DM Nagging: It's pretty much my job

[Anastasia]

I'd like a couple of clarifications for Miracle/Wish, specifically about this line from the writeup in the houserules:
- Asking for a modified version of a spell is acceptable, including scaled up versions that are within the limits of the spell's power.

Say you're working with Miracle, so you could emulate any lvl8 cleric spell and any lvl7 other spell (or lower, of course).
Presumably, you could use it to cast Crown of Flame (Clr5, 2d6 anti-evil aura of 10ft radius). Using Miracle for a scaled-up version could increase the range, the duration, the damage and so on, which is pretty clear (and would likely be up to the GM in terms of balance).

Pretty much.

I'd say that if you wanted to use Wish to cast a really strong fireball, you'd look at how fireball is Sor/Wiz3, and Delayed Blast Fireball is Sor/Wiz6 and does double max damage, and then consider what sort of lvl8 Sor/Wiz spells to blast people with energy exist and how hard they hit.

Delayed blast fireball is sor/wiz 7, incidentally. You probably wouldn't see a lot of improvement since you'd only have a spell level to work with. But the basic logic there's sound.

Assuming the above is correct, what about metamagic? I believe I've asked about this before and gotten general approval, but I don't see it in the houserules so I figured it's best to check. Let's take the above examples.

Could I cast a Maximized Crown of Flame (effective Clr8 spell) with Miracle? A Widened Empowered Fireball (effective Wiz/Sor8 spell) with Wish?

Would that be restricted to metamagic feats I had, or would it allow me to use, say, Chain Spell (which I don't have) with an emulated spell, so long as it fit the level restrictions?

Can you dig up a quote or a discussion where it came up? I'd like to know what I said too for reference.

What about my means for diminishing the cost of metamagic? If I have three epic Improved Metamagic feats, a Twinned spell only costs me a +1 adjustment instead of +4. If I were using Wish or Miracle to emulate a Twinned spell, would this count? Specifically, could I emulate a Twinned lvl7 spell, elevated to an effective lvl8 spell instead of effective lvl11 for someone without those Improved Metamagic feats? Could I emulate an Empowered Maximized Widened Crown of Flames with Miracle? Would it be an effective lvl8 cleric spell after the metamagic feat costs have been reduced to 1 each by the Improved Metamagic feats, or would they not apply to use of Miracle/Wish?

I'd rule it doesn't apply. Just seems a lot less headachey that way. You're not really casting the spell in question, you're emulating it with another spell.

[Anastasia]

Let's try 1/4th and see how that goes. Write up a version of AAA with 1/4th and we'll see how that works in play.

Alyssa's Aerial Assembly
Transmutation/Conjuration
Level: Brd 11, Sor/Wiz 11
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25ft + 5ft 2/levels)
Target: One weapon touched
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

With a word and a gesture, the weapon you touch becomes blurred, then sudden splits into copies of itself.

This spell creates one copy per four caster levels of the targeted weapon, which retains all effects of the original weapon. Additionally, the original weapon and all copies become animated as the Dancing Blade spell, with the additional ability to gain the benefits of feats and abilities the caster might have.

Do me a favor and post an attack routine with it, including estimated damage output assuming all hit and damage per hit.

[Anastasia]

Spell Creation Tips

Things I've found in spell creation that helps design good spells. This is for everyone's benefit, as hopefully it is useful.

1. The spell should be able to be summarized in one reasonably short sentence.

Generally, I've found the best spells are ones that are focused and on point. You have a fairly direct goal with them and the spell accomplishes them. For example: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spellLists/sorcererWizardSpells.htm This has fairly snazzy and simple summaries of most spells, which tells you what you need to know right off. Examples on custom spells:

Miracle of Life: Cures 1d4+5 hit points to all creatures in one mile.
Shardread Weapon: Weapon becomes +7 and is a dread weapon against Sharrans.
Consumptive Dispelling: Dispels magic (+50 maximum) and inflicts negative levels for each spell dispelled.

This can help focus your spells. If you can't compress your spell down into something like this, it probably needs more focusing.

2. Make the spell then worry about the spell level.

I've found it's generally best to make your spell first, then figure out where it fits mechanically. Let it flow, see where you're at and adjust from there. You may need to adjust it if you over or undershot, that's okay. I've found doing it in reverse tends to restrict creativity and makes you more willing to make awkward sacrifices to try and cram a spell into the level you want. Honestly? Sometimes you write the spell and realize it isn't the level you wanted it to be. That's okay. Better to find that out naturally than to mess up your own spell trying to cram it into a hole it doesn't fit into.

