Someone
Adventurer
A couple things to have in mind before you read the actual house rule: this magic system is intended for a homebrew campaign that´s significantly separated from the usual D&D assumptions; lower magic (no large amount of cheap wands or scrolls), no dungeons, UA classes (warrior, expert and spellcaster), no hit points, and small narrative chapters featuring at most 1 combat encounter, not the 4-fights-per-day normally assumed. So yes, under this rules a wizard can cast a lot of Disintegrates in one day. Only that it won’t be so useful as in a normal campaing.
The intent of the rule is a) to simulate the way magic works in the books the campaign is based on, and b) reduce the impact of a fresh spellcaster in a fight. I want wizards to be effective, but not overly so. With this system, they trade increased rate of firepower for versatility: they can cast many spells, any spell they know, and transcend their limits, but at the cost of being able to fire a potent spell at most every two or three rounds. An added amount of strategy for the wizard is choosing to cast a relatively low level spell now, or a powerful spell later in the fight.
Notice again that there’s only one spellcasting class, as we’ll be using the UA variant. Therefore, "wizard" "mage" and "spellcaster" are used interchangeably, and their meaning is the same in all cases.
Magic
Spellcasting uses energy. The energy can come from the mage’s own self, or –as it’s most frequently done- can be extracted from the world’s elemental components; they can be extracted from water currents, fires, the very air, or strongholds of the earth. Generally, any place the wizard is standing on can be used for energy extraction, though there can be, at the DM’s discretion, other places where it can me extracted with more ease, or where it’s scarce. Once extracted, a wizard can store easily a limited amount of energy within his body, enough to cast some simple spells. The energy required to cast more powerful spells requires a greater effort to control, and must be gathered in the spot since if released uncontrolled it can harm the wizard.
In game terms a spellcaster can store safely an amount of energy points equal to his caster level plus one. This is the maximum energy stored (MES)
a spell requires an amount of energy equal to it’s level plus it’s caster level. The spellcaster decides when casting the spell the actual caster level: it must be at least the minimum level at which the spell can be casted, but there’s no upper limit but the amount of energy the wizard is able to gather: the caster level isn’t limited by the level in the Spellcaster class.*
The wizard doesn't need to prepare the spells beforehand, they just must know them.**
Notice also that generally a wizard won’t be able to cast his higher level spells with just the amount of energy he’s able to store safely.
Recharging energy
As a standard action that doesn’t provoke attack of opportunity, a spellcaster can recharge a number of energy points that depends on his spellcaster level:
To release energy stresses the wizard’s body. Every time you cast an spell, you must roll 1d6 (the stress die). Rolling a 1 in the stress die means that your MES is reduced by 1. If you spend more energy casting a single spell than your current MES, it’s reduced by 1 rolling a 1 or 2 in the stress roll.
A wizard gets back those point of MES drained by casting spells with a night´s rest.
If the current MES is ½ of the maximum, rounding up, the wizard is fatigued until he rests one night. If they drop to 1/4th of the maximum rounding up, he’s exhausted instead. If they drop to 0, he falls unconscious.
Absorbing more energy points than your normal maximum
As previously said, there’s nothing that stops you from gathering more energy than you can safely contain for a long period, and it’s indeed the only way to cast your more powerful magic. However, every round you start with more energy than you can hold you must use a move action and succeed on a Spellcraft check DC 15+the excess points, or at the end of your round:
-You suffer an amount of damage equal to the excess points and they dissipate, and
-Your MES is reduced by 1, as when casting a spell.
You don’t have to make the roll if you get rid of the excess points casting a spell, and if you fail you can use a second move action to hold the energy, though of course this will surely impede you from doing anything else in the round.
Notice you don’t have to make the roll the same round the energy points exceed your MES. Notice how this rule only applies when you absorb many points and want to hold them, maybe because you want to absorb even more. If you merely absorb energy in round X and cast in round X+1, you don’t face the risk of energy dissipation.
If necessary, a spellcaster can use the energy of his own body. As a swift action, she can suffer an amount of ability burn (see XPH: ability burn is like ability damage, but can’t be healed by magical means) up to his level in the spellcaster class to his Constitution ability, and gain the same amount of energy points.
*Since you're paying for the caster level, I'll eliminate the damage cap of most spells. Yes, medium level wizard will be able to cast fireballs with damage dice in the high teens, but that doesn't worry me. With caster levels so variable, I'll have to rethink how spell resistance works, though creatures with SR will be scarce anyway.
