what i'm thinking of is an outdoors only high level lightning attack... after a half second casting delay an arc of lightning would appear from the skies instantly striking it's target without error (imagine realistic looking bolt now - white/black monocolor, there should be no "falling" animation and it'd require no more than 3 frames of animation to look good (the spell should be easy to depict even with randomized variation of animations))... the bolt can strike one target once...

level 1: just a bolt of lightning from the skies... it'd do some massive damage to creatures non-resistant to lightning

level 2: a flashier looking bolt of lightning that does more damage

level 3: a flashy looking bolt which would appear to strike twice (double length of animation) that does more damage

level 4: a flashy looking bolt which would appear to strike twice (double length of animation) and daze it's target

level 5: HUGE, powerful, super flashy bolt that would cause a second of blindness for nearby creatures that see (maybe deafness for creatures with ears? - basically stun nearby creatures for a second or 2 giving the player an unfair attack advantage or a chance to run)...

i envision a "cooling off" period for this spell such that it cannot be repeatedly cast in a short amount of time... another possibility for this spell (lower level version) incorporating a such a feature intelligently would be

level 1: thin, simple lightning bolt, does typical amount of damage, strikes one target once, extended casting+cooling off period (cannot be repeated effectively and cannot strike the same target twice)

level 2: same as level 1 but does slightly more damage with a shorter casting+cooling off period... slightly larger lightning bolt

level 3: same as level 2 but does slightly more damage with a shorter casting+cooling off period... larger looking bolt

level 4: same as level 3 but does slightly more damage with a shorter casting+cooling off period... flashier large lightning bolt (more frames of animation)

level 5: best looking lightning bolt (colorized vs monocolor?), does most damage with negligible casting+cooling off period (can be repeatedly cast against multiple enemies but not on the same enemy twice)


of course these could be 2 seperate and different spells <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />