Energy Substitution Spellcasting Feat

[Desertpuma]

What do you think?

Energy Substitution Spellcasting Feat
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The spellcaster is allowed to change any energy damage to one specific energy type as a Spellcasting Trick at the additional cost of 1 spell point. This feat may be taken multiple times each time selecting a different type of energy.

[Agent 333]

I'd be very wary of this. In D&D, damage types are mostly just descriptors that don't do anything except vary what types of resistances they work against. In FantasyCraft, not all damage types are created equal. Turning a Polar Ray into Lightning or Acid can have some pretty extreme consequences...

[Mister Andersen]

If the feat does anything, it should model the effects of true scale, allowing you to choose a single damage type you can convert to as a spellcasting trick

[Desertpuma]

Mr A that's exactly what it does at the cost of 1 spell point.

It may have been worded improperly but that's what it says.

[Mister Andersen]

Spell Conversion: Damage
   Prerequisites: Casting Level 1+
   Benefit: Choose a damage type: acid, cold, electrical, fire, flash, force, sonic, or stress. You gain 2 tricks:
   I has a Flavour (Spellcasting Trick): At a cost of 1 additional spelle point per damage die affected, you may convert the damage type delt by a spell you cast to your chosen type. Example: At the cost of 2 aditional spell points, a Fireball I that normally does 4d6 fire damage can be made to do 2d6 fire and 2d6 [chosen type] damage.
   I'm on a Diet (Total Defence Trick): At the cost of 1 spell point, you may reduce the die size of any spell targeting you that utilises your chosen damage type.

[esoclectica]

I suggest that a player only be allowed to take this feat once.  Maybe even require an elemental  background.  A character who has multiple chosen elements would be waaaay hard to hurt.

"Spell Conversion: Damage
   Prerequisites: Casting Level 1+
   Benefit: Choose a damage type: acid, cold, electrical, fire, flash, force, sonic, or stress. You gain 2 tricks:
   I has a Flavour (Spellcasting Trick): At a cost of 1 additional spelle point per damage die affected, you may convert the damage type delt by a spell you cast to your chosen type. Example: At the cost of 2 aditional spell points, a Fireball I that normally does 4d6 fire damage can be made to do 2d6 fire and 2d6 [chosen type] damage.
   I'm on a Diet (Total Defence Trick): At the cost of 1 spell point, you may reduce the die size of any spell targeting you that utilises your chosen damage type."

[Desertpuma]

I'd remove the trick of something targeting you...

The idea was to strictly be able to change the damage type of a spell the caster is using not alter incoming damage. Pay 1 extra spell point and all of the outgoing damage converts to another energy type. It could be taken multiple times in order to gain alternate energy damage types. The rest of the spell is unchanged in its entirety.

[Doublebond]

I'd remove the trick of something targeting you...

The idea was to strictly be able to change the damage type of a spell the caster is using not alter incoming damage. Pay 1 extra spell point and all of the outgoing damage converts to another energy type. It could be taken multiple times in order to gain alternate energy damage types. The rest of the spell is unchanged in its entirety.

The thing is that this seems to sorta homogenize spells; I've no doubt that there are some cases in the grimoir where the distinguishing factor between two spells is little more than damage dealt.

On the whole I'm much more inclined towards Mister Andersen's feat, provided it limited it to one element that the character was already associated with somehow (i.e. Elemental heritage).

[Desertpuma]

It only homogenizes it or appears to if everyone is taking it. I have no issue with the Elemental Heritage aspect of it but the altering of damage incoming to the spellcaster I totally disagree with.

[Mister Andersen]

I suggest that a player only be allowed to take this feat once.  Maybe even require an elemental  background.  A character who has multiple chosen elements would be waaaay hard to hurt.

Unless it says otherwise in the text, a feat can onl ever be taken once.

[Mister Andersen]

I'd remove the trick of something targeting you...

The idea was to strictly be able to change the damage type of a spell the caster is using not alter incoming damage. Pay 1 extra spell point and all of the outgoing damage converts to another energy type. It could be taken multiple times in order to gain alternate energy damage types. The rest of the spell is unchanged in its entirety.

Allowing multiple instances is just too stupidly powerful. You get one shot at it via the feat, or else you have a talk with your GC about your character researching new spells during downtime.

[Desertpuma]

It can also simply be curbed by saying: "This feat may never be taken more than 3 times."

[Mister Andersen]

Every other similarly powered character option in the game is built around granting access to one damage type, stretching to 2 in extraordinary cases

[Krensky]

The Energy Admixture feat was also sort of a band aid feat to account for the fact that direct damage spells, especially enery based ones were generally bad choices above mid-level in D&D due to DR and Energy Resistances. Also, as has been pointed out, energy types in D&D were really just markers for determining who was vulnerable and invulnerable to it, with force being the only one with a really worthwhile effect.

Neither of those really apply in Fantasy Craft. In fact, at high levels direct damage spells can be stupid powerful. Also, damage types actually do useful things in addition to damage.

The feat should have two tricks like the other conversion feats, and probably should follow some of the rules for damage conversion and cost more than 1 spell point.

[Morgenstern]

The biggest problem I encountered in trying to port this family of feats over as part of the initial design of Spellbound (and I did try) is that the energy types belong to different schools (or at least diffent disciplines). The feat doesn't actually make much sense in a world of channelers vs. a world of invokers.

Changing a spell from fire to acid doesn't just taggle a set or rules when it hits, it also makes the spell more fitting for conjurors (creation of mass) than channelers (surge of energy).