Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kingside_Bishop 10-18-04, 10:45 PM	I've tried to design a whole new magic system that's supplemental (co-exists with) the existing system -- cardcasting! This is the final draft, barring further comments/suggestions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cardcasting A Supplemental Magic System The Basics: Characters purchase (or create) magic cards, items with extraplanar essence stored inside of them. Depending on the nature of the essence, the character must succeed at various skill checks. There are eight essences, and eight different skills. Essences can be mixed to create original cards, or be kept pure for very direct use. The Eight Essences: There are eight essences that a card can be imbued with: Positive, Negative, Order, Chaos, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each essence has a different effect when put into a card -- some deal damage, some create magic, others affect the mind. When combined, truly unique and (perhaps) powerful combinations can be created. *Whenever a spell is listed, assume the minimum caster level for that spell. **For all summons, the duration of the summon is equal to the Essence Level. ***For all Essence Unique Features, whenever "level" is cited, use the Card Level (see "Creating and Purchasing Essence Cards" for how to determine card level) or the individual Essence Level of the Essence generating the Unique Feature, whichever is lower. Positive: Positive Essence is drawn from the Positive Energy Inner Plane, and thus heals living creatures while harming creatures made of negative energy. Positive Essence can also be used to power Divine feats, because it is from the Energy Planes that these feats often draw their power from. Positive Essence Abilities* 1st Level: Cure Light Wounds 2nd Level: Allows use of one Divine feat (creator's choice, who must possess the feat) 3rd Level: Cure Moderate Wounds 4th Level: Cure Serious Wounds 5th Level: Allows use of two Divine feats (creator's choice, who must possess the feats) 6th Level: Cure Critical Wounds 7th Level: Mass Cure Light Wounds 8th Level: Allows use of three Divine feats (creator's choice, who must possess the feats) 9th Level: Heal Positive Essence Summons** 1st Level: Celestial Dog 2nd Level: Nixie 3rd Level: Celestial Wolf 4th Level: Celestial Ape 5th Level: Unicorn 6th Level: Celestial Lion 7th Level: Hound Archon 8th Level: Lammasu 9th Level: Celestial Dire Lion Positive Essence Unique Features*** White Burst: When mixed with another card, Positive Essences come into conflict with those Essences and create an effect called a "White Burst." Wherever the Positive Essence ability/summons is targeted, each creature within 10ft of that point is cured 1d4hp/level. If this would bring a creature to above his maximum hit points, he must make a Fortitude Save (DC 12 + remaining healing) or fall unconscious for 1 round/level. Celestial Boost: If a Positive Essence is contained in the same card as a summon ability of a different Essence, that summon gains the Celestial template. Negative: Negative Essence is drawn from the Negative Energy Inner Plane, and thus harms living creatures while healing creatures made of negative energy. Negative Essence can also be used to power Divine feats, because it is from the Energy Planes that these feats often draw their power from. Negative Essence Abilities* 1st Level: Inflict Light Wounds 2nd Level: Allows use of one Divine feat (creator's choice, who must possess the feat) 3rd Level: Inflict Moderate Wounds 4th Level: Inflict Serious Wounds 5th Level: Allows use of two Divine feats (creator's choice, who must possess the feats) 6th Level: Inflict Critical Wounds 7th Level: Mass Inflict Light Wounds 8th Level: Allows use of three Divine feats (creator's choice, who must possess the feats) 9th Level: Harm Negative Essence Summons** 1st Level: Medium Size Zombie 2nd Level: Allip 3rd Level: Ghoul 4th Level: Huge Skeleton 5th Level: Mummy 6th Level: Ghast 7th Level: Vampire Spawn 8th Level: Wraith 9th Level: Spectre Negative Essence Unique Features*** Black Burst: When mixed with another card, Negative Essences come into conflict with those Essences and create an effect called a "Black Burst." Wherever the Negative Essence ability/summons is targeted, each creature within 10ft of that point is dealt 1d4hp damage/level. If this would bring a creature to negative hit points, he must make a Fortitude Save (DC 12 + remaining healing) or be treated as if undead for the purpose of cure/inflict spells. Undead Boost: If a Negative Essence is contained in the same card as a summon ability of a different Essence, that summon gains the Undead