This is the first draught, so I would love feed back.
Contingent rituals:
"In the towers of sharn, Alice Blackthorn, a small time inquisitive shifts through the crowd, making her way toward the the red skulls safe house. Knowing that the place is watched, she reached out with her magic, to pull out the leg of a near by market stall, causing produce to scatter and confusion to spread though the crowded street. Blind chuck, the red skulls look out, turned away from his observance of the safe house's door, long enough for Alice to place her hand on the wood. 'by my true name, i bid you open' she whispered, completing the ritual she had prepared over a week before, when she took the case. With a burst of arcane energy, the lock slid back, and alice slipped within, closing the door behind her."
Introduction:
In the safety of civilisation, it is possible for a ritualist, with the appropreate resources to cast rituals in such a way that they are complete save for one last component, waiting to be triggered.
To achieve this, the ritualist must have access to a ritual space, preferably their own and possess a Foci, which is used to store the energy of the ritual.
Casting a contingent rituals :
Casting a contingent ritual is identicial to a normal ritual save that casting, that is must be cast in a ritual space of a power level equal to the rituals level, the caster must have a foci ready for the spell and that the ritual does not take effect immediately.
The ritual may be held ready to cast indefinately. The process of triggering the ritual requires a standard action to achieve at which point, the foci is destroyed and the ritual takes effect instantly.
Spell stress:
Due to the fact that ritual magic involves the channeling of a great deal of power. The body is only capable of containing so much arcane energy at any one time. Under normal conditions, a character can only hang three rituals/tier, at any one time. However, it is possible to hold more, to do so, a character must spend double the rituals casting cost, on ritual components and until they cast said ritual, they loose the use of one of their healing surges, due to being in constant pain from the arcane fire burning through their body and mind. Each additional ritual hung beyond this, cuts of the use of a further two healing surges.
These healing surges are only regained once the character has used all hung rituals and taken an extended rest.
Ritual Spaces:
Ritual spaces are dedicated rooms or area's marked out with arcane or religious runes, candles, chalk, semiprecious stones and the like. Here, the forces of magic are channelled and shaped to make works of magic which are impossible else where to be cast with ease. Ritual space function as magic items tied to a specific location, which allow ritualists to cast , with a cost based on its level. The power of your ritual space determines how powerful a ritual you are able to hang. The level of a ritual you are attempting to hang, can be no greater, than the level of your ritual space.
Ritual spaces are strongly tied to their creators and as such, when using a ritual space other than your own, it is considered to be a ritual space of two levels lower than its actual level.
Foci:
Their are two kinds of foci,
Talisman Foci: Small amulets or talismans made from minor magicial materials, these foci are the most commonly used, howeverm they are easily spotted and removed. Talisman foci cost 25/lvl gp
Tattoo Foci: Tattoo foci are large, intriciate arcane tattoos which cant take up entire limbs or sections of the body. A ritualist may have, upto six tattoo foci(arms, legs, torso and head.) These tattoos are conspicous, unless covered. r Often hidden under cloths, these tattoos are often used due to the difficulty to spot, identify and remove them. Knock tattoos are common amongst wizards who expect trouble with the law. Tattoo foci requires an arcane skill check DC 15, to notice there magicial nature. At which point,allowing the use of Identify Magical Effect uses of the skill to spot and identify a tattoo. Tattoo foci show up on uses of Sense the Presence of Magic. Tattoo foci cost 50/lvl gp
The concept of hung spells is not unique to Mage however.
All that said, i will admit to having used elements i liked form ascention in this house rule.
Where is it expressly forbidden?
Where the Devs designed an entirely new system specifically to move certain magical effects out of combat. Once you start letting a Ritual Caster use "trigger" rituals in combat, he suddenly has more powers than other players. Not balanced.
I don't understand how so many people can claim to love the new ritual system- a system designed to keep certain magical effects outside of the scope of combat- and want to whip up a bunch of house rules in order to let people use them like powers- in combat.
