VioletSamurai
First Post
From the first draft of the House Rules handout I'll be giving to my players.
Magic
Wizards vs Sorcerers
Ignore the entry on Sorcerers in the Class section. We're not using them. I've rolled them back up into Wizards, who now get the best of what both Wizards and Sorcerers have to offer. There are some who have a natural aptitude for learning arcane magic, but it doesn't come spontaneously to anyone. It requires years of study of long and complicated formulas that manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe (think nuclear physics).
If you want to play a caster who's spells "just come to him naturally," play a caster of divine magic (which is bestowed by the gods).
Starting Spells, Gaining New Spells
This works mostly how it does in the book, with some minor changes:
Divine casters (Clerics/Druids/Paladins/Rangers) have access to any spells on their list that they are high enough level to cast.
Wizards begin play with a spellbook containing all 0-level wizard spells (except any from an opposition school if the wizard is a specialist), and a number of 1st level spells equal to the wizard’s Intelligence bonus +3. At each new wizard level, the character gains 2 new spells of any level he can cast. A wizard can also add spells found on scrolls or in other wizard’s spellbooks.
Bards begin play with a songbook containing a number of 0-level spells equal to his Charisma bonus +3. At each new bard level, the character gains 2 new spells of any level he can cast. A bard can also add spells found in other bard’s songbooks.
Bards cannot learn spells from wizard spellbooks (and vice versa). While both classes practice arcane magic, wizards focus more on the “science” of things, while bardic magic is heavily intermixed with music, song, and verse.
There is no limit to the number of spells any caster can know. Given enough time and levels, he can learn every spell on his class list.
Spell Memorization Spell Points
We're not using spell memorization. Ignore all the "Spells per Day" tables in the book. Memorization sucks. No spellcasters in this game have to decide in advance which of their spells they will be able to cast on a given day, because that’s lame.
Instead, a character gets a certain number of Spell Points per day that they can use to cast any spell they know. For Arcane casters (Wizards and Bards), this means any spell in their spellbook/songbook that they are high enough level to cast. For Divine casters (Clerics, Druids, Paladins, and Rangers), this means any spell on their list that they are high enough level to cast, and that doesn’t directly conflict with their god’s domains (followers of Lawful deities can’t cast Chaos spells, etc.).
(Here there are tables telling everyone how many spell points they get and how many points spells cost to cast. Rather than reposting the tables, I'll just post the formulas.)
Spell Points per Day:
Wizards/Clerics/Druids: (Caster Level x15) + (Stat Bonus)
Bards/Paladins/Rangers: (Caster Level x10) + (Stat Bonus)
For Wizards, the key stat is Int. For Clerics/Druids/Paladins/Rangers, it is Wis. For Bards, it is Cha.
Spell Point Cost: (Spell Level) +1
Cleric Domains & Specialist Wizards
The bonus spells a Cleric gets from their Domains and a Wizard gets from specializing in a particular school of magic work just like they do in the book - a free casting, independent of spell points. Just mark off a check next to the spell level in the space indicated on your character sheet when you use it. For Clerics, the free spells they get at each level are fixed depending on their domain. Specialist Wizards can cast any spell they know from their speciality school as their free spell for each level.
Spell Point Recovery, Spellcasting
Spell Points replenish at a rate of 1/5 (or 20%) of the caster's total per hour of rest. So it takes 5 hours of rest to get back all your spell points. (You'll notice that, ability bonuses aside, all the spell point totals are conveniently divisible by 5.)
If the Wizard/Bard spends at least 1 hour studying his spellbook/songbook, or if the Cleric/Paladin/Druid/Ranger spends at least 1 hour in prayer, then they can cast spells normally that day. If they choose not to (or don't get a chance to) study/pray/practice that day, then when they try to cast a spell they must roll a check against a DC equal to 15 + the spell level. For Wizards, this is a Knowledge: Arcana roll. For Clerics/Paladins/Druids/Rangers, it is a Knowledge: Religion roll. For Bards, it is a Perform roll. If they fail, they still expend the spell points, but fail to cast the spell. The only exception to this is Read Magic, which is the first spell any wizard learns to cast and which any wizard can cast from memory. Spells selected with the Spell Mastery feat also disregard this rule (and all spellcasters, arcane and divine, can take Spell Mastery).
(I'm turning the Spellcraft skill into an application of Knowledge: Arcana and Knowledge: Religion. I'm doing the same with several other skills - Listen + Spot = "Notice," Hide + Move Silently = "Stealth," etc. Honestly, I'd prefer to just be running True20, but my players want D&D crunch.)
Metamagic Feats
These work the same way they do in the rulebook. If you use a feat that forces you to cast the spell as if it were a higher level, you have to spend enough spell points to cast a spell of that increased level.
