I'm hoping to use this spell for a campaign, it's based off a magic system in one of my other stories. Unfortunately, I don't have enough experience to know how balanced it would be.
Spell - Growing Whisper
The caster chooses a number of targets they can see up to their caster level.
Each round on their turn, the targets must make a perception check of DC 20 to become aware of the spell. If they fail, they take a -1 penalty to wisdom checks and saving throws for the duration of the spell and the DC of the next perception check decreases by 2. If they succeed or become aware of the spell by some other fashion, they must make a wisdom saving throw against the caster's spell save DC. On a failed save, the caster can choose to send the target to sleep for a number of rounds equal to their caster level.
So first off - Is this spell either broken or severely underpowered? If so, how can I change it to make it better?
Second - What spell level would this be, and what party level would it work well in an encounter against? The basic intention is to have a NPC hidden somewhere near the party cast this while they're not expecting it.
Third - If I make this available to PCs, are there any balance issues I should be aware of?
I don't think there's ever been a spell that has a DC other than the casters spell save DC -if you're determined to keep it at 20, it'll probably be a higher level spell (5th? Ish maybe).
However, why do you have -1 penalty to Wisdom checks on a fail, only for the DC to *decrease* by two? That's redundant honestly. And why does the first part of the spell exist at all? This seems like a modified Sleep spell with extra steps.
Finally, the fact that it scales with caster level is pretty broken and should be rethought. You don't want someone able to target 20 individuals, no matter how strong. At that point it should just be an AoE spell.
Sorry for the harsh sounding questions - hopefully this serves as good feedback to get your spell into a comfortable game space.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
If it is for an NPC I'd highly recommend making it a special feature rather than a spell, because none of the mechanics fit within the standard spell mechanics for 5e. e.g.
5e spells are generally very easily noticed due to requiring V,S,M components
5e spells always use the caster's DC for saves
5e spells have either a fixed number of targets, or the number of targets scales with the level of the spell.
5e spells have some kind of effect the moment they are cast. -> as written your current spell would do nothing until the target notices the spell, which might not happen for 10 rounds which is kind of pointless.
5e spells have a set duration, and on going effects of a spell often require concentration.
The spell is also very clunky as written and is missing a lot of information (e.g. does taking damage wake up a sleeping creature?, what if the target never notices the spell?)
If you would like to make this a spell, I'd recommend the below. But personally I'd just keep it as a special feature b/c it is a relatively niche ability.
Spell Level 1 : Growing Whisper
Components : S, M (a small piece of parchment with a secret written on it)
Range: 60 ft
Duration: 1 minute
Casting Time: 1 action
Choose 1 target that you can see within range, this spell creates inaudible whispers in the target's ears. At the start of each of the target's turns they must make a Wisdom saving throw against the caster's spell DC, record each failure. When the target fails against the save three times it falls asleep for the duration of the spell. A sleeping creature wakes up if it takes any damage or if another creature uses an action to shake them awake which causes the spell to end on that target. If the target is deafened this spell ends immediately.
Casting a Higher levels. When the spell is cast at 2nd level or higher the number of targets you can affect increases by 1 for each level above 1st, i.e. 2 targets at 3rd level, 3 targets at 4th level.
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I'm hoping to use this spell for a campaign, it's based off a magic system in one of my other stories. Unfortunately, I don't have enough experience to know how balanced it would be.
Spell - Growing Whisper
The caster chooses a number of targets they can see up to their caster level.
Each round on their turn, the targets must make a perception check of DC 20 to become aware of the spell. If they fail, they take a -1 penalty to wisdom checks and saving throws for the duration of the spell and the DC of the next perception check decreases by 2. If they succeed or become aware of the spell by some other fashion, they must make a wisdom saving throw against the caster's spell save DC. On a failed save, the caster can choose to send the target to sleep for a number of rounds equal to their caster level.
So first off - Is this spell either broken or severely underpowered? If so, how can I change it to make it better?
Second - What spell level would this be, and what party level would it work well in an encounter against? The basic intention is to have a NPC hidden somewhere near the party cast this while they're not expecting it.
Third - If I make this available to PCs, are there any balance issues I should be aware of?
I don't think there's ever been a spell that has a DC other than the casters spell save DC -if you're determined to keep it at 20, it'll probably be a higher level spell (5th? Ish maybe).
However, why do you have -1 penalty to Wisdom checks on a fail, only for the DC to *decrease* by two? That's redundant honestly. And why does the first part of the spell exist at all? This seems like a modified Sleep spell with extra steps.
Finally, the fact that it scales with caster level is pretty broken and should be rethought. You don't want someone able to target 20 individuals, no matter how strong. At that point it should just be an AoE spell.
Sorry for the harsh sounding questions - hopefully this serves as good feedback to get your spell into a comfortable game space.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
If it is for an NPC I'd highly recommend making it a special feature rather than a spell, because none of the mechanics fit within the standard spell mechanics for 5e. e.g.
The spell is also very clunky as written and is missing a lot of information (e.g. does taking damage wake up a sleeping creature?, what if the target never notices the spell?)
If you would like to make this a spell, I'd recommend the below. But personally I'd just keep it as a special feature b/c it is a relatively niche ability.
Spell Level 1 : Growing Whisper
Components : S, M (a small piece of parchment with a secret written on it)
Range: 60 ft
Duration: 1 minute
Casting Time: 1 action
Choose 1 target that you can see within range, this spell creates inaudible whispers in the target's ears. At the start of each of the target's turns they must make a Wisdom saving throw against the caster's spell DC, record each failure. When the target fails against the save three times it falls asleep for the duration of the spell. A sleeping creature wakes up if it takes any damage or if another creature uses an action to shake them awake which causes the spell to end on that target. If the target is deafened this spell ends immediately.
Casting a Higher levels. When the spell is cast at 2nd level or higher the number of targets you can affect increases by 1 for each level above 1st, i.e. 2 targets at 3rd level, 3 targets at 4th level.