What level should my fun spell be?

Question

I have made a fun spell for Pathfinder, with Lesser and Greater versions. Here is the spell:

Spell name: Inflict Random Summon Nature’s Ally Cure

Casting time: 1 standard action

Components: V, S

Range: 10 feet*D100

Spell Resistance: Roll D10. 1-5 — yes, 6-10 — no.

Duration: Instantaneous

Saving Throw: Yes, random to halve, natural 20 negates.

Base saving DC: 10+1D10

System:

I. Roll for spell’s range (10 feet*D100) and choose a target within it. You must see your target.

II. Roll D6 to determine the saving throw. Even if the spell happens to actually heal the target, it still rolls to save.

1-2: Fortitude

3-4: Will

5-6: Reflex

III. Roll D10 to determine spell’s damage type.

1. Positive energy
2. Negative energy
3. Cold
4. Fire
5. Electricity
6. Acid
7. Sonic
8. Bludgeoning
9. Piercing
10. Slashing

IV. If the target has spell resistance, roll D10. On 6-10 it doesn’t work, on 1-5 it does, even if the spell should heal the target.

V. Then roll for damage (or healing) inflicted, depending on spell version:

• Lesser — D20

• Normal — D100

• Greater — D1000 (Roll 3 D10 of different colour, just as you roll 2 D10 for D100)

If this number rolled is a natural 1 or a natural round number (the one that ends with zero, such as 10, 20, 100 etc.), you become a chicken for 1D4 rounds.

VI. The target attempts to save. Natural 1 on the save roll doubles the effect of this spell, including the rounds you spend as a chicken if you do. Natural 20 negates the spell for both parties.

You cannot apply Maximize Metamagic to this spell by any power, it is already reliable enough.

Description: In desperation, you call for the help of the Chaos that shaped the universe at the beginning. A ray of something starts at your fingertip and aims at your target, and never misses, indicating reliability of that spell. The ray penetrates but doesn’t damage everything on its way to your designated target, and possibly somehow turns you into a chicken.

I think, it is clear that this spell is supposed to be a fun one, but it shouldn't actually become a game breaker. Of course, it should inflict more average damage than other spells of the same level due to how random and risky it is, but not too much.

So, which level should the normal, Lesser and Greater versions of this spell be?

Answer 1

The lesser version of the spell is pointlessly annoying, but likely only about a 2nd-level spell if a campaign can be found that will tolerate its use. The normal and greater versions of the spell are equally pointlessly annoying and gamebreakingly swingy… and then they're not because the spell're modified by the feat Maximize Spell, a feat which these spells seem custom designed to exploit. Even the presence of a 10% chance to affect the target with positive energy (presumably healing a nonundead creature targeted by the spell but unclear in context) and a different 10% chance (presumably round numbers on a d20 are 10 and 20, on a d% 10, 20, 30, etc., and likewise with the d1,000, but, again, this is unclear in context) to briefly chickenize the caster don't make these later spells particularly less powerful or balanced given the potential amount of damage they deal. If the spell heals the foe's injuries instead, that's okay—just hit 'im with the spell again! It's only healing; it's not like the target gained temporary hp instead! And if the spell kills a balor or a great wyrm dragon in one hit, an ally'll probably be willing to wait for you to return to normal form from having been inadvertently chickenshaped.

So the spell lesser inflict random summon nature’s ally cure is probably a (overly complex and hideously unpredictable) 2nd-level spell, but the higher-level ones shouldn't exist. If they, for some reason, must exist the spell inflict random summon nature’s ally cure should be a 7th-level spell as it deals comparable damage to the spell disintegrate but more than disintegrate if a successful saving throw against the spell is made. The spell greater inflict random summon nature’s ally cure should be a 9th-level, as greater typically (yet extremely unpredictably!) deals more damage than the average 260 points of damage a dealt by a level 20 wizard's disintegrate spell that's been modified by the metamagic feat Empower Spell, the game's most accessible high-damage spell, and again, even more than a comparable disintegrate on a failed saving throw against greater inflict random summon nature’s ally cure.

Note: This kind of fun spell is certainly not for everyone, and it and spells like it, as KRyan mentions in his answer, are generally bad for the game. I encourage crossposting this spell to a dnd-3.5e discussion forum where the spells' various other problems can be hashed out in detail. I know that you haven't yet, but attempting to defend this spell's design choices on this site is difficult compared to a discussion forum that allows for a much greater degree of back-and-forth.

Answer 2

This spell shouldn’t exist; it is bad for the game. Randomness has to be very carefully managed in an RPG system; too little and things get boring, since outcomes are too well-known (note: randomness is not the only way to prevent this, just the most common and arguably the easiest); too much, and it’s impossible to keep a campaign moving forward. This spell is massively in the too-random end of the spectrum. This sort of spell would fall in a similar category as the deck of many things, and causes problems for much the same reason.