DMZ2112
Chaotic Looseleaf
I’m about to run the two wizards in my Dragonlance campaign through their Tests, one of the core requirements of which is defeating a magical opponent more powerful than themselves. I’m kind of dissatisfied with the idea of them just standing in a room and hurling spells at another wizard until one of them rolls high enough to come out ahead, so I came up with some quick and dirty counterspelling rules to make it feel more like a Gandalf vs. Saruman raw magic slugfest than a one-man-band D&D encounter.
I think it works something like this. If you know a spell, you know how to break it. This seems like basic safety. So if you can recognize a spell you know being cast by an opponent (with an Arcana check), you can use your reaction to disrupt it by expending a spell slot of the same level or higher, and smack him with the backfire for 1d6 force damage per spell slot level (yours, not his – you channel all the extra oomph right into his face).
In turn, your opponent can attempt to disguise his spell with an Arcana check of his own, and if he fails he can make an Intelligence save to work the magic spike back into the Weave and take half damage.
These rules don't necessarily replace the Counterspell spell; that spell has the benefit of working on any spell, even one you don't know, and possibly on spells higher than the level of the Counterspell (which this technique cannot do). This is a more slapdash approach that calls upon mastery of magical forces simpler than a spell but carries with it the additional benefit of possibly tossing another mage onto his dress-wearing butt.
How does that sound? I think this would be a basic function of spellcasting, available to all casters, not just wizards. I'm debating whether it should work across classes, though.
I think it works something like this. If you know a spell, you know how to break it. This seems like basic safety. So if you can recognize a spell you know being cast by an opponent (with an Arcana check), you can use your reaction to disrupt it by expending a spell slot of the same level or higher, and smack him with the backfire for 1d6 force damage per spell slot level (yours, not his – you channel all the extra oomph right into his face).
In turn, your opponent can attempt to disguise his spell with an Arcana check of his own, and if he fails he can make an Intelligence save to work the magic spike back into the Weave and take half damage.
These rules don't necessarily replace the Counterspell spell; that spell has the benefit of working on any spell, even one you don't know, and possibly on spells higher than the level of the Counterspell (which this technique cannot do). This is a more slapdash approach that calls upon mastery of magical forces simpler than a spell but carries with it the additional benefit of possibly tossing another mage onto his dress-wearing butt.
How does that sound? I think this would be a basic function of spellcasting, available to all casters, not just wizards. I'm debating whether it should work across classes, though.
