IndyPendant
First Post
From what I've seen on the House Rules forum here, people seem to think Wizards, Clerics, and Druids are fine as is. I have one problem with them, though, so I've implemented the following House Rule that will likely be entirely controversial. It's a lot to read, but you may find it interesting.
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MAGIC:
Perhaps one of the most sweeping changes I have made to DND is in regards to magic. Before I go into what I’ve done to so radically change it, I should describe why. Wizards in particular get a great many useful ‘utility’ spells—Feather Fall and Arcane Lock are just a couple that come to mind—that have such a limited application that they are almost never memorized in advance—and thus are almost never used, usually reducing the wizard to selecting combat spells exclusively, since those are almost always useful. To a lesser extent, Druids and Clerics suffer from this problem as well. For this reason, I have devised the following changes to the way magic works.
Preparing Spells:
Anyone that prepares spells (i.e., all divine and arcane casters except sorcerors and bards) no longer has to choose spells in advance. Instead, they get that number of spell 'slots' per level per day. At the time they cast the spell, they choose which spell to cast, and simply subtract one 'slot' of the appropriate level. (In other words, ‘standard’ casters have become a lot like the way sorcerors and bards are in the PHB.) You are still limited to the spells you could normally cast--so, for example, the wizard can't cast Magic Missile if he doesn't have it in his spellbook. You also must still spend the time readying your mind to cast the spells; usually this amounts to one hour/day. And any spells enhanced by a metamagic feat will still take up a higher-level slot as normal. (This can perhaps be easier understood by an example: a 3rd-level Wizard with a 14 Int would be able to cast 4/3/2 0th/1st/2nd level spells respectively per day, chosen at the time he casts them, rather than at the beginning of the day when he used to memorize them.)
‘Innate’ Spellcasters:
To compensate for the benefits the other casters now enjoy, sorcerors and bards--and anyone with similar spellcasting abilities--now utilize a total 'spell point pool' that they draw from whenever they cast a spell. This pool is equal to the total spell levels of *all* the spells they can cast in one day; 0th-level spells count as 1/2 for this purpose. When they cast a spell, they simply subtract the spell level from the total 'pool'. You *must* have enough points to cast the spell! No casting Web if you only have 1.5 SP's in your pool...
Meta-magically enhanced spells remove a number of spell points equal to their newly adjusted, higher level. (So, for example, a 4th-level sorceror with a 14 Cha would have a pool of 18 spell points (6x(1/2)+7x1+4x2) to spend on all his spells, and simply subtracts spell levels from this pool as he casts spells.)
In addition, in the PHB pg 78, it says that if innate spellcasters cast a Metamagically-Enhanced spell, they must take extra time to do so: 1 action becomes 1 full-round action, and longer spells take one addition full round. I have removed this rule; metamagic spells take no longer to cast than the normal versions (unless the specific metamagic feat says otherwise, of course). All other spellcasting rules apply, however (so they still use up spell points equal to their adjusted, higher level for example).
Finally, innate spellcasters get one other enhancement: at the beginning of any level, they can choose any number of spells and ‘unlearn’ them. From that point on, they no longer know that spell, and cannot cast it—this is *not* optional. It’s gone. The benefit, however, is that at the start of the *next* level, they can then replace the spell they ‘forgot’ with another one of equal or lower level, as per usual spellpicking rules (if you decide you made a mistake, you can pick the same spell again. So, for example, upon reaching 6th level, a Sorceror could choose to ‘forget’ Summon Monster II. From that point on, it’s as if he never knew how to cast the spell. At 7th level, he can then choose any other spell from the Sorceror list of 2nd level or lower to replace it.
Spell Levels:
Spells of the same name cast by different classes are considered the same for the purposes of caster level. So, for example, a 4th/4th Bard/Cleric would cast Bull’s Strength as an 8th level spellcaster; but a 4th/2nd Sorceror/Cleric would still cast Web as a 4th-level spellcaster because Web isn’t available to Clerics.
Counterspelling:
Spells of the same name cast by different classes are also considered the same for the purposes of counterspelling. For example, a Bard could counter a cleric's Bull’s Strength spell--as long as he meets all the other requirements. In addition, when a caster attempts to counter a spell by casting the same spell to nullify it, he makes his spellcraft check as normal. If he fails, or if the spell turns out to be one that he cannot cast for whatever reason, he can *then* choose to cast the spell Counterspell (assuming he knows it instead. (I believe somewhere the rules say you have to choose beforehand, but I can't find the page reference or I'd put it in here. This *does* overrule the book.)
