Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Raven Bloodmoon 05-06-07, 01:33 AM	As promised, here is the beginning of my magic system. It is somewhat tested, though the more recent alterations have yet to even see a second revision. I hope to view yoru feedback and make any corrections that are begging to be made before commencing the first round of testing. It is tailored to a world I am currently buliding, so some features may not be to everyoen's taste. Either way, I hope you will read, cherrypick what you like, ignore what you don't, and comment in general. Contents Introduction (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=12312059&postcount=2) Learning Magic (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=12363235&postcount=6) Casting Spells (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=12366964&postcount=10) The Lure of Magic Modifying Magic
Raven Bloodmoon 05-06-07, 01:37 AM	Introduction Long ago, before the gathering of the shadow in North, before the fall of the Maiden’s Star, before the coming of man, when the world was still young and the elder children warred against the Nameless One, magic pervaded the world. The works of elven sorcerers and dwarven craftsmen still live in song, but they were not always things of legend. But with the fall of the Nameless One, the world was stripped of its arcane energies. The world plunged into chaos as the great elven wardings rapidly faded and the minions of the fallen Shadow rampaged across Elendor. Dark and tumultuous the early years of the second age proved for the elder races. Stripped of their magic, they fell back on their martial traditions to defend themselves and over the course of the centuries, slowly beat the dark hordes back into the holes and caves from which they crawled. But they were too preoccupied with the many goblins and trolls and dragons and other dark creatures to notice a few small tribes of creatures that passed into Elendor from the East. As a tidal wave is all but invisible until it is about to break on shore, the slow and humble influx of human immigrants from the unexplored lands of the East garnered no attention as they slowly built towns and villages. Their skills were far less developed than those of the elder races, and they were far more brash and impatient, so even when they began to build cities and ports, the others thought little of it. But then one human stood up and unified his kinsmen under one standard. The unified humans formed a nation that decided to make a stand against the constant aggression of the goblins and trolls, and they proved their ingenuity time and again as they found cunning uses for the limited materials they had at hand. Their ingenuity combined with the ferocity with which they fought stunned and frightened the elder races, so they took advantage of the common enemy they shared. The elves and dwarves both sent armies to aid the humans in their fight and gain their trust and friendship. For a thousand years, humans, elves, and dwarves have remained steadfast allies against their goblin foes, but two thousand years ago, a dark shadow began to build in the hills far to the north. In other parts of Elendol, elvish warriors noticed that some of the ancient ancestral blades from the wars of old glowed when goblins drew near. Humans noticed that some of their children were exhibiting strange and fantastic abilities. Magic had returned to the world. Four Characteristics of Magic Despite the seemingly infinite variations of magic, it always seems to exhibit four characteristics. Magic is powerful, corrupting, addictive, and it seems to attract spirits. These four characteristics pose a great threat to those who would pursue arcane studies, and anyone who would aspire to magical greatness should be mindful of them. Magic is Powerful Magic is a power truly great to behold. Those who learn to truly command it can level entire armies with the wave of a hand or crush a person’s mind with a mere glance. While elves and dwarves have resumed the use of magic for protection and creation, humans in their hubris, have begun to rely on magic for all manner of things, including warfare. Their dependence on the arcane grows by the day, despite the warnings of the elder races. Magic is Corrupting Magic breads pride. As one grows in magical power, she categorically becomes confident and then overconfident in her abilities. Such pride leads to avarice, which leads to envy. When envy and great power fuse, the force of their wrath can prove unstoppable. But magic’s corruption taints more than just the soul; it often has physical manifestations as well. Magic is Addictive More alluring than pipeweed or beer, the euphoria created as arcane energies course through a person’s body is considered a drug more powerful than any other on the market. Once a person experiences the power of magery, she rarely fails to continue her arcane pursuits. Magic Attracts Spirits The strength of a person’s spiritual power is a strange thing. A person with great spiritual power can more easily perceive and affect spirits, but this is a two-way door. The spirits can just as easily affect such a person. This is largely because those who possess great spiritual power leak such power, which attracts spirits and allows them to interact with the physical world. Similarly, when a spell is cast, a great amount of spiritual energy, often called mana, is released into the world. This sudden rush of energy attracts many types of spirits who wish to use this energy for their own purposes. The Source of Magic The peoples of Elendol have yet to discover the true nature of the Well of Souls, but they understand that it is a reservoir of great magical power. Their world, for a long period of time, was severed from it, resulting in the loss of magic throughout the world, but two thousand years ago, this connection was revived, and magic flowed throughout the world again. The reality is that Elendol is one of an infinite number of planes that form an endless ocean of existence. Amongst these planes exist planes of pure magical energy that radiate their power throughout surrounding planes. Something involving the defeat of the Nameless One and the fall of the Maiden’s Star caused Elendol to drift away from the local plane of magic, known as the well of Souls. About two thousand years ago, Elendol rejoined the plane cluster affected by the Well of Souls, and in doing so, regained access to the arcane. Types of Magic While technically there is only one type of magic, among the people of Elendol, there appears to be three distinct ways to access magic. The bravest and perhaps most foolhardy channel the power of the Well of Souls directly. Others entreat spirits to use magic on their behalf. Still others of a far darker bent gain their power through demonic patrons. Arcane Magic Arcane magic is the term given to the sorcery of those who would attempt to use the power of the gods directly. These wizards draw upon the power of the Well of Souls directly, siphoning off energy and channeling it with force of their own spirit. This is the most addicting way to use magic. In many sorcerers’ minds, to wield arcane magic is to wield the power of the gods. Spirit Magic Spirit magic is far more shamanistic in nature. Practitioners of spirit magic entreat the spirits of the world to perform magic on their behalf through the force of their own spirit energy. This use of magic is far less addictive than arcane magic but is not nearly as powerful. Furthermore, the nature of this magic is such that it can only affect creatures and objects native to Elendol. Dark Magic Dark magic is the realm of the most depraved or desperate. This is the magic of demons, which while every bit as powerful as arcane magic, is easier to use but far more corrupting and addictive. More than this, dark magic almost always bears a literal price owed to one’s demonic patrons. Mana Mana is spiritual energy. A sorcerer’s mana represents the amount of arcane energy she can channel safely before collapsing. It is determined based on her key casting ability, class, and level, and level, as described in Unearthed Arcana. Variant Rule: Spirit (Spr) Alternatively, a seventh ability score may be added to the character sheet that governs magical aptitude. Spirit would be used to such things as bonus mana and spell saving throws. Additionally, spells and effects that detect the level of a person’s spiritual power would base their detection off of a character’s Spirit score rather than their key spellcasting ability. Lastly, spells, effects, feats, and skills that are based on a character’s key spellcasting ability are based on Spirit. Sidenote: The benefit of this is that it allows for the presence of ignorant wizards, hapless clerics, and ugly sorcerers. Furthermore, it adds one more skill that spellcasters must dedicate points toward, thus helping reduce their overall power. Those who would boost only their spellcasting power would receive no additional benefit from it beyond spellcasting ability. Thus a wizard would not automatically have a multitude of skill points; a druid would no longer have an indomitable will; and a sorcerer may have no natural leadership ability. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=12312023&postcount=1)
RobbyPants 05-07-07, 02:29 PM	It looks like this is a work in progress... The overall flavor looks nice. I'm not sure if I'd go for a 7th ability score. If you do, a lot of things need to be revamped. But, maybe you're up to the task for that ;)
Need_A_Life 05-09-07, 02:46 PM	Interested to see where this goes...
Domriso 05-10-07, 09:12 PM	I like the idea. I actually like the idea of a 7th ability score. It fits with the flavor very well. Very interested to see what new things develop.
