Custom Spellcaster idea

[bladeofhel]

right, I only recently got into roleplaying but have found I really like to tinker but lack the practical experience to know whether somethings going to work off top of my head so I thought I'd get some second opinions.

basically the runemage was an attempt to kind of combine the versatility of a wizards know spells with the sorcerers on the fly casting and not wind up with an overpowered spellcaster, what I ended up with was a spellcaster that learns spells like a wizard and draws form the wizard/sorcerer list, can learn spells from other arcane lists by reading scrolls and observing those spells being cast and thier preprepared spells last until they use them, can use up thier spell allotment to temporarily enchant things but has a really, really tiny daily spell allotment

now on to specifics

the runemages daily spells work like this, they have half thier level rounded up + thier intelligence bonus in spell points, these spell points can be used to scribe 1 spell level per point eg(a 7th level spell costs 7 spell points) the spells they scribe last indefinitely and can be drawn on almost anything, they lose any unused spell points though



as for thier temporary enchantment, one point worth of magical equipment abilities for 2 spell points, the enchantment last for a number of days equal to thier class level + thier intelligence bonus, this costs no experience and doesn't require feats (they cannot add an enhancement bonus and they can only spend up to half thier class level on enchantments), as of yet I haven't figured out how much minor and major etc magic items should cost or whether they should even be allowed to create those.

is this overpowered?

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

is this overpowered?

I'd say it's overpowered if they can cast higher level spells than one-half their class level (minimum 1st spell level). But, from your description, I couldn't tell if they could or not.

For instance, what's the highest level spell that you envision a 1st level character of this class being able to cast? My vote is that it shouldn't be higher than a 1st level spell. At fourth level, it shouldn't be higher than a 2nd level spell.

However, because their spellcasting is so limited, that opens up the door to give this class some other abilities as they advance while possibly moving the BAB up from the poor progression to the medium progression. I'm not sure if that fits with your vision for the class, though. But, the ability to temporarily enchant weapons seems like they might be more comfortable in melee than a standarad wizard or sorcerer.

What size hit die do they use? How many skill points per level? What are their class skills? What weapons are standard proficiencies for members of this class? Do they use armor? Do they get bonus feats? If so, what list may they choose them from?

I think you can turn this into a solid class for 3E, bladeofhel. I look forward to seeing it formatted like most other base classes, as that would answer most of my questions.

 

[bladeofhel]

this is pretty much what I originally had in mind for the runemage


Table: The RuneMage
HD=4
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Spell points per day/highest level cast
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 1/1
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 1/1
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 Rune scribing 2/2
4th +2 +1 +1 +4 2/2
5th +2 +1 +1 +4 3/3
6th +3 +2 +2 +5 3/3
7th +3 +2 +2 +5 4/4
8th +4 +2 +2 +6 4/4
9th +4 +3 +3 +6 5/5
10th +5 +3 +3 +7 5/5
11th +5 +3 +3 +7 6/6
12th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 6/6
13th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 7/7
14th +7/+2 +4 +4 +9 7/7
15th +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 8/8
16th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 8/8
17th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 9/9
18th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 9/9
19th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 10/9
20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 10/9

Weapon and armour proficiency: rune mages are proficient with simple weapons, they are not proficient with any armour or shields

Spellcasting: rune mages draw their spells from the sorcerer wizard list and start knowing 3+int mod cantrips and 2+int mod 1st lvl spells, they learn another spell at each level, this spell can be chosen from any level they can cast , they can learn spells from other acane spellcasting class lists by observing the spell being cast by another spellcaster, reading a scroll or a wizards spellbook. A runemage may know any number of spells and may write one spell level per spell point the have per day, the spells last indefinitely and can be drawn on anything (eg: a page of a spellbook, a swords blades, their own arm), though a runemage generally carries around a spellbook, similar to a wizards, the runemage does not require ink or drawing materials for the spells, rather they trace the runes onto a surface and release magical energies creating a glowing runestructure which when they call upon it releases the spell, rune mages gain a bonus spell point per day for each point of intelligence bonus they have


Rune scribing:this ability allows the runemage to temporarily enchant an item without the required feats or xp cost, the enchantment lasts for 1 day per class level +1 day for each point of intelligence bonus, the weapon does not need to be a masterwork or magic weapon, enhancement bonuses may not be granted to the weapon by this ability, for each equivelant point of enhancement bonus required for a magical effect the enchantment costs 2 spell points, the runemage may only spend up to their half their runemage level (rounded up) in spellpoints on enchantment eg:a 7th level runemage with an intelligence bonus of +2 could grant the flaming quality to a weapon for 9 days at the cost of two spell points, or could for 4 spell points grant the weapon the flaming burst quality


not entirely sure how many times they'd need to watch a spell to learn it