So, i just started making a list with spells that can be applied to D&D, the theme is diseases, pestilence. Here are the first 3 spells, as a starter i wanted to post just those so i can get some feedback if they are missing something or if they need some balancing. Anyone can feel free to use them as they like and also change them however they like.
Disclaimer: This is only a small sample for now in order for me to get some feedback and get on the right track in order to design the rest. Also a lot of the spells will involve rollplaying elements inside much like the 3rd spell of this file that the roleplay can greatly affect how the spell effect works. Some future spells might even be entirely rollplay oriented.
neat! does 5e canonically use 1d3 anywhere else?
I don’t think so, but i feel it would be extremly unbalanced if the characters rolled a 6 on that roll, no? (Feel free to change the spells however you seem fit though).
1d3 could be 1d4, which is used in 5E, which would also be a 33% buff.
How about:
Foes and Allies affected by the Aura take an extra 1d6 damage if affected by damage coming from Poison/Disease/Necrotic/Acid origin.
Foes also lose 1 from any checks or saving throws.
At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a slot of 3rd level or higher the extra damage increases by 1d6 for each slot above 2nd.
The check and saving throw penalty increases by the combined number of additional spell slots expended.
Losing 1 on a throw is a malus of 5%… that is pretty strong already! This way it starts out as a moderate penalty but potentially could be super powerful, however would also be more expensive!
Edit: Rolling is fun. Do a 1d4 if you want a 5E dice or keep the 1d3
Btw, what about the 3rd one, its a more roleplay oriented skill and i wondered if its balanced enough.
Stream of Blight seems like a spell designed to be used against players.
Black Fever: Meters? In D&D5E? Has a strange feel to me. Americans and fantasy worlds should use imperial. You know, for fun, or to make fun of. *giggle*
For reference: 100 meters ~~ 328 feet.
Now for every 100 meters and each hour effected the target takes 1d6 damage. I recon I can walk between 2 and 5 km in 1 hour, depending on terrain. So I’d arguably would have to roll between 21 and 51 d6 per hour. That’s a lot of damage.
Catalapsy: Prone? Spend half movement to get up? Does this effect start combat? DC10 saving throws to end seizure each round? I mean this potentially happens during travel, out of combat… Feels very strange to me to count rounds and such.
I don’t know. I find it strange to punish out of combat overworld travel. I’d be in favor of limiting such an effect to short and long rests. Maybe change the effect so the target would have to save a roll and on a fail they lose X temporary HP until they find someone who can cure diseases. (Instead of a professional in a near town. It can mean the same, or a player with an appropriate spell.)
Not sure if I made a coherent argument. Am pretty tired. Will check back tomorrow!
Sorry about meters, just transfer them to feet, it’s just that in everyday I use meters so it just slipped, the 1d6 every 300 feet* is used to force the party to find a way to carry the afflicted player to where it’s needed so it makes it very hard for him to walk. In Catalepsy effect I made it so punishing simply only if a player rolls very badly that’s why I kept it DC5 and also the extremely punishing effect occurs only on a critical fail which is a 5% chance and even then next round if you succeed a DC10 you can escape it. I generally designed this spell in such a way to revolve around rollplay and that if it’s left unattended for too long your character could potentially die much like a real life devastating disease that needs full professional care and money expenses to be cured (unless they bring free healthcare to D&D in the future :p). Generally i feel spells involving diseases should be long, threatening and obnoxious to deal with, and in the next list I will post in some days or weeks that will become quite evident, a good example would be a Darkest Dungeon inspired series of disease spells and even diseases during effects, some diseases might even give you some benefits among their drawbacks.
The only use of 1d3 in 5e that I know of is for specific wands, such as the Wand of Secrets and the Wand of Magic Detection, recharging at dawn.
Cool stuff! If you want some more resources and another place to share your homebrew stuff like this, check out the Unearthed Arcana subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/
I feel that 1d4 would be a better pick than 1d3 for being an actual die, taht is already also used in a similar mechanic (the bane spell)