3. When in doubt about terminology, check official spells.

A lot of proper 3.5-ese comes down to understanding how and why things are written the way they are. Language and phrasing matters a lot in 3.5, a misstatement or a misapplied mechanic can completely pervert the effect or intent of a spell. This comes down to understanding the rules. The differences between, say, a spread and a burst may seem unimportant, but it can really matter. Check your rules, check spells that are written and check the SRD. All of these can ease the difficulties of writing a spell and prevent mishaps.

4. Flavor, flavor, flavor.

I've found writing a spell with a flavor idea in mind helps, as well as using it to polish and hone the spell once it's written. Antenora's opal spells are a good example of this: She wants spells themed around that and her natural attributes - anti evil, purification, redemption, combat utility and so on. The idea is to forge it into a spell that if you saw her cast, you'd nod and think that it makes sense for her. Jarem's spell in nagging a few weeks ago is another example - it was honed down into a form that worked and told a bit of a story in the flavor, too.

5. But understand that flavor and mechanics both exist, and sometimes one has to trump another (and it's usually mechanics that wins).

The previous being said, you still have to understand that flavor or not, a spell has to be mechanically balanced. A spell's flavor is important, but not so important that it becomes a mechanical mess or broken. That defeats the purpose of the spell, because it's gonna be rejected or ultimately banned. This is best understood as a sanity check when writing the spell, as well as a review once you've finished it. Simply put, flavor isn't an excuse to produce something mechanically undesirable.

6. Get a second opinion.

One of the problems with creative work is that often times, the creator is blind to certain aspects of what they create. It's something that came from them, most of the time it appeals to them or otherwise naturally makes sense to them. Other people may disagree or point out bullshit, so by all means, get a second opinion. A second set of eyes can point out things you haven't noticed or didn't realize, or otherwise bring you back down to earth. This is useful and important, I use y'all and Gate sometimes for it, this really helps hone some of the things I do.

We all have our biases and at the end of the day, we can only do so much to mitigate them ourselves. Other people are generally more effective at it.

7. Err on the side of caution.

When in doubt, err on the side of caution and include a note of why and what you wanted to do differently. This helps the review process and lets the DM know where your mind was with the spell. If you're right, you save me pulling out the red pen and writing a windy post of why you need to change something. If you're wrong, I may agree you're wrong and adjust or suggest adjustments to the spell.

8. Understand that sometimes you have to trash a spell and start over.

Finally, one has to understand that not every spell attempt or effort ends up being fruitful. Sometimes the mechanics don't work, other times the power level's all wrong or otherwise the spell isn't coming together. This is more than okay, it happens. I'd estimate about 50% of my spell ideas never go anywhere, get discarded for being flawed or changed so much in creation that it's a new idea altogether. That's okay, too. Creative works are like that, self editing is a natural part of it. It can be a sign of wisdom to realize you've gone off course and need to begin anew, not a sign of weakness. Listen to your gut on this one. If your gut tells you a spell isn't working out, it's usually right. This gets more accurate the more spells you make and the more you understand how 3.5 works.

Bad ideas happen. Good ideas become bad ideas, this happens. A great idea turns into a 10 armed freak that jumps out of your screen and strangles your dog - well no, that doesn't happen, but the point is that sometimes knowing when to fold them is helpful.

No one commented and I'm curious - was this useful to y'all at all?

[Corwin]

Can you dig up a quote or a discussion where it came up? I'd like to know what I said too for reference.

The whole reason I'm asking for a fresh ruling here is that I'm relying on memory and don't want to. There's zero chance of finding a quote or even proving whether one exists.

From PM:

[20:38] <Seira> I'm honestly not sure whether you meant it in the 'similar effect' like the quote I presented, or the actual metamagic applied way
[20:38] <Seira> Functionally, they're very clear
[20:38] <Seira> But some things matter
[20:39] <Seira> Like, if you have a Sudden X metafeat, you could apply it on one and not the other
[20:39] <Seira> And if you had an ability that played off a metafeat, that works in the other way

Thus, it matters whether I could get a Widened Crown of Flame or Empowered Maximized Fireball via Wish/Miracle emulation or not.