Mage: the Ascention, Mage: the Awakening, Call of Cthulhu, Ars Magica, Witchcraft and others. Not to mention an interest in the general subject of magic.
The concept of hung spells is not unique to Mage however.
All that said, i will admit to having used elements i liked form ascention in this house rule.
I recognized the flavor immediately.
Where the Devs designed an entirely new system specifically to move certain magical effects out of combat. Once you start letting a Ritual Caster use "trigger" rituals in combat, he suddenly has more powers than other players. Not balanced.
I don't understand how so many people can claim to love the new ritual system- a system designed to keep certain magical effects outside of the scope of combat- and want to whip up a bunch of house rules in order to let people use them like powers- in combat.
Firstly, rituals from the core book are almost without exception of limited combat utilitiy. Raise dead being the most obviously useful. Silence has little mechanicial use in combat now, knock is certainly useful, but little more so that a good rogue, and far more expensive.
Secondly, your assuming that A, balance of any kind is important to my self and my group and that B, mechanicial ballance is the only way of achieving game balance. Many of my best experience with roleplaying have been with systems which accepts that mechanicial balance is a falacy. Artesia, one of may very faverate games, has not only a massive power gap between those who have magic and those who don't, but wildly varying levels of power between casters. One could say that any sense of balance had been thrown to the wind. Yet, it remains one of the most enjoyable and compelling games i have ever played or run. Its system being a major element of this.
Also, mechanicial balance need not be the only balancing factor, social, politial or economic restaints can be used as a force of soft balance. Sure, it is all well and good having the ablitity to cast rituals, but if you cant buy the components and bands of locals will try to lynch you at every turn due to antiwizardry laws, your going to benifit from that ability much less.
Lastly, your forgetting that the ritualist is paying through the nose for the ability to hang rituals, they really are.
Firstly, rituals from the core book are almost without exception of limited combat utilitiy. Raise dead being the most obviously useful. Silence has little mechanicial use in combat now, knock is certainly useful, but little more so that a good rogue, and far more expensive.
Secondly, your assuming that A, balance of any kind is important to my self and my group and that B, mechanicial ballance is the only way of achieving game balance. Many of my best experience with roleplaying have been with systems which accepts that mechanicial balance is a falacy. Artesia, one of may very faverate games, has not only a massive power gap between those who have magic and those who don't, but wildly varying levels of power between casters. One could say that any sense of balance had been thrown to the wind. Yet, it remains one of the most enjoyable and compelling games i have ever played or run. Its system being a major element of this.
Also, mechanicial balance need not be the only balancing factor, social, politial or economic restaints can be used as a force of soft balance. Sure, it is all well and good having the ablitity to cast rituals, but if you cant buy the components and bands of locals will try to lynch you at every turn due to antiwizardry laws, your going to benifit from that ability much less.
Then, I must ask, what mechanical need is there for the ability to "cast" a ritual as a standard action?
Lastly, your forgetting that the ritualist is paying through the nose for the ability to hang rituals, they really are.
I keep seeing people stating this argument. I don't get it. I'm not shelling out my hard earned gold to raise somebody else from the dead. If the party expects to benefit from my rituals, then the party needs to help me fund them. My party has a "party" fund that gets it's own share of the loot, and is only to be used for things which benefit the whole group, like components for most rituals.
I honestly don't know why you'd want to add this in to your campaign, but if you want to do it, do it. You don't require validation or permission from anybody else. I just understand the need for all the extra work/rules.
Then, I must ask, what mechanical need is there for the ability to "cast" a ritual as a standard action?
Mechanics play no part in the need for this system, save in the absense of such a system. The need is narrative. To be able to run the stories i want to run, in a logicial and consitant manner, using the influence that my self and my group enjoy, it makes sense for such powers to exist.
