Hustlin' Wizards: A homebrew ACF

[Dozen]

I'll be honest with you, ENWorld, details witheld: I drank. It may or may not have been a lot more than it is healthy. In my intoxicated stupor, I (quietly) wondered what the shenanigans of average dopes such as me would end up as when said people just so happened to be wizards(a hint, that might be where owlbears come from). As my head cleared, one idea followed another, I started typing, and in a short while, Hustler Spelltricks was born. Enjoy, criticize, and please consider that I'm still kinda tipsy!

Hustler Spelltricks

Some mages are no less than living nightmares to their mentors. Talented but reckless apprentices and rejects often neglect their studies and waste their magical capabilities on childish pranks and petty cons. Ironically, among these deliquents spawned a never before seen form of wizardry: Originally spread only through word of mouth, ’Hustler’ Spelltricks are now taught to inattentive prodigies in open-minded schools.


Class: Wizard


Level: 1st


Replaces: Scribe Scrolls bonus feat, the ability to prepare Read Magic from memory


Benefit: Using her knowledge of the arcane, the wizard can enhance her capabilities with magical tricks. In contrast with what their name may suggest, these Spelltricks aren’t real spells – they have more in common with Prestidigitation and Reserves –, and don't directly affect the caster. Rather, they are sets of independent gimmicks that physically support checks from the outside or feed information to help carry out actions, to the wizard or each other. These magical effects as a whole are Spell-Like Abilities, count as being from the Divination and Evocation schools, and their caster level equals the character’s Wizard level.

When preparing her spells, she may assign one or more of her slots as Spelltrick slots, rendering them useless for spellcasting. In turn, she can activate a set of Spelltricks at will as an Immediate Action that gives ’spelltrick’ bonus to one Dexterity- or Strength-based skill for each Spelltrick slot, until she chooses to end the effect. The bonus equals 1.5x the currently assigned Spelltrick slot’s level +1. The wizard has to specify which slot gives bonus to which skill when preparing her spells. If, for whatever reason, she is unable to cast either Divination or Evocation spells, the spelltrick bonus is halved. If she can cast neither, she cannot use this ability.
As Spelltricks do not affect the wizard, targeting her with Dispel Magic has no effect on her Spelltrick sets. Spelltricks can only be dispelled with Aura Dispel. On a successful dispel attempt, all spelltrick bonuses are lost. Each round, the wizard automatically rebuilds the spelltrick structure, +1 at a time, for a single set of choice. Alternatively, the wizard can spend a Standard Action to regain a single set of tricks completely, or a Full-Round Action to regain two. She must make Concentration checks if distracted from the latters.
Spelltricks have to be learned, researched or invented as if they were spells for each skill separately and take up two pages in the wizard's spellbook. A wizard without at least one point in or synergy bonus to a given skill cannot research or invent Spelltricks to improve it, but may aquire them from another source.


Special: Wizards with this class feature cannot prohibit the Evocation school and may never learn to scribe scrolls in any way.

 

[DireWereTeddy]

That sounds really interesting. I'd expand it to include Charisma-based skills, unless I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to accomplish.

 

[Dozen]

That sounds really interesting. I'd expand it to include Charisma-based skills, unless I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to accomplish.

I did consider to include Charisma-based skills and Forgery, but thanks to how Spelltricks work, I'd have to work with too many variables - will saves, exceptions, range, divination blockers, spell resistance, that sort of thing. In the end, the ability would either end up abusable or a sister to AOO. Not to mention, there is no easy way to hack into someone's thoughts. Not as easy as these spelltricks are to power, at least. You wouldn't be able to maintain them without Concentration checks, in any case. Magic of that sort is hardly ever self-sufficient, and those who are need more than a spellslot to keep up indefinitely.

 

[DireWereTeddy]

I did consider to include Charisma-based skills and Forgery, but thanks to how Spelltricks work, I'd have to work with too many variables - will saves, exceptions, range, divination blockers, spell resistance, that sort of thing. In the end, the ability would either end up abusable or a sister to AOO. Not to mention, there is no easy way to hack into someone's thoughts. Not as easy as these spelltricks are to power, at least. You wouldn't be able to maintain them without Concentration checks, in any case. Magic of that sort is hardly ever self-sufficient.

Well, if you can only use one slot per skill, that'd minimize the abuse (though I say that with a many grains of salt), and maybe let the benefit apply to just a single check or for a short duration, like 5 minutes. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about all those variables. Like I said, maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but I interpreted the spelltricks as using minor magics to enhance the caster while they use these skills. Like lightening their touch while they try to pick a pocket or making themselves sound more trustworthy while they're trying to lie. Honestly, I could probably come up with an explanation for using spelltricks for almost any skill, really.

