Finally maneuvers.
First a few clarifications on usage:
-Does the "light" damage have all the weird caveats about undead and light vulnerable undead that searing light has?
Yes.
Huh, ok. Perhaps an additional sentence or two for clarification like:
"Against Undead the damage dice for the spell changed to dealing "light" damage are reduced by one size and doubled in quantity, and against an Undead vulnerable to light those damage dice remain the same size and are just doubled in quantity. Against a construct or inanimate object "light" damage dice are reduced by one size."
On second thought, I didn't want to make them "super-effective" against undead and "it's not very effective..." against constructs and objects. More that it would trigger special effects that depend on light, and otherwise remain the equivalent of "pure" damage.
So like just treat the spell as if it had the [Light] tag or something? It would make it somewhat vulnerable to [Darkness] spells, but that mostly just means the light isn't shed in magical darkness so I'm not sure if that's problematic. Searing Light isn't a [Light] spell, though Sunburst is. Go figure on that one. How would doing something like that match your intent? I might have to examine a few [Light] and [Darkness] effects to check for interesting interactions, but if it's just generating light then I suppose that would also be relatively simple, though how it interacts with magical darkness is probably a good question to answer.
-So for things that do require attack rolls, do penalties and range still apply or does the AoE completely override all that? Examples: Would a ranged attack spell get penalties for firing into melee without precise shot against any opponents engaged in melee in the AoE? Would a melee attack spell only affect those within the AoE that are also within your melee reach?
Override, yes, no.
Your first answer there conflicts with your second answer. Revisit after sleep.
Ok, let's try this again. Override the range, but not actual rolls. Thus you still get penalties for firing into melee without precise shot, but allow melee spells to affect far enemies.
Seems like a weird penalty considering that most of the melee spells are superior when allowed to apply like this. There are a lot of really nasty melee touch spells that work very well with these maneuvers with no investment added, but ranged spells require two extra feats just to make work? Anyway, might want to clarify the relevant penalties right up front in a separate bit to be sure about what's relevant.
Also you added my bit on multiple projectiles, but forgot to take down the old bit.
There is a lot of craziness by how open these maneuvers are, but I guess that's half the fun. I have to ask all the questions above over just the most obvious spells to use with these maneuvers. I think I'll update you later on a few of the weirder spells I attempt to make work with the school and what my GM ends up ruling about them.
Miasma Sweep - Abrupt Jaunt eat your heart out. Immediate action conditional dodge, plus throw damage back in their face, plus damage things in your path, plus immediate action (worth stating twice for something this good). That's a lot for a 1st level maneuver.
Well, unlike abrupt jaunt, it can't actually go through obstacles.
Presumably it could if you dealt enough damage, though I admit that that's somewhat unlikely for most spells and any significant obstacle. It's still an immediate action fuck you + damage to any melee attacker. The changes to Escape Velocity make the balance point a bit more clear and makes it more of a clear upgrade, though they definitely still feel oddly in the same ballpark considering the difference in level.
Well, there's also the difference that Miasma sweep only takes you up, and if you're somewhere with a low ceiling...
Then you try and break through that ceiling. Especially if you packed something that does nasty damage to objects.
Light Sign "Luminous Strike" - Is there a way to get the weapon pictured? or some sort of book cannon? Between the spellbook and the broom, the caster seems to have their hands a bit full to be using normal weapons to deliver spells.
In case I didn't made it clear enough, the broom can be the weapon, it's just a quarterstaff with some straw attached. It's on the favored weapon list and on the nearby pic even!
I'm just sad because the pic teased me with a broom cannon (even though you can just fluff the use of the maneuver as using a broom cannon). Anyway, just to be clear the spell is cast as normal from the weapon when used as an attack right?
Yes. Also clarified the fluff that the weapon is supposed to turn into a magicannon.
Hmm, could you release a spell stored in the weapon on an Attack of Opportunity?
Also if you're trying to use your book and have the broom on hand, then now you still wouldn't be able to use the broom/quarterstaff as a weapon since it's a 2-hander (unless a nice club broom will do). Personally I think it'd be a neat thing if you could have up to one book floating with you hands free, but I'm still kind of whatever on attacking at all with this class as is anyway so I wouldn't say it's necessary per se.
Magic Drain Missile - This is a bit confusing. So they are hit by the spell and the DC is increased by 4, but that DC only affects the creatures within the burst (and presumably only if you had to make a save for that spell anyway?)?
Correct in all.
Wait, so does the first target get a save or not? The "hit" part is what confused me.
The first targets gets a save, with a bigger DC.
