How Do You Explain Spontaneous Spellcasters In Your Campaign?

[crazy_monkey1956]

In my campaign, the notion that Sorcerers are descended from dragons, outsiders, and the like is perpetuated by the campaign's wizard realm as a means of making sorcerers "different" and therefore something to be reviled or feared. The "truth" of the matter is that dragons taught magic to elves, who then codified it and wrote it down, thus becoming the first wizards, who then spread that knowledge to other races. Anyone can be a sorcerer, as long as they have sufficient strength of personality.

Quentin

 

[Cam Banks]

In the Dragonlance campaign setting, spontaneous casters are users of ambient magic, the magic leftover from the creation of the world that exists within everything. Arcane ambient magic tends to exist within the elements, while divine ambient magic exists within the living creatures of the world. A sorcerer is an arcane ambient caster, while a mystic is a divine ambient caster.

Ambient casters gather the magic from the world around them, shaping it into spells directly. In the case of mystics, they require a faith-based framework of some kind to pull this off, reaching within to draw upon the connection they as living beings have with other living beings. Sorcerers don't require such a framework, but they are limited in that they only know a few techniques (i.e. spells) and while they can cast them over and over they have to work harder to alter them (metamagic).

This solution arose when trying to implement the SAGA styles of magic into the 3rd edition of the game. In SAGA, sorcerers and mystics can technically cast any spell they want on the fly, but in truth they were limited to a narrow selection of schools (divination, electromancy, pyromancy, etc). Although we've had people say that they would have preferred a spell-creation-on-the-fly system for sorcerers and mystics, it's my belief that the D&D sorcerer (and the mystic, which is in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting book and is essentially a divine sorcerer with a single clerical domain) is a perfectly valid alternative.

Note that bards and assassins are also ambient casters according to this system, so like sorcerers and mystics, they did not exist as playable character classes prior to the release of Chaos in the Age of Mortals (which allowed mortals to draw upon ambient magic).

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Feldspar]

I'm still developing a new setting for my group, but I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do with regards to Sorcerers vs Wizards. On the mechanics side: Sorcerers will get Eschew Materials for free (only when casting Sorcerer spells, natch), I'm considering some spellcraft DC modifiers when comparing magic cross caster classes (with perhaps an even larger mods when crossing the arcane/divine boundary, and Elves would have a Cha bonus instead of Int and Sorcerer as favored class (along with Druid - tweaking favored class mechanic and selection for all races) instead of Wizard.

Sorcerery came first and it was discovered by the Elves. Its a "comes from within" kind of thing - while a master can put his apprentices feet upon the path, each pupil, through meditation, delves further and further inwards discovering the ways in which they can change reality.

Wizardry was a later human invention an attempt to replicate the effects of sorcerery but via a disciplined, scientific approach. The ability to pass this knowledge on to peers and succeeding generations reflects the differences between human and elven outlooks - which are greatly influenced by differences in lifespans and theologies/philosophies.

The notion that Sorcererous powers came from a dragonic or similarly unusual ancester would have emerged later as a theory for explaining why not all students were capable of making the breakthrough to actually practice magic. But theres no way for the truth to ever really be known. Note that Kobolds will most likely change their favored class over to Dragon Disciple.



I haven't really thought about Favored Souls. Just off the top of my head I probably wouldn't want to allow Favored Souls for gods which have clerics - it would be on a pantheon by pantheon basis which you had.

 

[victorysaber]

In the Dragonlance campaign setting, spontaneous casters are users of ambient magic, the magic leftover from the creation of the world that exists within everything. Arcane ambient magic tends to exist within the elements, while divine ambient magic exists within the living creatures of the world. A sorcerer is an arcane ambient caster, while a mystic is a divine ambient caster.

Ambient casters gather the magic from the world around them, shaping it into spells directly. In the case of mystics, they require a faith-based framework of some kind to pull this off, reaching within to draw upon the connection they as living beings have with other living beings. Sorcerers don't require such a framework, but they are limited in that they only know a few techniques (i.e. spells) and while they can cast them over and over they have to work harder to alter them (metamagic).

This solution arose when trying to implement the SAGA styles of magic into the 3rd edition of the game. In SAGA, sorcerers and mystics can technically cast any spell they want on the fly, but in truth they were limited to a narrow selection of schools (divination, electromancy, pyromancy, etc). Although we've had people say that they would have preferred a spell-creation-on-the-fly system for sorcerers and mystics, it's my belief that the D&D sorcerer (and the mystic, which is in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting book and is essentially a divine sorcerer with a single clerical domain) is a perfectly valid alternative.

Note that bards and assassins are also ambient casters according to this system, so like sorcerers and mystics, they did not exist as playable character classes prior to the release of Chaos in the Age of Mortals (which allowed mortals to draw upon ambient magic).

Cheers,
Cam

How does it explain psionics?

 

[DragonLancer]

How does it explain psionics?

Dragonlance doesn't officially recognise psionics as part of the setting IIRC.

In my DL games I added psionics by using the If Thoughts Could Kill module. In that, the crystal concousness was a fragment of the Graygem that broke off while it drifted over Krynn. While the Greygem created through magic, the splinter piece created through psionics.

 

[Cam Banks]

Dragonlance doesn't officially recognise psionics as part of the setting IIRC.

Right. Psionics isn't supported by the game products for Dragonlance, although there's really nothing preventing people from incoporating it, as Dragonlancer has done.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Ace]

Well, as the title says. And also because I just reread Dragon 280, when sorcerers were way cool dragon-descended dudes.

At least for my campaign, sorcerers and mystics (spontaneous clerics) are descendants of dragons and outsiders, respectively. Bards can do the spontaneous magic thing because of music and song. The rest just study or pray.

But what do YOU do?

Spontaneous casters all have a bloodline of some strange thing with innate magic. Sorcerers (and the two variants) all get bonus bloodline feats (@1,5,10,15,20) that gives them some minor abilities.

Hexblades, Bards, and similar other classes are cut from the same cloth however they don't get a free feat.

Spontaneous divine casters (IMC Favored Soul) have fiendish or celestial blood (occasionally axiomatic or chaotic as well) or are chosen by a deity or sometimes the offspring of one !!

The mystic class (from Dragonlance) is well , err ,neither they nor I know how their powers work.

On a tangential note Monks, Ninja and Martial Artists (with stunning fist) are psionic classes and may take psionic feats.

 

[Ace]

In my campaign, the notion that Sorcerers are descended from dragons, outsiders, and the like is perpetuated by the campaign's wizard realm as a means of making sorcerers "different" and therefore something to be reviled or feared. The "truth" of the matter is that dragons taught magic to elves, who then codified it and wrote it down, thus becoming the first wizards, who then spread that knowledge to other races. Anyone can be a sorcerer, as long as they have sufficient strength of personality.

Quentin

Neat!