type. Order: Order Essences are drawn from the lawful planes of the cosmology -- places like Celestia, Mechanus, and Baator. Because order by nature seeks balance, it most affects the unbalanced, whether emotionally, morally, or mentally. Order Essence Abilities* 1st Level: Remove Fear 2nd Level: Smite Opposing as 1st level Paladin 3rd Level: Calm Emotions 4th Level: Smite Opposing as 4th level Paladin with +2 Charisma 5th Level: Dispel Magic 6th Level: Smite Opposing as 7th level Paladin with +4 Charisma 7th Level: Neutralize Poison 8th Level: Smite Opposing as 10th level Paladin with +6 Charisma 9th Level: Break Enchantment Order Essence Summons** 1st Level: Formian Worker 2nd Level: Giant Bee 3rd Level: Axiomatic Heavy Warhorse 4th Level: Giant Ant Soldier 5th Level: Axiomatic Bison 6th Level: Formian Warrior 7th Level: Axiomatic Dire Ape 8th Level: Axiomatic Rhinoceros 9th Level: Axiomatic Basilisk Order Essence Unique Features*** Ensure: When mixed with another card, Order Essences come into conflict with those Essences and create an effect called "Ensure." On any dice roll involved with any Essence manifested with this card, that dice roll is treates as if it rolled the average, instead of actually rolling the dice Axiomatic Boost: If an Order Essence is contained in the same card as a summon ability of a different Essence, that summon gains the Axiomatic template. Chaos: Chaos Essences are drawn from the chaotic planes of the cosmology -- places like Arboria, Limbo, and the Abyss. Because chaos by nature seeks randomness, it is most adept at fluid change and unbalance, whether in physical or emotional arenas. Chaos Essence Abilities* 1st Level: Cause Fear 2nd Level: Disguise Self 3rd Level: Rage 4th Level: Alter Self 5th Level: Confusion 6th Level: Polymorph 7th Level: Feeblemind 8th Level: Seeming 9th Level: Baleful Polymorph Chaos Essence Summons** 1st Level: Anarchic Baboon 2nd Level: Orc 3rd Level: Anarchic Light Warhorse 4th Level: Anarchic Wolverine 5th Level: Anarchic Blink Dog 6th Level: Anarchic Dire Wolf 7th Level: Minotaur 8th Level: Anarchic Dire Boar 9th Level: Anarchic Phase Spider Chaos Essence Unique Features*** Randomize: When mixed with another card, Chaos Essences come into conflict with those Essences and create an effect called "Randomize." Roll 1d4/three levels. Any targeted Essence that this card manifests affects this many additional creatures within a 20ft radius, but these new targets are determined randomly. For levels below three, add 1 new target (also determined randomly). Creatures can be targeted multiple times. Anarchic Boost: If a Chaos Essence is contained in the same card as a summon ability of a different Essence, that summon gains the Anarchic template. Earth: Earth Essences are drawn from the Inner Plane of the Earth element. Cards with these essences excel at defense, and can often "stick around" longer than other Essences. Earth Essence Abilities* 1st Level: Entangle 2nd Level: Barkskin 3rd Level: Magic Vestment 4th Level: Persistent Effect (repeat effect of all other abilities the next round) 5th Level: Stone Shape 6th Level: Spike Stones 7th Level: Wall of Stone 8th Level: Persistent Effect (repeat effect of all other abilities the next two rounds) 9th Level: Stoneskin Earth Essence Summons** 1st Level: Earth Elemental Badger 2nd Level: Earth Elemental Large Monstrous Centipede 3rd Level: Small Earth Elemental 4th Level: Earth Elemental Black Bear 5th Level: Earth Elemental Dire Badger 6th Level: Medium Earth Elemental 7th Level: Large Earth Elemental 8th Level: Earth Elemental Brown Bear 9th Level: Huge Earth Elemental Earth Essence Unique Features*** Quake: When mixed with another card, Earth Essences come into conflict with those Essences and create an effect called "Quake." All creatures within 10 ft must make a Fortitude Save with a DC of 12 + 1 /level or fall prone. Earthly Boost: If an Earth Essence is contained in the same card as a summon ability of a different Essence, that summon gains the Earth Element template. Air: Air Essences are drawn from the Inner Plane of the Air element. Cards with these Essences are particularly skilled with increasing their own nimbleness, speed, and reflexes, as well as commanding lightning. Air Essence Abilities* 1st Level: Expeditious Retreat 2nd Level: Sneak Attack +1d6 (if qualified attack is made in next 10 rounds) 3rd Level: Haste 4th Level: Sneak Attack +2d6 (if qualified attack is made in next 10 rounds) 5th Level: Lightning Bolt 6th Level: Sneak Attack +3d6 (if qualified attack is made in next 10 rounds) 7th Level: Fly 8th Level: Sneak Attack +4d6 (if qualified attack is made in next 10 rounds) 9th Level: Chain Lightning Air Essence Summons** 