Eesh. Lemme give that a tweak:
"If you hit and the spell required an attack roll, then the spell is treated as if any required attack rolls were hits and the DC (if any) is increased by 4. Creatures within a burst of up to 5 feet per IL are affected as well, but at this maneuver's normal DC."
Star Sign "Escape Velocity" - While this does have its advantages, you'd think the first level wouldn't have many advantages over it. You'd think you'd at least be able to get a spell off to trigger The Witch's Ball for it.
Added that option.
Now that's more like it. One more thing, does "would be harmed" mean you essentially get to wait to know if an attack would have succeeded first before dodging? That would give it a not insignificant leg up on Miasma Sweep I will admit.
Yes, good catch. I had almost forgot it myself.
Maybe replace the first sentence with:
"You may initiate this maneuver after the result of an attack against you is determined to be successful, but before you suffer its effects."
Loving Heart "Double Spark" - Any particular reason that this has less area/range than the similar 3rd level laser that's arguably even more freaking huge? ;P
To don't be strictly better in all aspects.
Fair enough. Just teasing a bit. I might suggest "Twice the laser. Twice the fun."
When I find an appropriate pic I'll put that as the quote.
A bit inspired by Iron Man, but this one of Marisa that I picked off of google image search might fit the bill.
Perversion "Sure-Fire Master Spark" - So lemme get this straight. There are two rounds involved right? First invulnerable round and then second cone round? Does the cone affect those that were already affected by the first round line? This is some scary area btw. I want to wipe a battlefield clean with this thing.
Yes, two rounds. The cone only affects targets still remaining in the area you pointed at in the previous round. Yes it's an anti-army noble phantasm maneuver.
I decided to tweak the wording a bit towards something I thought was a little clearer. Tell me what you think.
As part of this maneuver cast a spell that deals HP damage with a casting time of a standard action or less. Its duration changes to 1 round, and any creatures who enter the area are affected if they have not already been.
It affects everybody inside a line with width 5 feet and length up to 70 feet per IL. This maneuver can't be interrupted, countered or otherwise stopped by any means, and you become invulnerable to all ill effects while this lasts. You cannot take any other actions except for immediate actions in a round that you initiate this maneuver.
At the start of your next round, the line expands into a cone with the same range, and everybody and everything inside is affected by the spell and takes extra damage equal to two Spellcraft checks from you. This cone lasts 1 round, during which you still can only take immediate actions, and are no longer invincible.
Yay more free text cleaning!
As a side note, if you ever need any opinions on wording you can feel free to shoot me a PM. I can't promise that I will necessarily be prompt in answering, but I could always use a bit of editing practice when I have the time.
Edit: AddendumFirst fight tonight. I had one problem come up, and afterwards we leveled up to 5 so I started skimming level 3 spells and came up with a couple interesting cases that could use clarification.
-For Meteoric Shower, it's stated that if they fail the save then they're pushed. But what if the spell you cast doesn't have a save? It doesn't specify any particular save, so my GM had to ad hoc rule it in as fort (it should probably default to something if the spell doesn't have a specified save).
-Explosive Runes. This one is weird, but it fits the criteria of dealing damage and standard action to cast so it works with most of the maneuvers, even if not especially well with stances. Considering all the items the average adventurer probably carries on their person, you can probably make them explode just by touching every single object on their person via the AoE and watching the fireworks, and that's just what they have on them. Pebbles, marbles, volleys of arrows or other ammunition meant to simply litter a field with lightweight objects could convert simple debris into a minefield of epic proportions. Now this is kind of rife with abuse held at bay by sane GM interpretation I think, but it strikes me as one of the more interesting spells you can turn into an AoE. Additional point, since you're exploding objects and they take damage too, you'll probably be destroying your own loot by using this tactic so it's a bit of a scorched earth tactic. Still kind of a funny broken trick, though I'd be interested to hear your interpretation of it.
-Manyjaws. I don't even know where to begin with this one. I'm inclined to say something like the jaws being able to fly around within the AoE, and any individual jaw being treated as a projectile per hit when it connects with a target. It's got so many fiddly bits going on that I'm not sure you can even make it work with this school, without just having to make a special rule just for it. Any thoughts on unraveling this potential headache?
-Vampiric Touch. Its usefulness mainly hinges on whether an AoE Vampiric touch is just one application across multiple targets or multiple applications of the same effect (the latter doesn't stack). Also how's that cap on temp HP work out when you're hitting multiple targets? If the limit only applies on a per target basis then you can get a whole heap of Temp HP.