Blast Barrier
TransmutationTransmutation spells change the properties of some creature, thing, or condition.
[ SonicSonic effects transmit energy to the target through frequent oscillations of pressure through the air, water, or ground. Sounds that are too high or too low for the humanoid ear to detect can still transmit enough energy to cause harm, which means that these effects can even affect deafened creatures. Sound effects can cause hit point damage, deafness, dizziness, nausea, pain, shortness of breath, and temporary blindness, and can detect creatures using batlike echolocation.]
PFS Legal
Available to
- Casting Time
- 1 standard actionMost spells take 1 standard action; others list 1 round, 1 minute, or more, or use a swift or immediate action.Full rule on Archives of Nethys ↗
- Components
- V, S, M (handful of snow, earth, or gravel)V (Verbal): A spoken incantation; you must be able to speak in a strong voice. A silence effect or a gag spoils it, and being deafened risks failure.S (Somatic): A precise movement of the hand; you must have at least one hand free to perform it.M (Material): One or more physical substances consumed by the casting. Cost is negligible — covered by your spell component pouch — unless a gp value is listed.Full rule on Archives of Nethys ↗
- Range
- close (25 ft. + 5ft./2 levels)How far the spell reaches. Close = 25 ft + 5 ft/2 levels; Medium = 100 ft + 10 ft/level; Long = 400 ft + 40 ft/level. Personal = yourself; Touch = a creature or object you touch.Full rule on Archives of Nethys ↗
- Effect
- 1-ft.-thick wall up to 10 ft. high by 20 ft. wideHow the spell is aimed: a Target (specific creatures or objects), an Effect it creates (e.g. a wall or a summoned creature), or an Area shape (burst, cone, line, and so on). Some areas are shapeable. "Target or Area" means the spell uses either, at your choice.Full rule on Archives of Nethys ↗
- Duration
- concentration, up to 1 round/2 levelsHow long it lasts. Instantaneous resolves at once; Concentration lasts while you keep focusing; Permanent lasts until dispelled. A trailing "(D)" means you can dismiss it as a standard action.Full rule on Archives of Nethys ↗
- Saving Throw
- Reflex half (see below)If a save is allowed, the target rolls Fortitude, Reflex, or Will: the result negates, gives partial, half, or no effect. "harmless" lets a willing target decline. Save DC = 10 + spell level + your casting ability modifier.Full rule on Archives of Nethys ↗
- Spell Resistance
- yes (see below)Whether a creature's spell resistance can block the spell (Yes/No). For "harmless" spells a willing creature may lower its SR to be affected.Full rule on Archives of Nethys ↗
Originally used by the winter witches on the field of battle in the early days of Irrisen, blast barrier has entered the oral traditions of many northern barbarian tribes as legends of winter witches possessing powers to bend the very ground of a battlefield to their will. Blast barrier, however, has proven to be an exceptionally versatile spell as far as terrains are concerned, for it works equally well in swamps, deserts, or any region where the ground is soft or easy to shape.
When you cast blast barrier, you cause a rippling wall of loose earth, mud, snow, sand, or gravel to spring up in a designated space within the spell’s range. This wall provides total cover to all Large or smaller creatures and objects. The barrier can only spring up in an area of natural, unworked ground. The energy that forms the wall’s matrix is unstable, and you must concentrate to maintain the wall’s shape. A blast barrier has an AC of 9, hardness 0, and 5 hit points per caster level. When a blast barrier reaches 0 hit points, or when you cease concentrating on maintaining it, the energies that maintain the barrier’s shape fail with explosive results, sending sharp chunks of the materials comprising the wall and magical energy out along both sides. Any creature that is adjacent to a blast barrier when it explodes takes 2d6 points of slashing damage and 1d6 points of sonic damage per 3 caster levels (maximum 6d6). A successful Reflex save halves the total damage done. Spell resistance applies as well.
This instability can make using a blast barrier risky, but many of the spellcasters that pioneered the spell became experts at its tactical applications, often using the barriers to cover an escape while lobbing spells and parting shots, hoping to trigger the barrier’s destruction just as their would-be pursuers approached.
When you cast blast barrier, you cause a rippling wall of loose earth, mud, snow, sand, or gravel to spring up in a designated space within the spell’s range. This wall provides total cover to all Large or smaller creatures and objects. The barrier can only spring up in an area of natural, unworked ground. The energy that forms the wall’s matrix is unstable, and you must concentrate to maintain the wall’s shape. A blast barrier has an AC of 9, hardness 0, and 5 hit points per caster level. When a blast barrier reaches 0 hit points, or when you cease concentrating on maintaining it, the energies that maintain the barrier’s shape fail with explosive results, sending sharp chunks of the materials comprising the wall and magical energy out along both sides. Any creature that is adjacent to a blast barrier when it explodes takes 2d6 points of slashing damage and 1d6 points of sonic damage per 3 caster levels (maximum 6d6). A successful Reflex save halves the total damage done. Spell resistance applies as well.
This instability can make using a blast barrier risky, but many of the spellcasters that pioneered the spell became experts at its tactical applications, often using the barriers to cover an escape while lobbing spells and parting shots, hoping to trigger the barrier’s destruction just as their would-be pursuers approached.