> What should spellcasting look like in Cerilia? Here are some possible
> suggestions.
>
> 1) Spell power progression slows down after 5th to 7th caster levels.
> 1A) Spell limits might be more generous with lower level spells.
> 1B) Other arcane powers might be granted in compensation
> 1Ba) Additional Spell Focus and Spell Penetration feats
> 1Bb) Ability to develope and manipulate ley lines
> 1Bc) Abilities to perform new abilities (travel in Shadow World?)
> 2) Casting times may begin to increase for higher level spells
> 3) Required skill checks may necessitate taking levels of Expert
> 4) Additional requirements are neccesary to move beyond spell level 6 (being
> blooded being required to get beyond 2nd level.
> 5) More specialization
I prefer some of Rich Bakers work from Spells & Magic. Me and my players are going to be testing it to see if the point values still work in 3e D&D, but overall I dont see why they wouldnt. Im only going to allow up to 10
levels in this “True Mage” class though, which means that due to spell
points, a mage will have much greater versatility but be limited only to 5th
level spells. I`m going to make similiar adjustments for Druid, Bard,
Sorcerer, and Cleric.
In Player`s Option: Spells & Magic, Rich Baker introduced new schools of
magic to reflect casting instead of magic-spell theme, so Geometer and
Alchemist specialist wizards were created in addition to Shadow and Song
specialists. New priests were added like Crusader, Monk, and Shaman, but
other than the Shaman most of these were horribly unbalanced. (The shaman
was cool, and a revamped 3e version would fit nicely in Birthright.)
Chapter 6 included the concept of spell points. At every level, you had a
certain of points. Every “level” of spell you prepare/memorize, has a spell
point cost (4 for 1st level, 6 for 2nd level, 10 for 3rd level, etc.). In
addition, there were “free magics” which doubled the cost. A 3rd level
“free magic” prepared means that you can choose which spell it is as you`re
casting it, choosing any 1st-3rd level spell you know. You can choose to
lower the cost of a spell by adding to the casting time or casting at a
lower caster level, or raise the cost to cast at a higher caster level or
even cast higher level spells than you would normally be allowed.
In addition, chapter 6 included new “types” of magic including the
Channeller, the Preserver/Defiler, the Warlock, the Alienist, the Ritual
Priest, and the Conditional Priest.
The Conditional Priest was cool, but depended on you writing a “template” of
conditions, basically saying that in some situations youre priest can cast spells at a higher caster level, while in others hed have a lower caster
level. Haelyn, for example, might raise a caster level +1 during battles,
while Eleole might actually lower caster level -1 during battles. The book
recommended having 5 of each type “positive” and “negative” conditions.
The Ritual Priest was stupid and depended on using time-dependant and
gp-dependant rituals to gain spellpoints with which to cast spells. For
example, performing a 2 SP ritual to cast a 10 SP spell (3rd level) would
take 5 turns to cast that spell. Making a sacrifice (such as a magic item)
can gain a lot more SP, making the rituals faster. This was a stupid
system, as written. Decent ideas to work from, though.
The Alienist and the Warlock were similiar in theme but had different
mechanics. Everytime an Alienist memorized a spell, there was a percentage
chance that he could gain an insanity, and there was a list. The warlock,
everytime he casts a spell, theres a chance hell be tainted by evil and
this basically used the corruption rules from Ravenloft (actually granting
cool benefits at first, then mixed blessings, then turning you into a
viscious monster, and finally you were an NPC).
The Preserver/Defiler worked like an arcane version of the Ritual Priest,
building up SP to cast a spell during spellcasting by taking energy from the
land. A preserver took a long time to cast a spell, but could cast more
spells. The defiler was just extremely powerful, but killed all life and
vegetation around him with each casting.
The Channeller was the variant magic system that I used that worked really
well, but made characters really powerful. Everytime the character casts a
spell, he`d become fatigued based on a chart in the book. Every time
allotment, depending on the level of fatigue, a saving throw was allowed to
recover. Spell points were gained again over time instead of per day, so
that three hours of rest might be enough to get a couple spells back. The
Channeller in my game died in a climactic battle because he was 5th level
and attempted to cast a 5th level spell (“Hold Monsters”) costing most of
his SP, and risking Mortal Fatigue. He failed his save, and never awoke
again.
Ritualists, if done better, would be cool for Cerelia. The
preserver/defiler might be a cool type of elven magic. I think Warlocks and
Channellers would also have their place. The Shaman class, which summoned
spirit guides (choose either animal, nature spirit, or ancestor) to cast
spells for you or to help you prepare them, but these spirit guides often
asked favors and demanded codes of conduct. You also needed a lengthly
ritual to summon them. I highly recommend the spell point system in any
case and will be posting it soon along with my class writeup of the Mage and
possibly the Shaman. It`ll be written up in a d20Modern/ClassicallyModern
format similiar to the Scion of Vorynn class I posted earlier this week.
-Lord Rahvin
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