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Tell me what you think.
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MAGIC:
Perhaps one of the most sweeping changes I have made to DND is in regards to magic. Before I go into what I’ve done to so radically change it, I should describe why. Wizards in particular get a great many useful ‘utility’ spells—Feather Fall and Arcane Lock are just a couple that come to mind—that have such a limited application that they are almost never memorized in advance—and thus are almost never used, usually reducing the wizard to selecting combat spells exclusively, since those are almost always useful. To a lesser extent, Druids and Clerics suffer from this problem as well. For this reason, I have devised the following changes to the way magic works.
Preparing Spells:
Anyone that prepares spells (i.e., all divine and arcane casters except sorcerors and bards) no longer has to choose spells in advance. Instead, they get that number of spell 'slots' per level per day. At the time they cast the spell, they choose which spell to cast, and simply subtract one 'slot' of the appropriate level. (In other words, ‘standard’ casters have become a lot like the way sorcerors and bards are in the PHB.) You are still limited to the spells you could normally cast--so, for example, the wizard can't cast Magic Missile if he doesn't have it in his spellbook. You also must still spend the time readying your mind to cast the spells; usually this amounts to one hour/day. And any spells enhanced by a metamagic feat will still take up a higher-level slot as normal. (This can perhaps be easier understood by an example: a 3rd-level Wizard with a 14 Int would be able to cast 4/3/2 0th/1st/2nd level spells respectively per day, chosen at the time he casts them, rather than at the beginning of the day when he used to memorize them.)
‘Innate’ Spellcasters:
To compensate for the benefits the other casters now enjoy, sorcerors and bards--and anyone with similar spellcasting abilities--now utilize a total 'spell point pool' that they draw from whenever they cast a spell. This pool is equal to the total spell levels of *all* the spells they can cast in one day; 0th-level spells count as 1/2 for this purpose. When they cast a spell, they simply subtract the spell level from the total 'pool'. You *must* have enough points to cast the spell! No casting Web if you only have 1.5 SP's in your pool...
Meta-magically enhanced spells remove a number of spell points equal to their newly adjusted, higher level. (So, for example, a 4th-level sorceror with a 14 Cha would have a pool of 18 spell points (6x(1/2)+7x1+4x2) to spend on all his spells, and simply subtracts spell levels from this pool as he casts spells.)In addition, in the PHB pg 78, it says that if innate spellcasters cast a Metamagically-Enhanced spell, they must take extra time to do so: 1 action becomes 1 full-round action, and longer spells take one addition full round. I have removed this rule; metamagic spells take no longer to cast than the normal versions (unless the specific metamagic feat says otherwise, of course). All other spellcasting rules apply, however (so they still use up spell points equal to their adjusted, higher level for example).
Finally, innate spellcasters get one other enhancement: at the beginning of any level, they can choose any number of spells and ‘unlearn’ them. From that point on, they no longer know that spell, and cannot cast it—this is *not* optional. It’s gone. The benefit, however, is that at the start of the *next* level, they can then replace the spell they ‘forgot’ with another one of equal or lower level, as per usual spellpicking rules (if you decide you made a mistake, you can pick the same spell again
. So, for example, upon reaching 6th level, a Sorceror could choose to ‘forget’ Summon Monster II. From that point on, it’s as if he never knew how to cast the spell. At 7th level, he can then choose any other spell from the Sorceror list of 2nd level or lower to replace it.Spell Levels:
Spells of the same name cast by different classes are considered the same for the purposes of caster level. So, for example, a 4th/4th Bard/Cleric would cast Bull’s Strength as an 8th level spellcaster; but a 4th/2nd Sorceror/Cleric would still cast Web as a 4th-level spellcaster because Web isn’t available to Clerics.
Counterspelling:
Spells of the same name cast by different classes are also considered the same for the purposes of counterspelling. For example, a Bard could counter a cleric's Bull’s Strength spell--as long as he meets all the other requirements. In addition, when a caster attempts to counter a spell by casting the same spell to nullify it, he makes his spellcraft check as normal. If he fails, or if the spell turns out to be one that he cannot cast for whatever reason, he can *then* choose to cast the spell Counterspell (assuming he knows it
instead. (I believe somewhere the rules say you have to choose beforehand, but I can't find the page reference or I'd put it in here. This *does* overrule the book.)*******************************************
Tell me what you think.
