Talk:Blood Manipulation (5e Spell)

Please Review

Hey there! This is the original creator of this spell. I am really sleep-deprived and just made this off of a whim, so I would like someone to look over it. At first glance, it looks really powerful for a 7th-level spell, as it allows you to control any creature with blood and they get no saving throw to resist it initially, not to mention the immense amount of damage you can do with the "purge" effect. However, it has a range of touch and a casting time of 1 minute, meaning it is going to be very difficult to cast, as it is only really useful in combat. Basically, what it requires you to do is restrain a creature or put a creature to sleep for 1 minute to cast. However, no initial saving throw...

I have no idea whether I made this too overpowered or too weak. It is worse than Dominate Monster, but it allows you to "purge", does not require concentration, and has no initial saving throw to resist. The saving throws every time you try to get them to perform an action kind of balances it out, though instead of a one-and-done thing you can attempt to control every single turn they take and attempt to prevent them from doing anything you dislike. I initially wanted to make it 8th level but decided for 7th, and now looking back I think that was correct. I am going to go back and change that.

PLease, please let me know what you think. It is either ridiculously overpowered or ridiculously weak, no in between. I would love an outside eye. Thanks! --MarshDASavage (talk) 20:48, 19 October 2021 (MDT)

On a glance, most of it seems fine. Blood bending is just like that. The biggest issue I think is the unfettered ability to control what the target can do. In my head, it makes sense, but maybe you could give an expanded list of commands, like the command spell? It's not as awesome as a carte blanche deal, but I feel it would be more grounded. The only other issue I can pick at is the two saves needed once it rolls around to the targets turn. But it's not that big an issue since a pc usually only has one reaction, so there wouldn't be an obscene amount of saves bogging down the table. Happy brewing--Yanied (talk) 21:21, 19 October 2021 (MDT)

Okay, thank you! I was thinking of preventing spellcasting (it is "too complex for you to control with rudimentary blood control"), but otherwise letting them take actions as normal. Maybe a list of suggested commands would be better, though. What I could also do is just say that they can perform one action for the creature, but nothing else. The double save is annoying, but I think mechanically it makes sense, as you still have control over their blood. Plus, like you said, the reaction limits it. I don't want to deal with this right now, so I'm going to leave it as is for now and edit it in the morning. Thanks for your feedback! --MarshDASavage (talk) 21:31, 19 October 2021 (MDT)