House Rule: Arcane Corruption [Archive] - Wizards Community

House Rule: Arcane Corruption [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Rogal Dorn
11-12-05, 11:07 AM i have recently started to evolve my campaign world. to cut a long story short, after a great war, its magic field has become tainted with the corruption of chaos. that´s why i´m going to introduce a system for arcane corruption and wanted to hear your thoughts on it:

Arcane Corruption
The maximum spell level an arcanist may cast without endangering himself is determined by his Int Modifier + Wis Modifier. Thus, a character with Int 14 and Wis 12 could cast 3rd level without danger, but becomes corrupted by spells above first.
Resisting Corruption
To resist arcane corruption, the caster has to make a fortitude save with
DC 10 + Spell Level + Number of dangerous spells cast that day
if he fails the save, he gets one corruption point, which is effectively a permanent -1 on wisdom.
Effects of Corruption
For the effects i used the "effects of taint" table from UA.
Healing Corruption
Ability damage received through corruption points can only be cured by heal, miracle, wish, etc.

i know, it´s hard for arcanists, but that´s the point. :)
Koga:The ninja trick
11-12-05, 06:41 PM Sounds good, but why the nerf on arcane casters? Divine are the REAL problem..
Rogal Dorn
11-12-05, 08:37 PM thanks, but it´s not really are problem. clerics are exceedingly rare (and thus not really a player class). i have also eliminated and/or replaced the paladin and the ranger, and the druid is currently being revised (i.e. de-magicked), but that´s campaign specific. ;)
zaduma
11-12-05, 10:45 PM You would need to make monks less powerful, as in your campaign Monks with Vow Of Poverty would be EXTREMELY overpowered.
Rogal Dorn
11-13-05, 04:55 AM good point, thanks. monk will be replaced by the martial artist from these boards. and i don´t allow vow of poverty or any exalted feats. exaltedness doesn´t fit the campaign.^^
Makuya
11-13-05, 03:34 PM Are you implying that a party of fighters will do much better than a mixed party????
Rogal Dorn
11-13-05, 04:11 PM Are you implying that a party of fighters will do much better than a mixed party????

huh?
Red_Bird_of_Chaos
11-13-05, 07:30 PM i always like the coruption rules from 2nd edition optional rulesets. haveing them gaining demonic trates like horns and backward footprints. it might be a nice addition to your system?
Makuya
11-13-05, 08:32 PM You practically made divine spellcasters nearly non-existant, and arcane spellcasting too risky. You just ruined spellcasting!
~Black Knight~
11-13-05, 10:19 PM So? It's his campaign. Maybe he wants a low-magic game.
Rogal Dorn
11-14-05, 08:44 AM that was my intention. anyway, i did not ruin it. i just weeded out the mediocre casters (and thus the main source of magic items) and left the weak ones, who will never get farther than 3rd spell level, the really old and powerful ones (remember, the psychic abilities improve with age) and those who have been granted immunity against the taint or who have embraced it.
btw, for the full set of effects, visit my campaign setting. growing horns is not among them, though. but i might add it. :)

*edit* added growing horns to effects of severe taint
Red_Bird_of_Chaos
11-14-05, 09:33 AM btw, for the full set of effects, visit my campaign setting. growing horns is not among them, though. but i might add it. :)

*edit* added growing horns to effects of severe taint

just read your taints. they sound good. and thanks for adding the horns. i always wanted horns. :) :D :)

haven't read unearthed arcana. do you gain taints one at a time or the whole list at once?
Rogal Dorn
11-14-05, 02:40 PM just read your taints. they sound good. and thanks for adding the horns. i always wanted horns. :) :D :)

haven't read unearthed arcana. do you gain taints one at a time or the whole list at once?

that´s up to the dm. i hand them out one at a time for each wisdom point the player loses if they are being annoying or one for each degree of curruption. when i have a really good day, i even let them choose. ;)
Koga:The ninja trick
11-14-05, 10:09 PM You practically made divine spellcasters nearly non-existant, and arcane spellcasting too risky. You just ruined spellcasting!
http://www.accucut.com/stores/5/images%5Cimages/C-D/C1006-sd.gif
All hail Roger Dorn! King of awesomeness! :D
Rogal Dorn
11-15-05, 04:36 AM you don´t really like clerics, do you, koga? ;)
imo, dnd has destroyed all the mysticism around magic. it has become as common-day as, say, a bread knife. of course, you can kill a lot of people with either, but no one will go "ooooooohh!" because of its awesomeness. i have just restored the (deserved) prejudices and doubts toward magic by making it rare and dangerous. now people will go "ooooh!" when you throw a fireball at them. although not for long. ;)

and it´s Rogal, not Roger.^^
Millennium
11-18-05, 10:13 AM What you're inspiring is fear, not wonder. If that's what you're going for then that's fine, but be aware of what you're doing.

