Simple House Rule for Ritual Casting - thoughts?

[Dragonblade]

I've just instituted a house rule changing casting time from minutes into rounds. I'll be curious if it makes a difference in how often rituals get used.

Me too. But how long do your 4e combats last? Most of mine are done in less than 10 rounds, so if your game is anything like mine, you may not see a lot of 10 minute rituals getting cast. But there are a few 1 and 5 minute ones you'll probably see.

 

[Starfox]

Maybe we should measure ritual casting in real time? If, by the next time the ritual caster's turn comes up, enough time has elapsed RL to cast the ritual, it goes of?

(Only half joking here)

or would this just lead to filibustering at critical junctures?

 

[Nytmare]

For a real life vs game time mechanic to have any chance of working, you'd need the time limit to be stacked against the players. "Do X things in the next X minutes." That would work for a "stop the bad guys before their ritual goes off" scenario or a "for every arcana check the mage is able to make before 10:30, you get a +2 to try and close the portal." Otherwise, yeah. There's really no good way to negate the incentive to just sit around doing nothing.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Here are some ritual house rules I'm using in my own campaign. We are still in heroic tier but there haven't been any problems so far.



House rules:

1)Ritual prices represent the cost to scribe them into a ritual book. A ritual can only be cast by someone who has mastered it which involves writing it in a personal book. Rituals above 1st level are kind of like ancient passed down knowledge. When a ritual is transcribed from one source to another it dissappears from the original source.

2) As a result of the rarity of higher level rituals, only 1st level rituals are generally available for sale.

3) Most rituals can be performed as a standard action. There are some exceptions.

4) Once a ritual is known it becomes a daily power. With a few exceptions there is no monetary cost to use these powers.

 

[weem]

Here are some ritual house rules I'm using in my own campaign. We are still in heroic tier but there haven't been any problems so far.



House rules:

1)Ritual prices represent the cost to scribe them into a ritual book. A ritual can only be cast by someone who has mastered it which involves writing it in a personal book. Rituals above 1st level are kind of like ancient passed down knowledge. When a ritual is transcribed from one source to another it dissappears from the original source.

2) As a result of the rarity of higher level rituals, only 1st level rituals are generally available for sale.

3) Most rituals can be performed as a standard action. There are some exceptions.

4) Once a ritual is known it becomes a daily power. With a few exceptions there is no monetary cost to use these powers.

Hey hey, thanks for swingin' in

I'm curious about #3 - can you share one or more of the exceptions? I'm curious about specifics. For example, do you simply draw the line at a time limit... like... 1 hour rituals can not be cast as standard actions... or is it more specific like... X ritual can not be cast as standard?

 

[ExploderWizard]

Hey hey, thanks for swingin' in

I'm curious about #3 - can you share one or more of the exceptions? I'm curious about specifics. For example, do you simply draw the line at a time limit... like... 1 hour rituals can not be cast as standard actions... or is it more specific like... X ritual can not be cast as standard?

For the most part creation ( brewing potions & enchanting), powerful divinations, and rituals that take a lot of magical energy (such as bringing back the dead) take more time and may require money/materials and tax the caster (healing surges).

 

[Mercurius]

I've only skimmed this thread, so forgive me if my idea has already been voiced (it is similar to eriktheguy's and Ryven's, I believe).

I haven't used this yet in a game session, but I'm playing with the idea of having "ritual stones" in which PC casts a ritual during an extended rest as normal (time, components, etc) into a prepared magic stone that holds it, like a charge. The ritual can be "activated" with a standard action at any time and the stone is "emptied," although can be recharged through casting it again. The PC can have as many charged ritual stones as he or she can carry.

I'd probably want to institute some sort of price beyond the component cost so as to avoid the "infinite bag of ritual stones" likelihood, but I haven't thought too much about it yet. But one thing that comes to mind is the idea that the ritual caster has to use up one of their power slots, depending upon the casting time of the ritual. 10 minute rituals could be "free" at-wills, 30 minute rituals could require spending an encounter power, and hour rituals require daily powers. That might be a bit extreme, though. Maybe the component cost is enough? Or maybe some sort of CON check must be made or the PC is drained in some way? Any ideas on this?

 

[Fanaelialae]

I've only skimmed this thread, so forgive me if my idea has already been voiced (it is similar to eriktheguy's and Ryven's, I believe).

I haven't used this yet in a game session, but I'm playing with the idea of having "ritual stones" in which PC casts a ritual during an extended rest as normal (time, components, etc) into a prepared magic stone that holds it, like a charge. The ritual can be "activated" with a standard action at any time and the stone is "emptied," although can be recharged through casting it again. The PC can have as many charged ritual stones as he or she can carry.