1st Level: Air Elemental Eagle 2nd Level: Air Elemental Light Warhorse 3rd Level: Small Air Elemental 4th Level: Air Elemental Hippogriff 5th Level: Air Mephit 6th Level: Medium Air Elemental 7th Level: Large Air Elemental 8th Level: Adult Arrowhawk 9th Level: Huge Air Elemental Air Essence Unique Features*** Blast: When mixed with another card, Air Essences come into conflict with those Essences and create an effect called "Blast." All creatures within 10 ft must make a Fortitude Save with a DC of 12 + 1 /level or be blown back 1d4 x 10ft. Windblown Boost: If an Air Essence is contained in the same card as a summon ability of a different Essence, that summon gains the Air Element template. Fire: Fire Essences are drawn from the Inner Plane of the Fire element. Cards with these Essences are skilled at putting things to the torch. They have a wide array of flame abilities, and are very capable at destroying plants and plant creatures. Fire Essence Abilities* 1st Level: Burning Hands 2nd Level: Greater Turning as 1st level cleric vs. Plant Creatures 3rd Level: Scorching Ray 4th Level: Greater Turning as 5th level cleric vs. Plant Creatures with +2 Charisma 5th Level: Fireball 6th Level: Greater Turning as 10th level cleric vs. Plant Creatures with +4 Charisma 7th Level: Wall of Fire 8th Level: Greater Turning as 15th level cleric vs. Plant Creatures with +6 Charisma 9th Level: Fire Storm Fire Essence Summons** 1st Level: Fire Elemental Hobgoblin 2nd Level: Fire Elemental Light Warhorse 3rd Level: Small Fire Elemental 4th Level: Fire Elemental Cheetah 5th Level: Flamebrother Salamander 6th Level: Medium Fire Elemental 7th Level: Large Fire Elemental 8th Level: Fire Elemental Tiger 9th Level: 5 Headed Pyrohydra Fire Essence Unique Features*** Scorch: When mixed with another card, Fire Essences come into conflict with those Essences and create an effect called "Scorch." All creatures within 10 ft must make a Fortitude Save with a DC of 12 + 1 /level or take -2 on all attacks and -15ft to movement (minimum 5ft movement remaining). Flaming Boost: If a Fire Essence is contained in the same card as a summon ability of a different Essence, that summon gains the Fire Element template. Water: Water Essences are drawn from the Inner Plane of the Water element. Cards with these Essences are good at slowing enemies down, revitalizing allies, and calling upon plant life for assistance in combat. Water Essence Abilities* 1st Level: Entangle 2nd Level: Rebuke Plant Creatures as 1st level cleric 3rd Level: Lesser Restoration 4th Level: Rebuke Plant Creatures as 5th level cleric with +2 Charisma 5th Level: Slow 6th Level: Rebuke Plant Creatures as 10th level cleric with +4 Charisma 7th Level: Restoration 8th Level: Rebuke Plant Creatures as 15th level cleric with +6 Charisma 9th Level: Animate Plants Water Essence Summons** 1st Level: Merfolk 2nd Level: Water Elemental Medium Monstrous Spider 3rd Level: Small Water Elemental 4th Level: Merrow (Ogre) 5th Level: Water Mephit 6th Level: Medium Water Elemental 7th Level: Large Water Elemental 8th Level: Water Elemental Tiger 9th Level: Huge Water Elemental Water Essence Unique Features*** Drown: When mixed with another card, Water Essences come into conflict with those Essences and create an effect called "Drown." All creatures within 10 ft begin to suffocate. They continue to suffocate for 1 round per level. Watery Boost: If a Water Essence is contained in the same card as a summon ability of a different Essence, that summon gains the Water Element template.Using an Essence Card: In order for Essence Cards to work at all, they must be drawn randomly from a deck that contained at least 10 charged cards at the beginning of the day. This deck cannot have any duplicate cards -- each card must be unique. They may have very similar abilities, but they must not have the same abilities. To use an Essence Card, an individual must boldly hold it forth, and clearly pronounce the command word. There are three ways to activate a card: Random Draw: As a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity, a caster draws a single random card and may manifest that Essence, or choose instead to keep that card in his hand and not manifest that Essence (if he didn’t draw a card he wanted to use). Either way, it’s a standard action. Draw Hand: As a full round action that provokes an attack of opportunity, a caster draws a hand of three random cards, and may then choose one of those cards to cast. Or, he may choose not to manifest an Essence of one of the cards he drew (if he didn’t draw a card he wanted to use). Either way, it’s a full round action. Search Deck: For every 10 cards in his deck, the Cardcaster spends 1d4 