Started the Shackled City adventure path from Dungeon yesterday, and was very struck by just how powerful the spell "Colour Spray" is against low level opponents.
It's a 1st level spell of the Illusion school that affects all creatures in a 15-foot cone. There is a Will save to negate the effect. However, creatures of 2 or fewer hit dice who fail the save are knocked out for 2d4 rounds, then blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. Creatures of 3 or 4 hit dice are blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round, while creatures of 5 or more hit dice are stunned for 1 round.
This spell is potentially a party killer! Try this: a 1st level kobold sorcerer and 4 normal kobolds are an EL3 encounter - against a 2nd level party that's tough, but should be manageable. If he sorcerer has Cha 15, the save is DC 13, 14 if the sorcerer also has the Spell Focus feat. The odds are therefore good that one or two members of the party, probably the fighter and the rogue, will be knocked out by this spell. The kobold warriors then spread out - one each on the wizard and the cleric, while the other two move to the unconscious fighter and rogue. On round two they perform a coup de grace, and then between them finish off the party!
The odd thing is that, despite the title of this post, this spell is probably not over-powered. It's extremely short range, and of little use for or against high level characters. In short, it is much like sleep.
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