Looking for comments: New wizard spell casting system

WIZARD SPELL CASTING

Threshold Rating—every wizard has a Threshold rating. This number determines the number of spells he can prepare and the difficulty of casting his spells. A wizard's Threshold rating is equal to (1 + his level) / 2 (max. 9).

Learning Spells—a wizard can learn any spell of any level he desires. All he needs to do is study it for 1 day per spell level (1/2 day for a cantrip) and he can add it to his spell book.[/color]

Preparing Spells—a wizard prepares spells to make them less strenuous to cast. At any time, a wizard can have a number of spell levels prepared equal to 3 x his Threshold rating. In addition, he may prepare a number of cantrips equal to his Int mod + his Threshold rating. Preparing a spell requires 10 minutes.

Casting Spells—when casting a prepared spell, a wizard must make a Spellcraft check (base DC 10 + (2 x spell level). A +5 is added to the DC for every level the spell is above the wizard's Threshold rating. The check can be modified by a number of factors.

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  *The armor check penalty of any armor worn is applied to the Spellcraft check.
  *A penalty equal to the number of points of damage the wizard takes while casting.
  *A +1 (max. +5) for every round spent concentrating before beginning casting.

If the check is successful, then the spell is cast and takes effect normally. If the check fails, the prepared spell is still used up.

Casting Unprepared Spells—in extreme circumstances, a wizard will not have time to prepare a spell that he needs. In these cases, he can attempt to cast the spell directly from his spell book. In order to cast an unprepared spell, the wizard must first consult his spell book (a full round action that incites an attack of opportunity). After this round, which is considered part of the spell casting for purposes of tracking damage, the wizard may begin to cast the spell.
When casting an unprepared spell, a wizard must make a Spellcraft check (base DC 20 + (2 x spell level). A +5 is added to the DC for every level the spell is above the wizard's (Threshold rating – 1). The check itself can be modified by a number of factors.

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  *Armor and damage affect the check just as they would for a prepared spell.
  *Concentration cannot improve the die roll. Instead, the wizard may spend time partially preparing the spell. Every minute spent in preparation grants a +1 to the skill check (to a maximum of +9 after which the spell would be completely prepared).

If the Spellcraft check is successful, then the spell is cast normally. Regardless of success or failure, casting an unprepared spell is strenuous. The wizard takes subdual damage equal to the spell's level + 1.

Metamagic Feats and Spell Casting—a wizard does not prepare spells with metamagic feats included; instead, he chooses which feats to add at the time of casting. The metamagic increases the spell level (and thus the DC) of the spell just as it ordinarily would. To determine the DC of a metamagically enhanced spell, add the spell level to the total level modifiers for the feats: this is the adjusted level of the spell. If the adjusted level is above the wizard's Threshold rating, then the +5 per exceeded level is added in normally.

The Spell Roll—when a spell is cast, a single d20 is rolled. This single roll determines three things about the spell. First, it determines the success or failure of the spell casting (the Spellcraft check). Second, it is the die roll for the caster level check to overcome Spell Resistance. Finally, it becomes the base for the save DC of the spell: the wizard's Intelligence modifier and the spell's level are added to the roll to determine the final save DC.

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  *Rolling a "1"—most of the time a "1" during a skill check signifies disaster. In spell casting, this is no different. If a natural "1" is rolled on a spell casting check it represents a botched casting. If the modified roll would be a failure, then the spell fails normally; if, however, the modified roll is a success, then the spell succeeds but with minimal effect. Any die rolls that would modify the effect of the spell (damage, HD effected, etc.) are automatically minimized (usually meaning a "1" on the die roll). If there are no random effects, then the spell works, but as poorly as possible (DM discretion).

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Any comments would be welcome...I'm looking to try to balance this with other spellcasters who have the advantage of their spells always working and the cap on prepared spells can really limit wizards in the short term. They can always take the time to prepare a spell, but only if they have the time to take.

Hmmmmmm ...
it appears that your wizard can cast less spells than a wizard can cast now and he has difficulty casting them...

sounds nice if you are running a very low magic campaing.

actually, he can prepare spells any time during the day so he can in theory cast any number of spells during a day, it simply takes time to do so.

That is what I'm looking for comment on. Is it unbalanced?

Thanks for you comments.

Bright Blue!!!
My eyes! My EYES!!!
OH GOD!

MythandLore said:

Bright Blue!!!
My eyes! My EYES!!!
OH GOD!

Click to expand...

sorry...sorry dude...got a little exicted

The colors have gone away LOL

comments still welcome. please

*bump*

any help with this would be appreciated...

Some help, but not very positive...

Things I like about your system :

1. It is an easy way to lower the power of wizards in the game, which is cool when you want a low-magic setting. I prefer high-magic setting like the FR, but if I wanted to run a low-magic campaign, this system would be good as having a spell doesn't mean that you will be able to cast, thus creating some more tension.

