Creating An Unlimited "Spellcasting" Class
Kaodi
Hero
Here is some of what I am thinking:
The Channeler - A wisdom based arcane spellcaster that harnesses raw elemental power to blast their foes with. Probably a medium base attack bonus.
The core ability of the channeler is an ability to fire unlimited blasts of elemental energy. They start out being about to do 1d4+Wis damage at short range. At every even level, the number of dice increases by 1. At level 5, 10, 15, and 20, the die increases by 1 size. At level 5, they start out doing d4 in a second element, which increases at 10, 15, 20. At 10th they start out at d4 in a third, at 15th in a fourth, and at 20th level they can do sonic damage.
Beyond that, they get ability at even levels (like many classes) that allow them to manipulate their ability in some way. The most basic of these is to make it a direct attack with a reflex save for half damage. Others allow them to change the effect by sacrificing damage dice. Doubling range, for instance, would cost one die, tripling it would cost two, and so on. Making it a line would cost two or three perhaps.
I would like to add in some kind of charging mechanic as well, but I am not quite sure how yet. Charging up would grant more dice, but would have a mechanic for it blowing up in your face as well if you tried to draw in too much energy.
The Channeler - A wisdom based arcane spellcaster that harnesses raw elemental power to blast their foes with. Probably a medium base attack bonus.
The core ability of the channeler is an ability to fire unlimited blasts of elemental energy. They start out being about to do 1d4+Wis damage at short range. At every even level, the number of dice increases by 1. At level 5, 10, 15, and 20, the die increases by 1 size. At level 5, they start out doing d4 in a second element, which increases at 10, 15, 20. At 10th they start out at d4 in a third, at 15th in a fourth, and at 20th level they can do sonic damage.
Beyond that, they get ability at even levels (like many classes) that allow them to manipulate their ability in some way. The most basic of these is to make it a direct attack with a reflex save for half damage. Others allow them to change the effect by sacrificing damage dice. Doubling range, for instance, would cost one die, tripling it would cost two, and so on. Making it a line would cost two or three perhaps.
I would like to add in some kind of charging mechanic as well, but I am not quite sure how yet. Charging up would grant more dice, but would have a mechanic for it blowing up in your face as well if you tried to draw in too much energy.
SteelDraco
First Post
The channeler, as you've described it, is most closely modeled in Pathfinder with the alchemist's bomb ability. Targeted elemental energy with class choices to modify it describes both abilities, so I'd look to the alchemist for how to set that ability up, and alter it based on the fact that you want it to be completely at-will.
What you're describing is also (obviously) pretty close to the warlock's eldritch blast, since that seems like a good chunk of the inspiration you're going for, with an elementalist vibe. That makes sense, people seemed to like the warlock as a ranged combatant with magical tricks.
I'm not sure how much I like the idea of being limited to one energy type up until 5th level; I believe the alchemist can change their bomb's damage away from fire pretty early on. Warlocks never had to worry about elemental resistances and such, so hampering other elements significantly seems limiting.
Increasing the damage die feels like a strange mechanic to me, but it does avoid having to roll a huge pile of dice to keep the damage about right. 11d12 at level 20 is pretty nasty for a caster, but a fighter of that level can do some pretty sick things in a full attack. I don't play at those levels, so I'm not sure how well this fits in DPS-wise with what's expected up at the higher levels.
The overcharging mechanic could just be a concentration check, with DCs based on how much they want to overcharge. Each action they concentrate on building up the charge, they make a concentration roll, say DC 10 + 2 or 3 per extra die. If they fail this roll they take some damage (all of it, maybe?). You could bump up the DC if you wanted to build up the power faster, too. I'm not sure how often it would be used if it had to build up like that, though, since it would usually be a terrible waste of actions to do that in combat, and walking around with a glowing ball of energy you were concentrating on wouldn't work very well.
What you're describing is also (obviously) pretty close to the warlock's eldritch blast, since that seems like a good chunk of the inspiration you're going for, with an elementalist vibe. That makes sense, people seemed to like the warlock as a ranged combatant with magical tricks.
I'm not sure how much I like the idea of being limited to one energy type up until 5th level; I believe the alchemist can change their bomb's damage away from fire pretty early on. Warlocks never had to worry about elemental resistances and such, so hampering other elements significantly seems limiting.