I keep seeing people stating this argument. I don't get it. I'm not shelling out my hard earned gold to raise somebody else from the dead. If the party expects to benefit from my rituals, then the party needs to help me fund them. My party has a "party" fund that gets it's own share of the loot, and is only to be used for things which benefit the whole group, like components for most rituals.
I honestly don't know why you'd want to add this in to your campaign, but if you want to do it, do it. You don't require validation or permission from anybody else. I just understand the need for all the extra work/rules.
So, your character has no emotions? He doesn't see his friend laying dead and want to help? Seriously, while we are playing a game, surely one of the aims is to empathise with and understand our characters emotions and motivations. Very few characters would not go out of there way to help a friend, regardless of monarty cost.
As to why i would want to add this to my campaigns, a, it fits with the way i want magic to work in my game worlds and it gives utility apropreate to the games i run.
Pulp/noir spy Thrillers set in the city of towers, generally work better with fast acting utility magics availible.
Having rituals which make it more difficult for elven spys to shadow you through crowded markets, astral deaddrops and magicial lock picking all work better when they are standard actions.
At the end of the day, i kind of wanted feedback on the mechanic itself, not weither it fits with your style of play..
Second, you never really explained what a Ritual Space is or how to get one. But already, I think between that and the Spell Stress and Tattoo mechanics, you are introducing way more math than there needs to be. For the tattoos, how about limiting it to seven locations: left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg, chest, back, and head, and note that the tattoos prominent so long as that area of the body is visible.
I have issues with Spell Stress for two reasons. The first, too much math, I already mentioned. The second, is that a ritual's level is intended more as a mechanic to determine when it is balanced to for the ritual's effect to be added to the game. Ritual level weren't intended to be additive in the manner that you are doing. For example, having immediate access to 5 knock spells in a row at 20th level is a huge convenience over having to spend 50 minutes to do the same thing. Instead, I suggest something more along the lines of allowing one contingent ritual per tier (ie, 1 and 1st, 2 at 11th, 3 at 21st). Considering that rituals weren't intended for instant access, that should probably be enough right there. But see my third point.
Third, I've always liked the flavor of burning yourself out to contain/produce more arcane power, but I think there should be a cap on this as well (or maybe toss it out completely), less you have high-con characters stocking up on low cost rituals.
Fourth...
I suspect this will be unbalanced. Its going to let certain rituals into combat which is the one thing the game strictly forbids. I personally don't have a problem with rituals that are hung in exactly this manner but I think you should write specific rituals that work like that, creating one time effects you can use later rather than allowing all rituals to do it - which will lead to unpredictable and unforeseen game balance consequences.
Where the Devs designed an entirely new system specifically to move certain magical effects out of combat. Once you start letting a Ritual Caster use "trigger" rituals in combat, he suddenly has more powers than other players. Not balanced.
I agree with both these points. A specific list of what rituals can be made contingent would go a long way toward making this balanced. And you might want to consider shortening the casting time to something that's a bit harder to use in combat (at least for most contingent rituals). A full minute would greatly speed up rituals without making them combat tools. Then allow a few select, less combat oriented rituals (like Knock or Water Breathing) to be usable immediately by using up an action point. That should probably shut down most shenanigans.
Fifth, 25 or 50gp for a focus is chump change even by mid heroic levels. I think a better pricing plan would be to charge an additional percentage of the ritual's original material cost; probably something around 10-20%. That way, the cost of the focus more accurately reflects both power and utility of the ritual.
Sixth, and finally, one last aesthetic critique. Magic tattoos appeal to me more than magic talismans for contingent rituals for no reason other than I think they are more awesomer (yes, I said awesomer
). However, I would hate having to spend more money to get more awesome when I don't desire the additional utility, though I can understand the reasons you state: Tattoo Foci: An intriciate arcane tattoo covering no less than 10% of the ritualists body. Often hidden under cloths, these tattoos are often used due to the difficulty to spot, identify and remove them. Knock tattoos are common amongst wizards who expect trouble with the law.
If you are likewise inclined, I suggest making the following changes.
