Denial Feat
by Beau YarbroughAdapted for 3E from the original version in Gaz 8, written by Ed Greenwood.
DENIAL [Special]
Prerequisites: Halfling, resident in the Five Shires, +2 Base Will Saving Throw Bonus
Benefit: Once a day, a halfling in the Five Shires can cry out "NO!" and deny the use of magic at close range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels). The halfling instantly takes 1d4 hit points worth of damage, even if no attack is ultimately launched. (A wand merely being raised, for instance.) The ability draws on the power within the land of the Five Shires itself, and can only be used there.
Denial is a full round action. Slaying or wounding of a denying hin in the round the effect is used does not cause the effect to be ruined or wasted, and it has the full effect as normal.
The ability works like spell turning (see page 255 in the Player's Handbook), with the number of spell levels being turned equal to the combination of the halfling's intelligence and wisdom modifiers (page 8, ibid). Cantrips and orisons can always be turned, so long as they are ranged spells. Magical items may also be thwarted this way. Immortal magic, including artifacts, are assumed to have five additional spell levels for the purposes of denial.
Unlike the spell turning spell, the ability only works on one spell a day, and spells are not necessarily reflected back at the caster. Rather, the spell is deflected in the same manner as grenade-like weapons are (page 138, ibid), 5 feet per spell level. Spells can be partially denied -- a lightning bolt cast on a hin could have all but one of its damage dice denied, meaning that the hin would suffer that one die of damage, while the rest would be deflected away. Partially denied non-damaging spells have their effects similarly scaled down: A charm spell would last only a fraction of its normal duration, for instance.