Re: New Spell: Kudugash's Rope of Rescue

In <URL:news:local.spelljam> on Tue 07 Nov, Adam Miller wrote:
> Ok, I'm making a small resolution to myself: I'm going
> to get one spell per week finished until either I run
> out of ideas or the end of the year.  ;)

Brave man! [grin]


> Anyways, this week I'm getting back to the "Life
> Preserver" spell, putting in the suggested fixes :)
> 
> For a new SJ iconic, I thinking of making the "rope
> mage" be either a gromman or hadozee named Kudugash
> (Suntooth), who was a somewhat famous sailor/wizard
> who loved the ropes of a ship so much that he turned
> down positions of helmsman in favor of being a simple
> sailor.   He devised the various "rope" spells to help
> his fellow crewmen, and shared them with other mages.
> 
> Comments welcome! :)
> 
> 
> 
> Kudugash's Rope of Rescue
> Evocation (Force)
> Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 1
> Components: V, S
> Casting Time: 1 action
> Range: Long (400 ft + 40 ft./level)
> Target: Up to ten creatures no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart
> Duration: 2 rounds per level
> Saving Throw: Ref negates
> Spell Resistance: No
> 
> Rope of Rescue creates a rope of magical energy
> streams from your hand and ties itself off around
> the waist of any creature or object that is
> medium-sized or smaller.  This spell is commonly
> used to throw lines to crewmen whom have fallen
> overboard.  
> 
> A caster can throw one Rope of Rescue per round.
> Once he has thrown the Rope, other beings can take
> his end of the rope or put it to a pully system.  The
> rope unerringly reaches its target, although the
> target can attempt to free himself from the rope
> with a successful reflex save at any time.  A rope
> vanishes after 2 rounds per level of the caster
> after being thrown or if the object is brought on
> board, whichever happens first.  A being can be hauled
> in at the rate of 5' per round for every person
> pulling on the rope, double if the rope is run through a 
> system of pullies.  It takes 1 round to put the Rope
> into a pully system.
> 
> For every two levels past 1st, the caster can
> throw another line.  You have two lines at 3rd level,
> three lines at 5th, and so on up to ten lines at 19th
> level.

Nice spell...

This spell has a remarkably long range for a 1st level spell,
and if I was the DM being approached with it then I'd probably
say that each line thrown requires as a Focus a piece of rope at
least 5 feet long.  You could always take a longer piece of
rope, and keep cutting 5'+ lengths from it!  I'd let you do this
once a round as you throw each line!

How long does it take to cast each line?

Your 'Target' line implies that the base spell can be used on up
to ten targets, but the text makes the maximum number of targets
based on level.  I think you should make it clear which applies.

If each target if being thrown a separate line then the
requirement that they be within 30 feet doesn't make sense to
me.  Were you thinking of this as some varient on a Web spell?

Can people who have a line tied around them pull themselves in,
hand-over-hand?  If they can and are doing this does this speed
up how quickly they are hauled in?

Should you mention that most of the hauling-in is along the
gravity plane, except for the last bit, or is this too much
detail?

Can lines be thrown to people who are not floating on the
gravity plane, say beyond the ship's atmosphere/gravity?  If so,
do these people fall to the gravity plane when they enter the
ship's gravity?  How does this affect hauling them in, or, is
this too much detail?

Can you use this spell to haul a ship into a dock?  Would a
bollard on a dock count as a medium-sized object?

-- 
Dreamer
dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk
http://www.romsys.demon.co.uk/