Hi, guys

I have been further considering my homebrewed spell; Call of The Haunted, that I discussed previously on Reddit and I have decided that I want it to be more readily available. So I have made it a third level spell and tied the damage it does to the level of the character, as shown below.

Call of The Haunted: Third level spell

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: 60 ft

Components: V, M (ashes of a recently cremated corpse)

Duration: Until ended (requires concentration)

Class: Any (requires the ability to cast at least 3rd level spells)

Description: You sprinkle the ashes of a recently cremated corpse into the wind, and call out a word of power, to summon a phantom that attacks one creature that you can see within 60 ft of you for 3d8 psychic damage. At Higher Levels: As your character increases in level, you gain the ability to summon more powerful phantoms, increasing the amount of damage by 1d8; to 4d8 at 6th level, 5d8 at 11th level, and 6d8 at 17th level.

That is it guys, that's what I have come up with after thinking more about the spell I have been trying to create. What do you think of this rewritten spell, can I have your thoughts, please?

Cheers

Foxes XD

If the casting consumes the ashes, the components list should say that. If it doesn’t, maybe don’t suggest that they be scattered to the wind, haha.

What exactly are you going for with the scaling? Upcasting is an established mechanic that works. Is there some reason you don’t want to use it?

You say the duration is concentration but provide no benefit for concentrating on the spell.

The description says the phantom “attacks” the target. Is there an attack roll? If it’s just automatic damage, don’t say “attack.”

Quote from SagaTympana >>

If the casting consumes the ashes, the components list should say that. If it doesn’t, maybe don’t suggest that they be scattered to the wind, haha.

What exactly are you going for with the scaling? Upcasting is an established mechanic that works. Is there some reason you don’t want to use it?

You say the duration is concentration but provide no benefit for concentrating on the spell.

The description says the phantom “attacks” the target. Is there an attack roll? If it’s just automatic damage, don’t say “attack.”

All good points that I need to work on go make this more playable.  The reason I went for level scaling rather than upscaling to higher spell slots, was I wanted a level 3 spell that would do more damage as the character progressed, without needing to use a higher spell slot.

This way, there is no need to burn a higher level slot as it won't do any good, as the spell damage increases based upon level instead.

I saw it as the character becoming more proficient with this spell as they practiced it more and became more proficient in using magic in combat situations, rather then just getting more powerful magic.  The more proficient they became, the more they learned the the spells nuances and the more powerful the phantom they could summon and control.

I was kind of looking to give spell casters something similar to using swords or other marital weapons with this spell, without it being "I summon a magic sword".  Something more thematic to actual magic, that they could still get any proficiency bonuses or whatever from using.

Cantrips scale with character level because they're very basic in form, function and while their damage output will eventually go beyond low-level non-cantrip spells, the higher-slot casting of those and other spells can easily outmatch any cantrip.

Levels of 1st level and higher scale off spell slot level and not character level. This helps keep them balanced when multiclassing, and generally speaking.

Let's take a full 20th level spellcaster, say a Wizard if you allow the spell for Wizard.

This spell now does 6d8 damage per round, for an indefinite, (your duration is wonky, we'll get to that) number of rounds. Let's say 1 minute. That's a possible 60d6, for a 3rd level spell. The character could cast this 15 times in a day. That's potentially up to 900d6 damage using this spell.

Let's say instead it scaled with spell slot level: 3d6 at 3rd and +1d6 for each level higher.

3rd Level: 3d6 x 10 rounds = 30d6, x 3 slots = 90d6.
4th Level: 4d6 x 10 rounds = 40d6, x 3 slots = 120d6.
5th Level: 5d6 x 10 rounds = 50d6, x 3 slots = 150d6.
3rd Level: 6d6 x 10 rounds = 60d6, x 2 slots = 120d6.
3rd Level: 7d6 x 10 rounds = 70d6, x 2 slots = 140d6.
3rd Level: 8d6 x 10 rounds = 80d6, x 1 slots = 80d6.
3rd Level: 9d6 x 10 rounds = 90d6, x 1 slots = 90d6.

This makes total 790d6. This is a lot more balanced than the 900d6, although for a persistent effect still very high. It would be better to upscale every 2 levels, instead of every 1, like other similar spells.

-

Now let's look at the Duration. You have "Until Ended (requires concentration)". But there is no ending condition. So you could have this active for several hours. If you were Warforged or an Elf, this could be active longer - years even. Literally forever. Those races don't sleep and concentration can be maintained during rests if you don't sleep. That's a bit much.

Assuming you meant the phantom attacks once per round, I would recommend limiting to 1 minute. You also make no mention of how the phantom moves or attacks or when. Technically, how you've worded it, it would attack once and then do nothing else at all until the spell ends.