 

[Dozen]

Like I said, maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but I interpreted the spelltricks as using minor magics to enhance the caster while they use these skills. Like lightening their touch while they try to pick a pocket or making themselves sound more trustworthy while they're trying to lie.

Okay, I think I found the source of the confusion. I repeat, these spells do not affect the caster directly. That's half the point, they cannot be ended by casting Dispel Magic on the wizard - they have to be found(with Detect Magic, for instance) and dispelled separately(in hindsight I should probably have mentioned that. I thought it was obvious, but then again I'm clinically insane, so...). On one hand, this is good, but they cannot ease the wizard's touch per se(although I did have some with similar effects in mind) and definitely can't make himself sound more trustworthy because of that limitation. Doing so would require either a Transmutation/Enchantment cast on himself, or a Phantasmal Illusion/Charm cast on the target, and Spelltricks do neither. Now, you could change her voice between the time it takes to arrive to the recipient's ear in theory, but that is magic at least at cantrip level, and Spelltricks are decidedly and necessarily weaker.

 

[DireWereTeddy]

Okay, so does the spelltrick affect the action? Obviously, they're using magic to enhance a skill, and some skills it's actually a worse option to use a skill trick (jump for example). I guess, I should ask how you imagine the spelltricks working 'in-game'?

 

[Dozen]

Okay, so does the spelltrick affect the action?

Yes, that's it.

I guess, I should ask how you imagine the spelltricks working 'in-game'?

We'll need to go into the basic principles a slot-based wizardry first. The basic idea is that in the D&D world, magic users don't need to store arcana within (unlike in a lot of tabletop and video games with mana meters) unless the kind of magic requires it(as incarnum needs essentia from the soul) because there is enough of it in their general vicnity at any time to cast the strongest of spells. On planes such as this, spells are categorized by their complexity, not the amount energy they require. Wizards, who by nature have no special abilities to their name, need a rudamentary understanding of magic and draconic text to be able to merely memorize spells(the basic memorization process can be improved by various spells, however, like Mnemonic Enhancer or Mage's Lucubration), which burn out of their minds the moment they finish casting.
Spelltricks avoid this limitation of the system by being specialized for sufficiency. Individually, they are incredibly simple. The transmutations are tiny force effects that can only comprehend direction in three dimensions, and do not know what to do by themselves - they just follow the wizard around and wait for orders. The divinations are each specialized to find a single, very specific bit of information about the wizard's surroundings, and if any is found, they inform the wizard and/or issue orders to the transmutations. In all aspects, they are simpler and weaker than anything Prestidigitation does. And that, my friend, is what makes them perfect.
Remember what I said about spells being based on complexity? One spelltrick each is simple enough that hundreds of them can fit into a single 0th level spellslot, and so effortless to memorize that a wizard can prepare a portion of them in a moment of peace. Wizards with this class feature are trained so spelltrick prep and command come as naturally as walking. Not that she needs to order them around all that much; the divinations make sure the forces work together efficiently most of the time. All is needed to rework the structure of the slot into smaller storages fit for each kind of trick(this is described in the wizard's book), and she gains a communal hivemind of magic effects she can maintain and enjoy the benefits of indefinitely.
Now, onto how they operate. I'll go with the Climb skill. As the wizard starts, the Divinations leap into action and scan the surface, and will keep doing so as long as she's climbing. One, as an example, finds a small loose rock the wizard is about to hold onto. It commands a few of the little forces to hold the rock in place as she climbs. Maybe the wizard misjugdes a distance. No problem, a divination warns her and orders a few transmutations to push her legs in the right direction. Lost balance? the forces hold her up. Pebbles? With the forces, they might as well be a brick. And so on and so forth. The higher level the spellslot, the more of them are active.

I included rules in the first post for Dispelling Spelltricks - the more I think of it, the more I realize it was anything but obvious^^' Sorry about that. I will expand upon what spelltricks can be used for, of course. Not long ago I thought of some for moving through specific kinds of terrain.

 

[DireWereTeddy]

Alright, alright.

In that case, why transmutation? I think force effects like that would better fit under evocation.

Also, I still really like it. It's an interesting option for wizards, particularly adventuring ones.

 

[Dozen]

In that case, why transmutation? I think force effects like that would better fit under evocation.

Hmm. Good point. Originally, I intended them to be telekinetic, but in their current form, Evocation is the correct school. Thank you. For the praise, too.

 

[DireWereTeddy]

Oh! I'd forgotten that Telekinesis is a Transmutation spell. Never really made sense to me. After taking a peek, it seems Mage Hand is also Transmutation. I'm not sure I really understand the logic behind that. Given the status of those two, I could see using Transmutation instead of Evocation.

All in all, I really like the idea. It may even be enough to tempt into playing a wizard next time I find a game.