**The mechanics of spell adquisition are a bit different. A spellcaster pays a small amount of experience for learning spells, but don't have a maximum or need a spellbook.
The intent of the rule is a) to simulate the way magic works in the books the campaign is based on, and b) reduce the impact of a fresh spellcaster in a fight. I want wizards to be effective, but not overly so. With this system, they trade increased rate of firepower for versatility: they can cast many spells, any spell they know, and transcend their limits, but at the cost of being able to fire a potent spell at most every two or three rounds. An added amount of strategy for the wizard is choosing to cast a relatively low level spell now, or a powerful spell later in the fight.
Notice again that there’s only one spellcasting class, as we’ll be using the UA variant. Therefore, "wizard" "mage" and "spellcaster" are used interchangeably, and their meaning is the same in all cases.
Magic
Spellcasting uses energy. The energy can come from the mage’s own self, or –as it’s most frequently done- can be extracted from the world’s elemental components; they can be extracted from water currents, fires, the very air, or strongholds of the earth. Generally, any place the wizard is standing on can be used for energy extraction, though there can be, at the DM’s discretion, other places where it can me extracted with more ease, or where it’s scarce. Once extracted, a wizard can store easily a limited amount of energy within his body, enough to cast some simple spells. The energy required to cast more powerful spells requires a greater effort to control, and must be gathered in the spot since if released uncontrolled it can harm the wizard.
In game terms a spellcaster can store safely an amount of energy points equal to his caster level plus one. This is the maximum energy stored (MES)
a spell requires an amount of energy equal to it’s level plus it’s caster level. The spellcaster decides when casting the spell the actual caster level: it must be at least the minimum level at which the spell can be casted, but there’s no upper limit but the amount of energy the wizard is able to gather: the caster level isn’t limited by the level in the Spellcaster class.*
The wizard doesn't need to prepare the spells beforehand, they just must know them.**
Notice also that generally a wizard won’t be able to cast his higher level spells with just the amount of energy he’s able to store safely.
Recharging energy
As a standard action that doesn’t provoke attack of opportunity, a spellcaster can recharge a number of energy points that depends on his spellcaster level:
Code:
Spell caster level: Points recharged (up to):
1 1d3
2 1d3
3 1d4
4 1d6
5 1d8
6 1d8
7 2d6
8 2d6
9 2d6
10 2d6+1
11 2d6+2
12 2d6+3
13 2d6+4
14 2d6+5
15 2d6+6
16 2d6+7
17 2d6+8
18 2d6+9
19 2d6+10
20 2d6+11A wizard gets back those point of MES drained by casting spells with a night´s rest.
If the current MES is ½ of the maximum, rounding up, the wizard is fatigued until he rests one night. If they drop to 1/4th of the maximum rounding up, he’s exhausted instead. If they drop to 0, he falls unconscious.
Absorbing more energy points than your normal maximum
As previously said, there’s nothing that stops you from gathering more energy than you can safely contain for a long period, and it’s indeed the only way to cast your more powerful magic. However, every round you start with more energy than you can hold you must use a move action and succeed on a Spellcraft check DC 15+the excess points, or at the end of your round:
-You suffer an amount of damage equal to the excess points and they dissipate, and
-Your MES is reduced by 1, as when casting a spell.
You don’t have to make the roll if you get rid of the excess points casting a spell, and if you fail you can use a second move action to hold the energy, though of course this will surely impede you from doing anything else in the round.
Notice you don’t have to make the roll the same round the energy points exceed your MES. Notice how this rule only applies when you absorb many points and want to hold them, maybe because you want to absorb even more. If you merely absorb energy in round X and cast in round X+1, you don’t face the risk of energy dissipation.
If necessary, a spellcaster can use the energy of his own body. As a swift action, she can suffer an amount of ability burn (see XPH: ability burn is like ability damage, but can’t be healed by magical means) up to his level in the spellcaster class to his Constitution ability, and gain the same amount of energy points.
*Since you're paying for the caster level, I'll eliminate the damage cap of most spells. Yes, medium level wizard will be able to cast fireballs with damage dice in the high teens, but that doesn't worry me. With caster levels so variable, I'll have to rethink how spell resistance works, though creatures with SR will be scarce anyway.
**The mechanics of spell adquisition are a bit different. A spellcaster pays a small amount of experience for learning spells, but don't have a maximum or need a spellbook.
Last edited:
