Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Patrick Draken-Korin 03-14-06, 04:01 PM	HELP WANTED for defining magic and other mystical abilities. ---------- first, a list of different casting systems known to me; charge casting (as D&D magic), point casting (as D&D psionics), skill casting (as starwars), ritual casting (incantations), concentration casting (explained below), totem casting (explained below), craft-casting (explained below). Charge Casting: a caster has different levels of spellcasting potential, and each has a number of uses per day according to the caster's skill. charge casting can be spontaneous or preperatory. charge casting allows level modifying effects (like metamagic feats that enhance the spell by increasing spell's slot). charge casting is moderately hard to control- the variables are caster level, the relevant ability score, and bonuses acquired from various feats and class abilities. Those bonuses are the main problem (the reason why 3.5 included changes to reduce the overall possible save DC due to munchinizing). Alternative: a situation where the caster doesn't automatically recover charges when resting, but instead they must be gathered (like in final fantasy 8). this system could get extremly complicated if it was the primary mystical system for a campaign, but it could be quite reasonable for a subsystem. Point Casting: a caster has a large number of spell points per day according to the caster's skill, and there are different levels of spellcasting potential, with each requireing more ability points to be expended than the last. point casting can be spontaneous or preperatory (though preperatory point casting seems counter-productive). point casting allows point-cost modifying effects (like metapsionic feats that enhance the power by increasing the required power points and augmenting powers). point casting is moderately hard to control- the variables are caster level, the relevant ability score, and bonuses acquired from various feats and class abilities. Those bonuses are the main problem, much in the same manner that they are for charge casting systems. Alternative: a situation where the caster doesn't automatically recover spell points when resting, but instead they must be gathered. this system could get extremly complicated if it was the primary mystical system for a campaign, but it could be quite reasonable for a subsystem. Skill Casting: a caster has ranks in one or more mystical skills (which can be used to produce mystical effects). in starwars the jedi must expend vitality point (hp) in order to use thier force skills. skill casting MUST be spontaneous. skill casting allows skill modifying effects, with a scaling effect based on the amount that the DC is surpassed. when scalig effects are available, the cost usually scales as well. skill casting is relativly easy to control, as long as there is some cost related to the abilities used. as all skill casting effects are reliant on the caster's skill ranks (plus any other special restrictions, such as the force feats in starwars), it's difficult to gain too much power (a caster can only have so many ranks in so many skills). Note that if it's possible to apply skill bonuses to skill caster type skills, then the system becomes less balanced (especially if D&D's system of bonus squared X 100 Gp, is the applied manner of cost). Alternative: a situation where the caster has a number of charges or spell points according to it's ranks in a mystical skill and it's relevant ability score. this is more balanced than the starwars method when skill casting is combined with D&D (so that healing spells can't be used to completely negate the hp cost). Ritual Casting: the caster uses non-mystical skills in order to cause an effect; there is no fuel or other limit per day, but rituals take a great deal of time and require careful preparation (an usually has a penalty for failure). ritual casting MUST be preperatory. ritual casting allows skill modifying effects, possibly with a scaling effect based on the amount that the DC is surpassed (though not usually). ritual casting is moderately hard to control because rituals can be attempted by anyone, and that there is no limit on attempts per day (except for specific rituals). Alternative: a ritual caster must have a certain feat in order to lead a ritual (many ritual require secondary casters, who wouldn't need the feat). another option would be to have many (if not all) rituals tied to one or more mystical traditions, and require the primary caster to have a feat linking to a tradition. Concentration Casting: a caster has a concentration capacity that it ocupies with different effects. the caster either continually maintains concentration on an effect or temporaily occupies it's concentration to activate an instantaneous effect. concentration casting MUST be spontaneous. Tom has 8 points of concentration (level 8?). he currently occupies 2 points with a mage armor effect, 2 points with a resistance bonus effect, and has 4 unoccupied points of concentration. tom is in a fight against gnolls; he takes his turn to cast melf's acid arrow (requiring 4 points to do so). on tom's next turn, because the gnolls are grouped together, he dismisses his resistance effect, and casts fireball (6 points). concentration casting allows concentration-cost modifying effects (in the same manner as point casting does above, except that the caster's concentration is merely occupied rather than expended). I'm not sure how hard it would be to control concentration casting. Off hand i think it would be pretty broken if applied to D&D. The variability would mean that they'd have to have as few abilities as the warlock. probably, the best system should be based around 3.5 psionics; concentration points equal caster level (or 2x caster level) + ability modifier, limited spells known, can enhance spell by occupying more concentration. Totem Casting: much like concentration casting, totem casting has a capacity used to maintain or active effects. the difference is that the totem caster must have certain mystical items on hand which contain thoses effects. totem casting is a fusion between spontaneous and preperatory (spontaneous effects, totems must be gathered/made before hand). totem casting would even allow for fully-prepared effects (an object that takes 3 points to activate, but that can be activated early, but not used and maintained in a ready-to-fire state for only 1 point each round). Tom generates 8 points of energy (level 8?). he currently fuels a shield-shaped totem with 2 points for a mage armor effect, a badge with 2 points for a resistance bonus effect, and allows 4 points to escape into the surroundings. tom is in a fight against gnolls; he takes his turn to cast melf's acid arrow through a small mask (requiring 4 points to do so). on tom's next turn, because the gnolls are grouped together, he dismisses his resistance effect, and casts fireball through a red dragon's talon (6 points). totem casting allows concentration-cost modifying effects (in the same manner as concentration casting above). I'm not sure how hard it would be to control totem casting. Off hand i think it would be pretty broken if applied to D&D (same as concentration casting), though it would be more balanced if the various totems cost as much as (or more than) that to record spells in a spellbook. Craft Casting: a caster must create the functional protion of a spell before it can be cast. whether the caster must expend per-day (or gathered) charges (or spell points) or else make skill checks or take an amount of time, only once the spell has been made can it be used. the caster would be able to only store so many crafted spells as a time (gathered charges like the charge casting altenative). it would seem that craft casting must be prepratory, though i could be wrong). unfortunately i'm not too sure how craft casting would work, or even if it would. from what i've heard of magic of incarnum, it is a craft casting system, though i don't have that book (yet). so i'm intentionally not developing ideas for that yet, so i'm not too far wrong. ------- i made a thread like this before, but lost the whole track that i was following. so now i'm going to try something different. here's the other thread; mystical abilities, a dead thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=575913)
Fuzzy_Logic 03-17-06, 10:11 PM	actually, incarnum is like your totem casting. I had a beginning fo a craft-casting system lying around I cna try to dig up...