[Anastasia]

Glorious Visage used as inspiration Holy Transformation and Grace for the stats and aura. Flames and Stand Fast were the offensive/defensive addon for holy warriors following Seira, themed after her. That said, you and Eb thought Stand Fast was largely a gimmick, and while the fire is stackable with a Paladin of Seira's Dragonfire Wrath, it is just regular fire (not holy nor bypassing any resistance or immunity). +fire to melee damage spells exist, I can quote a few once I'm home if you need me to.

Okay. This assumes the holy transformation part hasn't been altered. Let me know if this is wrong, I didn't see changes on a scan but I could be wrong. Let's try framing this as turning into an angel with goldenfire for the thematics, that seems pretty on point. I'm coming up with a blank on a way to integrate stand fast to it as a coherent part of the whole - right now the basic idea is an angel wreathed in golden flames. The main transformation serves as an anchor, the extra damage tacks to that and so does the aura with a bit of tweaking, but I'm not coming up with a good way to sync in the stand fast part of it. Any suggestions?

Seira's Glorious Visage
Transmutation [Good, Fire]
Level: Clr 10, Pal 8
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level

This spell functions as holy transformation, with several new abilities as noted here.

Your melee and natural weapons are cloaked in flames, dealing an extra 1d8 points of fire damage per strike for every 5 caster levels you have. This stacks with other sources of fire damage, such as a flaming weapon or dragonfire wrath.

You glow with golden flames, providing illumination in a 20ft radius. All allies within 20ft gain a +4 deflection bonus to armor class and a +4 resistance bonus to saving throws against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures. You gain a -20 circumstance penalty to Hide checks for the duration.

This spell is a closely guarded secret of Seira's faith and is given to her most capable clerics and paladins.

---

More posts incoming, going to break this down spell by spell.

[Corwin]

Glorious Visage used as inspiration Holy Transformation and Grace for the stats and aura. Flames and Stand Fast were the offensive/defensive addon for holy warriors following Seira, themed after her. That said, you and Eb thought Stand Fast was largely a gimmick, and while the fire is stackable with a Paladin of Seira's Dragonfire Wrath, it is just regular fire (not holy nor bypassing any resistance or immunity). +fire to melee damage spells exist, I can quote a few once I'm home if you need me to.

Okay. This assumes the holy transformation part hasn't been altered. Let me know if this is wrong, I didn't see changes on a scan but I could be wrong. Let's try framing this as turning into an angel with goldenfire for the thematics, that seems pretty on point. I'm coming up with a blank on a way to integrate stand fast to it as a coherent part of the whole - right now the basic idea is an angel wreathed in golden flames. The main transformation serves as an anchor, the extra damage tacks to that and so does the aura with a bit of tweaking, but I'm not coming up with a good way to sync in the stand fast part of it. Any suggestions?

Seira's Glorious Visage
Transmutation [Good, Fire]
Level: Clr 10, Pal 8
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level

This spell functions as holy transformation, with several new abilities as noted here.

Your melee and natural weapons are cloaked in flames, dealing an extra 1d8 points of fire damage per strike for every 5 caster levels you have. This stacks with other sources of fire damage, such as a flaming weapon or dragonfire wrath.

You glow with golden flames, providing illumination in a 20ft radius. All allies within 20ft gain a +4 deflection bonus to armor class and a +4 resistance bonus to saving throws against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures. You gain a -20 circumstance penalty to Hide checks for the duration.

Once during the spell as an immediate action, you may bestow you

This spell is a closely guarded secret of Seira's faith and is given to her most capable clerics and paladins.

---

More posts incoming, going to break this down spell by spell.

The main difference between Holy Transformation and this spell (not including the Seira-specific Stand Fast and the fire damage) is that Holy Transformation gives +4 sacred to Str and Con, while Grace gives +2 sacred to Dex. I decided to give +4 sacred to all three physical stats.
The secondary difference is the glow that provides illumination for 20ft and penalizes stealth comes from Grace. The Holy Transformation provides the aura for 10ft with the mechanical benefits, so I doubled it and made it visible with said glow.
Grace also makes your attacks Good-aligned and adds 10ft to your speed, which doesn't factor in the spell.

[Corwin]

Stand Fast is a paladin ability that's literally about spreading your power to the others's defense. Which happens to be what the aura already does in a different way, by boosting their saves and AC. So it does fit thematically.

[Anastasia]

That said, I feel that similarities between the Visage line of spells to the Bite line of spells, just to name a prominent wizard and druid variant, justify access to them.

