High and low magic

[Cheiromancer]

I think I would do high magic a little differently. In the NBoPl we have:

High Magic Field: The plane has a particularly potent magic field or connection with magical powers. All spells behave as if cast using the Empower Spell feat. The property could be modified by selecting the group(s) of spells that the high magic field affects, for example only arcane spells from the School of Necromancy are affected.

I would suggest that the default enhancement be extended, enlarged, focussed and penetrating. In other words, enhanced spells:

• last twice as long
• have twice the range
• have +2 to their save DC's
• add +2 to the caster level for the purpose of overcoming SR

I suggest this change because almost all spells will benefit from at least one of these feats (but not all; cf Animate Dead), while the percentage of spells that are helped by Empower is quite a bit smaller.

Thus Mage Armor is helped, as is Dimension Door and Fireball, but for different reasons. Empowering or Maximizing would help Fireball but not the other two.

Similarly I would like to tinker with the definition of low magic. The NBoPl has:

Low Magic Field: The plane has a particularly weak magic field or a poor connection with certain magical powers. All variable, numeric effects of spells cast on the plane are decreased by one-half, rounding down. This deduction does not affect saving throws or spells without random variables. The property can be modified by selecting the group(s) of spells that the reduced magic field affects, for example only arcane spells from the School of Illusions are affected.

One possiblity is to make a low magic area the reverse of a high magic area. We would have to define the reverse of some feats, however ('Depowered"- multiple variables by 2/3, "Minimized"- all variable results are as if a 1 were rolled on the die, etc.) If this option were taken, the default low magic area might have affected spells

• last half as long
• have half the range
• have -2 to their save DC's
• subtract 2 from all SR checks

If we took this route (which I kind of like), we should also have the Difficult Magic property, which requires a Spellcraft check to cast a spell. I could see four different DC's:

10 + Spell Level: impedes low level casters who don't spend skill points on spellcraft

15 + Spell Level: A little harder. Doesn't interfere much with high level casters.

15 + 2 x Spell Level: Fairly difficult for all casters.

20 + 2 x Spell Level: Max out those skill ranks, get skill focus, and still expect spells to fail a lot.

A flexible way of categorizing these would be to list the DC in parentheses. E.g. Difficult Magic (DC=15 + 2 x Spell Level). There should be a default definition here too. Probably the second or the third.


edit: removed references to Manual fo the Planes

 

[kingpaul]

I think I would do high magic more like the MotP.

The only problem that I foresee with doing this is that MotP is not OGC. Therefore you can't use it, and shouldn't even try to emulate anything in it. I know that WebWarlock (the current Compliance Officer for the FaNCC) has suggested when creating OGC and d20 products of putting all WotC material away, and only use the SRD and other companies' OGC. But that's just my 2 coppers.

 

[Cheiromancer]

I was just referencing the MotP for the sake of completeness. My conclusions differ from both the MotP and the draft rules of the NBoPl. And the terminology differs.

But perhaps the default "Difficult Magic" should be DC=15 + 2 x spell level. It scales better: no matter what level a mage gets to, their highest level spell is just as difficult to cast.

There should probably be a feat that allows one to counteract the effects of an unfavorable magical environment. Maybe like this:

Self-Powered (Metamagic feat)
A self-powered spell ignores the standard low magic restrictions. It has normal range, duration and save DC, and affects SR normally. Spellcraft checks to cast a Self-Powered spell have a +4 to the check roll. A self-powered spell takes up a spell-slot one level higher than the unmodified spell.

A metamagic feat that allows a spell to be cast in a no-magic zone would be neat, too. I don't know how big a spell-slot bump it should take, though. Maybe as high as +6? Certainly no lower than +3.

 

[Telgian]

Greetings,

I like your ideas about the "Difficult Magic" property. I also tend to like your first version of it. It immediately brought the idea to mind that an archmage would find such a property useful, if inclined to carve himself out a private plane. (After all, what self respecting archmage *doesn't* have a concentration score of 40?)
Just food for thought.

Regards,
Telgian.

 

[ax0n]

Thanks for the feedback - I have to admit, I didn't think about what spells would be affected when I created the Low/High Magic special properties. here they are with you're ammendments:

High Magic Field: The plane has a particularly potent magic field or connection with magical powers. Spells cast in a plane with a High Magic Field have double duration, double range, +2 DC save to resist and add +2 to the caster level for the purpose of overcoming SR. The property could be modified by selecting the group(s) of spells that the high magic field affects, for example only arcane spells from the School of Necromancy are affected. This property could also be modified by improving the bonuses to casting spells.

