Okay, All You Geniuses: Explain Color Spray in Dragon #1
Jul 19, 2017 13:35:25 GMT -6
MormonYoYoMan likes this
Post by oakesspalding on Jul 19, 2017 13:35:25 GMT -6
The premier issue of The Dragon introduces some additional spells for Illusionists (additional to those previously described in The Strategic Review).
Most (all?) would later appear in the AD&D Player's Handbook, some in significantly changed form.
Color Spray would be one of the spells that changed, not necessarily because the original in the Dragon was too powerful or weak, but because, as far as I can tell, the spell description was incoherent. Here it is:
Color Spray: A sheet of bright conflicting colors. They affect 1-6 levels of creatures, rendering them unconscious through confusion.(Note: for every 5 levels above Trickster the caster has obtained,add one to the die roll for amount of levels, the number never to exceed 6.) The distribution of the effect if there are more target levels than spell levels is semi-random, first one creature is fully affected, then another, till all the levels are assigned, there being no more than one partially affected creature. There is no saving throw vs this spell if the creature is fully affected, if all but one level is affected, it gets a normal saving throw, for every level unaffected beyond the first, it gets an additional +2 on its saving throw, in any case, it will not affect any creature above the 6th level. Range 24”.
I've been trying to puzzle this out, and I'm going to continue to keep trying, but at the moment, I'm at a complete loss. I'm not sure reading the AD&D version helps, because it seems to be a re-do of the spell itself, not merely a clearer explanation of the original.
So, what do you think it means? Any ideas? After all, as confusing as the writing is, it must have meant something to the designer.
Most (all?) would later appear in the AD&D Player's Handbook, some in significantly changed form.
Color Spray would be one of the spells that changed, not necessarily because the original in the Dragon was too powerful or weak, but because, as far as I can tell, the spell description was incoherent. Here it is:
Color Spray: A sheet of bright conflicting colors. They affect 1-6 levels of creatures, rendering them unconscious through confusion.(Note: for every 5 levels above Trickster the caster has obtained,add one to the die roll for amount of levels, the number never to exceed 6.) The distribution of the effect if there are more target levels than spell levels is semi-random, first one creature is fully affected, then another, till all the levels are assigned, there being no more than one partially affected creature. There is no saving throw vs this spell if the creature is fully affected, if all but one level is affected, it gets a normal saving throw, for every level unaffected beyond the first, it gets an additional +2 on its saving throw, in any case, it will not affect any creature above the 6th level. Range 24”.
I've been trying to puzzle this out, and I'm going to continue to keep trying, but at the moment, I'm at a complete loss. I'm not sure reading the AD&D version helps, because it seems to be a re-do of the spell itself, not merely a clearer explanation of the original.
So, what do you think it means? Any ideas? After all, as confusing as the writing is, it must have meant something to the designer.
