Aleph (College of Magic)?

[Kryndal Levik]

Has anyone used Aleph (or a similar "ancient magic language) in their campaigns? Aleph was the "language of the ancients" in College of Magic; a wizard character could take Aleph I (using four proficiency slots!!!!) to get what are essentially metamagic feats. I've been wanting to convert this concept into 3E, but was wondering if anyone else had seen anything similar...?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I've been meaning to. Tome and Blood uses the College of Wizardry as inspiration for one Prestige Class - Mage of the Arcane Order - and converts the head of the College, Japheth Arcane, and his familiar to 3e; the section about the Arcane Order comes right from College of Wizardry. T&B is a good book to look at for a start at a total conversion.

 

[Eosin the Red]

What the Colonel said. I like the spellpool stuff but it would be interesting to thown the primordial language into the mix.

 

[Kryndal Levik]

I actually completed a conversion today, but now I'm second-guessing myself. I did it as a feat, but now I'm wondering whether it should be a skill... Any thoughts? Either way, I'll post my conversion (based on your feedback).

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Let's see it as a Feat first. I'll be able to make more of an assessment then. Based on the fact that Tome and Blood emphasizes feats in regard to their treatment of the College, you're probably on the right track.

 

[Kryndal Levik]

Here's my first shot- I would say it's "inspired by" aleph instead of being a true conversion, per se. I threw in the "flavor text" as it applies to my campaign (made generic for public use, of course).

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Very nicely started, Kryndal.

The feats are amazingly powerful, but I suggest a sortof different variation:

For Elder Tongue, don't make it metamagick but simply a feat stating that you get +2 on your caster level checks to overcome spell resistance whenever using any spell that has a V component.

For Elder Tongue I, I suggest a prerequisite of having at least 2 metamagick feats. Instead of giving a metamagick feat to the spell for free, and for balance's sake, I suggest instead giving the caster a bonus (that stacks with Elder Tongue) on his caster level checks to overcome spell resistance whenever using any spell that has been metamagicked with a V component equal to the number of levels added from metamagic feats by the spell. (Aka, casting a 6th level equivilant maximized fireball would grant you a total of +5 to your spell penetration roll, 2 for Elder Tongue +3 for maximizing a spell with Elder Tongue 1, and an additional +2 if you had Spell Penetration)