I see that you're using many of the Taint mechanics from UA, and that's what I'd have suggested too, but I'm curious: why not just use an actual Taint score instead of this 'corruption score' mechanic? Is the stock Taint system too much of a penalty, considering what you're going for?
Rogal Dorn
11-18-05, 10:37 AM yeah, fear is for the caster, wonder for the peasants! ;)
the wisdom drain shows, how much your mind gets disturbed by the taint, making you less and less observant, etc. that is one reason, the slight lovecraftian feel of becoming insane through magic. i´ll let them roll will saves from time to time, if they fail, they´ll start to hear evil voices whispering to them, or seeing disturbing images from the past or the future.
the other reason is that it´s a lot easier for the player to follow, especially for the less experienced ones.
Arnkel
11-18-05, 06:32 PM May I ask why you chose to penalize wisdom? In my campaigns I usually give the player a choice of penalizing Strength or Constitution.

edit: sorry didn't see that last post.
Millennium
11-23-05, 03:17 PM yeah, fear is for the caster, wonder for the peasants! ;)
the wisdom drain shows, how much your mind gets disturbed by the taint, making you less and less observant, etc. that is one reason, the slight lovecraftian feel of becoming insane through magic. i´ll let them roll will saves from time to time, if they fail, they´ll start to hear evil voices whispering to them, or seeing disturbing images from the past or the future.
Understood, but Taint already applies as a penalty to Wisdom, just like your corruption-score mechanic. Taint also applies as a penalty to Constitution, though; is that the problem you had with it?
the other reason is that it´s a lot easier for the player to follow, especially for the less experienced ones.
I'm not sure I understand how that works. Either way you're keeping track of an extra pseudo-stat, aren't you?
Rogal Dorn
11-23-05, 04:49 PM i thought wis and con was too hard, especially with virtually no method of healing. and it´s not really a pseudo-stat. it´s just wisdom damage. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rogal Dorn 11-12-05, 11:07 AM	i have recently started to evolve my campaign world. to cut a long story short, after a great war, its magic field has become tainted with the corruption of chaos. that´s why i´m going to introduce a system for arcane corruption and wanted to hear your thoughts on it: Arcane Corruption The maximum spell level an arcanist may cast without endangering himself is determined by his Int Modifier + Wis Modifier. Thus, a character with Int 14 and Wis 12 could cast 3rd level without danger, but becomes corrupted by spells above first. Resisting Corruption To resist arcane corruption, the caster has to make a fortitude save with DC 10 + Spell Level + Number of dangerous spells cast that day if he fails the save, he gets one corruption point, which is effectively a permanent -1 on wisdom. Effects of Corruption For the effects i used the "effects of taint" table from UA. Healing Corruption Ability damage received through corruption points can only be cured by heal, miracle, wish, etc. i know, it´s hard for arcanists, but that´s the point. :)
Koga:The ninja trick 11-12-05, 06:41 PM	Sounds good, but why the nerf on arcane casters? Divine are the REAL problem..
Rogal Dorn 11-12-05, 08:37 PM	thanks, but it´s not really are problem. clerics are exceedingly rare (and thus not really a player class). i have also eliminated and/or replaced the paladin and the ranger, and the druid is currently being revised (i.e. de-magicked), but that´s campaign specific. ;)
zaduma 11-12-05, 10:45 PM	You would need to make monks less powerful, as in your campaign Monks with Vow Of Poverty would be EXTREMELY overpowered.
Rogal Dorn 11-13-05, 04:55 AM	good point, thanks. monk will be replaced by the martial artist from these boards. and i don´t allow vow of poverty or any exalted feats. exaltedness doesn´t fit the campaign.^^
Makuya 11-13-05, 03:34 PM	Are you implying that a party of fighters will do much better than a mixed party????
Rogal Dorn 11-13-05, 04:11 PM	Are you implying that a party of fighters will do much better than a mixed party???? huh?
Red_Bird_of_Chaos 11-13-05, 07:30 PM	i always like the coruption rules from 2nd edition optional rulesets. haveing them gaining demonic trates like horns and backward footprints. it might be a nice addition to your system?
Makuya 11-13-05, 08:32 PM	You practically made divine spellcasters nearly non-existant, and arcane spellcasting too risky. You just ruined spellcasting!
