Alternate Magic Systems

[Pielorinho]

I know that several companies have published magical systems that present an alternative to the Vancian "fire-and-forget" D&D rules. I'm interested in maybe adding an alternative system to my campaign, but when I've flipped through books at my FLGS, I've been unable to grasp the essentials of other systems in five minutes of looking at a book.

I'm wondering if some kinds souls out there would be willing to summarize some of the alternate systems for me, mentioning which books they appear in? Here's an example of what I'm looking for (although my example isn't D20):

Werewolf: characters gain "gifts," which are magical abilities granted to them by spirits. A character's gifts are limited by their "rank" (equivalent roughly to level), their moon sign, and their tribe. Using a gift has a cost, usually a "gnosis" cost, but sometimes a "rage" cost. Characters have a set amount of gnosis points and rage points, which they regenerate through in-game actions (e.g., meditating in a caern regenerates gnosis, whereas getting hit in battle regenerates rage).

Thanks!
Daniel

 

[Tsyr]

Slaine's magic system: Characters gain rank in a small amount of magical skills (such as Bless, Divination, and Sorcery), which determine their magical abilities. Any character can learn magic, provided they are willing to spend skill points on it, though the two magic using classes provided (Druid and Witch) get numerous bonuses related to magic. Spells are learned via the Sorcery skill... as you put points into it, you can learn more spells. Spells are fueled by "Earth Power", a sort of mana system. Every being has some earth power, once again, the magic using classes have more. Nobody has tons of it, though, so to get more quickly, ritual sacrifice, the taping of Dolmen Stones (basicly magic batteries), etc, are used. A bit more low magic than the DnD norm, but very enjoyable. If you want your magic to be a bit more earthy, ritualistic, and yet at the same time a bit more accessable, this is your bag. It works very well for a magic system where magic is just a set of rules that the world follows... Anyone can, theoreticly, do magic, if they have been taught how, and if they are strong enough.

Fading Suns: Technicly it's a sci-fi game, but the magic system would port easily. Again, it's a skill based system, with a form of "power points". You learn magic in a sort of "chain" system... You learn one core ability (such as an ability that gives assorted protection effects), then you slowly learn more abilities from that core ability. You can learn multiple core abilities. Split up into two systems (Basicly it would be arcane magic and psionics, as near as I can figure, in DnD terms...). Casting a spell requires skill checks to determine how well the spell succeeds, what you can do with it, etc, if it works at all.

Sov. Stone: Sov. Stone uses a system that is comfortably similar to DnD, yet new and unique at the same time. Magic is still very "arcane"... Book learning and all that. You still learn set spells, etc. Instead of spell slots, when you go to cast a spell, you begin channeling power (Using D20 checks), building up power each turn until you have enough to cast the spell you want. Each turn you don't get enough power to cast the spell, the strain of casting tires you out (subdual damage). An interesting side effect of this is that a high-level wizards can cast effectivly an unlimited number of minor spells (since they get so high a bonus to their channeling roll it's basicly impossible for them to fail it), while a low level wizard can theoreticly throw around some mighty mojo... If they want to chance it. It's an elemental magic system... Earth, Air, Fire, Water, four composite elements from those four, and Void. Void is risky... It causes real damage, not subdual, among other things. No skills involved (That is, no skill points) other than what default DnD uses. Casters have a number of spells that they know by heart, a number that they can cast with only glancing at a spellbook to refresh their memory, and the rest they basicly have to study for ahead of time.

 

[Pielorinho]

Excellent, Tsyr -- this is exactly what I'm looking for! Sovereign stones looks closest to what I'd like, but the other two also look interesting. Where is Slaine's system located?

Daniel

 

[Sagan Darkside]

Shadowforce Archer (from spycraft) has a system that revolves around the number of worshippers/followers you have during a ceremony.

There are few minor spells- most are large scale effects. I don't recall there being any class (though perhaps a PrC or two)- it is mostly a feat system. (all IIRC- it has been a while since I have read their magic rules)

SD

 

[Orias]

The system my friends & I use are somewhat a mix between Wheel of Time, standard D&D, & kind of elements from Mage & Shadowrun. Basically we allow a sliding system where depending on an INT + concentration roll where you can shift the level of the spell up or down levels, & we have a Fort Save roll to determine if the caster loses a sort of 'virtual' constitution, which limits how much magic they can cast in a day. I don't like the idea of mages only being able to cast "so much", I think a mage should become tired as they cast, but be able to try to physically force themselves to go "beyond the limit", but possibly knock themselves out or even kill themselves.

