Sword Coast Stratagems II - Spell Tweaks

These components make rather minor alterations to the spells in the game, usually in the interest of game balance or consistency. All changes are fully documented in the spell descriptions themselves. Note that while all these components are optional, many of the tactical choices made by wizards and priests in SCS II assume that they are installed, so you may notice some slight anomalies in enemy behaviour if you don't install them all.

Allow Spellstrike to take down a Protection from Magic scroll

In the original game, the protective sphere produced by a Protection from Magic scroll is completely impenetrable by any spell at all - if you use one, all a hostile wizard can do is run away or fight in melee. This component allows the most powerful mage anti-magic spell, the 9th level spell Spellstrike, to destroy the anti-magic sphere of one of these scrolls. It also allows the anti-magic ray of the Hive Mother beholder to destroy the sphere.

More consistent Breach spell (always affects liches and rakshasas; doesn't penetrate Spell Turning

Although it isn't documented, the 5th level spell Breach will remove a creature's combat protections (such as Stoneskin) even if that creature is protected by Spell Deflection, Spell Turning or Spell Trap; it will not, however, affect creatures like liches or rakshasas, because they are immune to spells of level 5 or below. This component removes both features: Breach now bounces off Spell Turning (etc.), but it affects even those creatures immune to "normal" 5th level spells.

Once this component is installed, the Breach effect of the Wand of Spell Striking will behave in exactly the same way as the Breach spell.

Enemy wizards will assume Breach works this way (and so won't target characters protected by Spell Turning etc with a Breach), even if you don't install this component.

Antimagic attacks penetrate improved invisibility

This component changes those spells which target a creature's spell defences (e.g. Secret Word, Spellstrike, Ruby Ray of Reversal - but not Breach) so as to give them a small area of effect rather than requiring them to be targetted on a specific creature. The idea of this component is that these spells can now be cast on enemy mages who are protected by Improved Invisibility - this makes the Improved Invisibility / Spell Immunity: Divination combination less overpowering.

The down side, of course, is that it is now possible to miss your target entirely with these spells. (Ideally I'd just have changed them so as to bypass improved invisibility directly, but that appears not to be possible in the Infinity Engine.)

The antimagic attacks of enemy mages will bypass Improved Invisibility even if you don't install this component.

Iron Skins behaves like Stoneskin (can be brought down by Breach)

For some reason the Iron Skins spell, although it appears identical to a Stoneskin, counts as a Spell Protection (like Spell Turning) and not as a Combat Protection (like Stoneskin). This means that in the unmodded game, Breach does not bring down Iron Skins, but (e.g.) Secret Word does. This component relabels Iron Skins as a Combat Protection.

Enemy mages will assume that Iron Skins works this way (and so will, e.g., cast Breach at it) even if you don't install this component.

Modify the Harm spell so it does damage rather than reducing target to 1 hp

The Harm spell reduces its target to 1 hp in 2nd edition D&D; in 3rd edition, it does a large amount of damage instead. This component modifies Harm to work more like the 3rd edition spell: it inflicts 150 hp damage, with no saving throw, on a successful touch attack. The rationale for this is that Harm (especially combined with Critical Strike) is otherwise an almost-instant way of eliminating even foes with hundreds of hit points. Harm remains lethal in this component, but is not quite so overwhelming.

There are two versions of this component. One version modifies only the player's version of Harm; the other modifies player and enemy versions alike. (The former component is probably more merciful, as rather few characters in the party will have more than 150 hp even at full strength, at least until very late in the game.)

Make individual versions of Spell Immunity available, so that players can use them in Contingencies etc.

Even in the unmodded game (and much more so in SCS II) enemy mages sometimes place Spell Immunities into their Contingencies and Sequencers. This isn't really possible for the player because of the way the Spell Immunity spell works: casting it only gives you the menu to choose which Immunity you want to use. This component evens the score by supplying scrolls of all eight individual Spell Immunity spells - there is little or no point memorising these spells for combat use but you can put them in your sequencers and contingencies if you want to. (This component was added because SCS II tries fairly hard to make the enemy play by the rules, but I didn't want to deny enemy wizards access to sequencer-stored Spell Immunities).

The new spells can be found in any store that sells the standard Spell Immunity spell.

Revert Greater Restoration back to only affecting one creature

Throne of Bhaal makes an undocumented (but widely known) modification to the Greater Restoration spell, making it into an area-effect spell that heals the entire party. This component reverts Greater Restoration to its SoA version, where only one creature can be affected.

Enemy priests assume Greater Restoration affects one target only (and so fairly rarely use it) even if you don't install this component.

Blade Barrier and Globe of Blades only affect hostile creatures

Even in the unmodded game, hostile priests used a special form of Blade Barrier that only affected their foes. (This is probably because, in the Infinity Engine, it is almost impossible to script creatures to avoid them crashing into each other.) This component (again in the name of fairness, and also of hassle avoidance) extends this to the player's version of these two spells: with it installed, players and NPCs use the same form of Blade Barrier. (They don't quite use the old NPC version, which had a rather shorter range: they use a hybrid version, as large as the old PC version but affecting only enemies).

Cap damage done by Skull Trap at 12d6

Skull Trap, like the other L3 spells Fireball and Lightning Bolt, does 1d6 damage per level. Unlike those spells, though (and, I suspect, via an oversight on the developers' part, though I could be wrong) Skull Trap's damage is not capped at 10d6, which makes it extremely lethal for a third level spell by the later part of the game. This component caps the damage of Skull Trap at 12d6 (the slightly higher cap reflects the much shorter range of Skull Trap compared to Fireball.

I don't know whether this component makes the game net easier or harder. I was led to write it after seeing a lich in SCS II playtesting cast a 3xSkull Trap Spell Sequencer, doing about 100 hp damage even to characters who made all their saving throws.

Make Minute Meteors into +2 weapons

In the unmodded game, the meteors created by the third-level Melf's Minute Meteors spell strike as +6 weapons, enough to penetrate any creature's resistances and to cut through even the Absolute Immunity spell. This strikes me as a bit overpowered for a third-level spell. This component makes meteors +2 - still enough to hit most creatures, but not enough to cut through any of the protection-from-magic-weapon spells.

Make Power Word: Blind a single-target spell

Unlike other Power Words, Power Word: Blind has a small area of effect. This both makes it rather powerful, and makes it virtually impossible for enemy AI to use without "friendly-fire" incidents. This component just makes Power Word: Blind target a single creature. (This is another component which the mage AI will assume is installed.)

Reduce the power of Inquisitors' Dispel Magic

Inquisitors have a very fast powerful Dispel Magic ability, which is cast at twice their level. In most bits of the game, this is usually much higher than the majority of spellcasting enemies. This component reduces the power of the Dispel a little; you can choose to use it at 1.5xlevel or at 1xlevel.

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Baldur's Gate I (1998), Tales of the Sword Coast (1999), Baldur's Gate II (2000), and Throne of Bhaal (2001) are ©BioWare. Dungeons & Dragons material is ©Wizards of the Coast.