Marsden is Here

Ability damage whether through poisons, energy drains, feats or other effects is fairly common in D&D3 and it's close relatives. In fact as hit point totals grow I've found that the easiest way to make the players concerned about the ability of an enemy to damage them is to break out an ability-damaging critter, taking them back to worrying about a total which is likely in the teens to start with rather than the tens.

Monte Cooke's Arcana Unearthed (and revision for 3.5, Arcana Evolved) deliberately make healing harder to come by. For HP damage the lower level healing spells either cure less (fast and with no side effects) or cure more but at a cost to the caster.

After diligent searching I found the following options for ability damage:

#Iamblind #rightundermynose
The Restoration spell is a Complex, Positive Energy (specifically accessible by certain classes / feats), level 5 spell. It requires the target have a Truename to be effective. Diminished (cast using a 4th level spell slot) it removes all temporary damage to one ability score and dispels negative levels; cast normally it dispels negative levels, restores one drained level, removes all temporary ability damage and one point drained from a single ability score, and heightened (cast using a 6th level slot) it restores all lost levels and all points drained from a single ability score. At best you need to be a 9th level caster before you get access to this spell in any form, 11th to use it heightened.

For comparison the 3.x spell Lesser Restoration cures 1d4 points of ability damage and is 2nd level (3rd level caster), Restoration dispels negative levels, restores one drained level, cures all temporary damage, restores all points drained from a single ability score and is a 4th level spell (7th level caster)

Other options appear to be:
- The heightened version of Transfer Wounds (Total) (Simple, Positive Energy, using an 8th level spell slot) in addition to healing all hit point damage removes all temporary ability damage, applying half of that damage to the caster as per usual for the Transfer Wounds spells.
- Perfect Health (9th level, Simple, Positive Energy, requires Truename) removes all temporary ability damage but explicitly does not remove drain.
- Heightened Neutralise Poison (Complex, Positive energy, 5th level slot) heals damage inflicted by poisons within the past hour.
- Heightened Remove Disease (Complex, Positive energy, 4th level slot) heals any damage inflicted by diseases in the last week.
- Remove Malady (Complex, Positive energy, requires Truename, 5th level slot) can take away (among other things) a poison or disease affecting a character, but it is not clear if this will restore ability damage. Comparing it to the levels of the previous two I would say not; this spell instead has the flexibility of being effective against a wide variety of conditions.
- the Runethane (class) Rune of Rest doubles the rate of healing while during rest, presumably including ability damage.

The lack of lower level magic for addressing ability damage is clearly a deliberate design decision but it's a bit problematic when a series of horrendous FORT saves leaves your low-to-mid-levels group mostly incapacitated by a few spiders. By the rules it also makes ability healing items (eg potions) prohibitively expensive at lower levels. Google has not revealed unto me any existing house rules for this out there, so here are a couple of ways I see to address this while still keeping the availability of healing a bit more scare.

1. Easily within the rules Lesser Restoration can be brought in as an exotic spell. I would probably make it 3rd level, Positive Energy, restoring 1d4+1 points of damage to one ability score, diminished restoring 2 points but at a cost to the caster of 1 point (ala Transfer Wounds), heightened restoring all points of damage to one ability score.

2. The Lesser and Greater Transfer Wounds spells could be modified such that the heightened version additionally / instead restores some amount of ability damage at the usual cost of transferring half the damage to the caster (effectively having half the effect if cast on oneself). If I were taking this route I would probably make the amount 1d4+1 points to one ability score for LTW and all points to one ability score for GTW (heightened is a 5th level spell so Restoration may be available, but GTW is a Simple spell and doesn't require a Truename).

As a side note even with multiple applications of these spells there would always be one point left /somewhere/ which has to recover naturally #math.

3. The Lesser and Greater Battle Healing spells could be similarly modified. These are already a level higher than their Transfer counterparts which seems reasonable for the utility. Restoration is still preferable if it is available if only because it now uses a lower level slot (heightened GBW uses a 6th level slot to achieve what Restoration does using a 4th level slot).

My preference would probably be to use both 2 and 3 but for the stingier DM introducing an NPC who has spent the feat for or an Amulet of Spell Knowledge containing the first option might be more palatable.

