan Shinobi 05-26-07, 01:17 PM	except the feat already states what size the area changes to.... Sculpt Spell Prerequisite: Any metamagic feat. Benefit: You can modify an area spell by changing the area's shape to either a cylinder (10-foot radius, 30 feet high), a 40-foot cone, four 10-foot cubes, a ball (20-foot-radius spread), or a 120-foot line. The sculpted spell works normally in all respects except for its shape. For example, a lightning bolt whose area is changed to a ball deals the same amount of damage, but affects a 20-foot-radius spread. A sculpted spell uses a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level. doesnt matter if the original spell is only a 5' cube or a 5000' line- using Sculpt Spell changes the area depending on what you choose to use: cone, ball, cylinder, line or 4 cubes.
Vaelan 05-26-07, 05:39 PM	However, note that the spell's Range still applies. Even an Area spell cannot affect anything outside of its range.