1) Make tattoos noticeable to those trained in Arcana, allowing them to use the Sense the Presence of Magic and Identify Magical Effect uses of the skill to spot and identify a tattoo.
2) Make the tattoos mobile like a 3.5 Psionic Tattoo, which would make them easier to remove.
A list of complex and simple rituals is forth coming, don't worry.
as for the awesomer tattoos, i am also thinking about tattoo impliments which work basicially the same as wands
So, your character has no emotions? He doesn't see his friend laying dead and want to help? Seriously, while we are playing a game, surely one of the aims is to empathise with and understand our characters emotions and motivations. Very few characters would not go out of there way to help a friend, regardless of monarty cost.
Of course my character has emotion. Of course he wants what's best for his party. That's why he suggested to the party that we all chip in so that we can gain access to rituals like Raise Dead. If the party doesn't feel compelled to chip in, no biggie, that's why I have Gentle Repose. After you die, I'll prepare the body, and when we can get back to town, we'll drop you off at the Temple, let them raise you, and let you pay for it.
These people are my allies, they are my coworkers. By the time we reach Epic, yes, they'll likely be my friends, as well. But if I suggest to my closest, best friend that he do something, and he refuses, I'm not going to feel bad if the consequences are that he has a more traumatic experience. Nor am I going to blame myself for his bad fortune, especially if I've suggested an alternative, and been refused. I do not, nor will I ever, entwine myself so deeply with another person, that I should suffer for their greed.
If I show a friend a health insurance policy, and he, out of greed, decides not to pay into it, you can be damn sure I'm not helping him pay for his broken leg.
Personally, in a game, i would pay for any other pc to be healed in my group, in the blink of an eye. 1, its the right thing to do. 2, they will be greatful and likely repay the effort, either monetarially immediately or at some point in the future by giving me some item, service or otherwise. 3, its likely that some day, the roles will be reversed, 4, i am more likely to survive if we are all up and about and 5, it a friend.
At the end of the day, to one another, the connections between characters should be much stronger than meer 'co-workers', these are people who go into battle together. The ties are far greater. They should be all but blood brothers.
But, if killing stuff and amassing loot is more important to you, well, i am kind of glad i am not in your game.
Lastly, thank goodness for living in a civilised country with free healthcare...seriously...paying for a broken leg.
*points and laughs*
nitpick
I'm nitpicking here, but you are assuming quite a bit of good-aligned and altruistic behavior an adventuring party.
There are four things that define an adventuring group:
1) A net sum of trust between all members that's greater than 0.
2) A common goal
3) Cooperation toward achieving that common goal
4) Badassery (read: class levels)
Friendship and altruism are not necessary components to an adventuring group. They help with party cohesion and are most likely present in most parties at varying levels, but it's a hasty generalization to assume 2 and 5. For example, don't expect evil party members to return this level of altruism, and even members of non-evil parties can hold a cold, mercenary, strictly professional stance that would not obligate to extend help or repay said help with gratefulness. Then some people are just jerks. You can't always choose who you work with.
As for 1, whether or not paying to heal someone is the right thing to do would depend upon the agent's ethical believes. Not all characters would a) believe doing so is the right thing to do, b) feel a moral obligation to do so, and/or c) actually do so.
Can? Yes. Should? Not necessarily.
Can? Yes. Should? Not necessarily.
Don't get me wrong. I agree with the sentiments behind what you are saying. I would much rather be in a party were everyone are close friends who always look out for one another and where money is an non-issue, but I think it's a mistake to assume that this universally hold true for all groups.
And finally,
I'm not trying to speak for Cohen, but I don't think he said anything of the sort and I think you are making another hasty generalization. Just because one is less willing to help an ally who, for all intents and purposes, denied contributing to the resource that makes it possible to help him later, does not mean that killing and looting is more important to that person. The conclusion does not follow the premise.
