101 Arcane Discoveries: #6 Lace Disruption

Lace Disruption

“I don’t think you should do that.”

Prerequisites: arcane school and disruption class feature, wizard 1

Benefit: You can as a swift action, use this arcane discovery to affect any offensive spell you cast. You can inflict the effects of your disruption class feature upon one creature that spell effects, if it fails its saving throw against that spell (offensive spells without saving throws are unaffected). You still can only use this ability as many times as you can use your disruption class feature. 



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101 Arcane Discoveries: #5 Lace Banishment

Lace Banishment (Arcane Discovery)

“Get ye gone, ye vile abomination!”

Prerequisites: auraof banishment, arcane school, and unstable bonds class feature; Lace Unstable Bonds, wizard 8

Benefit: You can as a swift action, use this arcane discovery and consume one round of your aura of banishment class feature and lace any offensive spell you cast. This lace inflicts the effects of your aura of banishment class feature upon one creature that spell effects (it still only affects summoned or called creatures) if that creature fails its saving throw against that spell (offensive spells without saving throws are unaffected). It must make a second Will save (DC as aura of banishment) or be banished as aura of banishment. You still can only use this ability for as many rounds of aura of banishment you possess.

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101 Arcane Discoveries: #4 Lace Unstable Bonds

Lace Unstable Bonds (Arcane Discovery)

“I despise eidolons”

Prerequisites: arcane school and unstable bonds class features, wizard 1

Benefit: You can as a swift action, use this arcane discovery to affect any offensive spell you cast. You can inflict the effects of your unstable bonds class feature upon one creature that spell effects (unstable bonds still only affects summoned or called creatures) if it fails its saving throw against that spell (offensive spells without saving throws are unaffected). You still can only use this ability as many times as you can use your unstable bonds class feature. 

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101 Arcane Discoveries: #3 Improved Resistance

Improved Resistance

“Soon I will be invincible!”

Prerequisites: arcane school and resistance class feature, wizard 1

Benefit: You gain resistance 10 against the energy type chosen for your resistance class feature. The value of the energy resistance granted increases to 20 points at 7th level and 30 points at 11th level.

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101 Arcane Discoveries: #2 Quicken Protective Ward

Quicken Protective Ward

“Being useful is a matter of timing.”

Prerequisites: arcane school and protective ward class feature, wizard 10,

Benefit: You can activate your protective ward as an immediate action (that does not provoke an attack of opportunity) three times per day (this consumes a use of the protective ward class feature).

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101 Arcane Discoveries: #1 Energy Discharge

Energy Discharge (Arcane Discovery)

“Take what you have given!”

Prerequisites: arcane school and energy absorption class feature, wizard 6

Benefit: Once per day as a swift action you can discharge a reddish-purple ray composed of energy you have reduced using your energy absorption class feature. This requires a successful ranged touch attack that deals damage equal to the amount you have absorbed (max 3 x your wizard class level). This damage is raw arcane energy damage and therefore is not subject to immunity or resistance but is subject to spell resistance. You use your wizard class level as your caster level.  The range on an energy discharge ray is 100ft. + 10ft./wizard level.

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Saving Throw: Partial

Illustration by Joe Calkins

One of the big things I have been doing while designing 101 8th Level Spells is playing around with partial effects (something that happens even if you make a successful saving throw). A good example of an existing spell that does this is cause fear. It’s a great piece of design, since Shaken is a condition that still allows you to do something while still causing a penalty for 1 round (though you can break this by having two cause fear spells hit one target which causes you to become panicked for one round but that’s only because Shaken stacks). So this became my design philosophy

"Include partial effects, but these partial effects have to allow a character to act and these partial effects can only last for 1 round."

Ability Damage, Ability Drain (1 point) Bleed, Blinded, Broken, Dazzled (really its too weak though) Deafened, Energy Drain ( rather 1 temporary negative level), Entangled, Exhausted, Fatigued, Flat-footed, Grappled, Prone, Shaken, Sickened, and Staggered

Confused is on the borderline along with Nauseated, because one only gives you a potential chance to act and the other only allows you a move action, so I often avoid them both.

There is also one unnamed condition in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, that I like to call Tormented (based on the symbol of pain) a –4 circumstance penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks. This could easily become a –1 or -2 circumstance penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks for one round.

Another one I am thinking about now is the effects of a bestow curse for 1 round we will have to see.

You have to be careful though so you don’t create a “Push [insert spell name] to win” with the caster spamming the spell every round to keep the monster under its thumb. Also while a wizard might not loose a lot when staggered a high level fighter does since he can’t make a full attack action. So I decided to use a nice piece of design found in Frightful Presence.

“After 1 round a subject that succeeded on the saving throw is immune to the [insert partial effect name] of that same caster's [insert spell name] for 24 hours.”

What do you think?

Steve Russell

Rite Publishing