Spell Creation Guide & Point System
Spell Creation Guide & Point System
Spell points
Points are allocated to a spell based on its level, and are used to build the spell effects.
The points available for building a spell are 1 + twice the spell’s level. Cantrips are considered
level 0.
Additional points are added for each component used in the casting (verbal, somatic, material).
Material components with a cost add additional points.
You may get credit back by taking lower values on common properties, or by adding flaws to a
spell.
There are more values that I originally thought. Am considering a budget value based on the order of
magnitude or logarithm. Using that as a stopgap.
If the component is consumed on use, that further increases the points provided to the spell. Rate is
unknown. Double?
Casting Time
Duration Cost
1 Bonus Action +2 (review)
1 Reaction +1
1 Action 0
1 minute -1
10 minutes -2
1 hour -3
8-12 hours -4
24 hours -5
Lengthy casting times provide points back. Being able to cast a spell as a bonus action or reaction is an
additional benefit.
Any spell that can be cast as a bonus action should get careful review from the DM.
Spell Duration
Duration Cost
Instantaneous 0
1 round +1
1 minute +2
10 minutes +3
1 hour +4
8 hours +5
24 hours +6
+Concentration -2
Concentration is a limitation that will apply a -2 point flaw to a spell. One minute concentration spells
cancel out cost and flaw for a net 0 cost property.
Beasts
Fey
Humanoids
Monstrosities
Undead
Aberrations
Celestials
Constructs
Dragons
Elementals
Fiends
Giants
Lesser and greater creature types are generally not distinguished, but occasionally are. For spell-building
purposes, they can all be treated as one list of 12 types. Spells may be restricted to only work on one
creature type, or a subset of creature types.
Creature-targeting exclusions should rarely be applied. Rely on resistances and immunities first before
considering a targeting exclusion.
Type Cost
Self 0
Location 0
Any Creature 0
Objects +1
Exclude one creature type -0.5
Exclude all but one -5
creature type
Selective Targeting
For spells that allow individually selective targeting of more than one creature.
Cost is always +4 when allowed to select an arbitrary number of targets. Max number of targets is
(Lvl*4)/Factor, where the factor depends on the strength of the spell effect.
Baseline:
Range Cost
Self 0
Touch/5’ -2
15’ -1
30’ 0
60’ 1
90’ 1.5
120’ 2
150’ 2.5
300’ 3
⅛ mile 4
¼ mile 5
½ mile 6
1 mile 7
Touch and 5’ range is basically the same thing. 5’ is usually melee attack with a weapon, whereas Touch
is just make a melee attack, or be right next to an ally.
I get the feeling that 30’ is baseline, 0 points. 30’ is the range where an enemy can reach you and hit you
this round. 60’ is they can reach you, but can’t hit you this round. 90’ is they can hit you next round.
120’ and 150’ is it takes two rounds to reach you, and a third round to hit. 300’ is just hell and gone.
In the other direction, Touch/5’ is where they can hit you immediately. 15’ is where they can reach you
even on difficult terrain, and hit you this round.
Compared this scaling with currently reviewed spells, and found that it fit pretty well for almost all of
them. So points allocated based on risk factor of how easily the enemy can reach you from the given
distance.
Distances over 300’ don’t have a solid foundation for their costs. I just set them as +1 per doubling of
distance.
Spell area
The next factor is the area that the spell covers. Other than single-target spells, the nominal area of a
spell increases with spell level.
One difficulty with this calculation is that geometric calculations do not correspond well to actual map
squares covered. A circle with a 5’ radius only has an area a bit over 3 map square’s worth, whereas it is
intended to cover either a 10’x10’ block, or, if the description is “within 5 feet of you”, a 15’x15’ grid of 9
map squares. I’ve put together charts of different sized shapes in order to get a rough correlation
between the spell’s described area/volume, and a comparative set of units to use for pricing a spell.
The comparative units are “map units” (5’x5’ squares, with an assumed 10’ height) There is some
implication that units should be in 5’ cubes, rather than 10’ high units of 5’ squares. However a 5’x5’
square is how much space a unit ‘controls’, and up to 10’ high seems far more reasonable for a medium
creature. Each volume unit is 250 cubic feet.
Shaped volumes
Cube
Side Volume (cu.ft) Pure Volume Effective Volume
Units Units
5’ 125 0.5 1
10’ 1,000 4 4
15’ 3,375 13.5 9
20’ 8,000 32 32
25’ 15,625 62.5 50
30’ 27,000 108 108
40’ 64,000 256 256
50’ 125,000 500 500
100’ 1,000,000 4000 4000
Cylinder
Radius Volume (cu.ft) Pure Volume Effective Volume Effective Volume
Units Units at 10’ high Units at 20’ high
5’ 785 3 4 8
10’ 3,141 13 12 24
15’ 7,069 28 32 64
20’ 12,566 50 52 104
30’ 28,274 113 112 224
40’ 50,265 201 208 416
50’ 78,540 314 316 632
60’ 113,097 452 465 930
Sphere
Radius Area Units (Strict) Area Units (High) Hemi Units Effective Volume
Units
5’ 4 4 4 8
10’ 12 12 12 24
15’ 24 32 32 64
20’ 44 52 84 168
25’ 68 80 125 250
30’ 96 112 250 500
35’ 132 148 350 700
40’ 172 208 675 1350
45’ 224 256 875 1750
50’ 284 316 1250 2500
60’ 465 2000 4000
80’ 825 5000 10000
100’ 1290 10000 20000
Note: I originally calculated sphere volume using an assumption of a center point in the center of a
square, but have moved to a more conservative value based on the center point being at an intersection
of grid lines.
