Epic Level Handbook

CHAPTER 2:EPIC SPELLSApproval: This is the final step, and it’s criticallyimportant. You must show your epic spell developmentwork and reasoning to your DM and get his approval. Ifyou DM doesn’t approve, then the epic spell cannot bedeveloped. However, the DM should explain why theepic spell wasn’t approved and possibly offer suggestionson how to create an epic spell that will pass muster.Extending the approval process further, the DM mustapprove each epic spell contained in this book before youcan develop it for your own character.Example of Development and CastingCanabulum, an epic spellcaster, decides to develop anepic spell that allows him to throw an exploding ball thatsimultaneously deals 10d6 points of damage each of acid,fire, sonic, and electricity (he dubs it a hellball). The baseDC of the energy seed is 19. Combining all fourenergy effects immediately increases theSpellcraft DC to 76 (DC 19 × 4 = DC 76).Furthermore, the base seed describes abolt effect; to change the effect to a 20-foot-radius spread, Canabulum appliesthe “change area” factor from Table2–2: Epic Spell Factors, whichincreases the Spellcraft DC by +2.Deciding he’d rather have a 40-footradiusspread, he increases the SpellcraftDC by an additional +6, bringingthe Spellcraft DC to 84. Canabulumdoesn’t want to spend 1 minute castinghellball, so he applies the “1-actioncasting time” factor (+20 DC)which brings the SpellcraftDC to 104.A Spellcraft DC of 104 isfairly high, and Canabulumdecides that he’d like to bringthe DC down by applying mitigatingfactors. Because Canabulumhas hit points to spare,he takes the “backlash” mitigatingfactor: In exchange for a–10 reduction to the SpellcraftDC, his hellball will now deal Canabulum10d6 points of damage eachtime he casts it. He further modifiesthe spell to burn his own experiencepoints with each casting. Inexchange for a –4 DC reduction,hellball will burn 400 XP per casting. The Spellcraft DCnow stands at 90.If Canabulum wanted to reduce the Spellcraft DC everfurther, he could eliminate the factor that reduces castingtime to 1 action. That would lower the Spellcraft DC by20 points, but he decides to go ahead and develop thespell with the faster casting time.An epic spell with a Spellcraft DC of 90 uses upresources with a total cost of 810,000 gp, takes 17 days ofCanabulum’s time to develop, and drains 32,400 XP fromCanabulum. But, when all is said and done, hellball isready (and you’ll find the spell in the Epic Spells sectionearlier in this chapter).Canabulum has a Spellcraft skill modifier of +82. Hecan take 10 to cast hellball, and he does so on his first turnwhen he stumbles across a rampaging atropal (a newmonster detailed in Chapter 5).Hellball is successfully castwhen Canabulum takes 10 on hisSpellcraft check, so it will deal 10d6points of fire damage, 10d6 points of aciddamage, 10d6 points of electricity damage,and 10d6 points of sonic, damage—if hellball getspast the atropal’s spell resistance and saving throw.Atropals have spell resistance 42. As a 64th-levelwizard, Canabulum easily overcomesthat spell resistance with a casterlevel check. The atropal makes onesaving throw against hellball’sReflex save DC of 35 (20 + 15for Canabulum’s 40 Intelligence).The atropal has aReflex save bonus of +26, and itrolls an 8 for a total of 34. Theatropal barely misses its saveagainst hellball.Canabulum rolls the firedamage separately because theatropal has fire resistance 20,but rolls the rest of the damagetogether: 33 points of firedamage (of which the atropaltakes only 13) and 101 points ofcombined acid, electricity, andsonic damage. He also burns400 XP and takes 10d6 pointsof damage as his eyes bleedfrom the hellball’s terrible,uncontrolled energies.DOES IT LOOK COOL?Epic spells are amazing sculptures of magic, and every castingshould reflect that. Don’t be afraid to add special visual effectsto the description of the spell. While these special visualeffects should not have any specific game effect, they do serveto reinforce the idea that you’re casting a truly powerful spell.For example, when you cast an epic spell using the slay seed,you might include the following description: “The caster’s eyesturn midnight black as a torrent of soul-numbing energy poursover the target like a tsunami, striking the target dead.”90