The description of "recently" for the material component is also rather vague. The word will mean different spans of time for different people. For short lived races like humans recently means within the last few days to a week. While for an Elf or other long-lived race, recently can mean years.

A phantom has no distinct description. It often means something that appears but isn't really there, like a ghost or illusion.

How about the following?

Call of The Haunted: Third level spell

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: 60 ft

Components: V, M (ashes of a corpse that has been cremated within the past week)

Duration: 1 minute (requires concentration)

Class: Any (requires the ability to cast at least 3rd level spells)

Description: You sprinkle the ashes of a recently cremated corpse into the air, and call out a word of power, to summon a phantom in an occupied space you can see within range. This phantom takes the appearance of a featureless grey-skinned humanoid draped in charcoal grey rags. The phantom is also partially see-through and seems to not have legs - it can fly. When you summon this phantom you can have it attack one creature you can see within 5 ft of the phantom. Make a ranged spell attack against that creature. On a hit the phantom deals 3d6 psychic damage. The phantom is not a creature and can pass through creatures and objects without harming them, it cannot be harmed.

On subsequent turns you can use a bonus action to move the phantom up to 30 ft to an unoccupied space you can see and repeat the attack against a creature you can see within 5 ft of it.

At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for every two slot levels above 3rd.

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >>

Cantrips scale with character level because they're very basic in form, function and while their damage output will eventually go beyond low-level non-cantrip spells, the higher-slot casting of those and other spells can easily outmatch any cantrip.

Levels of 1st level and higher scale off spell slot level and not character level. This helps keep them balanced when multiclassing, and generally speaking.

Let's take a full 20th level spellcaster, say a Wizard if you allow the spell for Wizard.

This spell now does 6d8 damage per round, for an indefinite, (your duration is wonky, we'll get to that) number of rounds. Let's say 1 minute. That's a possible 60d6, for a 3rd level spell. The character could cast this 15 times in a day. That's potentially up to 900d6 damage using this spell.

Let's say instead it scaled with spell slot level: 3d6 at 3rd and +1d6 for each level higher.

3rd Level: 3d6 x 10 rounds = 30d6, x 3 slots = 90d6.
4th Level: 4d6 x 10 rounds = 40d6, x 3 slots = 120d6.
5th Level: 5d6 x 10 rounds = 50d6, x 3 slots = 150d6.
3rd Level: 6d6 x 10 rounds = 60d6, x 2 slots = 120d6.
3rd Level: 7d6 x 10 rounds = 70d6, x 2 slots = 140d6.
3rd Level: 8d6 x 10 rounds = 80d6, x 1 slots = 80d6.
3rd Level: 9d6 x 10 rounds = 90d6, x 1 slots = 90d6.

This makes total 790d6. This is a lot more balanced than the 900d6, although for a persistent effect still very high. It would be better to upscale every 2 levels, instead of every 1, like other similar spells.

-

Now let's look at the Duration. You have "Until Ended (requires concentration)". But there is no ending condition. So you could have this active for several hours. If you were Warforged or an Elf, this could be active longer - years even. Literally forever. Those races don't sleep and concentration can be maintained during rests if you don't sleep. That's a bit much.

Assuming you meant the phantom attacks once per round, I would recommend limiting to 1 minute. You also make no mention of how the phantom moves or attacks or when. Technically, how you've worded it, it would attack once and then do nothing else at all until the spell ends.

The description of "recently" for the material component is also rather vague. The word will mean different spans of time for different people. For short lived races like humans recently means within the last few days to a week. While for an Elf or other long-lived race, recently can mean years.

A phantom has no distinct description. It often means something that appears but isn't really there, like a ghost or illusion.

How about the following?

Call of The Haunted: Third level spell

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: 60 ft

Components: V, M (ashes of a corpse that has been cremated within the past week)

Duration: 1 minute (requires concentration)

Class: Any (requires the ability to cast at least 3rd level spells)

Description: You sprinkle the ashes of a recently cremated corpse into the air, and call out a word of power, to summon a phantom in an occupied space you can see within range. This phantom takes the appearance of a featureless grey-skinned humanoid draped in charcoal grey rags. The phantom is also partially see-through and seems to not have legs - it can fly. When you summon this phantom you can have it attack one creature you can see within 5 ft of the phantom. Make a ranged spell attack against that creature. On a hit the phantom deals 3d6 psychic damage. The phantom is not a creature and can pass through creatures and objects without harming them, it cannot be harmed.

On subsequent turns you can use a bonus action to move the phantom up to 30 ft to an unoccupied space you can see and repeat the attack against a creature you can see within 5 ft of it.

At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for every two slot levels above 3rd.

 

Hi, 

That does sound a lot better.  I like that - mind if I use it, or you could make it if you want?

Cheers

Foxes XD.

It's your spell, ;P