Prismatic spray = Multi-finger of death?

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Prismatic spray has always served me well.

I cranked up Excel, and attempted to compare the results of Finger of Death with Prismatic Spray for a Level 14 spell caster with a charisma modifier of +5. For the sake of simplicity, no spell focus feats.

The target had will, reflex, and fortitude saves of 11. Yeah yeah, I know, not entirely realistic. Again, this was done for the sake of simplicity, since the chance of a target making their save is 50%, which is easy to integrate into calculations of probability.

Anyway, I started off with pretty obvious assumption that a 'good outcome' for a finger of death casting is that the target fails their save, and dies (although this isn't such a good outcome for the target!). The Probability (Pr) of this occuring is exactly 0.50.

Working out a good outcome for a prismatic spray casting is a little more subjective. If you claim that a minimum damage of 60, a level drain of 5, or incapacitation of the target via feeblemind/death/petrify is a 'good outcome', then the Pr of said good outcome is 0.48.

On the other hand, if you say "Hang on, a good outcome for Finger of Death is incapacitation, so Prismatic Spray should be held to the same standards", then the Pr of this good outcome is 0.28.

So you could say that against a single target, Prismatic Spray is lousy in comparison to Finger of Death.

But what if your Prismatic Spray hits more than one enemy (it is a spray spell, after all!). If you hit two enemies, the Pr of incapacitating at least one foe is 0.49. Approximately the same Pr as that associated with a Finger of Death.

If you hit three enemies with a Prismatic Spray, then your Pr of incapacitating at least one foe is 0.63, which is much better than Finger of Death.

Yes, I'm sure you see the trend, it's pretty self-apparent. The more enemies that are hit by Prismatic Spray, the more likely it becomes that at least one enemy is incapacitated. However, this little thought experiment has demonstrated roughly when a Prismatic Spray casting supercedes a Finger of Death spell, and that is when you are targeting three or more enemies!

There are some other aspects to take into consideration here:

Finger of Death
Pros: You are guaranteed damage even if the target makes its saving throw.

A casting time of 5.

Cons: Relies on a fortitude saving throw, so warriors are more likely to save.

Prismatic Spray
Pros: Two of the incapacitation rays are based on fortitude saves, but one is based on wills saves. The damage rays are based on reflex saves. So if you get something with sky high will or fortitude saves, prismatic spray is still viable.

All of the magical damage from prismatic spray bypasses magic resistance.

The magical damage is applied at a flat rate.

The magical damage is increased by the elemental feats.

Blinds anything lower than 8HD.

Cons: Casting time is 7, which is significantly longer.

Can harm party members.

More difficult to target.

Aren't always guaranteed a result (ie. no effect or damage).



Thoughts?

 

Looks good. One thought I might add, is that this kind of spell sometimes destroys loot (petrification, maybe disintegration i'm not sure). You need to really know the important carriers of loot in the game, to be sure that you're casting it safely. I'm not entirely sure though. Of course, you could just reload if you accidentally petrify an important carrier. A nice bard spell anyway.

 

I think the main problem with this spell is its bad delivery(in bg2 it could destroy loot too, bad memories), weird close range party unfriendly area of effect.. Same problem with burning hands. If it would be like fireball, it could be way more popular, or it the game had Toee targeting help at least.

 

Targeting prismatic spray is very tricky, especially given that it has a long casting time. If enemies are 'fixed', then it's gold.