No, not really? This isn't really a mechanical question, per se, even if it deals with mechanics. It's a question of what sort of spells and flavor sor/wiz spells are versus cleric ones. It's not a question of raw stat boosts. If that was the criteria, it would be basically arguable to be on every spell list from here to the Abyss since stat boosting spells are a bedrock second level spells. To quote myself a moment from the last comment I had on this:

Can you find any spells for sor/wiz that would match this sort of channel holy power and transform thing? It doesn't really fit them much, either.

Going RAWR I TRANSFORM INTO A WEREWHATEVER AND MAUL THE SHIT OUT OF YOU is way different from WOOSH I GO ALL HEAVENLY AND SMITE YOU TO DEATH thematically, which is something spell lists maintain. It's a thematic conceit (as well as a mechanical point) that the sor/wiz spell list doesn't get healing spells, a very few extremely niche spells aside. Generally, it's a thematic conceit that sorcerers and wizards don't summon angels, cast holy smites and otherwise do things like that. That's in the breadbasket of a paladin or cleric. (Or someone who PrCs into something that deals with it, hi Ebony.)

That's what I'm getting at here. Oh sure, sor/wiz has plenty of spells that boost stats. So do clerics. That's not the criteria that's in play here. It's about the ways spells are handed out, flavored and balanced. To refer to another spell you did her, the half dragon transformation makes a lot more sense for a sorcerer or wizard. Dragons tend to be tied to arcane power a lot more thematically, being natural arcane casters themselves.

We're looking at be +4 untyped rather than 16 enhancement, and with people having +10 enhancement gear it rather seems equal, wouldn't you agree? I just didn't want to bother with extra, unnecessary math.

No argument there, though the balance on both is a bit different. They're made for different needs and realities (and both are top tier within those realities).

Seira's Majestic Visage
Transmutation [Good]
Level: Clr 12, Pal 10

This spell functions as greater visage of the deity, except as noted here. You gain a +10 enhancement bonus on Diplomacy checks against good characters and the same bonus to Intimidate checks against evil characters. For the duration of this spell, any spell with the fire descriptor you cast is treated as goldenfire, ignoring fire resistance and immunity, as well as dealing 150% damage to evil targets, while dealing no damage to neutral or good targets. This does not stack with the benefits of the goldenfire spell feat.

This spell is a closely guarded secret of Seira's faith, only taught personally by Seira to her most capable faithful. The inspiration for the spell is Seira's friend Alicia overcoming terrible odds.

[Ebiris]

If the spell already boosts their saves why does it need to also boost their saves using a different mechanic as well? For that matter how can you have stand fast without divine grace? I mean you can rewrite it to say 'you can add your charisma bonus to an ally's save once during the spell duration' so it doesn't have to proc off an ability the spell doesn't grant and most casters of it won't have, but it still feels very kludgy.

edit: and also charisma won't necessarily be very high for clerics and wizards that use the spell. Having it derive from the casting stat would make more sense but I can't think of any spells that function that way.

[Anastasia]

Draconic Visage drew from a half-dragon variant to the half-celestial template-granting Greater Visage of the Deity, with Nightstalker's Transformation added in.
Specifically, it drew on two intermediate spells I wrote out: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,104100.msg1112598/topicseen.html#msg1112598

Okay, thanks.

I removed the bullet points due to editing issues on my end. Long and uninteresting story there. Nothing's changed there beyond that.

Anyway, the only suggestion I'd make at this point is instead of it being 'Seira's clerics can select it as if it was on the cleric spell list' to 'Clerics and paladins with the Initiate of Seira feat can select this spell as if it were on the cleric spell list'. I've used both methods in spells, and I've generally found the latter to work better.  Quoted from houserules for reference.

Initiate of Seira [Initiate]
Prerequisite: Cleric or paladin level 5th
Benefit: When you cast a summon monster spell or any spell dedicated to summoning elementals, any elementals you summon gain a +2 sacred bonus to Strength and Constitution. In addition you add the following spells to your spell list.

3rd: Dragonskin (Paladin only)
3rd: Unicorn Arrow
4th: Dragon Breath (Paladin only)
6th: Surge of Hope (Cleric only)

Thematically it's good. 'Sneaky half dragon' is basically Seira in a nutshell.

Mechanically I'm a little worried about it in totality, but it's the sort of thing that sorts itself out in play.

Seira's Draconic Visage
Transmutation [Fire]
Level: Sor/Wiz 12
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level

A spell created by Seira, it is designed to showcase her combat spirit and help those not blessed by the blood of dragons grasp the pinnacle of their power, however fleetingly. It draws its inspiration from two seemingly opposite aspects of her, the primal draconic power running through her veins and the carefully thought-out approach to combat she all-too-often favors, managing to perfectly mesh them for an unstoppable juggernaut.