rounds searching for a specific card, which he may then manifest as a standard action. At this time, the character must make a Cardcasting check in whatever Essence is being used. There are eight separate Cardcasting skills -- one for each Essence. If the character fails the check, he has wasted his action. If he succeeds by meeting or exceeding the DC, that Essence's abilities take effect. The DC for the check is 9 + (2 per level of the Essence ability being used). A card with a single Essence requires a single check. A card with multiple Essences requires a check for each Essence, usually with different DCs. For example, a Positive 4, Order 3, Fire 2 Essence Card would require a Cardcasting (positive) check of 17+ to manifest the Positive Essence, a Cardcasting (order) check of 15+ to manifest the Order Essence, and a Cardcasting (fire) check of 13+ to manifest the Fire Essence. Failure on any of these checks results in the failure of that Essence to manifest, but does not affect the outcome of the other checks.Essence Cards are command word activated magic items. Each card has 1 charge per day. A character cannot activate separate abilities at different times during the day -- all abilities of an essence card are activated at the same time. Cardcasting Skills: Each essence has a corresponding Cardcasting skill subset, much like the skills Knowledge and Perform. These skills should be class skills to all caster classes, and the monk. Cardcasting (positive) (wis) Cardcasting (negative) (wis) Cardcasting (order) (int) Cardcasting (chaos) (cha) Cardcasting (earth) (wis) Cardcasting (air) (int) Cardcasting (fire) (cha) Cardcasting (water) (wis) Synergy: 5 ranks in Knowledge (the planes) grants a +2 synergy bonus to any Cardcasting check. Negative Synergy: Divide a character's ranks in each essence by two, and apply that as a negative modifier to that Essence's opposing Essence skill check.Cardcasting Feats: In addition to the new feats listed below, there are many feats from the Player's Handbook that could apply to Cardcasting.New Feat: Craft Card: Allows a character to craft Essence Cards using the process described below.Requirements: Caster level 1. New Feat: Multi-Elemental Cardcaster: A character with this feat no longer has to apply half of his ranks in one of his Essence skills as a penalty to that Essence's opposing Essence, but only for the elemental Essences (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water). Requirements: 5 ranks in any opposing moral Cardcasting Essence skills. New Feat: Multi-Moral Cardcaster: A character with this feat no longer has to apply half of his ranks in one of his Essence skills as a penalty to that Essence's opposing Essence, but only for the spiritual Essences (Positive, Negative, Order, and Chaos).Requirements: 5 ranks in any opposing elemental Cardcasting skills. New Feat: Combine Cards: When holding two or more cards in your hand, you may spend a full round action to combine two of them into a single card and gain all effects of that card as if it were a single card. This may be done as part of drawing a hand of cards. You may do this once per day, and one additional time per point of Intelligence bonus. This may be done as part of drawing a hand of cards. At the end of the day, the card reverts back to its two original donor cards.Requirements: 5 ranks in any Cardcasting skill.Creating and Purchasing Essence Cards: To craft a card with a certain Essence ability, the creator must have a caster level equal sufficient to cast a spell of that level, and at least 3 ranks +1 rank/level of the ability. So, to include a 3rd level ability, the creator would need to be a 5th level caster and possess 6 ranks in the appropriate Cardcasting skill. The base price of an Essence Card is 325gp x (Card Level, squared). The cost to create an Essence Card is half of this, but 1/25th of this amount must be paid in experience points, as well, and the creator must have the Craft Card feat (which requires a caster level of 1). Card Level is determined by the following formula: Base Ability Level + (Secondary Ability Level / 2) + (Tertiary Ability Levels / 4). The Base Ability Level is the highest level ability in the card. The Secondary Ability Level is the second highest level ability in the card (which is then divided by two). The Tertiary Ability Levels are the sum of all levels of all other abilities (then divided by four). So, an Essence Card with the Positive 4, Order 3, and Fire 2 abilities would have: a Base Ability Level of 4, a Secondary Ability Level of 1.5, a Tertiary Ability Level of .5, thus, a Card Level of 6 (4+1.5+.5), and a base price of 11,700gp (325 x 36 [6 squared]) Note that card level