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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11695 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Apr 2019 : 14:12:12
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So, way back when I first made my own products to put up on DM's Guild, one of the things I REALLY liked was the fact that you were inherently allowed to use/reference other people's works. So, if I don't want to stat out monsters, I can reference someone's monster collection. If I want to use priests who focus is on idols, I can reference Priestess: Ancient World Divine Class and use its rules. If I don't want to write up a spell, I can reference it.
So, at THAT time there weren't a mountain load of products on DM's Guild (it was more like a small untidy pile), and in my stuff, I actually gave kudos to other authors by including their spell names and a symbol beside said spell name to reference their product (which if 3 people did Black Blade of Disaster, I personally chose which I felt was most balanced and referenced THAT one, etc...). For instance, for Zakharan magic, I made a symbol of a genie's lamp and added that to the font I was making... for others I made a symbol of fire or a skull or a crystal ball, etc.., and added that to the font, etc..I then gave a reference to their product.
I think its important to have listings like this for people so that they can see their options when they're playing so that they're not going to multiple different sources, and its one of the things I was happy to see in the 3.5e Player's Guide to Faerun.
So, TO THAT END, what spell collections (of at least say 15 spells or more) that aren't over expensive have people here found and would recommend. Essentially, I would like to make an updated listing and put it up on DM's guild as a free resource, and I'd also put a copy in future products that I may release as well. Also, if only CERTAIN spells in a collection are up to par in your mind, list them out. If some are specifically broken but the rest good, note the bad one. I have no problem only giving people links to their "stand out" works. The point is to have a good list, not a huge list, so we don't need 50 variants of Aganazzar's Scorcher all at 2nd level.
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Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Storyteller Hero
Learned Scribe
USA
329 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2019 : 22:32:02
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The books of magic spells that I've been writing for my channel are going to be safer than average since I balance the spells both mechanically and thematically against the WotC published spells, and I'm also the author of Magic Spell Cheat Sheets.
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The BLAST, Spells of Evocation -- $5.95
235 evocation spells (as of v1.0).
18 cantrips, 34 1st level spells, 45 2nd level spells, 33 3rd level spells, 34 4th level spells, 23 5th level spells, 22 6th level spells, 9 7th level spells, 8 8th level spells, 9 9th level spells
NOTE: This was a project created from brainstorm design rather than updating previous editions' published designs, so it's practically guaranteed that one will find something new in the book.
NOTE: The damage guideline table in the DMG does not fit the current state of actual published spells towards the higher levels (ex. Meteor Swarm), so I had to figure out a reasonable progression that lines up with published spells, taking into consideration not just damage but also the other aspects and additional functions of spells.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/267292/THE-BLAST-Spells-of-Evocation-5e
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The GRIM, Spells of Necromancy -- $3.95
133 necromancy spells (as of v1.2 update). --- Monster stats also included
NOTE: This was a project created from brainstorm design rather than updating previous editions' published designs, so it's practically guaranteed that one will find something new in the book.
NOTE: I'll be updating the book to include over 200 spells in the next update, and the price will be raised to $5.95 with the update (re-purchase not necessary - existing owners get the update for free).
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/232249/THE-GRIM-Spells-of-Necromancy-5e
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The PRESTIGE, Spells of Necromancy -- $3.95
114 illusion spells.
NOTE: This was a project created from brainstorm design rather than updating previous editions' published designs, so it's practically guaranteed that one will find something new in the book.
NOTE: I'll be updating the book to include over 200 spells in the next update, and the price will be raised to $5.95 with the update (re-purchase not necessary - existing owners get the update for free).
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/235311/THE-PRESTIGE-Spells-of-Illusion-5e
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The Artificer (5e) (Revised) -- PWYW
82 magic spells, several of which are specially designed for the artificer. --- Monster stats also included
NOTE: This is an experimental testbed project that I created to explore the possibilities of an artificer class so it has a lot of extras aside from the full class design.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/204687/THE-ARTIFICER-5e-Revised
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There are also magic spells that I wrote for my deity lore pamphlets and my Swordmage class design. I'm in the middle of updating the deity lore pamphlets so there's a possibility that I might rework one or more of the spells in them.
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My Blog: https://www.facebook.com/Johnnys-Tabletop-RPG-Design-Blog-1697026710539149/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
My DMG Shop: http://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?x=0&y=0&author=Johnny%20Tek
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Edited by - Storyteller Hero on 27 Apr 2019 22:32:36 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11695 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2019 : 14:26:32
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Ok, I have the artificer, grim, and prestige already (not sure if the latest versions). I bought them and haven't had a chance to heavily review them for particular spells. I don't have the blast, but I'll pick it up. How many spells are we talking in the deity lore pamphlets? Ah, they're PWYW and two spells each. I wouldn't want to make a new symbol for just two spells. I'll have to think on that. Maybe a separate list by religion. Hmm, and as long as I'm doing this, I may just make a database for both personal training and ease of adding thousands of spells. I'm thinking spell level, classes allowed, Special Requirements (I have certain rituals not tied to a class, but rather a certain feat/arcane tradition, etc... and I guess that might work for religions as well), school, link to original book, and symbol to put in the list beside spell. Then I could create alphabetized spell lists by level, class, school, and/or book.