You undergo the following transformations:

You grow draconic wings that allow you to fly at twice your normal speed (perfect maneuverability).
You gain +4 natural armor.
You gain low-light vision and darkvision out to 60ft.
You gain immunity to fire.
You gain immunity to sleep and paralysis effects.
You gain a breath weapon that deals 10d10 points of damage of fire (120ft line or 60ft cone). A successful Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Con modifier) reduces damage by half.
You gain the following bonuses to your ability scores: +8 Str, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha.

You gain proficiency with Seira's favorite weapon (short sword) and the Weapon Focus feat for it, as well as the ability to use it with a monk's flurry. You also gain the Weapon Finesse feat and the evasion ability (PH 50).

You gain a +3 luck bonus to Armor Class, a +5 luck bonus on Reflex saving throws and a +15 competence bonus on Perception and Stealth checks.

You deal an extra 5d6 points of damage whenever you attack an opponent that you flank or an opponent denied its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class. This extra damage works like the rogue's sneak attack ability.

This spell is a closely guarded secret of Seira's faith.

[Anastasia]

Can you dig up a quote or a discussion where it came up? I'd like to know what I said too for reference.

The whole reason I'm asking for a fresh ruling here is that I'm relying on memory and don't want to. There's zero chance of finding a quote or even proving whether one exists.

From PM:

[20:38] <Seira> I'm honestly not sure whether you meant it in the 'similar effect' like the quote I presented, or the actual metamagic applied way
[20:38] <Seira> Functionally, they're very clear
[20:38] <Seira> But some things matter
[20:39] <Seira> Like, if you have a Sudden X metafeat, you could apply it on one and not the other
[20:39] <Seira> And if you had an ability that played off a metafeat, that works in the other way

Thus, it matters whether I could get a Widened Crown of Flame or Empowered Maximized Fireball via Wish/Miracle emulation or not.

Yes, with the following provisos.

1. No quicken. Wish/miracle are already a standard action to cast as the emulation, you can't meaningfully affect it at that point.
2. I'm sure this can be abused. As always use common sense on what you ask for with it. If it's so horrifying I'm going to start calling you a pixie, don't do it. To be honest, with alter reality a thing for 2 PC sand the other 3 with the potential to get it, I know that versatility is loooong sailed as a balance point. I'm worried less about that and more about shenanigans and exploits beyond that.

We'll see how that goes, and if it's broken, we'll adjust from there. To be honest, I think this is basically the ruling on it I made for B3, I just can't find it anywhere. If anyone can dig it up, massive bonus points to them.

[Anastasia]

Glorious Visage used as inspiration Holy Transformation and Grace for the stats and aura. Flames and Stand Fast were the offensive/defensive addon for holy warriors following Seira, themed after her. That said, you and Eb thought Stand Fast was largely a gimmick, and while the fire is stackable with a Paladin of Seira's Dragonfire Wrath, it is just regular fire (not holy nor bypassing any resistance or immunity). +fire to melee damage spells exist, I can quote a few once I'm home if you need me to.

Okay. This assumes the holy transformation part hasn't been altered. Let me know if this is wrong, I didn't see changes on a scan but I could be wrong. Let's try framing this as turning into an angel with goldenfire for the thematics, that seems pretty on point. I'm coming up with a blank on a way to integrate stand fast to it as a coherent part of the whole - right now the basic idea is an angel wreathed in golden flames. The main transformation serves as an anchor, the extra damage tacks to that and so does the aura with a bit of tweaking, but I'm not coming up with a good way to sync in the stand fast part of it. Any suggestions?

Seira's Glorious Visage
Transmutation [Good, Fire]
Level: Clr 10, Pal 8
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level

This spell functions as holy transformation, with several new abilities as noted here.

Your melee and natural weapons are cloaked in flames, dealing an extra 1d8 points of fire damage per strike for every 5 caster levels you have. This stacks with other sources of fire damage, such as a flaming weapon or dragonfire wrath.

You glow with golden flames, providing illumination in a 20ft radius. All allies within 20ft gain a +4 deflection bonus to armor class and a +4 resistance bonus to saving throws against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures. You gain a -20 circumstance penalty to Hide checks for the duration.

Once during the spell as an immediate action, you may bestow you

This spell is a closely guarded secret of Seira's faith and is given to her most capable clerics and paladins.