Low Magic Field: The plane has a particularly weak magic field or poor connection with magical powers. Spells cast in a plane with a Low Magic Field have half duration, half range (both rounded up), -2 DC save to resist and -2 to the caster level (minimum of 1) for the purpose of overcoming SR. The property could be modified by selecting the group(s) of spells that the low magic field affects, for example only arcane spells from the School of Necromancy are affected. This property could also be modified by improving the penalties to casting spells.

Perhaps the Difficult Magic special property could be modifed to a Spell Resistance special property, where a whole plane has a spell resistance to cast spells?

P.S. With regard to your excellent Self-Powered feat: a spell cast with it would not only be unaffected by the penalties of a Low Magic Field, but also the bonuses of a High Magic Field?

 

[Cheiromancer]

Good call on the "Self-powered" feat. It would indeed prevent a spell from being enhanced ina high magic zone.

I like the Spell Resistance special property. It could be made dependent on spell level so that low level spells were easier to cast than high level spells, or vice versa.

For use in no magic areas, how about this feat:

Sovereign Spell (metamagic)
A sovereign spell can be cast in an area with the no-magic special property. It adds +20 to the caster level for the purpose of overcoming a plane's Spell Resistance. A sovereign spell receives no special benefit against a creature's SR, or against abjuration spells. A sovereign spell takes up a spell-slot four slots higher than the unmodified spell.

 

[ax0n]

The only problem that I foresee with doing this is that MotP is not OGC. Therefore you can't use it, and shouldn't even try to emulate anything in it.

Actually, nothing in Cheiromancer's post was infringing anyone's copyright. All the feats he mentioned were OGL and are in the SRD, so making the leap of applying them across planes doesn't require much imagination. I think we all have to be responsible not to plagerise, but I don't think we should become so careful it borders on paranoia and we become so limited all we can do is produce a book full of feats, spells, prestige classes and little else.

 

[ax0n]

Remember to contribute your work!

I don't know if you saw in the other thread, but you need to contribute your excellent work with a Statement of Authority to Contribute and your Contributor ID before I can use it.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Like this?

I, Jim Gordon Stenberg, Contributor ID 131, release the following submissions to the DnD Community as Open Gaming Content in accordance with the terms addressed in my DnD Community Council Permission Agreement and the Open Gaming License:

Sovereign Spell (metamagic)
A sovereign spell can be cast in an area with the no-magic special property. It adds +20 to the caster level for the purpose of overcoming a plane's Spell Resistance. A sovereign spell receives no special benefit against a creature's SR, or against abjuration spells. A sovereign spell takes up a spell-slot four slots higher than the unmodified spell.

Self-Powered (Metamagic feat)
A self-powered spell ignores the standard low magic restrictions. It also ignores any benefits provided by a high magic field. The spell has normal range, duration and save DC, and affects SR normally. Spellcraft checks to cast a Self-Powered spell have a +4 to the check roll. A self-powered spell takes up a spell-slot one level higher than the unmodified spell.

High Magic Field (Special Property): The plane has a particularly potent magic field or connection with magical powers. Spells cast in a plane with a High Magic Field have double duration, double range, +2 DC save to resist and add +2 to the caster level for the purpose of overcoming SR. The property could be modified by selecting the group(s) of spells that the high magic field affects, for example only arcane spells from the School of Necromancy are affected. This property could also be modified by improving the bonuses to casting spells.

Low Magic Field (Special Property): The plane has a particularly weak magic field or poor connection with magical powers. Spells cast in a plane with a Low Magic Field have half duration, half range (both rounded up), -2 DC save to resist and -2 to the caster level (minimum of 1) for the purpose of overcoming SR. The property could be modified by selecting the group(s) of spells that the low magic field affects, for example only arcane spells from the School of Necromancy are affected. This property could also be modified by improving the penalties to casting spells.

Spell Resistance (Special Property): The plane actively resists the casting of spells. To determine if a spell or spell-like ability functions, the spellcaster must make a level check (1d20 + caster level). If the result equals or exceeds 20, the spell or spell-like ability functions normally. The property could be modified by increasing or decreasing the requirements of the level check, or by selecting the group(s) of spells that the spell resistance affects. For example only evocations of the subtype Fire are affected. The property could also be modified to vary with the spell level. For example the DC of the level check may be 15 + 2 x spell level.

 

[ax0n]

Just like that