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Alt. Spell-learning rules (some math involved)
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<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 3167463" data-attributes="member: 19675"><p>I haven't gone through everything on this, so this is only a partial response...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's a good idea.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, this is about organized research and study...I think it will have to stay Int based. Tying a skill that models the learning process to a stat like Wis or Cha just doesn't make sense to me.</p><p></p><p>Besides, those PCs who don't use Int for spellcasting generally don't have to study their spells anyway- they just <em>know</em> theirs, or they are granted them by their gods. By and large, its not going to affect them much, unless they're trying to add spells from another class' list.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't think that's the best assumption. Almost any primary spellcaster is going to place his highest stat in his casting stat, if for no other reason than he can't gain access to the higher level spells at all without it.</p><p></p><p>A 14 or 15 would represent the absolute minimum for a caster intending to retain a full progression. 16-17 would be the middle guys, and 18+ would be the star pupils.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Its not that the magic is moderate at all- the world has the same amount of magic in it as before, but there are no teachers or textbooks- every spellcaster is forging his own path. Originally, I was going to have each player design their own spells, but I didn't find a system that was flexible enough to do so without changing certain fundamental features of the game's magic system. One thing I can count on in my group is that several of the more influential (read: more likely to complain) players don't want major variations in the system. If it doesn't smell like D&D, they won't play it.</p><p></p><p>The idea is that a mage is researching several spells at a time at any given time in his life. If he is (mechanically) unsuccessful with learning one particular spell at this time, he is still likely to learn ONE of the ones he's researching. The assumption is that the player will choose the one he most wants for his PC, and that, even if he fails the first roll, the odds will still favor him getting a spell that he likes...even if its a stronger form of a lower level spell or a weaker form of a higher level spell.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, I can't depend on that. Think- if I do that, I'd have to ensure that there were a certain number of tomes and scrolls lying around for them to find each few adventures. That kind of screws the campaign's "most written texts, spellbooks included, have been destroyed, along with the civilizations that created them" theme. The way I'm seeing the campaign, there may only be a couple of scrolls or books lying around in a given 5 level arc...and I'm planning on having only one active school of wizardry <em>in the world.</em> Only in the subterranean empires that survived would there be any appreciable number of spellbooks lying around, and not only will they be jealously guarded, it will be some time before the PCs would be powerful enough to adventure in those areas...and if they don't have spells before then, they'll fail anyway!</p><p></p><p>I mean, we're talking about a world in which a scroll with a couple of 1st level spells might be as valuable (in GP terms) as a powerful staff, simply because it can be used to teach others.</p><p></p><p>With that kind of text rarity, depending on that plot driven "you only learn what you find" campaign mechanic would simply screw the spellcasters.</p><p></p><p>Instead, I'm allowing a meta version of that. I'm assuming the PCs are constantly finding bits and scraps, and piecing them together along with their own research...and I don't have to sprinkle actual tomes and scrolls across the landscape.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Overall, though, I think you're right- my per-level mods may be too high. What do you think of 2/level (PHB) and 3/level (non-PHB)?</strong></p><p></p><p>As for the non-PHB, Specialist and Opposed school mods...I'm still mulling those over. In a sense, non-PHB spells are supposed to be "rarer" than the PHB spells, so there will be less known and knowable data on how to recreate those spells in this campaign world, thus they should be harder to learn. Specialists should find learning school spells fairly easy, since they're intimately familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of their specialty. Learning opposed school spells should be truly difficult- especially since it is a "gift" as compared to an outright ban in the base game... But I can concede that my mods may still be off.</p><p></p><p>Anyone else have an opinion on those in particular?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 3167463, member: 19675"] I haven't gone through everything on this, so this is only a partial response... That's a good idea. Well, this is about organized research and study...I think it will have to stay Int based. Tying a skill that models the learning process to a stat like Wis or Cha just doesn't make sense to me. Besides, those PCs who don't use Int for spellcasting generally don't have to study their spells anyway- they just [I]know[/I] theirs, or they are granted them by their gods. By and large, its not going to affect them much, unless they're trying to add spells from another class' list. I don't think that's the best assumption. Almost any primary spellcaster is going to place his highest stat in his casting stat, if for no other reason than he can't gain access to the higher level spells at all without it. A 14 or 15 would represent the absolute minimum for a caster intending to retain a full progression. 16-17 would be the middle guys, and 18+ would be the star pupils. Its not that the magic is moderate at all- the world has the same amount of magic in it as before, but there are no teachers or textbooks- every spellcaster is forging his own path. Originally, I was going to have each player design their own spells, but I didn't find a system that was flexible enough to do so without changing certain fundamental features of the game's magic system. One thing I can count on in my group is that several of the more influential (read: more likely to complain) players don't want major variations in the system. If it doesn't smell like D&D, they won't play it. The idea is that a mage is researching several spells at a time at any given time in his life. If he is (mechanically) unsuccessful with learning one particular spell at this time, he is still likely to learn ONE of the ones he's researching. The assumption is that the player will choose the one he most wants for his PC, and that, even if he fails the first roll, the odds will still favor him getting a spell that he likes...even if its a stronger form of a lower level spell or a weaker form of a higher level spell. Unfortunately, I can't depend on that. Think- if I do that, I'd have to ensure that there were a certain number of tomes and scrolls lying around for them to find each few adventures. That kind of screws the campaign's "most written texts, spellbooks included, have been destroyed, along with the civilizations that created them" theme. The way I'm seeing the campaign, there may only be a couple of scrolls or books lying around in a given 5 level arc...and I'm planning on having only one active school of wizardry [I]in the world.[/I] Only in the subterranean empires that survived would there be any appreciable number of spellbooks lying around, and not only will they be jealously guarded, it will be some time before the PCs would be powerful enough to adventure in those areas...and if they don't have spells before then, they'll fail anyway! I mean, we're talking about a world in which a scroll with a couple of 1st level spells might be as valuable (in GP terms) as a powerful staff, simply because it can be used to teach others. With that kind of text rarity, depending on that plot driven "you only learn what you find" campaign mechanic would simply screw the spellcasters. Instead, I'm allowing a meta version of that. I'm assuming the PCs are constantly finding bits and scraps, and piecing them together along with their own research...and I don't have to sprinkle actual tomes and scrolls across the landscape. [B] Overall, though, I think you're right- my per-level mods may be too high. What do you think of 2/level (PHB) and 3/level (non-PHB)?[/B] As for the non-PHB, Specialist and Opposed school mods...I'm still mulling those over. In a sense, non-PHB spells are supposed to be "rarer" than the PHB spells, so there will be less known and knowable data on how to recreate those spells in this campaign world, thus they should be harder to learn. Specialists should find learning school spells fairly easy, since they're intimately familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of their specialty. Learning opposed school spells should be truly difficult- especially since it is a "gift" as compared to an outright ban in the base game... But I can concede that my mods may still be off. Anyone else have an opinion on those in particular? [/QUOTE]
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