---

More posts incoming, going to break this down spell by spell.

The main difference between Holy Transformation and this spell (not including the Seira-specific Stand Fast and the fire damage) is that Holy Transformation gives +4 sacred to Str and Con, while Grace gives +2 sacred to Dex. I decided to give +4 sacred to all three physical stats.
The secondary difference is the glow that provides illumination for 20ft and penalizes stealth comes from Grace. The Holy Transformation provides the aura for 10ft with the mechanical benefits, so I doubled it and made it visible with said glow.
Grace also makes your attacks Good-aligned and adds 10ft to your speed, which doesn't factor in the spell.

Okay, added the +4 Dex as a note.

Seira's Glorious Visage
Transmutation [Good, Fire]
Level: Clr 10, Pal 8
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level

This spell functions as holy transformation, with several new abilities as noted here.

You gain a +4 sacred bonus to Dexterity.

Your melee and natural weapons are cloaked in flames, dealing an extra 1d8 points of fire damage per strike for every 5 caster levels you have. This stacks with other sources of fire damage, such as a flaming weapon or dragonfire wrath.

You glow with golden flames, providing illumination in a 20ft radius. All allies within 20ft gain a +4 deflection bonus to armor class and a +4 resistance bonus to saving throws against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures. You gain a -20 circumstance penalty to Hide checks for the duration.

Once during the spell as an immediate action, you may bestow you

This spell is a closely guarded secret of Seira's faith and is given to her most capable clerics and paladins.

[Corwin]

Okay, added the +4 Dex as a note.

Seira's Glorious Visage
Transmutation [Good, Fire]
Level: Clr 10, Pal 8
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level

This spell functions as holy transformation, with several new abilities as noted here.

You gain a +4 sacred bonus to Dexterity.

Your melee and natural weapons are cloaked in flames, dealing an extra 1d8 points of fire damage per strike for every 5 caster levels you have. This stacks with other sources of fire damage, such as a flaming weapon or dragonfire wrath.

You glow with golden flames, providing illumination in a 20ft radius. All allies within 20ft gain a +4 deflection bonus to armor class and a +4 resistance bonus to saving throws against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures. You gain a -20 circumstance penalty to Hide checks for the duration.

Once during the spell as an immediate action, you may bestow you

This spell is a closely guarded secret of Seira's faith and is given to her most capable clerics and paladins.

I'd prefer to spell out the bonuses rather than draw from Holy Transformation, itself a Home spell (since Balmuria doesn't have furry angels). It just sends would-be casters looking through the list for it, especially since to the best of my knowledge only I ever used Holy Transformation. And the original spell sends you further to look at stats of a deva in another section of houserules, so it's really, really time-consuming.

[Corwin]

Yes, with the following provisos.

1. No quicken. Wish/miracle are already a standard action to cast as the emulation, you can't meaningfully affect it at that point.
2. I'm sure this can be abused. As always use common sense on what you ask for with it. If it's so horrifying I'm going to start calling you a pixie, don't do it. To be honest, with alter reality a thing for 2 PC sand the other 3 with the potential to get it, I know that versatility is loooong sailed as a balance point. I'm worried less about that and more about shenanigans and exploits beyond that.

We'll see how that goes, and if it's broken, we'll adjust from there. To be honest, I think this is basically the ruling on it I made for B3, I just can't find it anywhere. If anyone can dig it up, massive bonus points to them.

Works. I thought of two power interactions relevant for me, but it'd hopefully only be utility.

[Corwin]

If the spell already boosts their saves why does it need to also boost their saves using a different mechanic as well? For that matter how can you have stand fast without divine grace? I mean you can rewrite it to say 'you can add your charisma bonus to an ally's save once during the spell duration' so it doesn't have to proc off an ability the spell doesn't grant and most casters of it won't have, but it still feels very kludgy.

edit: and also charisma won't necessarily be very high for clerics and wizards that use the spell. Having it derive from the casting stat would make more sense but I can't think of any spells that function that way.

I just think Stand Fast needs more love? Even I forget to use it, and I actually have it. The current boost is from an aura which really shouldn't give anything extra to people at our level since it won't stack with that they have, whereas the Stand Fast boost might actually help.

I agree that going for caster ability would be more effective than using charisma (all the animated weapon spells use that, for example) but it's okay if this ability is not optimal. A lot of powers give +stat (minimum 1), so if written that way even the cha-deprived could give a +1 boost to AC or to saves for their allies with an immediate action, which would be neat.