is squared (instead of including caster level in the formula) because the cards do not have scaling powers, like most spells. Instead, powers are finite. This results in a much lower cost, but the abilities are much weaker, as well. A common 9th level ability, for example, emulates a 6th level spell with a caster level of 11. Integrating Essence Cards into a Campaign: Because it's an addition to the existing rules, not an overhaul, it's very easy to add Cardcasting to a campaign. Essence Cards would be particularly effective in a high-magic or planar campaign, where there might be local, national, and even cosmic card tournaments. This mini-system is meant to be an addition to the game, and does present a few serious balance issues. Primarily, there's the fact that these cards give non-casters magical abilities that without the system are the province of the casters alone. The cost for the cards help to balance this out, but I am not entirely sure my numbers are balanced, which would place an inherent flaw in the balance scheme. I intend to integrate these into my game, where I'll playtest them. There's no better way to tell if something is unbalanced than to allow your players to use it on you. If anyone else decides to try it out, too, please keep me posted on how it goes... Bibliography Core Rulebooks (of course) Manual of the Planes (Axiomatic, Anarchic, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water Elemental Templates) Lords of Magic, a computer game by Sierra (Essence names and general abilities) Magic: The Gathering (the "poker" aspects of the system, like having a hand and drawing cards) Vaalingrade Ashland (for the "Unique Features" that can make for interesting and unique cards) Knight-Triumphant (for the summoning aspects of the Essences, something I had left out) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, and any questions, comments or suggestions are welcomed and appreciated... :) Kingside Bishop
kSquared 10-18-04, 10:57 PM	Wow. Definitely a well-thought-out, alternate magic variant. I'm impressed. If I didn't have such a violent antipathy towards Yu-Gi-Oh, I'd give it a shot someday. ;)
Vaalingrade Ashland 10-19-04, 12:06 AM	Very well thought out. It reminds me of the Mage Project I once started here in essence (no pun intended) The elements are essentially the same as the one I used, except I changed the names of the meta physical elements (spirit, shadow, metal and chaos) I've already done some work on card casting too. But to be honest, I'm not to keen on the 'Poker' elements (drawing cards, having a deck, etc). And I'd like to hear more about mixing essence cards.
Aramek 10-19-04, 08:12 AM	I enjoyed this so much, I bookmarked it.
Seeker95 10-19-04, 08:29 AM	You are looking for the Magic the Gathering boards. These are the D&D Spells & Magic Items boards. An understandable mistake. :D (Good job, but not for me.)
Kingside_Bishop 10-19-04, 10:37 AM	Thanks guys. I know how valuable those bookmark slots can be. I actually drew my elements from a game called "Lords of Magic," a potentially fun strategy game that the designers (Sierra) really screwed up. In the game, you got to play as one of the elements' races. I'd like to hear more about mixing essence cards.It's all in the formula: Card Level is determined by the following formula: Base Ability Level + (Secondary Ability Level / 2) + (Tertiary Ability Levels / 4). The Base Ability Level is the highest level ability in the card. The Secondary Ability Level is the second highest level ability in the card (which is then divided by two). The Tertiary Ability Levels are the sum of all levels of all other abilities (then divided by four). So, a card whose highest ability is a Negative 6 ability has a Base Ability of 6. If the card also has an Earth 5 ability, its Secondary Ability Level is 2.5 (5/2). If the card also has a Water 4 Ability and an Order 4 Ability, it would have a Tertiary Ability Level of 2 ([4/4] + [4/4]). The Card Level is the sum of the Base, Secondary, and Tertiary ability levels. In this case, 6 + 2.5 + 2, or 10.5, rounded down (as always in D&D) to 10. This Card Level is only used to determine the cost of the card, though. To create this card, the cost would by 325gp x (10 squared), or 32,500gp. To activate the card, you would need to make a Cardcrafting (negative) check of at least 21 (9 + [6 x 2]), a Cardcrafting (earth) check of at least 19 (9 + [5 x 2]), a Cardcrafting (water) check of at least 17 (9 + [4 x 2]), and a Cardcrafting (order) check of at least 17 (9 + [4 x 2]). Failure on any of these checks results in the failure to manifest that particular essence, but doesn't effect the manifestation of the other manifestations.
