Post/Author/DateTime	Post
mrurbanitesmiley 07-07-05, 05:50 PM	Here's a Variant Rule i'm messing around with for my CS setting, Celeviel. Magic is supposed to be a little bit wild. I wanted spell casters to be able to test their luck, cast spells that are vastly more cheaply than they should be able to cast but risk spell failure. A lucky caster could theoretically cast twice or three times as many spells as a sorcerer of their level, but they would need to get all 6s on their rolls. Basically, I redid the spell-point system, only instead of getting spell points you get six sided dice. Arcane casters under the variant are a combination of sorcerers and wizards: They cast spells spontaneously from a spell book. When they want to cast a spell, they have to assign a number of spell dice from their spell dice pool to its casting. They roll all the dice they assigned against a DC equal to (2*spell level)+1 (0=1,1=3,2=5,3=7,4=9 ect.) If they succeed at this check, they cast the spell like normal, and if they don't, they don't. I determined the number of dice a caster gets by setting the number of spell points an ordinary wizard would get if their spell slots were worth the DC of the spells they cast, and dividing the result by 3.5. Although this results in a slightly inferior number of spells/day, the fact that they can cast spontaneously from an infinite number of spells more than makes up for it. Like a Psion, the caster needs to meditate for an hour after eight hours of sleep to regain lost spell dice. In addition, there is magical focus, or 'the nudge'. In order to become magically focused, the caster needs to spend 10 minutes meditating and have at least 1 spell die left. At any point, the nudge can discarded to add a +1 bonus to any spell roll after the dice are rolled. This prevents characters from getting frustrated if they lose a potent spell because they missed the roll by 1 point, and it won't simply shift the missed by 1 point into the missed by 2 points by having useful effects while you are nudged, similar to psionic feats that require psionic focus to be held but not expended. <.< >.> No. this isn't a blatant rip-off. *cough* In addition, i'm working on rules to allow characters to meditate and take a concentration check to regain lost spell dice over the course of a day, but the dice gained will be few and the meditation time will be lengthy (10 minutes for a single die, or an hour for multiple, determined by check) Oh, and before i forget, the spellcaster gets the following amount of points plus their intelligence modifier. I'm referring to my caster as the 'mage', because i'm not creative. 1st Level: 2 spell dice/ 1st level spells 2nd Level: 3 spell dice 3rd Level: 4 spell dice/ 2nd level spells 4th level: 7 spell dice 5th level: 9 spell dice/3rd level spells 6th level: 13 spell dice 7th level: 18 spell dice/4th level spells 8th level: 21 spell dice 9th level: 24 spell dice/5th level spells 10th level: 30 spell dice 11th level: 35 spell dice/6th level spells 12th level: 42 spell dice 13th level: 49 spell dice/7th level spell 14th level: 57 spell dice 15th level: 65 spell dice/8th level spells 16th level: 74 spell dice 17th level: 84 spell dice/9th level spells 18th level: 94 spell dice 19th level: 103 spell dice 20th level: 114 spell dice Note, this is a direct translation of spell slots to spell points to spell dice. I didn't make the progression, i merely derived it, so if it needs to be tweaked, it will get tweaked. So, what do ya'll think?
Ulorian 07-07-05, 06:10 PM	That looks pretty cool! Early in your description you intimate that mages can cast spells higher than their level, but your chart says otherwise. Which route are you taking with this?
mrurbanitesmiley 07-07-05, 06:24 PM	Actually, that is a mistake, as of now. The idea of the flavor is that a lucky mage can cast more spells than he would otherwise be able to cast if he was a sorcerer of the same level, by spreading his magic thinly, but there is a good chance his spell will fizzle. I was actually thinking of allowing them to cast any level spells at 1st level (As long as you nerf DC according to level (a level 9 spell cast by a level 1 caster has DC 11+Int), and got rid of spells that don't scale according to level (Meteor swarm, which deals a straight 24d6 damage.) Because, i mean, is a delayed blast fireball cast by a level 1 caster that good? Really hard to cast, DC 11+Int, 1d8 damage?) Back on subject, what does everyone else think? And, as of now, Mages will still be required to be of a certain level to cast certain spells. PS: Editing the first post to make it clearer.
Vanigo 07-07-05, 08:39 PM	So, you get a flat 1 die per point of int modifier? That kinda sucks. A regular wizard gets more benefit from high int at higher levels because he's got more spell levels available to get bonuses in.
mrurbanitesmiley 07-07-05, 08:58 PM	Yes, but does a Wizard get any real benefits from having an additional 1st level spell/day at 20th level? Anyway, I've always disliked the powerpoint/spellpoint-to-attribute scaling chart. It's been my least favorite part of psionics and spell points. I don't know why. Anyway, I like the weakened bonuses to spells/day. Besides, while 5 additional dice/day will allow you to cast an additional 9th level spell with a realistic chance of getting it through, the 5 dice would be better spent bolstering 5 spells you were going to cast anyway, and make them much more likely to succeed. Basically, its a personal preference for simplicity over complex tables. I'm thinking of adding additional, supplementary rules (like for meditation) that use your Int bonus for greater good (when you meditate, you gain a number of dice equal to your Int bonus)