Raven Bloodmoon 05-11-07, 01:13 AM	Here is round two. It is still very rough and originally intended for a point-based character creation method I'm working out. I'm still a little unsure of how to asign skill points for this, but here it is anyway. (For the point-based thing, a spellcasting skill would follow the Very Hard progression in Gurps and a Spell Mastery-style feat would amp up individual spells.) So without further ado... Learning Magic Magic is learned in several ways throughout the world. The most common is likely through self study or a mentorship, but there exist several wizard academies that, for a fee, will teach the arcane arts to anyone they deem worthy. Schools of Magic There are some alterations to the schools of magic to better fit my setting. Abjuration has been split into two subschools, wards and seals. Wards are actual protections that prevent something from happening. Seals trap things, such as magical effects and prevent them from manifesting. The healing subschool no longer resides in Conjuration, and the shadow subschool may replace it after some reflavoring. I may not include the shadow subschool at all; I hav enot yet made up my mind. I am also still deciding if summon spells will exist because my cosmology, while including other material planes, completely lacks outer and inner planes. Divination no longer has the scrying subschool, but it now has three new subschools, prescience, detection, and knowledge. Prescience spells provide insight to the future or possible futures; at their most basic level, they provide intuition about actions. Detection spells extend, enhance, or modify senses so that a character can detect other objects and creatures in a more efficient way, even in the extreme sense of suddenly knowing exactly where a specific object is located. Knowledge spells reveal truths that the caster would not otherwise know. Knowledge spells may get lumped into detection spells; I am not yet certain they need their own subschool. Enchantments and evocations remain unaltered. Shadows are no longer illusions. They are partially real, so they are not being reflavored and jammed into conjuration, which already possesses a subschool dedicated to making things from seemingly nothing. Shadows may also just be dropped completely. The healing subschool is back in the Necromancy school where it belongs. Toying with life energies is the realm of necromancy, and healing is now included there. Transmutation is unaltered. Magic Skills There are eight magic skills – one for each school. Each skill represents a character’s level of proficiency with that school of magic. Thus, whenever she wishes to cast a spell, she makes a skill check with the skill that governs the school of magic to which the spell belongs. The DC to cast a spell is 10 + 5 x the spell’s level. Additionally, a character’s skill level in a specific school of magic may yield other benefits, including slightly reduced casting times, slightly reduced casting costs, and the ability to cast higher level spells. Such effects are based on the number of ranks in a specific school’s skill and not on the skill’s modifier. In any case in which a spell may be governed by more than one spellcasting skill (such as dual-school spells), the character may choose which skill to apply. It is the final say of the DM as to whether or not a spell or action may be governed by more than one spellcasting skill and which skills at that. Learning Magic Skills Only those who receive some sort of magical instruction or those who are innately inclined toward magic may acquire magic skills. These skills are merely considered class skills for all magic-using classes and cross-class, trained only skills for other classes. Intelligence is the key ability for all magic skills. Alternate Magic Skills Eventually, this initial trial will be revised into a far more expanded set of skills that will be far more limited in scope. Furthermore, by then, I hope to have a point-based character creation system completed that allows for this to work far more smoothly and intuitively. This multitude of spellcasting skills combined with the Spirit ability will merely represent the character’s normal casting abilities in a more organic way. Acquiring New Spells Spells may be acquired in a number of ways at any time in any quantity. It is up to the DM to prevent a character from abusing this. Perhaps the greatest methods for such would be forcing the character to RP the acquisition of these spells, increasing the cost of spells, time requirements during which other party members may go adventuring, and the sheer price of spells. For example, Woe may wish to increase his magical prowess, so he decides to go to Teafelen, the location of a particularly prominent wizard’s academy. He knows they will have countless spells, so he convinces his friends to accompany him to the city. The journey itself may provide an adventure or several side quests, and upon reaching Teafelen, Woe must gain entrance to the academy’s library. It is not necessarily open to the public, so now he either has to buy his way in or break into the library, which would surely be heavily guarded. He opts to just pay the requisite fees, thus depleting his personal finances. He then must spend time in the library researching spells and recording his findings. During this time, the rest of the party gets a job ridding part of the city’s sewers of nezumi, who have been causing problems for local sewage maintenance crews. Woe misses out on the experience and the profit of this adventure because he is up to his neck in books. Once he finishes, he will have acquired as many spells as he has spent time learning, but his peers have also increased in XP and wealth. Copying Spells Copying spells into a book is not particularly difficult. Understanding what one has copied is. It takes no particularly long time to copy the text and diagrams of a spell into a spellbook and can even be done with great celerity with the aid of magic, but it still requires a minimum of 1 hour per level of the spell followed by a successful skill check with the appropriate spellcasting skill (DC 20 + 2 x spell’s level) to grasp how the spell is cast. Skill checks may be repeated, but natural twenties do not equate to automatic success. If the environment in which the spellcaster studies the spell is not peaceful and without distraction, the time requirement is doubled. Failure to meet these requirements imposes a –4 penalty for each halving of the time requirement. Memorizing Spells At any time, a character may attempt to memorize a spell she has on hand and understands how to casting. In order to memorize a spell, the character must spend eight hours per level of the spell studying it in a quiet, comfortable setting. This time may be broken up into multiple blocks of time, none of which may be less than one hour in length. A character may attempt to memorize a spell in less than ideal circumstances, but the time requirements are doubled. Once the character finishes studying the spell to be memorized, she makes an Intelligence check (DC 20 + spell’s level). If successful, that spell is considered memorized and thus always prepared. If she fails, she must start over again if she still wishes to memorize the spell. Learning Spells Learning a spell from someone else provides a +1 bonus per rank in the relevant spellcasting skill beyond your own. Otherwise, this check is the same as the one made when trying to copy a spell from another source.
Raven Bloodmoon 05-11-07, 01:22 AM	As a side note, I would liek to just rant a little about my problems with anything magic-related in DnD. Firstly, why can't a wizard, after casting magic missile for the 473rd time remember how to cast it for a 474th? It's just plain rediculous. Also, x/day abilities really get my goat. Why can I do it perfectly 6 times in a row but suddenly can't do it at all for a 7th time? Game balance is one thing, but when it prevents the world from abiding by the fundamental principles that allow players to suspend their disbelief, it becomes bothersome. The classic Oots example: Power Word Stun. Why does it need so many pages to record? It's just one word. Does it need extra personal space? Well, these rules are being created with these qualms in mind. The idea behind it is to allow the players to behave in a way that makes sense from a real world standpoint (assuming magic was real and somehow functioned in similar ways to most things). I leave it in the (hopefully) capable hands of the DM to prevent players from abusing it. I also leave it to the maturity of hte players to understand the DM's intentions and generally not try to abuse it. The way I see it is that this is intended to be more realistic. Therefore, you may really study magic a LOT and know lots of stuff about magic and also how to cast lots of spells, but there is a price. You live in a library somewhere while your friends are out slaying dragons. A lot of good all those doom spells will do you if you're not out burning down orphanages too, right? The DM should be creative enough to think of these consequences and impose a measured dose of reality on those who would attempt to abuse the openness of these rules. Incidentally, if i post more materials not pertainingto this incarnation of magic, that same philosophy still applies. I greatly dislike those who would nit pick a perfectly functional rule jsut because there is the opportunity for abuse. Any DM stupid enough to allow a player to abuse the rules so thoroughly as to adversely affect the game deserves anything and everything he gets.
Another_Poet 05-11-07, 07:21 AM	Hi Raven, I think it is a really interesting idea. Honestly, I normally don't like systems where magic seems to be inherently evil (and I realise you don't actually say magic is evil, but if it disappeared with the fall of the Nameless One and is a highly addictive power...). But, despite that bias on my part, I really like what you have here. I like the idea of a seventh ability score and have always thought this would make more sense. I wanted to note, though, that it will not limit player power as you said it will. If people roll 4d6 for each stat, SPR is just as likely to be a high roll as any other. If doing point buy, most DM's will up the amount of points they give players. I do get what you mean though about no stat doing "double duty" as a casting stat _and_ something else. For the sake of balance, I might suggest you add "angelic magic" or something like that. After all, if demonic magic is not the same thing as spirit magic, why should angelic magic be? And since you say that spirit magic is not as strong as demonic magic, that would also imply angels are not as strong as demons, which is a frightening cosmology (possibly good for RPing though). It would make sense for angels or gods to give special powers to their most dedicated followers (paladins?) just as it would for demons to give powers to those who sell their souls. Of course, maybe since magic seems a little evil in your system, angels just won't touch it. That makes sense, and gets rid of the annoying dualism in so much fantasy. It also changes the norm from having arcane and divine magic. But, seems kind of strange to then allow anti-divine magic, eh? Just my early-morning thoughts. It looks like an exciting world. Best wishes, ap
Raven Bloodmoon 05-11-07, 11:02 AM	Thanks, AP. Allow me to clerify some things about the setting for you, as you seem interseted in that as well. Firstly, I am using the term Demonic loosely. These are not necessarily demons in the sense that you are thinking. They are just creatures from another material world who would very much like to conquer anything they can, and a rather powerful and particularly evil spirit is using them. Similarly, there are no angels in the sense that you are thinking; some may be incorporealized adn turned into spirits (lanttern archons are ripe for this), but generally speaking, I am trying to avoid the overused Christian mythologies that have pervaded DnD. As for gods, again, not in the sense you are thinking. I have just recently settled on this, but the "gods" are just really powerful spirits. Spirits come in all levels of power, much like the Japanese kami. Some are very minor and local entities, but another might be the spirit of the sun itself. The truest analogy I can think of is the range of power adn influence that angels and saints had to dark-age and medieval Christians (back when Christianity had a pantheon of saints). Also, they are fairly removed from the "mortal" realms, living on a material plane that they have isolated from everything else. Still, that does not preclude the occasional "gift" from the gods. As for magic itself, I plan on a unified spell list and tons of descriptors (very AE-like in this respect). Now magic itself is not inherently evil. When I say it is addictive and corrupting, I just mean that it's not something you want to stop using and that you wil tend to become a little warped and obsessed with it. While the feel is a little dark, it's not as dire as you might think. Some casters may go an entire career without becoming tainted by theri art. As for the seventh ability score, I was primarily concerned with removing some of the major cheeses involving gestalts and also providing a way to insert a couple of my own ideas. For instance, I will test-run, at least once, the idea that caster level for Range, Duration, and Effect purposes is based solely off of Spirit and that the spell description effects are based off of the number of spell points you dump into a spell. The idea there being that Spirit is how potent you are and spellcasting skill ranks is you skill at manipulating that potency. Talk about balance implecations.... The other idea that I will be developing in time is that spirits do not interact with the physical world easily. They either need a lot of their own spirit power or to use someone else's spirit power. Thus, people that have a lot of spirit power often attract spirits that want to manifest themselves, and the more spiritual power a person has, the mor efully manifested a spirit can become and the more able it is to affect the physical world. Note that not all spirits are evil. Most don't even care about mortals. It' smore jsut for flavor and to give the DM some fun alternate random encounters. Lastly, and this is just one other idea I had. Something that could make for an interesting game, assuming players are okay with it, would be to roll the Spirit stat secretly for each person. None would start as spellcasters and slowly descover their own power in time. Or just get haunted a lot.
Raven Bloodmoon 05-11-07, 12:57 PM	I finished this up early, so here it is. It's a little long, though. Casting Spells A spell is a sort of ritual whereby a person focuses their mind in such a way as to be able to manipulate their spirit energy and affect the world around them. This process, though ingrained into every mage, has a certain list of steps that must be followed. Selecting a Spell The first step in casting a spell is selecting which spell to cast. A mage may cast any spell she has prepared or memorized and has adequate mana and components to cast. A mage must also have a Spirit score of at least 10 + the spell’s level to cast it. Spell Components Every spell has various components associated with it. While these differ greatly from one spell to the next, all spells require a mental component. This mental component merely describes the state of mental concentration required to cast a spell. Ritual A spell’s ritual includes its verbal and somatic components. This ritual is often very elaborate and overly flashy until the caster becomes more skilled in his art as described below. 1 – 9 Ranks: The caster must make elaborate movements, often involving his entire arms and sometimes even his legs. He must also intone the words of the spell in a clear, sonorous voice. 10 – 15 Ranks: The caster’s somatic components are reduces to manipulations of the hands, and any verbal components need only be said in a clear speaking voice. 16 – 20 Ranks: The caster’s somatic components are but a wave of a couple fingers and verbal components may be muttered or whispered. 21 – 25 Ranks: The caster no longer needs to perform any ritual of a somatic or verbal nature. 26 – 35 Ranks: The casting time of the spell is reduced by one step (see the Quicken Spell feat; yet to come). 36+ Ranks: The casting time of the spell is reduced an additional one step for every additional 10 ranks in the associated spellcasting skill. This cannot reduce a spell’s casting time below Immediate. Mana Every spell requires energy to power it. This energy usually comes directly from the caster in the form of mana. Mana is the unit of spiritual energy a person naturally absorbs from the Well of Souls and metabolizes into useable magical power. A spell requires an amount of mana dependant upon its level as described below: Level.................Mana 1st.....................1 2nd....................3 3rd.....................5 4th.....................7 5th.....................9 6th.....................11 7th.....................13 8th.....................15 9th.....................17 10th...................19 Additionally, further increasing its mana cost to expand effects in different ways may augment a spell. This is most obviously noted in the case of spells that deal a certain number of dice worth of damage. Drawing Out Mana In order to cast a spell, one must draw out an appropriate amount of mana. A caster may draw out any amount of mana up to the limit of her capability (her caster level in a level-based game). This process is a free action that is usually incorporated into the casting of a spell. Once drawn out, all of the mana should be used before the end of the caster’s turn unless she wishes to attempt to hold the mana for later use. Holding Mana A caster may wish to cast a spell she knows but cannot draw out sufficient mana in a single round to do so. In these cases, she may draw out mana and attempt to hold it until her next turn. This is a very dangerous prospect because raw spiritual energy of this nature is very unstable and may discharge in a potentially deadly manner. A caster attempting to hold mana must make a Concentration check (DC 20 + mana to be held) at the end of every round she holds any mana. If she succeeds, the mana does not discharge in an unpredictable fashion. If she fails, it discharges in a 0-radius burst of pure energy centered on the caster that inflicts damage of 1d10 + 1/mana discharged. This is untyped damage that bypasses all forms of damage reduction. Debilitating Effects of Mana Expending one’s mana can be quite tiring, and very dangerous in combat. As one depletes her mana, she begins to weaken herself as described here. 66% Maximum Mana: The caster begins to grow weary, taking a –2 penalty to her Strength and Dexterity scores until this is replenished. 