Almaricky's Elf Shield

Not Almaricky, but how I think the shield
looks based on EQ nostalgia

Almaricky's Elf Shield (Evocation)

Level: 1                  Components: V, S, M

Range: 0                 Casting Time: 1 segment

Duration: Special   Saving Throw: None

Area of Effect: Caster

Explanation/Description: When this spell is cast, an immaterial shimmering barrier appears on the caster's shield arm. This barrier acts as normal medium sized shield; with an additional +1 magical bonus at 1st level, +2 bonus at 3rd level, etc up to a maximum of +4. 

The shield can only benefit the caster in a round where his shield arm is not put to some other use; i.e. if a bow, two handed weapon, or two weapons are wielded, the shield has no effect that round, but neither does it hinder such actions. Multi-classed and Dual Classed magic users can benefit from the Elf Shield while spell casting, but single class magic users do not if they cast a spell that has a semantic component.

The Elf Shield expires either after receiving a number hits equal to the level of the caster, or, if that limit is not reached before 6 turns/level of the caster have elapsed.

Each time the caster is attacked by a weapon a check is made to see if the attack hit the shield; if the attack roll is sufficient to hit the unmodified AC of the caster, but less than the bonus provided by the shield, then the spell is deemed to have caused the attack to miss, reducing the number of hits remaining by 1.

For example, if the Caster is level 1 with an AC of 5, determine if the enemy's attack roll would have hit AC 5, or 4.

The material component for this spell is a small crystal in the shape of a shield, which shatters when the spell expires.

As a Fighter Magic User Thief, Almaricky found that she was always needing to swap her shield in and out, this spell gives her a shield when she needs it, with a magical bonus, but only for a limited time. 

So, what did it cost?

Dungeon Masters Guide Page 115, Spell Research                                       Elf Shield

For this spell the University Library was used for reference. 

Duration of research: 1 Week base (minimum 2)

Chance of Success: 10base +16 (Int) +4 (level) -2 (spell level *2) = 28%

Results

Base cost 200gp per week.

Weekly variable of 100 to 400gp for additional materials.

Duration of research: 1 Week base (with a minimum of 2)

Almaricky was successful on week 2, and the total expenditure ended up at 900gp. This spell is now available for learning by Good Aligned characters at the Minas Mandalf University.