Magic Attack Bonus [Archive] - Wizards Community

Magic Attack Bonus [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Hitokiri Battousai
10-06-04, 12:30 PM I've been trying to come up with a house rule for a magic attack bonus that could be used in place of saves for some spells. Here's what I've got, but I haven't been able to test it yet... any thoughts?

All magic using classes now have a magic attack bonus. This functions like a regular attack bonus, but is for spells. You add the bonus for the stat which you use to cast spells to this. You can also apply your spellcasting stat modifier to spells which deal damage. All spells that require a ranged touch attack use this bonus, and there are certain spells where a magic attack can be used as opposed to a normal saving throw. For example, the fireball spell. You can choose to either target an area and make all within that area make a Reflex save to avoid the spell, or you can target a single person and make a magic attack roll. If you hit, he is allowed no save, but if you miss, the spell continues on and explodes either when it hits something or reaches the end of it’s range. This method does allow for the casting of more than one spell per round(but only spells with a casting time of “1 standard action”). Each additional spell is at a -5, just like additional attacks per round, and you must use the Full Attack action to cast multiple spells. Note that if you cast additional spells that use saving throws instead of magic attack bonus, the save DC decreases by 3 for each extra spell.

So for instance, a level 15 wizard with a magic attack bonus of +15/+10/+5 could cast three fireballs in a round. He could choose to directly attack an opponent with them, or he could do three fireballs targetting at a point in space, in which case instead of using attack bonus these three fireballs would have a base save DC of 13, 10, and 7.

I'm thinking this has potential to really overpower a magic user at later levels... if anyone agrees with that, any thoughts on how to balance it?
Kaya Kenobi
10-06-04, 03:03 PM That would be sick and broken.
Hitokiri Battousai
10-06-04, 03:25 PM Hmmm, well yeah, in retrospect I suppose that is pretty broke... well, how about just the magic attack bonus concept in general, minus the multiple spells per round? My basic idea was to give certain classes more powerful attack magic, like a wizard's magic attack bonus would be +1/level, a cleric would have +1/2 per level, and so on.
RealMad
10-06-04, 04:38 PM That would be confusing (remember Unarmed BAB?) and entirely unnecessary.

Mages are already plenty powerful. The fact that their attack spells call for a touch attack only already balances whatever they might give away as far as BAB.

Besides, I think it's right that a mage doesn't necessarily have good aim. A Rogue skipping right by a Wizard's target (or even non-target) spells is A-OK in my book.
philopharynx
10-06-04, 11:26 PM Also, wizards that want to hit more often can take a few levels of fighter or weapon focus (ray). But still, touch attacks are almost always successful, especially against large targets. The main trouble is targeting monks.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Hitokiri Battousai 10-06-04, 12:30 PM	I've been trying to come up with a house rule for a magic attack bonus that could be used in place of saves for some spells. Here's what I've got, but I haven't been able to test it yet... any thoughts? All magic using classes now have a magic attack bonus. This functions like a regular attack bonus, but is for spells. You add the bonus for the stat which you use to cast spells to this. You can also apply your spellcasting stat modifier to spells which deal damage. All spells that require a ranged touch attack use this bonus, and there are certain spells where a magic attack can be used as opposed to a normal saving throw. For example, the fireball spell. You can choose to either target an area and make all within that area make a Reflex save to avoid the spell, or you can target a single person and make a magic attack roll. If you hit, he is allowed no save, but if you miss, the spell continues on and explodes either when it hits something or reaches the end of it’s range. This method does allow for the casting of more than one spell per round(but only spells with a casting time of “1 standard action”). Each additional spell is at a -5, just like additional attacks per round, and you must use the Full Attack action to cast multiple spells. Note that if you cast additional spells that use saving throws instead of magic attack bonus, the save DC decreases by 3 for each extra spell. So for instance, a level 15 wizard with a magic attack bonus of +15/+10/+5 could cast three fireballs in a round. He could choose to directly attack an opponent with them, or he could do three fireballs targetting at a point in space, in which case instead of using attack bonus these three fireballs would have a base save DC of 13, 10, and 7. I'm thinking this has potential to really overpower a magic user at later levels... if anyone agrees with that, any thoughts on how to balance it?
Kaya Kenobi 10-06-04, 03:03 PM	That would be sick and broken.
Hitokiri Battousai 10-06-04, 03:25 PM	Hmmm, well yeah, in retrospect I suppose that is pretty broke... well, how about just the magic attack bonus concept in general, minus the multiple spells per round? My basic idea was to give certain classes more powerful attack magic, like a wizard's magic attack bonus would be +1/level, a cleric would have +1/2 per level, and so on.
RealMad 10-06-04, 04:38 PM	That would be confusing (remember Unarmed BAB?) and entirely unnecessary. Mages are already plenty powerful. The fact that their attack spells call for a touch attack only already balances whatever they might give away as far as BAB. Besides, I think it's right that a mage doesn't necessarily have good aim. A Rogue skipping right by a Wizard's target (or even non-target) spells is A-OK in my book.
philopharynx 10-06-04, 11:26 PM	Also, wizards that want to hit more often can take a few levels of fighter or weapon focus (ray). But still, touch attacks are almost always successful, especially against large targets. The main trouble is targeting monks.