Magic
Wizards vs Sorcerers
Ignore the entry on Sorcerers in the Class section. We're not using them. I've rolled them back up into Wizards, who now get the best of what both Wizards and Sorcerers have to offer. There are some who have a natural aptitude for learning arcane magic, but it doesn't come spontaneously to anyone. It requires years of study of long and complicated formulas that manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe (think nuclear physics).
If you want to play a caster who's spells "just come to him naturally," play a caster of divine magic (which is bestowed by the gods).
Starting Spells, Gaining New Spells
This works mostly how it does in the book, with some minor changes:
Divine casters (Clerics/Druids/Paladins/Rangers) have access to any spells on their list that they are high enough level to cast.
Wizards begin play with a spellbook containing all 0-level wizard spells (except any from an opposition school if the wizard is a specialist), and a number of 1st level spells equal to the wizard’s Intelligence bonus +3. At each new wizard level, the character gains 2 new spells of any level he can cast. A wizard can also add spells found on scrolls or in other wizard’s spellbooks.
Bards begin play with a songbook containing a number of 0-level spells equal to his Charisma bonus +3. At each new bard level, the character gains 2 new spells of any level he can cast. A bard can also add spells found in other bard’s songbooks.
Bards cannot learn spells from wizard spellbooks (and vice versa). While both classes practice arcane magic, wizards focus more on the “science” of things, while bardic magic is heavily intermixed with music, song, and verse.
There is no limit to the number of spells any caster can know. Given enough time and levels, he can learn every spell on his class list.
Spell Memorization Spell Points
We're not using spell memorization. Ignore all the "Spells per Day" tables in the book. Memorization sucks. No spellcasters in this game have to decide in advance which of their spells they will be able to cast on a given day, because that’s lame.
Instead, a character gets a certain number of Spell Points per day that they can use to cast any spell they know. For Arcane casters (Wizards and Bards), this means any spell in their spellbook/songbook that they are high enough level to cast. For Divine casters (Clerics, Druids, Paladins, and Rangers), this means any spell on their list that they are high enough level to cast, and that doesn’t directly conflict with their god’s domains (followers of Lawful deities can’t cast Chaos spells, etc.).
(Here there are tables telling everyone how many spell points they get and how many points spells cost to cast. Rather than reposting the tables, I'll just post the formulas.)
Spell Points per Day:
Wizards/Clerics/Druids: (Caster Level x15) + (Stat Bonus)
Bards/Paladins/Rangers: (Caster Level x10) + (Stat Bonus)
For Wizards, the key stat is Int. For Clerics/Druids/Paladins/Rangers, it is Wis. For Bards, it is Cha.
Spell Point Cost: (Spell Level) +1
Cleric Domains & Specialist Wizards
The bonus spells a Cleric gets from their Domains and a Wizard gets from specializing in a particular school of magic work just like they do in the book - a free casting, independent of spell points. Just mark off a check next to the spell level in the space indicated on your character sheet when you use it. For Clerics, the free spells they get at each level are fixed depending on their domain. Specialist Wizards can cast any spell they know from their speciality school as their free spell for each level.
Spell Point Recovery, Spellcasting
Spell Points replenish at a rate of 1/5 (or 20%) of the caster's total per hour of rest. So it takes 5 hours of rest to get back all your spell points. (You'll notice that, ability bonuses aside, all the spell point totals are conveniently divisible by 5.)
If the Wizard/Bard spends at least 1 hour studying his spellbook/songbook, or if the Cleric/Paladin/Druid/Ranger spends at least 1 hour in prayer, then they can cast spells normally that day. If they choose not to (or don't get a chance to) study/pray/practice that day, then when they try to cast a spell they must roll a check against a DC equal to 15 + the spell level. For Wizards, this is a Knowledge: Arcana roll. For Clerics/Paladins/Druids/Rangers, it is a Knowledge: Religion roll. For Bards, it is a Perform roll. If they fail, they still expend the spell points, but fail to cast the spell. The only exception to this is Read Magic, which is the first spell any wizard learns to cast and which any wizard can cast from memory. Spells selected with the Spell Mastery feat also disregard this rule (and all spellcasters, arcane and divine, can take Spell Mastery).
(I'm turning the Spellcraft skill into an application of Knowledge: Arcana and Knowledge: Religion. I'm doing the same with several other skills - Listen + Spot = "Notice," Hide + Move Silently = "Stealth," etc. Honestly, I'd prefer to just be running True20, but my players want D&D crunch.)
Metamagic Feats
These work the same way they do in the rulebook. If you use a feat that forces you to cast the spell as if it were a higher level, you have to spend enough spell points to cast a spell of that increased level.