Vaalingrade Ashland 10-19-04, 01:28 PM	Oh, I see, you combine multiple abilities into a card. I was hoping you'd get a uniquely new card :( Say, you combine Fire and water and get Paraelemental Steam (Which has its own, higher level set of effects) Or Air and Chaos to get Chaotic Lightning.
IMarvinTPA 10-19-04, 01:47 PM	What are the skills' associated ability score? Int, Wis, or Cha? (I don't see it being a physical stat.) Marv
Kingside_Bishop 10-19-04, 04:36 PM	What are the skills' associated ability score? Int, Wis, or Cha? (I don't see it being a physical stat.)Sorry, I forgot to put that in. I'll do that now, but just for a quick glance: Cardcasting(positive) (wis) Cardcasting (negative) (wis) Cardcasting (order) (int) Cardcasting (chaos) (cha) Cardcasting (earth) (wis) Cardcasting (air) (int) Cardcasting (fire) (cha) Cardcasting (water) (wis)This gives wisdom a little additional importance, but no other score made very much sense for positive, negative, earth, and water. The other scores make pretty good sense, I think. But to be honest, I'm not to keen on the 'Poker' elements (drawing cards, having a deck, etc). Perfectly understandable. I just drew on my card gaming experience when I was making this (Magic: the Gathering), so of course they're absolutely necessary in my image of the system. Where'd you get your inspiration from? I'd like to see how you did your system, if it's still around on the boards. Oh, I see, you combine multiple abilities into a card. I was hoping you'd get a uniquely new card :( Say, you combine Fire and water and get Paraelemental Steam (Which has its own, higher level set of effects) Or Air and Chaos to get Chaotic Lightning.That's a good idea. I think I'll try and work that in somehow... going back to the drawing boards. Any suggestions would be great. We could give each Essence an ability that it gets only when mixed with another essence. Maybe... Positive -- White Burst: each creature within 10 ft cures 1d4 hit points per level*. If this would raise any creature above his maximum hit points, he falls unconcious for one round per level*. Negative -- Black Burst: each creature within 10 ft is inflicted 1d4 hit points of damage per level*. If this would cause any creature to fall to negative hit points, he is treated as undead for the purpose of healing and inflict spells for 1 round/level*. Order -- Control: On any dice roll involved with any Essence manifested with this card, that dice roll is treates as if it rolled the average, rounded down, instead of actually rolling the dice. Chaos -- Randomize: Roll 1d4/three levels* of Chaos Essence. Any targeted Essence that this card manifests affects this many additional creatures within a 20ft radius, but these new targets are determined randomly. For Chaos Essences below three, add 1 new target (also determined randomly). Creatures can be targeted multiple times. Earth -- Quake: all creatures within 10 ft must make a Fortitude Save with a DC of 12 + 1 /level* or fall prone. Air -- Blast: all creatures within 10 ft must make a Fortitude Save with a DC of 12 + 1/level* or be blown back 10ft from the point of origin. Fire -- Scorch: all creatures within 10 ft must make a Reflex Save with a DC 12 + 1/level* or take -2 on all attacks and -15ft to movement. Water -- Drown: all creatures within 10 ft begin to suffocate. They continue to suffocate for 1 round per level*.*With these abilities, "level" refers to the Card Level, or the individual Essence Ability Level that ability originated from. This way, you won't end up with a bunch of low level abilities taking advantage of the system. So, your Paraelemental Steam would get the Drown (Water) ability to suffocate creatures and the Scorch (Fire) ability to burn creatures, in addition to whatever water and fire abilities were in the card originally. Your Chaos Lightning would randomly affect creatures all over the field(including perhaps yourself), and pretty much everyone would get blown around. I haven't built any lightning into the system, but I could change Air 5 to Lightning Bolt, Air 7 to Flight, and Air 9 to Chain Lightning. I think that would be cooler anyway. What would also be cool: New Feat: Combine Cards: When holding two or more cards in your hand, you may spend a full round action to combine two of them into a single card and gain all effects of that card as if it were a single card. This may be done as part of drawing a hand of cards. You may do this once per day, and one additional time per point of Intelligence bonus. This may be done as part of drawing a hand of cards. At the end of the day, the card reverts back to its two original donor cards. Thanks for the inspiration. What do you think?
