by bighara » Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:07 pm
So these tentacles are made of lava and attack? Hmm.
Is each tentacle considered its own critter or part of a larger beastie? Since it's a spell effect, I'll assume individual.
Give the spell a range of 120' or so, you don't wan these too close to you when you cast it. Duration? Not too terribly long, maybe 1 round per level.
Let's call them 10 yards, or 30' long (nice round number). That gives them an impressive reach. I would tie the number of tentacles to caster level. i.e. 1 tentacle/2 levels (round down). So a 12th level MU gets six tentacles, etc. Each pseudopod gets, heck, let's say 4 HD. That's probably a tad low for a 30' pillar of magma, but since there are several of them, let's nerf it a tad for game balance purposes.
Lets borrow from Fire Elementals, Flame Salamanders, Octopus, and Efreeti. I'd say the physical "slam" attack should be 1d8, the fire does an additional 1d8 damage (x2 for cold based creatures), anyone within 10' takes 1d4 damage from the intense heat and combustibles (paper, cloth) ignite. Items on a character get a saving throw. With a hit, a tentacle can constrict for an additional 1d8 per round (+ the 1d8 fire damage). The tentacles are vulnerable to water or cold attacks, taking x2 damage. Immersing in a large quantity of water or ice/snow (e.g. a river or avalanche or a water elemental) hardens the lava into rock, destroying them.
PS- I'd say 7th level+