Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Evalis 10-18-06, 12:09 AM	Okay.. finally all done here.. I think. This is a spell casting system I've been working on to balance out casters with melee. Or rather.. to balance out the 'nova' effect they create. The wizard and Sorcerer is all I have done so far.. I will work on the cleric, druid, bard, and possibly psionic later. As their spells are expended a little faster each encounter, I warranted providing them with a few special abilities to increase their survival and contribution to the battlefield. The sorcerer still lags behind by one level, but that starts at 3rd level spells rather than 2nd. I'm not sure if this is even still necessary.. Anyway.. I'll do some designer commentary later. Just read on and tell me what you think. Wizard . Casts per Encounter 0 1-2 3-5 6-9 1 Store Spell Essence(1) 2 2 Summon Familiar Scribe Scroll 2 Extend Cantrip 3 2 3 Enlarge Cantrip 4 2 4 Store Spell Essence(2) 5 3 Heighten Spell 5 Bonus Feat 7 3 1 6 Empower Cantrip 9 3 1 7 Store Spell Essence(3) 11 3 1 8 Familiar Spell Essence(1) 13 4 2 9 Maximize Cantrip 15 4 2 10 Store Spell Essence(4) 17 4 2 Bonus Feat 11 Quicken Cantrip 19 4 2 1 12 Infinite Cantrip -- 5 3 1 Familiar Spell Essence(2) 13 Store Spell Essence(5) -- 5 3 1 14 SplitRay Cantrip -- 5 3 1 15 Bonus Feat -- 5 3 1 16 Store Spell Essence(6) -- 6 3 2 17 Chain Cantrip -- 6 4 2 18 Familiar Spell Essence(3) -- 6 4 2 19 Store Spell Essence(7) -- 7 4 2 20 Bonus Feat -- 7 4 2 Sorcerer . Casts per Encounter 0 1-2 3-5 6-9 1 Store Spell Essence(1) 4 2 Summon Familiar Latent Power 1/Day 2 Extend Cantrip 5 2 3 Enlarge Cantrip 7 2 4 Store Spell Essence(2) 9 3 Heighten Spell 5 Special Ability I 11 3 6 Empower Cantrip 13 3 1 7 Store Spell Essence(3) 15 3 1 8 Familiar Spell Essence(1) 17 4 2 9 Maximize Cantrip 19 4 2 10 Store Spell Essence(4) -- 4 2 Infinite Cantrip 11 Quicken Cantrip -- 4 2 12 Special Ability II -- 5 3 1 Familiar Spell Essence(2) 13 Store Spell Essence(5) -- 5 3 1 14 SplitRay Cantrip -- 5 3 1 15 Enlightened Familiar -- 5 3 1 16 Store Spell Essence(6) -- 6 3 2 17 Chain Cantrip -- 6 4 2 18 Familiar Spell Essence(3) -- 6 4 2 19 Store Spell Essence(7) -- 7 4 2 20 Special Ability III -- 7 4 2 :::How Spells per encounter work::: Spells are considered consumed for the day under the following conditions: The spell causes a permanent effect (Death, Polymorph, Stone, Healing) The spell has a duration of 1 Day/Level or longer The spell is the highest spell level that caster can use Spells that have a duration are considered expended until the duration expires. Restoring Spells Requires 10 minutes of silent concentration. Spell -progression- remains the same as it always was. EI the wizard must reach level 17 to cast 9th level spells, level 15 to cast 8th, and so on. The bonus to spells per day however works as listed below: Bonus spells per day for 1-2 = Prime attribute bonus / 2 Bonus spells per day for 3-5 = Prime attribute bonus / 5 Bonus spells per day for 6-9 = Prime attribute bonus / 10 ::Memorizing Spells vs Spontaneous Casting:: Wizards have access to all of their spells at all times, however, they must still retrieve the information to cast that spell either from memory, or more commonly, through a spell book. The wizard may hold one spell per spell set in memory at all times (chosen after 10 minutes of meditation) modified by the spells per day as noted above. To access other spells or apply metamagic feats, the caster must make a spell craft check, using the results as follows: Full Round Action Automatic Standard Action DC 7+Spell level+spell setx5 Move Action DC 12+Spell levelx2+spell setx5 Swift Action DC 15+Spell levelx3+spell setx7 Free Action (From Memory) DC 20+Spell levelx4+spell setx10 Spontaneous casters do NOT spend additional time to apply metamagic feats. They may use any spells/metamagic in their repoitoire. The Sorcerer chooses a school or subschool at the time of creation, and may cast all spells from that school. The sorcerer uses the spells known per day table(+1 accross the board), modified by additional casts for high attribute bonus (as in PHB) to determine how many spells he may store in his mind after each period of concentration. If the Sorcerer chooses divination, he may also select one additional spell per spell level of any other school. If he selects a subschool and a number of appropriate spells do not exist to satisfy the number of spells he may normally retain in memory, he may create another spell, or modify an existing one in an appropriate manner. EI: Frost Armor instead of Mage Armor. Sorcerers automatically have access to all universal spells and cantrips, even if they are from an opposing school. (Store Spell Essence) Class ability for wizards/sorcerers. The arcane caster may maintain one or more spells as part of his magical training without requiring a period of rest in between it's expiration. This casting consumes that slot until released. Only spells that are activated on touch or that have a duration may be stored in this manner. Successful dispel magic suppresses the effect for 1d4 rounds. Releasing the spell restores that casting with no concentration required. Spells maintained on others immediately release should the affected creature move beyond the specified range, or 30 ft from the caster (whichever is longer) Each spell level uses a single spell essence point along with a companion spell slot modified as follows: 1 day/level = level 1 hour/level = level 10 minute/level = level+1 1 minute/level = level+2 1 round/level = level+4 Cantrips consume 1/2 this ammount rounded down. Spells that would be consumed for the day cannot be maintained, nor can spells with expensive expendable material components. The exception to this is a spell which lasts one day/level, although the spell ceases to function the moment the caster relinquishes control. Maintained spells function even when sleeping At 12th level, spells of 10 minute/level no longer have the level adjusted by +1. Spells of 1hour/level and 1 day/level use half the number of essence points (though they still expend the same spell slot). (Familiar Spell Essence) Class ability for Sorcerers/Wizards As store essence, however the familiar may only maintain spells on it's master* and store touch attacks, which may be considered delivered by either the familiar or it's master. These additional storage points do not count against the spellcasters total uses per encounter. Wizard familiars can store any spell known by that wizard as long as he/she is present and spends the appropriate time in quiet concentration. Sorcerer familiars can store any spell from one spellschool or subschool (Frost,Fire,Shadow etc) as appropriate for it's type. The familiar renews these abilities after 10 minutes of quiet concentration or rest as long as it is within 30 ft of it's master. If the sorcerer is not present, his/her familiar still has access to 1/2 it's spell storage and 1/2 it's caster level (both are rounded down). *This spell also affects the familiar, but both parties lose the effect if the familiar travels beyond personal range. The effect restores immediately upon the familiars return. Feats that extend the familial bond range also affect this ability. (=XType= Cantrip) Class ability for Sorcerers/Wizards The caster may choose to apply the proceeding metamagic feats to any cantrip he/she casts without any modifier to the spells actual level. This level may not exceed the maximum spell level the wizard or sorcerer can cast. The cast may also apply his own metamagic feats to cantrips in the same manor. If the caster already has the metamagic feat provided, he may choose to exchange another metamagic feat to cantrips as long as the modifier does not exceed 1 higher than the feat exchanged. (Infinite Cantrip) Um.. Infinite Cantrips... (Latent Power) The sorcerer may expend a use of this ability to restore any level of spell that would have otherwise been consumed for that day. (Enlightened Familiar) The sorcerers familiar becomes a caster in it's own right, and may expend a use of it's familiar essence to cast any spell appropriate of that level and it's chosen school/subschool. :::Sorcerer Special Abilities:::: (Lower level Abilities may be chosen in leui of higher ones) ---------- I ---------- (Conservative Arcanist) Any non-consumable spell of 4th level or lower has a 20% chance not to be expended during that encounter. (Spell Storage Specialist) Any one spell maintained as part of spell essence is considered one level lower than normal - this may reduce the level to zero. ---------- II --------- (Blood Magic) Any time the sorcerer casts a spell that rolls damage dice, he may opt to spend 1 hp per die up to 1/2 the number of total dice rounded down, to make that damage typless. (Wracking Energy) Any time the sorcerer casts