Vaalingrade Ashland 10-19-04, 05:41 PM	That's emensely awesome! My inspiration came from the anime Wild Arms, where the card caster has a bunch of cards she has to buy. The thing there is, she has to take the time to find the card from the stack, and then she has to sacrifice other cards to activate more powerful ones/empower weak ones. At other times, she actually has to hit the target with a card to make it work.
Knight-Triumphant 10-19-04, 06:48 PM	Just one thing: YOU LEFT OUT SUMMONING! Here is my suggestion: 6 of the elements have summons: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Positive, and Negative. Fire: 1- Small Fire Elemental 2- Flamebrother Salamander 3- Medium Fire Elemental 4- Wyrmling Red Dragon 5- Large Fire Elemental 6- 5-headed pyrohydra 7- Huge Fire Elemental 8- 7-headed pyrohydra 9- Greater Fire Elemental Water: 1- Small Water Elemental 2- Merrow Ogre 3- Medium Water Elemental 4- Very Young Black Dragon 5- Large Water Elemental 6- Shambling Mound 7- Huge Water Elemental 8- Treant 9- Greater Water Elemental Earth: 1- Small Earth Elemental 2- Rust Monster 3- Medium Earth Elemental 4- Gargoyle 5- Large Earth Elemental 6- Lamia 7- Huge Earth Elemental 8- Stone Giant 9- Greater Earth Elemental Air: 1- Small Air Elemental 2- Giant Eagle 3- Medium Air Elemental 4- Griffon 5- Large Air Elemental 6- Will o' Wisp 7- Huge Air Elemental 8- Elder Arrowhawk 9- Greater Air Elemental Positive: 1- Nixie 2- Pegasus 3- Unicorn 4- Pixie 5- Pixie (with Otto's irresistible dance) 6- Young Brass Dragon 7- Lilend 8- Lammasau 9-Juvenile Copper Dragon Negative: 1- Ghoul 2- Ghast 3- Allip 4- Minotaur 5- Mummy 6- Chain devil 7- Spectre 8- Mind Flayer 9- Nessian Warhound (Hell Hound) Whoo boy, that took a while. I am glad to contribute. It seems interesting, I think a mesh between my system and your system would rock. And also, I didn't see anything about uses per day. Is it infinite cast?
Kingside_Bishop 10-19-04, 08:53 PM	Thanks. You're right, summoning is kind of integral, and I think your lists are a great addition! I'll add them to the final revision, with your permission... thanks again! As to the uses per day, they're usable once per day. That's at the end of the "Using an Essence Card" section. I liked your PrC alot, so much so that I did in fact borrow your cards per day for the core class I made. There's a link leading to it at the bottom of the original post. The class improves on this card concept, and allows the "cardcaster" to make better cards, using whatever spells he wants from a single spell list (that he chooses). Since these cards are clearly much more powerful than those above, his deck can only hold so many of them, and only so high a level -- just like a normal spellcaster (in fact, I drew the numbers from the wizards' table). Only members of the cardcasting class can use these "advanced" essence cards. That was where the original summon cards were supposed to come from, but looking at your summon list, it would be much cooler if a basic card could summon creatures, too... I also liked that in your system, the caster threw the card at the target. I think this would be cool, too. Maybe for multiple target cards it could bounce among them, requiring a seperate ranged touch attack for each, but without damage. Thanks for the contributions! :)
Kingside_Bishop 10-22-04, 04:02 PM	The final draft is done! Which means I can bump this sucka! :zzz: >>> :whatsthis: >>> :bump: >>> :ayyyy!: