I've been trying to homebrew a light version of the Investiture set. Here's what I have so far:
Your body emits bright light in a 60-foot radius and dim light for an additional 15 feet for the spell's duration. The light is sunlight. Until the spell ends, you gain the following benefits:
You are immune to radiant damage and resistant to necrotic damage.
Any creature that moves within 5 feet of you for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there must make a Constitution saving throw or take 1d10 radiant damage and become blinded. A blinded creature may make a Constitution saving throw at the end of its turn to remove the blindness.
You can use your action to create a blast of light within a 30-foot radius of you. The blast has a radius of 15-feet. Each creature in the blast must make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes 4d8 radiant damage on a failed save and is blinded. A creature takes half as much on a successful one save and is not blinded.
I'd love some feedback. Suggestions, changes, or anything else. If someone already has a nice one set up that would be awesome as well.
What is that exactly? A feat? Part of a race? A spell?
It's a spell. The Investiture spells are all 6th level spells that basically allow you to do some crazy stuff with whatever element the investiture is.
I do like this spell, and you did a decent job in making it look and feel similar to the other Investiture spells. I am not sure why there is a need to specify that the light is sunlight. I also think the last bullet point may be a little off.
You can use your action to create a blast of light within a 30-foot radius of you. The blast has a radius of 15-feet. Each creature in the blast must make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes 4d8 radiant damage on a failed save and is blinded. A creature takes half as much on a successful one save and is not blinded.
Looking at the others I see:
Fire- 4d8 damage (minimum of 4, maximum of 32, average of 18; half of those on a save, and half of that when resistant- which lots of creatures are) in a 15 ft. line from you. Plus 1d10 (minimum of 1, maximum of 10 average of 5.5) within 5 ft. range.
Ice- 4d6 damage (minimum of 4, maximum of 24, average of 14; half of that on a save, and half when resistant) 15 ft. cone, plus speed halved (and difficult terrain 10 ft.)
Stone- Earthquake can cause prone, 15 ft. radius from you. And you are not inhibited by earth or stone difficult terrain. But does not cause any damage.
Wind- 2d10 bludgeoning damage (minimum of 2, maximum of 20, average of 11, half on save, half when resistant) in a 15 ft. square, 60 ft. away, can also push target 10 ft.
Yours is tied for the highest damage (fire), inflicts a condition, has an effective 60 ft. spell range (tied with the farthest-wind) and has an effect area of 30 ft. (tied with the largest- stone)
Can you see the problem here? That one aspect is far too powerful in comparison with the others, let alone adding it to the fact that you also can inflict the same condition plus some damage just when they enter within 5 ft. of you.
Now I am not that great at balancing myself, and again I do like this and feel much of it fits thematically, but this will need adjusting. Conditions can be very powerful by themselves so adding any would mean it is a good idea to dial back damage. I feel like you also very much need to pull back the range of the spell as well as the damage effect radius. (Most certainly do not add any scaling feature).
You may have to leave off that last effect entirely in order to maintain balance, or you may have to leave off the second bullet point and do as I pointed out earlier and pull back damage considerably, as well as reduce range and spell effect for the third. I would like to keep both but all things considered, even that seems like it is on the over powered side. That light is also very wide (effectively 120ft. of bright. with an added total of 30 ft. dim light).
I suppose overall my suggestion is use the same range as the fire one for the effect of the light (maybe a little farther on the bright, and less of dim, but keep the overall range the same- in other words about 45 ft. plus 15 ft.), and probably fire's spell effect and range (a 15 ft. beam of light, 5 ft. wide). Keep the Blinded condition. Dial back the damage to no more than 3d6, you may even only use up to 2d4, especially if you keep the second effect (which should also be reduced to probably no higher than a d6 and more likely a d4). It is... probably still over powered, but maybe not quite as badly.
Again, well done for an attempt, and I do like it.
As far as knowing if anyone else has done an Investiture of Light, you may try to look at what is already in the published homebrews if you have not already. I know that can be very daunting as that is a lot. (I do not envy the moderators the task of going through those.) I also would not guarantee those are balanced either.
And playtesting is recommended. Just be sure to have it all finished before attempting to publish as the published versions cannot be edited.
As it stands, I think the Investiture of Light spell is fine the way it is. Through playtesting, I've found that it's balanced fine for what it is. A 7th level spell that deals moderate damage and damage while maintaining effects that change what another spell similar to it does at a lower level.
The other investiture spells are all 6th level. They have a wide array of effects that all have advantages and disadvantages from one another and can fit the caster using them as needed. Another 6th level spell quite similar to this one is the Sunbeam spell. It deals more damage in a line and is also a concentration spell with repeatable action.
Sunlight is important due to the effect it has on a variety of creatures. Vampires and Drow being the ones that come to mind at a glance.
By lowering the damage and giving the caster a protective ability in lieu of the additional damage Sunbeam does, the players that have tested the spell feel the exchange was worth it. Caster, particularly those at higher levels, are always looking for my defense and this spell (at the very costly 7th level) gives them just that. Again, thanks for the suggestions and insight, I always look forward to reading the constructive criticism to better the spells and homebrew for games.
I encourage you to test the weight cost at higher levels compared to the 6th level spells variations. Higher-level magic is far more limited and should feel like it makes an impact.
