== Holy Banishment ==
	by John Eure

* The Spell *

Holy Banishment (TOW) - Sight, Combat, 7th level Cleric
	"This spell is a battle of wills between the caster and the
target.  It is only effective against undead and unholy beings.  If the
caster wins the Test of Will, the target is banished from the material
world until it can find its way back.  Depending upon GM discretion, this
could vary from a few minutes to a few years.  (Undead are normally
destroyed outright.)"


* What's Wrong *

The "GM safety clause", which allows the target to return within few
minutes, makes people think that the spell is next to useless.  And it
isn't even necessary, since TOW spells already have a safety valve built
in.  If you don't want an NPC to be affected by this spell, just give them
a high Will, a Strengthen Will, or use protective spells.  And if your big
bad villain has a lower Will than the PCs, then Holy Banishment is the
least of your problems:  Delusion and Commmand last for a full hour, and
Charm only costs 4 spell points!

Furthermore, this uncertainty unbalances the spell.  TOW spells should
generally be about 2 levels lower than non-TOW versions, and Holy spells
should generally be about 1 level cheaper than normal versions.  This gets
fuzzy at high levels, because 9th level costs 6 points.  But what it boils
down to is that I think that a 7th level Holy TOW spell should be at least
the equivalent of a Divine Wrath if it succeeds.


* My solution *

Remove the uncertainty.  Strengthen the effect.  Make this something that
casters can rely upon, provided that they win the TOW match.


* The proposal *

1) Strengthen Holy Banishment

-- Change Holy Banishment to read:
	"This spell is a battle of wills between the caster and the
target.  It is only effective against undead and unholy beings.  If the
caster wins the Test of Will, the target is banished from the mortal
plane, and is forcibly sent to where it belongs.  Purely physical targets,
such as re-animated corpses, are normally destroyed outright."