Now all that said,
[/derail]
Personally, in a game, i would pay for any other pc to be healed in my group, in the blink of an eye. 1, its the right thing to do. 2, they will be greatful and likely repay the effort, either monetarially immediately or at some point in the future by giving me some item, service or otherwise. 3, its likely that some day, the roles will be reversed, 4, i am more likely to survive if we are all up and about and 5, it a friend.
I'm nitpicking here, but you are assuming quite a bit of good-aligned and altruistic behavior an adventuring party.
There are four things that define an adventuring group:
1) A net sum of trust between all members that's greater than 0.
2) A common goal
3) Cooperation toward achieving that common goal
4) Badassery (read: class levels)
Friendship and altruism are not necessary components to an adventuring group. They help with party cohesion and are most likely present in most parties at varying levels, but it's a hasty generalization to assume 2 and 5. For example, don't expect evil party members to return this level of altruism, and even members of non-evil parties can hold a cold, mercenary, strictly professional stance that would not obligate to extend help or repay said help with gratefulness. Then some people are just jerks. You can't always choose who you work with.
As for 1, whether or not paying to heal someone is the right thing to do would depend upon the agent's ethical believes. Not all characters would a) believe doing so is the right thing to do, b) feel a moral obligation to do so, and/or c) actually do so.
At the end of the day, to one another, the connections between characters should be much stronger than meer 'co-workers',
Can? Yes. Should? Not necessarily.
these are people who go into battle together. The ties are far greater. They should be all but blood brothers.
Can? Yes. Should? Not necessarily.
Don't get me wrong. I agree with the sentiments behind what you are saying. I would much rather be in a party were everyone are close friends who always look out for one another and where money is an non-issue, but I think it's a mistake to assume that this universally hold true for all groups.
And finally,
But, if killing stuff and amassing loot is more important to you, well, i am kind of glad i am not in your game.
I'm not trying to speak for Cohen, but I don't think he said anything of the sort and I think you are making another hasty generalization. Just because one is less willing to help an ally who, for all intents and purposes, denied contributing to the resource that makes it possible to help him later, does not mean that killing and looting is more important to that person. The conclusion does not follow the premise.
Now all that said,
[/derail]
Greed? Who says anything about greed. In 4e, almost anything you spend your money on benifits the part by making you more powerful. Its hardly greed to have the best equipment one can buy, its good sense and the same goes for real life.
Personally, in a game, i would pay for any other pc to be healed in my group, in the blink of an eye. 1, its the right thing to do. 2, they will be greatful and likely repay the effort, either monetarially immediately or at some point in the future by giving me some item, service or otherwise. 3, its likely that some day, the roles will be reversed, 4, i am more likely to survive if we are all up and about and 5, it a friend.
At the end of the day, to one another, the connections between characters should be much stronger than meer 'co-workers', these are people who go into battle together. The ties are far greater. They should be all but blood brothers.
But, if killing stuff and amassing loot is more important to you, well, i am kind of glad i am not in your game.
Lastly, thank goodness for living in a civilised country with free healthcare...seriously...paying for a broken leg.
*points and laughs*
And, to be perfectly honest, if your character was in my group, my character would constantly be hitting you up for healing potions/alchemical items/other such magic stuff, and would expect you not to ask for any compensation at all. After all, what's a few gold pieces between friends, right?
As a note, I'm speaking specifically about my character, and a little bit about myself. I tend to play a Wizard, who is used to lengthy, detailed, archaic formulae. As such, his adventuring party is "Chartered" with a mission statement, and specific details outlining what sort of conduct will be expected among and between members of the chartering body (this was all done through email, between games, and was quite fun roleplay, I might add). Anything not specifically outlined in the Charter? Not my problem, I will act as best befits me, according to what I genuinely believe to be in my own best interests. If that means expending my resources to keep an ally going to prevent my own demise, so be it. If that means waiting until we get back to town to have an ally raised because he didn't pay into the pot for party-ritual usage, so be that, too.