~Black Knight~ 11-13-05, 10:19 PM	So? It's his campaign. Maybe he wants a low-magic game.
Rogal Dorn 11-14-05, 08:44 AM	that was my intention. anyway, i did not ruin it. i just weeded out the mediocre casters (and thus the main source of magic items) and left the weak ones, who will never get farther than 3rd spell level, the really old and powerful ones (remember, the psychic abilities improve with age) and those who have been granted immunity against the taint or who have embraced it. btw, for the full set of effects, visit my campaign setting. growing horns is not among them, though. but i might add it. :) edit added growing horns to effects of severe taint
Red_Bird_of_Chaos 11-14-05, 09:33 AM	btw, for the full set of effects, visit my campaign setting. growing horns is not among them, though. but i might add it. :) edit added growing horns to effects of severe taint just read your taints. they sound good. and thanks for adding the horns. i always wanted horns. :) :D :) haven't read unearthed arcana. do you gain taints one at a time or the whole list at once?
Rogal Dorn 11-14-05, 02:40 PM	just read your taints. they sound good. and thanks for adding the horns. i always wanted horns. :) :D :) haven't read unearthed arcana. do you gain taints one at a time or the whole list at once? that´s up to the dm. i hand them out one at a time for each wisdom point the player loses if they are being annoying or one for each degree of curruption. when i have a really good day, i even let them choose. ;)
Koga:The ninja trick 11-14-05, 10:09 PM	You practically made divine spellcasters nearly non-existant, and arcane spellcasting too risky. You just ruined spellcasting! http://www.accucut.com/stores/5/images%5Cimages/C-D/C1006-sd.gif All hail Roger Dorn! King of awesomeness! :D
Rogal Dorn 11-15-05, 04:36 AM	you don´t really like clerics, do you, koga? ;) imo, dnd has destroyed all the mysticism around magic. it has become as common-day as, say, a bread knife. of course, you can kill a lot of people with either, but no one will go "ooooooohh!" because of its awesomeness. i have just restored the (deserved) prejudices and doubts toward magic by making it rare and dangerous. now people will go "ooooh!" when you throw a fireball at them. although not for long. ;) and it´s Rogal, not Roger.^^
Millennium 11-18-05, 10:13 AM	What you're inspiring is fear, not wonder. If that's what you're going for then that's fine, but be aware of what you're doing. I see that you're using many of the Taint mechanics from UA, and that's what I'd have suggested too, but I'm curious: why not just use an actual Taint score instead of this 'corruption score' mechanic? Is the stock Taint system too much of a penalty, considering what you're going for?
Rogal Dorn 11-18-05, 10:37 AM	yeah, fear is for the caster, wonder for the peasants! ;) the wisdom drain shows, how much your mind gets disturbed by the taint, making you less and less observant, etc. that is one reason, the slight lovecraftian feel of becoming insane through magic. i´ll let them roll will saves from time to time, if they fail, they´ll start to hear evil voices whispering to them, or seeing disturbing images from the past or the future. the other reason is that it´s a lot easier for the player to follow, especially for the less experienced ones.
Arnkel 11-18-05, 06:32 PM	May I ask why you chose to penalize wisdom? In my campaigns I usually give the player a choice of penalizing Strength or Constitution. edit: sorry didn't see that last post.
Millennium 11-23-05, 03:17 PM	yeah, fear is for the caster, wonder for the peasants! ;) the wisdom drain shows, how much your mind gets disturbed by the taint, making you less and less observant, etc. that is one reason, the slight lovecraftian feel of becoming insane through magic. i´ll let them roll will saves from time to time, if they fail, they´ll start to hear evil voices whispering to them, or seeing disturbing images from the past or the future. Understood, but Taint already applies as a penalty to Wisdom, just like your corruption-score mechanic. Taint also applies as a penalty to Constitution, though; is that the problem you had with it? the other reason is that it´s a lot easier for the player to follow, especially for the less experienced ones. I'm not sure I understand how that works. Either way you're keeping track of an extra pseudo-stat, aren't you?
Rogal Dorn 11-23-05, 04:49 PM	i thought wis and con was too hard, especially with virtually no method of healing. and it´s not really a pseudo-stat. it´s just wisdom damage. :)