a direct damage spell, he may instead opt to divide the damage by four and stretch it out over the next five rounds (Retributive Spell) Choose a school or subschool. After being the subject of any spell from that school, on your next action you may quicken, at no extra cost, any spell from that school or opposing subschool, directed back at the caster. ---------- III --------- (Mana Font) Once per day the sorcerer may channel an additional 50% total spell casts as a standard action. If these spells are not used in the next 5 rounds, they are lost. (Spell Ward) Choose a school or subschool. After being the subject of any spell from that school, you may opt to use an equal level spell slot to negate the effects of that spell. There is a 30% chance that spell slot will not be expended - though it would still be consumed if it is the sorcerers highest available slot. (Seamless Casting) The sorcerer may treat one single 1 Day/level, 1hour/level or 10min/level spell as if it was equal to half it's normal level (Rounded up) for the purposes of spell storage. Epic Progression The Epic Caster Does NOT gain new spells beyond 20th. Epic spell slots follow the same pattern increasing by one Spell level each time. EI: 10-14, 15-20, 21-26 Additional Spell casts per encounter cannot be gained for each spell level set until all spells in that set are obtained nor may they be more than two higher than the next set Wizard: At 22nd and every 3 levels thereafter, another store spell essence is gained At 24th and every 6 levels thereafter, another familiar spell essence is gained At 21st and every 4 levels thereafter, another cantrip ability can be selected of a modifier no higher than +1 more than the previous ability At 25th and every 5 levels thereafter, another metagic bonus feat may be selected Sorcerer: At 22nd and every 3 levels thereafter, another store spell essence is gained At 24th and every 6 levels thereafter, another familiar spell essence is gained At 21st and every 4 levels thereafter, another cantrip ability can be selected of a modifier no higher than +1 more than the previous ability At 26th and every 6 levels thereafter, another special ability may be selected :::Some sample Epic Sorcerer Special abilities::: (still working on this..) (Epic Spell Ward) As Spell ward. This may be selected multiple times. Each time it is selected, apply the effect to another school/subschool. The effect stacks with Spell Ward, but not with itself. (ArchMagus Defense) Gain +6 saves to spells cast from your chosen school/subschool. If this school was of an energy type, you and your familiar instead gain energy resistance 20 from that type. (Master ArchMagus Defense) - Cha 30, ArchMagus Defense Gain Immunity to spells cast from your chosen school/subschool. Your familiar gains +6 to saves vs spells from this school. If this school was of an energy type, you gain immunity to that energy type, your familiar gains energy resistance 50 (Planar Casting) - Cha 25 At your choosing, your spells may be cast from a plane other than the one you current reside. This will bypass antimagic fields and other forces which would otherwise limit your ability to cast. Spells cast in this manner function at 1/2 your caster level. If this would place your caster level below the requirement of that spell, it is considered consumed. (Vault of Power) - Cha 45, ManaFont You no longer need to meditate to restore spells. (Recycled Spell) Any spell that is being maintained has a (90% - 5%xSL) chance to continue functioning after is has been released. (Magister of Renewal) Any non-consumable spell of 8th level or lower has a 20% chance not to be expended during that encounter. If the sorcerer already has conservative arcanist this instead changes to 35% 1-2, 25% 3-5, 20% 6-8. Epic Familiars Familiars continue advancement as normal, with the following exception: Wizard: Any time the familiar would gain a 'familiar spell' it instead gains the ability to choose any spell that the wizard knows of 6-8th level or 2 spells of 3-5th level or 4 spells of 1-2nd level or any combination of such, in addition to gaining knowledge of all cantrips the moment it becomes epic. The familiar must expend it's familiar essence in order to do so. Sorcerer: Any time the familiar would gain a 'familiar spell' it instead gains the choice of any metamagic feat it would qualify for. The familiar may never cast a spell higher than 8th.
Evalis 10-18-06, 04:56 PM	Question 1 Why the reduction of spells cast per day in favour of a longer term spells per encounter? ------- There are a few of reasons for this: One.. it is never fun to be the wizard or sorcerer left without spells for the day, while the rest of the party wishes to press on. Two.. at high levels most casters will have access to teleport, and other party extracting abilities. Which means that the caster can utilize all his power every encounter and throw the balance of characters askew. Three.. NPC Spellcasters are most typically going to die during that encounter, and will be casting as many spells as they possibly can. As with reason number two, this throws the balance of NPC spellcasters askew with other characters. This is further coupled by the fact NPC treasure tables are reduced, and spellcasters are less reliant upon equipment. ------- Question 2 Why does the sorcerer know so many spells and have to memorize things? ------- This choice was largely for flavour. Consider that a wizard requires recording spell books, spells known, memorizations, the hair they carry, components, etc etc. The wizard is in essence, a complicated character. The sorcerer was essentially designed to be a 'relief' from doing all of these things, and simply allow the player to do whatever they want within a limited scope. However.. selecting these few known spells became MORE complicated than the wizard who, while he/she may be screwed over for the day, was far more appealing than the sorcerer that is screwed over for the rest of his/her carreer. The idea of simply choosing a school effectively limits the function of sorcerer to a very narrow scope (as originally intended) but does not require the -player- to peruse dozens of books to determine the most efficient or even remotely effective selection of spells. The sorcerer thus becomes the 'Wizard for Dummies'. Choosing a subschool adds more flavour and possibly versatility to the class at the restriction of fewer spells. Perhaps I may leter design set of subschools to ensure balance, and make this choice require less preparation on the part of the player. -------- Question 3 What is up with this spell essence stuff? ------- Let's just say that my experience over the years of playing this game have led to the discovery that wizards are very 'squishy' without their wards and protections up. As the arcane caster has now had his/her abilities altered to function on par with non-spellcaster classes I thought it prudent to give them a way to keep at least some of these wards active at all times, to let them focus on other things, and not become obliterated at the start of the combat. ----- Question 4 Why does the familiar have essence and gain casting ability? ----- The answer to this is very simple. Familiars for the most part are remarkably useless, both inside and outside of combat. There are a variety of ways to alleviate this, such as providing them actual hit dice, which I may eventually incorporate into this, but I felt the route of making them feel more 'caster inclined' to fit with the flavour of the class. ------ Question 5 Why 10 minutes resting time? ------ This merely seemed like a reasonable period of time to pass by that would determine the encounter is 'over'. Could this number have been different? Yes. Perhaps 30 minutes seems more appropriate to your style of play, or even an hour. Any longer than this I would highly caution against, as would I caution against anything shorter. 1 hour is a long time for the party members to wait and would quickly become frustrated with the wizard or sorcerer who had to do this after every encounter, but it would definately discourage the continual casting, resting, and recasting of buffs. However, as the caster loses access to that slot for casting other (possibly more usefull) casts of that spellset irregardless of resting or not, I did not feel additional encouragement to withold those spells was required. 10 minutes seemed reasonably annoying enough that the other members of the party would only push on so far as to the next appropriate resting location, allowing the caster to function fully again at the next encounter. ------ Question 6 I'm looking at these spellcraft DC's for wizards to change their spells, and they seem really high! How on earth am I ever supposed to change my spell as a swift action, or even a move? ------ The short of the answer is, you're not. At least not when you initially recieve your spells. This is one of the reason sorcerers were not granted additional spellcasts per encounter - they are able to cast every round, whereas the wizard may be forced to cast every other round. I'm also assuming the players have access to commonly existing items in the world. Such as items that boost skills. A wizards hat of spellcraft +10 for example. If that player chooses to spend his/her money and an item slot to cast spells as quickly as a sorcerer, and/or feats to focus on the spellcraft skill, it would be entirely possibly. Otherwise the wizard must accept the penalty of carefully choosing spells and enhancements outside of combat. ------ Question 7 What about spells like passwall, teleport, and knock? Can't that wizard just zip around my dungeon unimpeded? ------ That answer is depending on your style of play. If every lock in the dungeon is crafted to be pickable by a rogue of appropriate level, then there is no reason that the wizard should be denied using a spellcast to bybass the same barrier, at the penalty of resting for 10 minutes to regain that spell. (It takes 2 minutes for a rogue to take a 20) If however, most of the locks in the dungeon are meant to be circumvented only by keys, you could resolve this in one of two ways. The most obvious is to make 'knock' function as if a theif of the wizards level took a 20 with a +1 modifier per 4 levels (to reflect high dex). The alternative is something that will work will all three possible disruptions. Knock permantly unlocks the door and is considered 'consumed', passwall, and teleport could also be reasoned to disrupt the fabric of time in the area and are also consumed for the day. Whether or not this is necessary is up to you, but the players should be informed prior to selecting that spell. ----- Question 