Arcane Aura (3.5e Spell)

''As you and your foe wrestle, you draw forth arcane power from your mind. That arcane power immediately covers your body, making you appear to glow a deep pink. The foe grappling you cries out in pain as the arcane energy sears his flesh, inflicting catastrophic damage. You grin and cling to him like a baby orangutan clings to its mother, holding on with all your strength. He tries to shake you off, but before long, he collapses, writhes in agony one last time, and dies.''

When you cast this spell, you select one other prepared spell or spell slot that you have, and sacrifice its energy to this spell. Effectively, you cast that spell as part of the same immediate action made to cast this spell, ignoring the companion spell's normal casting time and any components (verbal, somatic, material, focus, or XP) that it may have. If you cast an epic spell along with this spell, you do not have to make a Spellcraft check to successfully cast it. The companion spell does not take effect; instead, it is consumed by the energy of this spell, much like a spell coupled with synostodweomer or cast into certain magic items. The sacrificed spell is used to generate an aura of raw arcane power around your body, which deals damage equal to CL+3*SL+I\C to any creature that is engaged in a grapple with you or otherwise makes prolonged contact with you (or half that amount to any creature that strikes you with an unarmed attack or otherwise briefly touches you) once per round for the duration of the spell. A creature is only damaged by your arcane aura when it actually makes contact with you. For this spell's damage formula, CL is your caster level, SL is the level of the spell sacrificed to fuel this spell (note that it is multiplied by 3), and I\C is your Intelligence or Charisma bonus (for wizards/warmages and sorcerers, respectively). You do not take any damage from your own arcane aura. Though the aura burns like fire, the damage from this spell is considered to be arcane damage, which, like divine damage (example: flame strike), is resisted by no known beings. Because the aura only hurts foes when they make direct contact with you, it does not allow a saving throw. Spell resistance is checked for this spell on a round-by-round basis. On every round that a creature with spell resistance makes contact with you, you make a caster level check against their spell resistance. If you beat the attacker's spell resistance, your arcane aura damages them as normal for that round; if not, the arcane aura does not harm them on that round. The success or failure of any one spell resistance check has no impact on the success or failure of future spell resistance checks. (Thus, a creature with high spell resistance will take less damage from the arcane aura over a multiple-round period of time than a creature with low or no spell resistance, just as a creature with a high AC will take less damage from a string of multiple attacks than a creature with a low AC. There's no guarantee of avoiding damage on any given round, though, nor is there a guarantee of damage being inflicted, unless the spell resistance in question is exceptionally high or low.)

Note that this spell is designed to be used while grappling (hence the lack of components and the ability to cast its coupled spell while you cast it). While this spell is in effect, you appear to be covered in hot-pink flames (though, as mentioned earlier, the arcane aura is not fire, but is raw arcane power, much like an archmage's arcane fire). It is very easy for even an utterly moronic opponent to realize that touching you would be a bad idea while this spell is in effect, and any foes who don't figure it out right away will eventually catch on (even if they have to lose several hit points first, it's bound to happen eventually). Furthermore, your allies are not immune to your arcane aura, so don't use this spell if you're going to need a cure spell or a lay on hands in the near future (or any other sort of touch-spell buff that you can't or won't cast on yourself), and don't bother riding a horse while this spell is in effect (it'll end horribly for your mount).