Tom Costa's "Forgotten Characters of the Realms" had some decent spells in it. I should probably include it.
Someone produced "Elminster's Guide to Magic" that was interesting as well. I should probably include it.
Seethyr has "Feathers and Fangs" with some spells for Maztica. This would be more for me, but I should probably include it.
Do you in particular have anyone else's work that you highly respected and would recommend I include in my lists? In my complete red book of spell strategy, I referenced the following:
A (image of a genie's lamp) beside a spell indicates it comes from the DM's guild offering by Jeff and Dawn Ibach called Athanae's Divinations located at https://www.dmsguild.com/product/172631/Athanaes-Divinations?term=athanae&filters=45469_0_0_0_0_0
A (image of a crystal ball with eyes) beside a spell indicates it comes from the DM's guild offering by Thomas Schlüter called Elemental Magic of Zakhara located at http://www.dmsguild.com/product/173753/Elemental-Magic-of-Zakhara-AlQadim--Forgotten-Realms
A (image of a skull) beside a spell indicates it comes from the DM's guild offering by Thomas Schlüter called Necromancy After the Time of Troubles located at http://www.dmsguild.com/product/179971/Necromancy-After-the-Time-of-Troubles?filters=45469_0_0_0_0_0_0_0
A (image of a "traditional" looking flame) beside a spell indicates it comes from the DM's guild offering by George Krashos called the Burning Tome located at http://www.dmsguild.com/product/177091/Pages-From-the-Mages--The-Burning-Tome?filters=45469_0_0_0_0_0_0_0
A (image of a tall flame) beside a spell indicates it comes from the DM's guild offering by Polaron Posadas called Spells of the Unapproachable East located at http://www.dmsguild.com/product/185957/Spells-of-the-Unapproachable-East?filters=45469_0_0_0_0_0_0_0
Some extra questions since you are the actual author:
Any particular spells that you have amongst these that stand out to you as particularly different and/or useful?
I see each of the covers has a particular geometric design. Do you have a clean version of this image in starkly black and white? The reason I ask is that I may use this as the symbol beside each spell in a font, so that I can reference all these, and just change the font color (black for necromancy, blue for illusion, red for evocation). Or is there a different SMALL image (think character sized) that you think might work better (lightning bolt, crossed bones, etc..) that you might have handy?
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Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Storyteller Hero
Learned Scribe
USA
329 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2019 : 23:32:29
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Some extra questions since you are the actual author:
Any particular spells that you have amongst these that stand out to you as particularly different and/or useful?
I see each of the covers has a particular geometric design. Do you have a clean version of this image in starkly black and white? The reason I ask is that I may use this as the symbol beside each spell in a font, so that I can reference all these, and just change the font color (black for necromancy, blue for illusion, red for evocation). Or is there a different SMALL image (think character sized) that you think might work better (lightning bolt, crossed bones, etc..) that you might have handy?
Usefulness is pretty subjective since different groups can have very different styles of campaign gameplay. Some spells can be great for roleplaying while others are more suited for combat. Some spells might be great for hero PCs while others might be used mainly by villain NPCs.
Siphon Youth (4th level) in The Grim for example would better fit magic used by a villain, and is designed in a way as to grant the PCs some time to save a helpless victim from being sucked dry of their youth.
Ancient Image (5th level) in The Prestige was designed as a spell that somewhat overlaps with divination in a way that opens up options for finding clues about the ancient past or currently remaining structures while exploring abandoned ruins. A way to show that illusions aren't just limited to methods of trickery or entertainment.
Wrath of Lightning (9th level) in The Blast was designed to be particularly flashy and feel like a layered attack spell that only a high level wizard could construct.
Here - I've uploaded a monochrome version of the glyph to imgur.
https://imgur.com/a/VoWiBf8
If using the symbol, while credit for modification of the original image is mine, credit for the original image itself must be given to a sample attributed to June Griffith on flickr.com, used under Creative Commons 2.0 Generic - Attribution. CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/21047858@N03/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
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My Blog: https://www.facebook.com/Johnnys-Tabletop-RPG-Design-Blog-1697026710539149/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
My DMG Shop: http://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?x=0&y=0&author=Johnny%20Tek
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DM's Guild - Best Sources for Balanced 5e spells