 

[kengar]

COC (d20 version): Characters learn spells one at a time, sometimes taking weeks to study an old book that they found the spell in. PCs gain "Cthulhu Mythos" skill from this research as well: the more you know about the Mythos, the less sane you can be. Eventually, gaining this kind of knowledge will drive you mad.

Casting is pretty much whenever the PC wants, but they can lose attribute points like STR & WIS (temporary or sometimes even permanent) plus lose SAN points (driving them even closer to madness). The net result? Magic is limited and dangerous, but can be very powerful in the right situations.

Many people have adapted CoC magic to a D&D type game by simply making the attribute damage temporary for nearly all spells and dropping the SAN rules.

 

[d20Dwarf]

Midnight: The Midnight spell system is one of rare magic, so it might not fit what you are looking for, but I'll give you the rundown. Any character can cast spells, as spellcasting is based on feats rather than class. You select the Magecraft feat, which grants you the ability to cast a cantrip and is the prerequisite for all Spellcasting feats. Spells are divided by schools and level, and you must select the Spellcasting feat related to the school of magic you wish to cast from. There is no distinction between arcane and divine magic. You then can learn spells through study, being taught, or mediatation. You can cast any spell you know, but doing so causes an amount of Constitution damage equal to the spell's level. You can reduce this damage in a number of ways. It might take some work to implement out of Midnight, since obviously all core spellcasting classes must have that ability taken away. The system itself however can be modified to fit your needs.

 

[Tsyr]

Excellent, Tsyr -- this is exactly what I'm looking for! Sovereign stones looks closest to what I'd like, but the other two also look interesting. Where is Slaine's system located?

Daniel

Ah. My bad.

Slaine's is located primarily in the Slaine D20 Core Rulebook... Hardcover by Mongoose Publishing. If you're leary of the purchase cost of a hardcover book for a magic system, consider it also includes rules for naming and blooding weapons, care and upkeep of flint and iron weapons, an honor system, new monsters, etc. There are more spells in other supplements, but...

Fading Suns magic system is in the Fading Suns core book.

Sov. Stones can be found in either the Sov. Stone Campaign Setting book, or the Codex Mysterium, also for Sov. Stone. The core magic system is included in both, the difference is spells. Codex Mysterium really lacks some of what I would consider "basic" spells. Of the two I would suggest getting the core book... You get the magic system, some new core classes, etc, and all the basic spells you would need for a while.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

The system itself however can be modified to fit your needs.

Are the spells the standard d&d spells- or did you come up with news ones for the setting?

SD

 

[d20Dwarf]

Are the spells the standard d&d spells- or did you come up with news ones for the setting?

SD

The system works with standard spells. I'm attaching Greg's recent analysis from the Midnight listserver for clarity, since he always explains things better than I do.


Note that channelers get a pool of spell energy they can use before
they even dip into their Con. Channelers get spell energy equal to
their spellcasting ability modifier plus their channeler level. They
can use this spell energy to cast spells without suffering Con
damage.

So, for example, a 1st-level channeler with a 16 in his spellcasting
ability modifier will be able to cast 4 1st-level spells each day
without suffering any Con damage. In a pinch, he can cast a hell of
a lot *more* spells per day than a low-level spellcaster in the core
rules, but he'll pay for it. And yeah, he can kill himself if he
reduces his Con to 0.

There are other ways you can increase your pool of spell energy
(heroic paths, races) and ways you can decrease the spell energy
cost of certain spells. Spell talismans are items that do this
either for specific spells or spells from a specific school. Wizards
get big discounts on prepared spells; druids get discounts on spells
from the druid list (both are prestige classes).

You recover all Con damage from spellcasting with a full night's
rest. It's a limit on how many spells you can cast each day, but it
doesn't have any lingering effects.

As a general comparison with the spellcasters in the core rules,
channelers have a *lot* more flexibility. They're spontaneous
casters, don't require material components unless they're costly,
and have no hard limits on the number of spells they can learn. They
can use metamagic simply by paying the increased cost in spell
energy with no penalty on actions like spontaneous casters in the
core rules (this rocks!). Their caster level and spells per day
aren't directly tied to their class level, so it's much easier for
them to multiclass. In terms of spellcasting ability specifically,
they're generally more capable at low levels and less capable at
high levels (i.e., more balanced across the board, in my opinion).