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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2012 : 04:54:21
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For some time during the initial days of good ol' 2e AD&D, I played a wizard named Grayson Haeldreth. While many things about him are fuzzy (as it has been nearly 20 years since I last played him!); a few things still stand out.
One of those things was my love of a spell called "Rainbow Shield" which was one of the first "broken" spells I ever ran across. You see, this 4th level spell allowed you to place ANY spell of 3rd level or less "into" the shield and that spell would take effect on anyone who hit you in melee!
Many folks in our group said "Lightning Bolt" or such would be best...but no, I decided on Vampiric Touch.
You see, by the spells description, anyone that hit you had the spell hit them. They still got a saving throw (if allowed); but that was it. Lets make this a shorter post and simply say this: Vampiric Touch is a very nasty spell...it is a touch spell, does loads of damage to one target (maximum 5d6), and gives the caster those Hit Points as temporary hit points after healing any damage already done to the caster.
Grayson very quickly became a heavily scarred wizard who LOVED melee...even with ogres and such. ESPECIALLY with Ogres and such.
Just a thought I wanted to share as I look at this spell combination in some old notes.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the broken part: the spell lasted a number of rounds equal to the caster's level...and there was no limit to the number of times the imbued spell could hit enemies!
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The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
Edited by - Dalor Darden on 03 Nov 2012 05:36:05
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11809 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2012 : 18:27:24
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quote: Originally posted by Dalor Darden
For some time during the initial days of good ol' 2e AD&D, I played a wizard named Grayson Haeldreth. While many things about him are fuzzy (as it has been nearly 20 years since I last played him!); a few things still stand out.
One of those things was my love of a spell called "Rainbow Shield" which was one of the first "broken" spells I ever ran across. You see, this 4th level spell allowed you to place ANY spell of 3rd level or less "into" the shield and that spell would take effect on anyone who hit you in melee!
Many folks in our group said "Lightning Bolt" or such would be best...but no, I decided on Vampiric Touch.
You see, by the spells description, anyone that hit you had the spell hit them. They still got a saving throw (if allowed); but that was it. Lets make this a shorter post and simply say this: Vampiric Touch is a very nasty spell...it is a touch spell, does loads of damage to one target (maximum 5d6), and gives the caster those Hit Points as temporary hit points after healing any damage already done to the caster.
Grayson very quickly became a heavily scarred wizard who LOVED melee...even with ogres and such. ESPECIALLY with Ogres and such.
Just a thought I wanted to share as I look at this spell combination in some old notes.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the broken part: the spell lasted a number of rounds equal to the caster's level...and there was no limit to the number of times the imbued spell could hit enemies!
Yeah, I mentioned this spell in a couple combos that were broken. For instance, throwing a cure wounds spell in it and then having the party slap the person for a single point of non-lethal dmg at a time was a quick and dirty way to heal the entire party with two spells quickly. Thankfully they took the base concept and made it more viable with the retributive spell feat in Complete Mage. The only thing I wish they would have changed with that feat though is that you can only have 1 retributive spell setup. I can understand not allowing 20, but having 3 in reserve (but only being able to release one at a time) would make the feat more worth buying. Also, creating an item that lets you make up to 3 spells retributive per day would also be highly useful. That way, you could have the spells in memory and once your first retributive spell is used you could prep for a new encounter. Of course, be wary of spell turning effects with this tactic. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2012 : 19:05:12
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It was still fun to walk through a group of raiding Ogres and Orcs soaking up hits on "the puny wizard"... |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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