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Message: <blockquote data-quote="StarFyre" data-source="post: 4971905" data-attributes="member: 26055">After a friend wanted to be a true wild mage (not the travesty that was the 3.5E prestige class version, or the 4E sorceror)...true as in..lots of good/bad random stuff happening (and the rest of the party loves it), I created a custom magic system for him for 3.XE.Then, as friends (mainly the warrior players for some odd reason), hated 4E, I converted a similar one for regular wizards in 4E.Essentially, the same table, but a slight difference, and so far everyone loves it and it works great.We have a spreadsheet on a laptop (printed, but most players have a laptop for them to keep track of stuff anyways andfor me to send private into to specific players)...it has aspects of a spell...so stuff like: range, durations, damage dice (if applicable), and some other stuff (for non combat spells).Basically, tehy create the spell effect they want to do, by choosing components of magic and the point values assigned help yield a DC value.  Using their con + int/cha to represent how magic is powerful and takes it's toll on the caster, similar to Warhammer miscasts, they have to roll against that DC.  If they pass it..the spell goes off..if they fail it..it doesn't (or it goes off at an even weaker effect in some cases).  For the wild mage..they have an extra tier. The sheet calculates what they need to cast it, then it indicates what a failure is... AND if they are 5 below a regular failure, that causes a surge (similar to 2E table but we modified it for stuff that makes no sense in 4E).  The difference, is the wild mage is unbounded...creating power cards for the wild mage for many common spells he used, he has 3 choices..he can cast at his equivalent level, half, or try to overload it and go double level.  Since it's so random, we find that it hasn't been a problem(and everyone seem to love it when something good OR bad happens as the roleplaying for some of it is priceless (ie. he destroyed a church, when a surge caused a small mountain to rise out of the ground and thru the city church..while the towns people watched in horror!!!!)). The regular wizard, is bounded..so there is a divider there that the maximum level can't go as high as teh wild mage..but essentially he can only fail on a very slim chance... normally a 1 or 2...OR if he tries to do something crazy and cast a more powerful effect at a lower level..he could TRY, but if he neds 18+ to get it..and failing it makes him weakened, he won't try it.  The bounding keeps his damage in line with 4E's limits instead of how 2/3.XE worked.  (the wild mage, we left like older methods due to the fun/chaos it causes).The thing my players like the most; the caster player never needs to refer to the PHB...other than for feats or HP/skils, etc.  All his spells, are detailed in one spreadsheet ...  For example, i don't have it here, butthe concept is:A level 15 wizard vs a level 15 wild mageWizard:  Cast fireball, 5d6 damage, needs to roll a 2 or 3+ (forgot which) if he has decent stats (con/int). if he wanted to attempt a timestop (ie. 2 extra actions), he would need to roll a 16+ or something.  Meteor swarm would be natural 20..so probably not happening. Anything below, he is weakened or something..and can't cast until hsi next round (unless he uses an action pt, inw hich case there is a penalty on the next cast attempt)Wild mage; Wild mage ..same fireball at level 15.....he can cast at 7d6 with a 6+ needed...if he rolls 1 ..he causes a surge.  He can cast at 15d6, but he needs a 12+ and a 7 or lower causes a surge, or he can try to cast at 30+, but then he needs a 24+ (which is only possible if he has stats that modify that roll). And he surges on a 19 or lower... (so chances are, he will never try it except in VERY rare situations).It's can be a bit much for some, i imagine, but my group loves it <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />Sanjay</blockquote>

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