33% Maximum Mana: The caster is growing very tired and the penalty increases to –4. Additionally, her move rates are all reduced to 2/3 normal. No Mana Remaining: When a caster completely drains her mana, she becomes exhausted. If a character recovers enough mana to move into a less severe category, her penalties lessen as well. Recovering Mana A character may recover mana by undergoing no strenuous activities. She recovers her mana at a rate equal to 25% of her maximum per two hours of rest, but never past 75% capacity without proper sleep. Eight hours of restful sleep restores all mana. Efficiency through Skill Spellcasters who become particularly skilled in their art will eventually cast spells more efficiently. Anytime a caster casts a spell with a spellcasting skill whose ranks meet the requirements below, the mana cost of the spell is reduced accordingly. 21+ Ranks: The casting cost of all spells cast with this spellcasting skill is reduced by 1 mana. For every additional 10 ranks beyond this, the casting cost is reduced by an additional 1 mana. This may not reduce a spell’s cost below 0 mana. Material Components Some spells require exotic material components to cast. A spellcaster must have any material components mentioned in the spell in order to cast the spell. These components are consumed during the casting of the spell. There will be a feat that allows a caster to expend 1 XP per 5 gp of casting component, with a minimum of 1 XP. Other Components Some spells have other components that must be provided. Sometimes these are requirements that must be met. Amongst these special components are Taint, Disease, Addiction, Sacrifice, XP, and Focus. Anytime such components are mentioned, they are detailed in the spell’s description. Aiming the Spell Once the ritual is performed and all components provided and casting costs paid, the spell must be aimed. The method by which a spell is to be aimed is detailed in each spell’s stat block. Sidebar: Level-Dependant Spell Attributes & Caster Level Anywhere a spell’s description or stat block lists Range, Area, Targets, Effect, or Duration as varying with level or caster level, this now refers to the caster level. A character’s caster level is a function of her Spirit score. I have yet to come up with an appropriate way of handling this. Suggestions are welcome. Making the Skill Check Once all of the spell’s options are determined and the spell has been paid for and aimed, the caster makes a skill check with the appropriate spellcasting skill (DC 10 + 4 x the spell’s level). A success indicates that the spell takes effect properly (see Spell Resistance, Saving Throws, and Resolving Effects of the Spell below). If the check fails, all components and costs are wasted and the spell does not take effect. Critical Success On a critical success, a spell automatically casts properly. Furthermore, at the DM’s discretion, the spell may gain one of the following effects: Free: The spell does not consume any mana or material components provided. Enlarged: The spell affects twice the area or twice the creatures it would normally affect. Empowered: The spell increases any numeric measurements listed in the spell’s descriptive text by 50%, including hit dice affected, damage dealt, etc. Penetrating: The caster gains a +4 bonus on any caster level checks or power level checks to overcome a target’s spell resistance with that spell. Overpowering: The spell’s save DC increases by +4. Critical Failure On a critical failure, the spell does not cast at all. Furthermore, at the DM’s Discretion, the spell may gain one of the following effects: Gluttonous: The spell consumes twice as much mana as usual, up to all of a caster’s remaining mana. Greedy: The caster must make an immediate Corruption check with a -2 penalty. Wrathful: The caster takes damage of 1d10 + 1/mana cost of the spell. Debilitating: The caster is stunned for one round per level of the spell that failed. She may make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + spell’s level + her own Spirit modifier) to end this effect at the beginning of each round after the first. Spell Resistance When a spell targets a creature with spell resistance and spell resistance may negate the spell, the mage must make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) with the target’s spell resistance as the DC. If the mage makes this check, the spell affects the target normally; otherwise, it has no affect whatsoever. There will be a feat that turns this into a power level check (1d20 + caster level + Spirit modifier). Otherwise, the process and results are the same. Saving Throws Once it is determined that a target is affected by a spell, the target may attempt any saving throws to avoid various effects of the spell. Each spell describes what saves may be attempted and what the results of a successful saving throw are. Resolving the Effects of the Spell Once the degree of effect on a target is determined, the spell takes effect as described in its description.