Dalamar's Lightning Lance - Blasting for the win?

[Endarire]

I've heard of Dalamar's lightning lance (Dragonlance Campaign Setting 105) being especially spiffy for blasters.

(click to show/hide)

Dalamar’s Lightning Lance
Evocation [Electricity]
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: 1 lightning-lance/five levels
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude half (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes

You create a crackling lance of lightning that you can hurl at your foes. You must succeed at a ranged touch attack roll to hit. The lance deals 3d6 points of damage from the impact of the strike, plus 1d6 electricity damage per caster level (maximum 10d6). The impact damage is not subject to being reduced by protection from the elements (electricity), spark shield, and similar magic or effects, but the target is entitled to a Fortitude save to halve the electricity damage. You can create and hurl a second lightninglance at 10th level, and a third at 15th level. All bolts must be aimed at enemies within 30 feet of each other.

Material Component: An amber, crystal, or glass rod.

Source

Still, there are plenty of ambiguities with this spell.

-Does it cap at 3 projectiles?  (Seemingly not, unlike the explicit limit for scorching ray.)

-Does the 3d6 impact damage count toward the 10d6 damage cap?  (Seemingly not, based on how the sentence is parsed.)

-Does this spell bypass all electricity resistance?  What about immunity?

-Is this considered a ray for purposes of Split Ray?

-If I use a Veil of Storms (Magic Item Compendium 213), does the +4d6 damage apply to one projectile or all?

[Drammor]

Do you know a source where the spell can be viewed? I don't have the book, but I'd like to help.


Edit: Oooh, but I can already help you with your question about the Veil of Storms.

The veil's effect applies to only one target at a time, and the veil does 4d6 damage (not +4d6). So, you could do damage with each lance you create, but you would need 3 swift actions to do it with. But no, each use of the veil affects only a single target.

[phaedrusxy]

(click to show/hide)

Dalamar’s Lightning Lance
Evocation [Electricity]
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: 1 lightning-lance/five levels
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude half (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes
You create a crackling lance of lightning that you can hurl at your foes. You must succeed at a ranged touch attack roll to hit. The lance deals 3d6 points of damage from the impact of the strike, plus 1d6 electricity damage per caster level (maximum 10d6). The impact damage is not subject to being reduced by protection from the elements (electricity), spark shield, and similar magic or effects, but the target is entitled to a Fortitude save to halve the electricity damage. You can create and hurl a second lightninglance at 10th level, and a third at 15th level. All bolts must be aimed at enemies within 30 feet of each other.
Material Component: An amber, crystal, or glass rod.

It only mentions getting another lance at 10th and 15th, not one every 5 levels. So you'd never get more than 3. So I think it would cap out at 39d6 damage at 15th level.

[Endarire]

The 'short text' says one lance per 5 levels.

Also, updated OP with spell text.

[Drammor]

-Does it cap at 3 projectiles?

-Does the 3d6 impact damage count toward the 10d6 damage cap?  (Seemingly not, based on how the sentence is parsed.)

-Does this spell bypass all electricity resistance?  What about immunity?

-Is this considered a ray for purposes of Split Ray?

-If I use a Veil of Storms (Magic Item Compendium 213), does the +4d6 damage apply to one projectile or all?

Yes, it caps at 3 projectiles.

The 3d6 impact does not count toward the 10d6 electricity cap.

Only the 3d6 impact overcomes forms of protection from electricity. Immunity still provides immunity to the electricity damage, but only affects the impact damage if the immunity's nature is such that it provides immunity to effects with the [electricity] descriptor. The 3d6 impact damage has the [electricity] descriptor (since it is a part of the spell), but is not electricity damage.

The spell produces lances, not rays. Split Ray would have no effect on it. Unless you were a spellwarp sniper.

Post script: Despite not being as broken as you may have been hoping, this spell is still a great topic for an Arcane Thesis!

My only question is whether Ocular Spell would transform a level 15 Dalamar's Lightning Lance into one ray or three. Because if it's three, I will definitely be assigning DLL to my blaster.

[Endarire]

Ocular Spell uses scorching ray as an example, and a CL15 Dalamar's lightning lance (Ocular version) would shoot 3 lances per eye ray.  Add Split Ray and Chain Spell and Arcane Thesis to taste.  Goes well with Incantatrix and a Veil of Storms.

[X-Codes]

That's not bad.  Gives Storm Touch from Magic of Eberron a run for it's money.

[spacemonkey555]

...The impact damage is not subject to being reduced by protection from the elements (electricity), spark shield, and similar magic or effects....

-Does this spell bypass all electricity resistance?  What about immunity?

it doesn't bypass any electricity resistance that I can see, it just has 2 effects. 3d6 impact which isn't subject to electricity immunity/resistance, and 1d6 per cl electric, which can be negated/reduced normally.

[Drammor]

Ocular Spell uses scorching ray as an example, and a CL15 Dalamar's lightning lance (Ocular version) would shoot 3 lances per eye ray.  Add Split Ray and Chain Spell and Arcane Thesis to taste.  Goes well with Incantatrix and a Veil of Storms.

If your heart throbs for Split Ray, then you might also like Ray Burst, Ray Coning, Ray Extension and Ray Splitting. Respectively, they:
• Turn your ray into a 30-foot burst, centered on you, for +3 SLs.
• Turn your ray into a 30-foot cone, Ref neg, for +2 SLs.
• Allow you to maintain a ray for 1 more round, for +1 SL. (Arcane Thesis, please!)
• Split your ray to affect three different targets, with a -4 to hit each, for +2 SLs.

Something just sounds nice about a Ray Burst Ocular Dalamar's Lightning Lance. Too bad about it being a level 8 spell, though. Doable at level 15 with Versatile Spellcaster, though...