Talk:Erasure (5e Spell)
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The new edits did not balance the spell. This spell is stronger than banishing smite which is higher level and restricted by a weapon range. The effect is also incredibly ridiculous for something only 4th level. It should be raised in level at the very least to like 7th level or something.--Yanied (talk) 20:25, 13 August 2020 (MDT)
24.94.10.115, whoever you are, I would remind you that in the subtext of the deletion notice, it is stated that the creator of a page should not remove a deletion template on said page. Instead, you are meant to use this page to discuss whether or not the changes made to said page are sufficient to warrant the removal of the deletion template.
Now that that is out of the way, I will begin outlining the issues, as I see them, with this spell.
Firstly, this is a 4th-level spell with the power to instantly annihilate any given creature. The only official spells capable of similar effect, to my knowledge, are "Disintegrate", a 6th level spell, and "Power Word: Kill", which is a 9th level spell. Comparing this spell and Disintegrate side by side, it becomes incredibly obvious that this is just a weirder Disintegrate with the additional effect of erasing the creature's soul and a Power Word-esque raised damage threshold before it takes effect. Thus, its level should be, at absolute minimum, 6th, and I would argue that its additional effect brings it up to 8th.
Secondly, the spell description is riddled with misspellings, punctuation errors, and run-on sentences. It is a word salad, a newspaper smoothie, a blender booklet. It requires no less than half a dozen readings to begin to comprehend its purpose. Honestly, I still cannot remember what exactly it does without rechecking the page, which I have now done no less than 30 times to make certain I am not mistaken in anything I say here. A spell description must be clear, concise, and utterly straightforward. The fewer finicky mechanics in a spell, the better, and the more things you try to make a spell do, the worse the end product becomes.
Thirdly, the mechanics it uses to accomplish its intended goal are strange, borderline randomized, and entirely nonstandard. At first, it deals damage, requiring a save, which constructs have disadvantage against. Then, if it has less than X number of hitpoints left, it makes like Spiderman and doesn't feel so good, after which its soul is erased. It is then specified that there is a way to resurrect a creature destroyed in this manner, with double the cost of resurrection Disintegrate imposes. Then, it is turned into a literal magic eraser, in a manner practically identical to that of Disintegrate, except that the description has once again been garbled horrendously.
I truly do not see a reason for this spell to exist, as it is literally just "Disintegrate, but Better". No real advantage is granted by the destruction of a dead creature's soul, unless you are fighting a Lich, in which case the DM may easily rule that since the Lich's soul resides in its phylactery, the soul-destruction component of the spell has no valid target and fails - causing the only true difference between this spell and Disintegrate to be the higher damage threshold before annihilation - which is the hallmark of Power Word: Kill, and fits basically no other spell in existence - and the fact that Constructs have disadvantage on the save against it. Congratulations, you can make the giant golem never exist if you just believe hard enough.
In conclusion, I advise you to read some of the featured spells on this wiki, examine the manner in which they are written, and exemplify it. Let us try to keep this wiki's content quality as high as we can - or at the very least, above average.
Also, whoops, I accidentally an edit conflict. Sorry Yan. --Nuke The Earth (talk) 20:56, 13 August 2020 (MDT)
Then, by all means up the spell to 7th level or whatever. It's not of any consequence to me. If you really don't like it then go ahead and delete it. I do not care. I thought it was an interesting idea for a spell so I made a page, simple as that. ~~Dewwydewwot 22:55, 13 August 2020 (PST)
- But it really should be of some consequence to you. You made this page, it's your baby now. If you aren't going to put in any more effort to cleaning it up and making it playable, then go ahead and mark it as abandoned. Maybe someone will pick it back up, maybe they won't. Either way, if you aren't planning to involve yourself with it any more, make that known. --Nuke The Earth (talk) 09:12, 14 August 2020 (MDT)