Right, I did not realize until after I posted that the thread was made in 2018, and that you probably did not need the advice by now....
I had also been assuming it was meant to be a 6th level spell, like the others. Having it at a different level would also affect how much you can do. Glad that it works perfectly as a 7th level spell.
And while it is not needed any more another thought I had later was to sort of merge the second and third effects. Use an action to create a burst of light within a 10 ft. radius of you with like a d6 of damage.
Did you have this on the published homebrew? I can't add published stuff at the moment, but if I get the chance I would like either to add it or try to make one like it for myself. Have you done any other investiture spells?
I've been trying to homebrew a light version of the Investiture set. Here's what I have so far:
I'd love some feedback. Suggestions, changes, or anything else. If someone already has a nice one set up that would be awesome as well.
What is that exactly? A feat? Part of a race? A spell?
Playtesting Fugare Draconis, an epic tale of adventure, loss, and redemption
Maybe have a special feature were if you cast it at higher levels you could gain bonuses such as a fly speed or invisibility
Yes, then you could become the Super Saiyan the Sun Soul failed to make.
I do like this spell, and you did a decent job in making it look and feel similar to the other Investiture spells. I am not sure why there is a need to specify that the light is sunlight. I also think the last bullet point may be a little off.
You can use your action to create a blast of light within a 30-foot radius of you. The blast has a radius of 15-feet. Each creature in the blast must make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes 4d8 radiant damage on a failed save and is blinded. A creature takes half as much on a successful one save and is not blinded.
Looking at the others I see:
Yours is tied for the highest damage (fire), inflicts a condition, has an effective 60 ft. spell range (tied with the farthest-wind) and has an effect area of 30 ft. (tied with the largest- stone)
Can you see the problem here? That one aspect is far too powerful in comparison with the others, let alone adding it to the fact that you also can inflict the same condition plus some damage just when they enter within 5 ft. of you.
Now I am not that great at balancing myself, and again I do like this and feel much of it fits thematically, but this will need adjusting. Conditions can be very powerful by themselves so adding any would mean it is a good idea to dial back damage. I feel like you also very much need to pull back the range of the spell as well as the damage effect radius. (Most certainly do not add any scaling feature).
You may have to leave off that last effect entirely in order to maintain balance, or you may have to leave off the second bullet point and do as I pointed out earlier and pull back damage considerably, as well as reduce range and spell effect for the third. I would like to keep both but all things considered, even that seems like it is on the over powered side. That light is also very wide (effectively 120ft. of bright. with an added total of 30 ft. dim light).
I suppose overall my suggestion is use the same range as the fire one for the effect of the light (maybe a little farther on the bright, and less of dim, but keep the overall range the same- in other words about 45 ft. plus 15 ft.), and probably fire's spell effect and range (a 15 ft. beam of light, 5 ft. wide). Keep the Blinded condition. Dial back the damage to no more than 3d6, you may even only use up to 2d4, especially if you keep the second effect (which should also be reduced to probably no higher than a d6 and more likely a d4). It is... probably still over powered, but maybe not quite as badly.
Again, well done for an attempt, and I do like it.
As far as knowing if anyone else has done an Investiture of Light, you may try to look at what is already in the published homebrews if you have not already. I know that can be very daunting as that is a lot. (I do not envy the moderators the task of going through those.) I also would not guarantee those are balanced either.
And playtesting is recommended. Just be sure to have it all finished before attempting to publish as the published versions cannot be edited.
Some homebrew: Curse Eater and more-here other- here
Hey there,
Thank you for the suggestions and the advice!
As it stands, I think the Investiture of Light spell is fine the way it is. Through playtesting, I've found that it's balanced fine for what it is. A 7th level spell that deals moderate damage and damage while maintaining effects that change what another spell similar to it does at a lower level.
The other investiture spells are all 6th level. They have a wide array of effects that all have advantages and disadvantages from one another and can fit the caster using them as needed. Another 6th level spell quite similar to this one is the Sunbeam spell. It deals more damage in a line and is also a concentration spell with repeatable action.
Sunlight is important due to the effect it has on a variety of creatures. Vampires and Drow being the ones that come to mind at a glance.
By lowering the damage and giving the caster a protective ability in lieu of the additional damage Sunbeam does, the players that have tested the spell feel the exchange was worth it. Caster, particularly those at higher levels, are always looking for my defense and this spell (at the very costly 7th level) gives them just that. Again, thanks for the suggestions and insight, I always look forward to reading the constructive criticism to better the spells and homebrew for games.
I encourage you to test the weight cost at higher levels compared to the 6th level spells variations. Higher-level magic is far more limited and should feel like it makes an impact.
Right, I did not realize until after I posted that the thread was made in 2018, and that you probably did not need the advice by now....
I had also been assuming it was meant to be a 6th level spell, like the others. Having it at a different level would also affect how much you can do. Glad that it works perfectly as a 7th level spell.
And while it is not needed any more another thought I had later was to sort of merge the second and third effects. Use an action to create a burst of light within a 10 ft. radius of you with like a d6 of damage.
Did you have this on the published homebrew? I can't add published stuff at the moment, but if I get the chance I would like either to add it or try to make one like it for myself. Have you done any other investiture spells?
Some homebrew: Curse Eater and more-here other- here