Spellstitched Magic System [Archive] - Wizards Community

Spellstitched Magic System [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Wayside
08-26-06, 12:13 AM I spent some time working up a new campaign setting recently, and one of the main things i wanted to handle was a new spell system. I tried out several new spell systems from spell points, to recharge magic, and eventually decided on a modified version of the recharge magic system.
One of the main issues I saw and wanted to deal with was casters blowing all their spells in one or two fights then retreating back to camp so the casters can regain their spells. In most of the groups I have played in this would end up frustrating the DM and he would eventually just trap us in dungeons to prevent our casters from constantly dragging the group back to camp. This lead me to the recharge magic system since it allowed more castings over time, but limited the amount of casting a character could do in a given combat; forcing them to fall back on lower level spells occasionally. This system just unearthed new problems such as infinite supplies of healing.
After fiddling with it for a little while I decided on a flat double spells per day for all classes including doubling the spells from having a high casting stat, and had all the spells use the general recharge system from unearthed arcana but with slightly longer recharge times. Spontaneous casters use the chart that preparation casters would normally use, and preperation casters use a table shifted up one category so their highest and second highest level spells take 1d6+2 rounds to recharge instead of 1d6+1.
This system has done a good job of addressing the problem i saw with spellcasting at least within the bounds of my campaign, the only main loophole i already foresaw was a blasting mage memorizing many different powerful attack spells in succession (ie a lightning bolt followed by a fireball etc...). I've been considering creating several different "classes" of spells and putting a recharge on the class within a given level rather than the spells themselves. (The classes would be divided into categories like attack spell, defensive spell, support spell, utitility spell, etc...) In this way a character would only be allowed one attack spell of any given level at a time preventing the problem of repetetive nuking. If i decide to figure out all the details on this i will post it soon.
Oh, and for a little added flavor to the spellcasting all casters have a spell failure chance of sorts. Whenever a character casts a spell there is a 5% chance a mishap occurs. (a 1 on a d20) If they roll a mishap they automatically roll on a slightly modified version of the wild magic table from the forgotten realms campaign setting :).
LordPendragon
08-27-06, 11:30 AM Wow... sounds like you really hit the casters hard. I kinda like what you've done, but I'm not sure if I like moving all the delays up one category on the charts. After all, recharge magic was [presumably] designed to be balanced by itself, and you've already put a debuff on it by limiting spells per day.

About dividing the spells into classes... When a spell is cast, all spells of that level have to recharge, not just the one that was cast. If you also divide the spells like you suggested, then not only will that level be recharging, but that class will also be recharging. It's overly complicated.

And besides, what's wrong with having someone cast a blaster spell every round??
Wayside
08-27-06, 11:23 PM When a spell is cast only that spell has to recharge in this system. By adding the classes of spells all "attack" spells of that level would have to recharge if you cast an attack spell, etc., but i'm not going to go that route anyway. The problem with repetitive nuking is that i have played in several games where the casters throw off all their most powerful spells right off the bat in order to finish off the enemy quickly and then beg to go back to town. By forcing the casters to wait for some of their spells to recharge they can't fire them all off and have to save at least some for upcoming battles. And yes the recharge system was fairly balanced in some respects but if you notice, my method is different in several ways. With the unearthed arcana system there were much longer recharge times for longer duration spells, i removed this in my system so everything goes off of the general recharge times. I increased the spell recharges slightly, and then took off the infinite spellcasting part of the mechanic because it just simply didn't work out in my campaign. This system has worked out quite well in my campaign thusfar and has actually improved the groups ability to go into multiple battles since it forces casters to be more conservative with their casting. Of all the systems my group and I have tried (all of the printed ones and a few variations) this system has worked out by far as the favorite.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Wayside 08-26-06, 12:13 AM	I spent some time working up a new campaign setting recently, and one of the main things i wanted to handle was a new spell system. I tried out several new spell systems from spell points, to recharge magic, and eventually decided on a modified version of the recharge magic system. One of the main issues I saw and wanted to deal with was casters blowing all their spells in one or two fights then retreating back to camp so the casters can regain their spells. In most of the groups I have played in this would end up frustrating the DM and he would eventually just trap us in dungeons to prevent our casters from constantly dragging the group back to camp. This lead me to the recharge magic system since it allowed more castings over time, but limited the amount of casting a character could do in a given combat; forcing them to fall back on lower level spells occasionally. This system just unearthed new problems such as infinite supplies of healing. After fiddling with it for a little while I decided on a flat double spells per day for all classes including doubling the spells from having a high casting stat, and had all the spells use the general recharge system from unearthed arcana but with slightly longer recharge times. Spontaneous casters use the chart that preparation casters would normally use, and preperation casters use a table shifted up one category so their highest and second highest level spells take 1d6+2 rounds to recharge instead of 1d6+1. This system has done a good job of addressing the problem i saw with spellcasting at least within the bounds of my campaign, the only main loophole i already foresaw was a blasting mage memorizing many different powerful attack spells in succession (ie a lightning bolt followed by a fireball etc...). I've been considering creating several different "classes" of spells and putting a recharge on the class within a given level rather than the spells themselves. (The classes would be divided into categories like attack spell, defensive spell, support spell, utitility spell, etc...) In this way a character would only be allowed one attack spell of any given level at a time preventing the problem of repetetive nuking. If i decide to figure out all the details on this i will post it soon. Oh, and for a little added flavor to the spellcasting all casters have a spell failure chance of sorts. Whenever a character casts a spell there is a 5% chance a mishap occurs. (a 1 on a d20) If they roll a mishap they automatically roll on a slightly modified version of the wild magic table from the forgotten realms campaign setting :).
LordPendragon 08-27-06, 11:30 AM	Wow... sounds like you really hit the casters hard. I kinda like what you've done, but I'm not sure if I like moving all the delays up one category on the charts. After all, recharge magic was [presumably] designed to be balanced by itself, and you've already put a debuff on it by limiting spells per day. About dividing the spells into classes... When a spell is cast, all spells of that level have to recharge, not just the one that was cast. If you also divide the spells like you suggested, then not only will that level be recharging, but that class will also be recharging. It's overly complicated. And besides, what's wrong with having someone cast a blaster spell every round??
Wayside 08-27-06, 11:23 PM	When a spell is cast only that spell has to recharge in this system. By adding the classes of spells all "attack" spells of that level would have to recharge if you cast an attack spell, etc., but i'm not going to go that route anyway. The problem with repetitive nuking is that i have played in several games where the casters throw off all their most powerful spells right off the bat in order to finish off the enemy quickly and then beg to go back to town. By forcing the casters to wait for some of their spells to recharge they can't fire them all off and have to save at least some for upcoming battles. And yes the recharge system was fairly balanced in some respects but if you notice, my method is different in several ways. With the unearthed arcana system there were much longer recharge times for longer duration spells, i removed this in my system so everything goes off of the general recharge times. I increased the spell recharges slightly, and then took off the infinite spellcasting part of the mechanic because it just simply didn't work out in my campaign. This system has worked out quite well in my campaign thusfar and has actually improved the groups ability to go into multiple battles since it forces casters to be more conservative with their casting. Of all the systems my group and I have tried (all of the printed ones and a few variations) this system has worked out by far as the favorite.