8 WTF ?! ----- I understand completely. Let me provide a demonstration of how all of this would operate in the game. Let's use a level 8 Fire sorcerer as our example, that chose Eschew Materials, Improved Familiar (Ice Mephit), and Quicken spell as feats, and Spell Storage Specialist as his special ability. His prime attribute bonus is 4 (CHA 19). He has 17 Cantrips, 6 1st to 2nd level spells, and 2 3rd to 4th level spells. He currently has the ability to store 3 levels of spells, which are being used for protection from energy fire (+1 modifier for being 10min/level) for which the sorcerer has chosen to use his spell storage specialist ability on (-1 modifier) Which also expends a 3rd-4th level spell slot. The ice mephit has chosen to maintain Frost Armor on his master. Earlier in the day, the sorcerer cast flame arrow on a set of arrows for his archer companion. This would have normally consumed a 3rd-4th level spell slot for the entirety of the day (resting for 10 minutes does not restore this spell slot) because it is permanent, however, he also used his latent power ability to restore that spell slot. He has one 3rd-4th spell slot casting remaining. The party later encounters a group of 3 ogres, a hobgoblin shaman, and a variety of hobgoblin cohorts. The sorcerer decides that this encounter is dangerous enough that he will risk casting his highest level spell, and opens with Wall of Fire. This consumes one of his 3rd-4th level casting for the entirety of the day. The fighters move into position with the cleric to intercept the ogres as they pass through the wall. Several of the hobgoblins switch to ranged weapons and move further from the wall. The archer(bard) moves in front of the sorcerer and casts mirror image surrounding them both, and providing him cover. The shaman casts lightning bolt at one of the fighters, the sorcerer, and the bard. The sorcerer is still standing but decides to change tactics and readies an action to launch a spell if the shaman casts again. Which he does. The sorcerer launches scorching ray and interupts his spell. Most of the arrows miss the sorcerer or strike the mirror images. The same occurs next round, and this time the shaman dies. The sorcerer still has 17 cantrips 4 1st-2nd, and 0 3rd-4th. His party members are not however dealing so well with the ogres, and as the sorcerer believes that no more firespells will be forthcoming, decides to release his protection from energy spell, restoring a 3rd-4th level slot, and launches a fireball at the ogres. None of them are happy about this, and one of them accepts attacks of opportunity to come after the caster responsible. The sorcerer casts scorching ray at the ogre and the bard sends a few arrows. The ogre is still standing, and pummels the bard the next round, dissapating the mirror images. The sorcerer casts another scorching ray and the ogre falls. The next round however, without the images and the bard covering him, he is vulnerable to the hobgoblin archers, and deciding that he wants to save his remaining scorching rays for the ogres, instead casts an enlarged, empowered, and heigthened (for the hell of it) ray of frost at on of the hobgoblins. He lucks out and inflicts max damage dropping the hobgoblin, and uses a quickened flare spell against one of the ogres to reduce it's chance to hit. Both of those casts consumed 1 cantrip each. I'm not going to go further. Hopefully now you get the idea ----- Question 9 Why change so much of the 'base' class instead of just the spell system as a whole? ----- Because mages/clerics/druids/bards/paladins/rangers.. and a multitude of other classes all use spells of some kind. There is no quick and easy number that would balance out their abilities. You'll also note that the 6-9th level spells were divided by a far greater ammount than the others as these tend to be battle-breaking. Finally, by making the changes in terms of a 'class' it allows for players and GMs to test out the system without altering the entire gameworld. ------ Hope all of that helps!
Szatany 10-18-06, 07:15 PM	Just a note: maybe you should have names for 0, 1-2, 3-4-5, and 6-7-8-9 spell groups. Really, even reading something like this: He has one 3rd-4th spell slot casting remaining.can be confusing. 0-level spells already have name: cantrips. You could simply call 1-2 lesser spells, 3-4-5 greater spells, and 6-9 true spells, for simplicity and clarity. This would also make the table look nicer and it's similar to how warlock's invocations are described. I've been thinking about reducing spell levels myself, simply because the game doesn't really need 10 of them, so it only adds more book keeping as you have to write them down separately. I came up to such setup: old new 0 0 1 1 2 2 3-4 3 5-6 4 7-9 5 That way clerics, druids and wizards cast 0-5 level spells, bards cast 0-4 level spells, and all others cast 0-3 level spells.
Evalis 10-18-06, 08:48 PM	I like the idea of specifically naming the spell sets, but there is another reason for mentioning that the spell is 3rd or 4th, or 5th, or whatever. The game designers balanced the spells out by level, not by the spell sets that I'm proposing. Which means that an empowered fireball is roughly the equivalent of a cone of cold, but in the 'spell set' system would use the same slot. This was one of the reasons to grant heighten spell as a bonus feat at 4th level. A 3rd level spell could be heightened to 5th level and essentially not penalize the caster for choosing a lower level spell. The only other way I could see in ensuring balance would be to redesign the spells to fit different sets of power. I just don't have the time to do so. If you have another suggestion to quickly make this adjustment, I'd be happy to hear it.
LordPendragon 10-18-06, 10:26 PM	It's interesting... I don't agree with the skill check to cast spells as a certain type of action (they tried that with the Truenamer), but I do like spells/encounter instead of spells/day. A few months ago I designed a spellcasting system based on spells/encounter, but found that the number of high level spells was too little to divide effectively. Grouping several levels is an elegant way to solve it, and I'm almost disappointed I didn't think of that myself. Nice job, for the most part.