2. The ability to cast unprepared spells is pretty cool. However, I believe it weakens low-level wizards more than high-level ones, which is a pity since low-level wizards are already weaker than the other classes.
Example 1 : A level 1 wizard with max ranks in Spellcraft (4) and 18 INT. Total in Spellcraft : +8. To cast a level-1 spell unprepared, DC 22. He thus succeeds on a 14-20.
Example 2 : A level 17 wizard with max ranks in Spellcraft (20), 26 INT (18 + 4 at level 4, 8, 12 and 16 + 4 from objects, either Headband of Intellect or a book, or wishes...) and Skill Focus : Spellcraft (I would most definitely take this feat if I used this system) : +30 (or 31 since Skill Focus is +3 when I DM). To cast a level-9 spell unprepared, DC 38. He thus succeeds on a 8-20. And you mustn't forget that he can also cast as many level 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 spells as he wishes.

3. The ability to cast higher-level spells than normally is cool. And here, low-level wizards have a boost. But one mustn't forget that a low-level wizard normally has less spells available than a higher-level one.
Example 1 : The same wizard wants to cast a level-2 spell that he prepared. DC 19. He thus succeeds on a 11-20.
Example 2 : The same wizard, but at level 16. The only difference is that he has 19 ranks in Spellcraft. He wants to cast a prepared level-9 spell : DC 43. He succeeds on a 14-20.


Things I do not like about your system :

1. Why mess with the system from the PHB? It works fine for me, so I don't need to change!

2. When does a wizard needs more spells? During fights, dungeons, and the likes. A wizard can prepare less spells with your system than he would with the "normal" system. Thus, the wizard becomes either weaker (which he already does since he's not 100% sure that his spells, his only way of defending himself, will work), or he becomes the whiner who always wants to stop in the middle of the dungeon (and the game session) to re-memorize his spells.

3. More dice! It means that fights will be slower and that when the party isn't in combat but investigating or dealing with others, there will be a need of throwing dice, taking away from the roleplay to throw dice (BTW, I'm not a big fan either of Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive or this kind of checks, preferring to let the players roleplay and only roughly compare their skill with the opposing skill of the NPC).

4. The system would be too easily breakable by a high-level wizard. At level 20, a wizard can easily have made a Headband of Intellect +6 and 5 scrolls of Wish to raise his INT. With the 5 raises at level 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20, he know has 34 in INT. If you add max ranks in Spellcraft and Skill focus : Spellcraft, he adds 37 to his Spellcraft checks, which means that a level-20 wizard developed to abuse this system (I agree that IT IS abusing the system, but I don't know many 20-level wizards that don't look like this anyway) is able to cast any unprepared spell that he wishes.

CONCLUSION
1. The full-round action to read a spell from one's spellbook when casting it unprepared is REALLY necessary. But then again, at high-level, I'd memorize 27 Time Stop. If I'm not lucky, I'll only have time to cast one unprepared spell during the duration of the spell. But If I'm lucky, I might have time to cast two spells and spend a round reading it from the spellbook to cast it the round following the end of the Time Stop.

2. The system seem to be good at low- and mid-level, but becomes unbalanced at high level. It might not matter much for people who like low- and mid-level play, but as I'm a huge fan of high-level campaigns, that's one of the first thing I look when I see a new rule.

3. Finally, I'd like to suggest a cosmetic change : make the time to prepare a spell related to its level : 10 min/level of the spell seems fine. It makes more sense that a spell taking 2 pages in a spellbook take a shorter time to prepare than a spell covering 18 pages.

Sorry if I do not like your system much because I found flaws in your systems, but as you asked for feedback, I supposed that you'd prefer receiving bad feedback with (what I hope is) constructive criticism rather than none!

Thank you for your feedback. Yes, criticism is exactly what I was looking for. There is not point in everyone just gushing over how exciting they think something is...it doesn't really help it get better.

I understand the reluctance about adding another die roll. Outside of combat, I would allow the wizard to Take-10; there would be no real purpose in not letting them. I thought that making the one roll set everything that might need to be rolled in terms of the spell (perhaps even touch attack roll, what do you think) might keep this slowdown to a minimum.

My main question is this: I was concerned that this system would make wizards too powerful but I keep hearing that it reduces their power. I'm looking for more input on this issue.

This is how I see it:
a first level wizard can prepare 3 1st level spells (compared to 1 or 2 according to the standard wizard) and probably 5 cantrips (assuming an Int of 18). In combat, she would probably use a number of these...after which she could then prepare spells back up to her maximum. There is no need for rest before preparing a spell.

In the case of an 17th level wizard, he can prepare 27 levels of spells, which would likely run toward the higher level spells, but simply casting all the low level spells unprepared is time consuming (an extra full round action), dangerous (subdual damage plus any damage taken during the preparation round being counted against the Spellcraft check), and even if their skill bonus would allow them to automatically succeed, a roll must still be made during combat because of the chance of Botching.

I'm attaching a chart that breaks down the difficulties by Threshold and the average rolls needed.

Intresting... have you seen the Wheel of Time spellcasting?

Sovereign Stone

You should look at the Sovereign Stone d20 campaign sourcebook and the codex mysterium. The spell casting system there accomplishes your objectives, but in a much cleaner fashion. Wizards can cast spells on the fly, don't have to memorize spells, know some spells better than others, have to make a roll to cast the spell, etc.