In the above chart, the ‘strict’ area requires a square to be at least 90% contained within the radius to be
counted, and the ‘high’ area requires that a square must be at least 50% contained to be counted. The
high area is the preferred use, and it what is used for the determined volume.
The point cost for the area used in an AOE spell is 0 if the spell has an AOE appropriate to its level, or +1
or -1 for each level above or below the spell’s level the AOE corresponds to.
Previous version
Level Radius Area Units Hemi Units Sphere Units
C 5’ 5 5 10
1 5’ 5 5 10
2 10’ 12 12 25
3 15’ 30 30 60
4 20’ 50 80 160
5 30’ 100 250 500
6 40’ 200 675 1350
7 50’ 300 1250 2500
8 60’ 500 2000 4000
9 80’ 800 5000 10000
10 100’ 1250 10000 20000
Spell damage
The recommended spell damage values for spells are provided in a table in the Dungeon Master’s Guide
(DMG) on page 284. That table does not adequately describe the information needed for creating spells,
so more detail is provided here.
Errata: The damage value given for 2nd level single-target spells is out of line with the rest of the spell
damages when examined to compare area and single target spells. It does, however, have a slope
calculation slightly closer to exactly 8x (8.07x vs 7.88x if it gets adjusted to 4d10). Overall, it helps
suggest that the ideal values should be used, not the dice values.
Revised: A new examination puts the single target damage formula at 4.5 + 8*Lvl, and the AOE damage
as 3 + 5.5*Lvl. Also add double gains for level 9. Adjusting.
The ‘Dice’ columns are transcribed from the Dungeon Master’s Guide. The Dice (single) column is for
spells that only target one creature. The Dice (area) column is for spells with an area of effect (AOE).
The Damage columns show what the average damage value for the provided dice is, and represents the
target damage you want to allow for at a given level when working solely from the DMG dice.
The ‘Ideal’ columns represent the target damage number on a linear slope based on the approximated
values represented by the die rolls. Since the dice do not increase linearly, it’s apparent that Wizards of
the Coast selected a ‘closest match’ on a linear table using common die types (d10 and d6).
Examining the results, the single target ideal damage values are 5 for Cantrips, and +8 damage for every
level above that. Area damage should be 2/3 of single target damage (or conversely, single target is 50%
more than area damage).
The damage value can be increased by 25% if, when a creature saves (or you make an attack roll), it
doesn’t take any damage, rather than taking half damage.
An AOE damage spell should never have its damage value increased by more than 50% (not including the
above 25%) when making other spell adjustments, as that’s the limit for single target damage of the
same level.
The following table shows the average damage value for N dice of the given type.
So if you wanted to create a baseline level 3 AOE spell, its target damage value would be 21 (or 19.5
using the ideal column), and you could approximate that with 8d4, 6d6, 4d8/5d8, 4d10, or 3d12.
Note that you can use the level 3 target damage level even for a level 2 or level 4 spell. The actual
damage level you picked will be used as part of the spell’s point calculations.
The points assigned for damage is twice the level of the damage tier.
Features
Special custom features of a spell have a cost based on the power of the effect.
Damage already has AOE effects factored in, so AOE and damage can be considered separately. However
debuffs are the same whether AOE or single target, so AOE has to increase the effective cost.
Feature Cost
Sets objects on fire +0.5
Extinguishes fires +0.5
Lightly obscures area +1
Difficult terrain +1
Deafen +1
Simple static illusion (including disguise) +1
Extinguishes magical/protected flames +1
Dispels gas and vapors +1
Gain advantage with (condition) +1
Heavily obscures area +2
Cause disadvantage on next attack +2
Gain advantage on attack +2
+1d4 to attacks and saves +2
Knock prone +2
Charmed +2
Lose concentration +2
Adjustable illusion +4
Blind (or deafen) +4
Suggested +4
Restrained +4
Incapacitated +4
Stunned +8
Paralyzed +12
Raise from dead +16
Repeat use each action Action cost
Repeat use each bonus action Action cost + 1
Move creature Distance/5’
Move object Distance/10’
Light Bright range/20’
Flaws
Flaws are aspects of the spell that hinder its effectiveness in some way, either allowing it to be dispelled
without Dispel Magic, or otherwise compromising the spell’s effectiveness.
Flaw Cost