Class that makes up its spells on the fly

[ruijoel2]

Is there a spellcasting class that instead of casting from a list of rigid spells, it combines several components to make a different spell on the spot?
I'm not thinking of something like the elder Scrolls, where you have a few spells with knobs to make it more or less powerful. I'm thinking of improvising from the environment. For example:

Summon grease + create flame = barbecue.
Summon grease + gust of wind = knock down
Grow weed + animate object = entangle
Summon Water + barbecue = fog

Someone certainly had this idea before me, but did it ever produce a simple and fun class? I'm not worried about balance or system (it doesn't have to be d20).

 

[ccs]

You might look to Ars Magica.
I don't think you can make the spells up on the fly, but you can certainly build your own. Pretty flexible system.

I'm also sure that the HERO system will give you what your looking for. Somehow. Though HERO falls into the catagory of way more work than I want to do come game night....

 

[Blue]

Simple, fun, and very flexible. Sounds like one of those "pick two" scenarios. IIRC early White Wolf had some of this in Mage: the Ascention. But it's been a few decades since I played it. Some of the more narrative systems like FATE probably can handle it well. (Though not their Dresden Files RPG, it was fun and flexible but not so simple.)

I think one big issue is in a game that going down into bullet time in combat like D&D to have a flexible system that's also as fast as everyone else's turn.

 

[MechaPilot]

The BtVS rpg that uses the cinematic unisystem rules has a good system for making your own spells. If you did this in combat, it could easily slow things down as you calculate the increases and decreases in the power level of the spell (which determines the number of success levels you need to cast it).

 

[Lehrbuch]

You might look to Ars Magica.

Yes. Ars Magica has a system like this.

PC magi can invent formulaic spells (effectively during downtime, takes one or more seasons), they can also cast spontaneous spells on-the-fly, in a combat round. Usually an individual PC can invent greater magnitude (i.e. more impressive, more damage, etc) formulaic spells than they can cast spontaneous spells, but you need to be organised at least months (in character) in advance to use formulaic magic.

It's a great system, but really slow if the players are not highly conversant in the rules and prepared.

 

[ruijoel2]

That's not quite the vibe I was looking for.

I was thinking of a MacGyver sorcerer who would combine a few weak spells to produce a strong effect.

 

[Nytmare]

[MENTION=63]RangerWickett[/MENTION] made this: https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12730.phtml

 

[Erekose]

I think the Mage in Monte Cook's d20 World of Darkness made spells up rather than choosing from a spell list

 

[RangerWickett]

[MENTION=63]RangerWickett[/MENTION] made this: https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12730.phtml

The Elements of Magic system was inspired by the RPG Talislanta's game mechanics. The basic concept is that you get magic points (MP) based on your level, and you learn a number of 'spell lists' each level. Each spell list is a "verb + noun" combination. The maximum amount of MP you can spend on a spell is equal to your caster level.

Verbs are Attack, Charm, Create, Cure, Defend, Illusion, Infuse, Move, Summon, Transform, and nouns are a variety of elements (air, fire, life, death, space, time) or creature types (animal, dragon). Then there are General modifiers for range, area, duration, etc.

You make spells on the fly by spending MP on different effects of a specific verb+noun combo. So you could do, like "Attack Fire 3/Move Space 2/General 2" as a 7 MP spell that would drop a fireball at your feet and let you teleport away from the blast.

If I were going to revise it for 5e I'd probably simplify the mechanics a fair bit, since it was a little clunky.

 

[Jediking]

I was thinking of a MacGyver sorcerer who would combine a few weak spells to produce a strong effect.

Maybe an Alchemist would work? There are quite a few great alchemical, herbalism, and potion-making rules and pdf available that could really help you out. Combining different spell potions, or a potion with an environmental effect could give what you are looking for. They could start with basic potions and simple combinations, then unlock more as they level up.