I'd probably want to institute some sort of price beyond the component cost so as to avoid the "infinite bag of ritual stones" likelihood, but I haven't thought too much about it yet. But one thing that comes to mind is the idea that the ritual caster has to use up one of their power slots, depending upon the casting time of the ritual. 10 minute rituals could be "free" at-wills, 30 minute rituals could require spending an encounter power, and hour rituals require daily powers. That might be a bit extreme, though. Maybe the component cost is enough? Or maybe some sort of CON check must be made or the PC is drained in some way? Any ideas on this?

Perhaps, similar to the way that certain rituals can be maintained, the ritualist needs to expend a healing surge every day in order to keep the ritual stone charged (failing to do so causes the ritual to fade, unused). This also solves the infinite ritual stones problem, as it's unlikely that anyone would be willing to keep more than one or two stones charged at once.

 

[Mercurius]

Perhaps, similar to the way that certain rituals can be maintained, the ritualist needs to expend a healing surge every day in order to keep the ritual stone charged (failing to do so causes the ritual to fade, unused). This also solves the infinite ritual stones problem, as it's unlikely that anyone would be willing to keep more than one or two stones charged at once.

That is a good idea, although it might be enough that the caster has to spend a healing surge to use a stone, or maybe up to three surges depending upon the casting time (10 minutes - 1 surge, 30 minutes - 2 surges, 60 minutes - 3 surges).

 

[Myn]

This thread has brought up some great points and ideas. I would like to share the system I’ve implemented after talking to my players. It is a modification of eriktheguy’s memorized system, though I’ve changed “memorized” to “prepared” to explain how PCs store the energy needed to cast it. I’ve addressed some points in this thread and that my players had when I designed this (namely the ability to cast rituals without being prepared and other mechanical things)

Houserule changes to Rituals

Preparing a Ritual: In addition to normally performing rituals (PHB 298)you can prepare any ritual you are able to perform. To do so you must spend the required component cost and full performance time of the ritual. Instead of the ritual being cast at the completion of the performance, it is instead prepared; allowing you to execute it quickly at a later time (the main purpose is usually to perform rituals in combat). Do not roll any skill checks required for the ritual when you prepare it. You can prepare 2 rituals a day at the heroic tier, 3 at paragon, and 4 in epic.
Rituals remain prepared until it is cast or until you choose to replace it. Should you choose to replace a ritual, you are refunded the component cost spent preparing it. You cannot prepare a ritual scroll.

Casting a Prepared Ritual: You begin casting a prepared ritual as a standard action. You are slowed and weakened until the ritual is completed or until you end the ritual as a free action. For every additional standard action you spend casting the ritual, you gain an arcane charge. You may complete the ritual as a free action by expending an arcane charge for every full 10 minutes of the ritual’s preparation time. You roll any skill checks required for the ritual at this time. Rituals which require special preparation (e.g. a circle drawn on the ground or a focus of any kind) are still subject to those requirements. Upon successful completion, the ritual is expended and no longer prepared.

The charge cost is only for every full 10 minutes of preparation time. A ritual whose preparation time is 1-9 minutes takes 0 charges, allowing you to cast it as a standard action, while a ritual with a preparation time of 10 ro 19 minutes takes two standard actions to cast, and so on.

Casting a Ritual that is Not Prepared: In combat, it is possible to cast a ritual that you have not prepared. Doing so requires a great deal of energy be harnessed on the spot, bringing considerable risk. Perform the ritual as if you had prepared it with the following modifications:

· You spend the required component cost at the beginning of the performance. Should the ritual be unsuccessful, you may be refunded only half the component cost.
· Upon the ritual’s completion, you expend 1d4 healing surges. The amount of surges spent depends on the level of the ritual and of the caster; for every two levels the caster is higher subtract a surge from the cost (to a minimum of 0 surges). You must complete the ritual at this point; you cannot stop it should you dislike the amount of healing surges you must spend.
· Should the healing surges you must spend exceed the number you have remaining you take damage equal to your healing surge value + ½ your level for each healing surge you are short. This damage cannot be reduced in any way. The ritual is then completed, even if you fall unconscious or die.

Other Requirements:
· You must have your ritual book or spellbook open and held in at least one hand while performing a ritual.
· If while casting a ritual you take damage in excess of your healing surge value, make an endurance check (DC 10 plus 1 for every 2 points of damage your surge value is exceed by) If failed, you lose an arcane charge.
· If you spend an action point to gain an extra action while casting a ritual, it must be spent on performing the ritual, and may only grant an additional arcane charge (any benefits from feats or other effects do not apply to an action point)
· If you become stunned, unconscious, or do not use your standard action to sustain the ritual, it fails.
· Upon a ritual’s completion or failure, you lose any unspent arcane charges.
· The DM has the final say on if a ritual may be used in combat.