A fragment of overheard conversation earlier in the week got my brain whirring, and it won't shut up. I've googled and not come across anything similar, so here are a few ideas for a points based, flexible casting magic system to swap into D&D 3.x while retaining the spells as written as at least a useful reference.

This system does require re-imagining some of the classes and would bring a very different "feel" to the magic side of a campaign.

( snip )

Whew. More later.

Last session of Arcana Unearthed we discovered just how lethal a small pool of water can potentially be. With this in mind the lack of a watery equivalent to the Safe (Feather) Fall spell seems like a serious oversight.

Note: the version of AU we are using is based off D&D 3.0. The relevant part of the Swim skill which was removed in D&D 3.5 is emphasised below:

Swim
Strength
A successful Swim check allows the character to move in water at one-quarter of his speed as a move-equivalent action or at one-half his speed as a full-round action. Roll once per round.
Failing the check means the character makes no progress through the water. Should he fail the check by 5 or more, he goes underwater and starts to drown.
If the character is underwater (whether drowning or swimming underwater intentionally), he suffers a cumulative –1 penalty to his Swim check for each consecutive round he’s been underwater. The Difficulty Class for the Swim check depends on the water’s condition:
Water Condition | DC
Calm water | 10
Rough water | 15
Stormy water | 20
For each hour that the character swims, make a Swim check (DC 20); on a failure, the character takes 1d6 points of subdual damage from fatigue.
Special: Instead of an armor check penalty, the character suffers a penalty of –1 for every 5 lbs. of gear he is carrying or wearing.

Drowning
In the first round, she falls unconscious (0 hit points). In the following round, she drops to -1 hit points and is dying. In the third round, she suffocates.

That's comparable, arguably worse, than being hit with any of the high level instakill spells.
(Note: in AU you actually start dying at -CON bonus), significantly more dangerous to many characters than a very high fall (thanks to D&D physics...)

So how often lethal? Well very few characters actually put ranks into Swim, either because those who have it as a class skill usually have few skill points to go around. And even for those that do the penalties add up fast. Take Markos as an example.
- He does actually have an unencumbered +5 to Swim because he maxed it out at as a class skill at 1st level (ranks) and has a strength bonus (+1)
- Just in light armour (masterwork studded leather jack, 20lb, -4) and carrying his athame (swordstaff, 10lb, -2) he is already at -1 to Swim, -3 after his minimal other gear is taken into account.
- that translates to failing a swim check in still water (eg a 10' deep pit) 60% of the time (roll 12-), starting to drown 35% of the time (roll 7-). Woe betide a more heavily laden or lower-strength character.

So here is my shot at an equivalent to Safe Fall which may save characters from a watery grave.

Buoyancy
Transmutation [Air, Water]
Level: 1 (Simple)
Casting time: See text
Range: Close (25' + 5' per two levels)
Targets: Targets: Any objects or creatures in a 10-foot radius whose weight totals up to 300 lbs./level
Duration: 1 minute per level
Saving Throw: Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)
If the creatures or objects affected by this spell are immersed before or while it is active they rise towards the surface at a rate of 30'/round (in addition to any distance they swim) and once there automatically make any Swim checks to remain surfaced. Movement still requires the usual Swim checks and a -5 buoyant penalty applies to any attempt to descend. A solid object (eg the roof of a water filled cavern) will prevent any further movement upwards.

This spell grants no ability to breathe underwater, those affected must still hold their breath. However drowning creatures which survive long enough to reach the surface will cease drowning (but remain unconscious).

Creatures with a natural swim speed are unaffected by this spell.

You can cast Buoyancy quickly enough to affect someone who unexpectedly becomes immersed. Casting the spell is a free action and can be cast out of turn, although no more than once per round.

Diminished Effects: The spell affects only one creature or object (of up to Medium size);
Heightened Effects: Drowning creatures cease to drown (but remain unconscious) when the spell takes effect; Creatures with a swim speed may be affected (Will negates) and thus forced towards the surface but cannot be moved past the point where they can breathe.

~~~
Frostburn does have the Float spell, which is similar but not quite what I wanted. In particular it only has one target and can be used offensively as a level 1 spell.