Increasing the damage die feels like a strange mechanic to me, but it does avoid having to roll a huge pile of dice to keep the damage about right. 11d12 at level 20 is pretty nasty for a caster, but a fighter of that level can do some pretty sick things in a full attack. I don't play at those levels, so I'm not sure how well this fits in DPS-wise with what's expected up at the higher levels.
The overcharging mechanic could just be a concentration check, with DCs based on how much they want to overcharge. Each action they concentrate on building up the charge, they make a concentration roll, say DC 10 + 2 or 3 per extra die. If they fail this roll they take some damage (all of it, maybe?). You could bump up the DC if you wanted to build up the power faster, too. I'm not sure how often it would be used if it had to build up like that, though, since it would usually be a terrible waste of actions to do that in combat, and walking around with a glowing ball of energy you were concentrating on wouldn't work very well.
1Mac
First Post
This is a pretty good take on what you're after. It's not a perfect product, but it's cheap and has a lot of good ideas.
I've thought a lot about how to get rid of per-day abilities and have a few basic ideas:
-Require dice checks for magical effects, like the attack roll for the warlock's Eldritch Blast. Other examples might include a Sleight of Hand check for a spell like mage hand, or Heal checks for healing effects.
-For buffs, debuffs, and for "zone" type effects like protection from evil or alarm, make them unlimited, but only allow a small number of such effects from a single caster to be active at once. This number could be tied to an ability and/or scale with level.
-You can do the same as above for charm and compulsion effects, but you may also want to prevent such an effect from being used against the same target more than once per day.
I've thought a lot about how to get rid of per-day abilities and have a few basic ideas:
-Require dice checks for magical effects, like the attack roll for the warlock's Eldritch Blast. Other examples might include a Sleight of Hand check for a spell like mage hand, or Heal checks for healing effects.
-For buffs, debuffs, and for "zone" type effects like protection from evil or alarm, make them unlimited, but only allow a small number of such effects from a single caster to be active at once. This number could be tied to an ability and/or scale with level.
-You can do the same as above for charm and compulsion effects, but you may also want to prevent such an effect from being used against the same target more than once per day.
Lwaxy
Cute but dangerous
Mana points. 0-level is at will, 1st levels always cost 1 point, otherwise the 1st spell of a type costs as the level is, every other level (with a few exceptions we made), if you cast the same spell twice, it doubles its cost (and then doubles again), thus preventing the mage from turning out all the same spells all the same time. Also makes people learn and use lots more spells and be more creative. Left over points can be used to scribe scrolls or work on potions/items.
You don't get an int bonus for extra spells but instead use the stat to learn spells quicker. I forgot the exact calculations my group uses.
You don't get an int bonus for extra spells but instead use the stat to learn spells quicker. I forgot the exact calculations my group uses.
BriarMonkey
First Post
This idea actually reminded me at first of Mongoose Publishing's Chaos Mage.
The basic idea is that you channel the energies of chaos into whatever form you wanted. Depeneding on what you did with the energy, the DC to cast the spell was determined (IE: duration, effect, and range all had differing DC modifiers). You then made a caster check to see if the spell worked.
The primary limiting factor on spell casting was that chaos damaged your person, so if the spell worked, you took non-lethal damage based on the spell's DC; if the spell failed, you took real damage.
I don't know if the book is still available out there, but if you can find a copy it has some nice ideas.
The basic idea is that you channel the energies of chaos into whatever form you wanted. Depeneding on what you did with the energy, the DC to cast the spell was determined (IE: duration, effect, and range all had differing DC modifiers). You then made a caster check to see if the spell worked.
The primary limiting factor on spell casting was that chaos damaged your person, so if the spell worked, you took non-lethal damage based on the spell's DC; if the spell failed, you took real damage.
I don't know if the book is still available out there, but if you can find a copy it has some nice ideas.
HatedRogue
First Post
Always loved the warlock class, so when making a caster class for the books I published I made sure to keep with the unlimited casting theme. You can take a look at the way I set it up.
Soulcaster Class and NPC - Wordcasting Entertainment | DriveThruRPG.com
paizo.com - Soulcaster Class and NPC (PFRPG) PDF
Soulcaster Class and NPC - Wordcasting Entertainment | DriveThruRPG.com
paizo.com - Soulcaster Class and NPC (PFRPG) PDF
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
The Wilder has a mostly at will surge blast. Wilder - Pathfinder_OGC
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