New 44-Page Elements of Magic (Revised) Preview!

[keynup]

Just curious what people think about having something like the Recharge option from Unearthed Arcane for this system?

I’m no so much as looking at this as an option, but I had the idea and was forced to follow it through.
Using the basic concept from Recharge, that you can cast spells all day long, but not necessarily as many on a given encounter, this is what I came up with.
In the recharge system most spells can be cast a few rounds later, but some specific spells can only be cast every 5 min, hour or 24 hours later. That is only there to prevent certain spells from being abusive, but from what I’ve read for the Elements of Magic this does not seem to be such a problem.

You have do not have a daily MP limit, but each time you cast a spell, your available MP’s in the next round are reduced.

MP Loss
1 1
2 1
3 1
4 2
5 2
6 2
7 3
8 3
9 4
10 4
11 4
12 5
13 5
14 6
15 6
16 6
17 7
18 7
19 8
20 8

So if you’re level 5 and cast a spell for 5 MP then next round you would only be able to cast a spell for up to 3 MP. 1 round after you have cast a spell you recover 1 MP.
So on the 1st round you cast 5 MP, for the next round you can cast a max of 3 MP, +1 at the end of that round. From levels 10-19 you recover 2 MP at the end of a round, and 3 for levels 20+.

 

[Blue mage for hire2]

Hellooo? Ranger Wickett? Rules Master? Anyone? Hello? Is everyone just leaving all this anxiously waiting fans hang here?

....................I'm so lonely.

 

[Blue mage for hire2]

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the death of this thread. It was a good thread, a hopeful thread, a thread that made us all think and dream. Let us now have a moment of silence as we remeber this topic for what it was.


We are now accepting any eulogies anyone would like to post.


(Psst. this is all one big joke, so nobody get to offended. I don't even take my working life seriously, why should I take my leuisure time?)

 

[Verequus]

Hellooo? Ranger Wickett? Rules Master? Anyone? Hello? Is everyone just leaving all this anxiously waiting fans hang here?

....................I'm so lonely.

Ehm, there is one misunderstanding, Blue Mage, I'm not affiliated with EN Publishing, I'm a fan, too. I only helped RangerWickett with comments about things I've noticed in the first published teaser and he sent me after my question the now outdated workcopy which I commented, too. That's why I know so much about the system. And for the "dead" thread: I'm collecting some questions.

 

[W.Rose]

I had a quick question about the classes that were going to be in the book. I was wondering if Green Mage and the other color mages were making it into this new product. Thanks for the answer.

 

[Blue mage for hire2]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
LIVE THREAD, LIVE, DAMN YOU!
LIVE! Can anyone cast HEAL FORUM spells at 9 mp!? I NEED HELP OUT HERE!

(voice abruptly turns less dramatic and displays less sincere emotion)Anyway, I'm here to offer some limited help for all of you who are stockpiling questions about the application of the rules. I should mention that I'm have no authority of E.N. Publishing. Here's the help I can offer:

1. The color mages might work like this:
Black mage Functions: Abjure (E), Abjure (C), Abjure (A), Charm (C), Compel (C), Create (E), Evoke (E), Heal (E), Illusion (E), Infuse (E), Move (E), Summon (C), Transform (E), Transform (C). Elements: Fire, Lava, Earth, Ooze(or Mud, or Sand,etc.), Water, Ice, Air, Lightning, Force. Alignments: Good, Evil, Neutral, Law, Chaos. Creatures: Elemental, Construct.
White mage Functions: Abjure (C), Abjure (E), Charm (C), Compel (C), Create (E), Evoke (E), Heal (E), Illusion (E), Infuse (E), Move (E), Summon (C), Transform (E), Transform (C). Elements & Creatures: See original EOM.
Green mage Elements & Creatures: See White mage. Functions: Abjure (C), Abjure (E), Charm (C), Compel (C), Create (E), Evoke (E), Heal (E), Illusion (E), Infuse (E), Move (E), Summon (C), Transforom (C), Transform (E).
Red and Grey Mage: Abjure(E), Abjure (C), Create (E), Evoke (E), Heal (E), Illusion (E), Infuse (E), Move (E), Summon (C), Transform (C), Transform (E).
Elements and Creatures: See original EOM, add Outsider and Elemental creatures, lose Outsider types (which don't exist in the new EOM)

2. It's perfectly fine to add whatever you want to the system to meet the needs of your game, if you've noticed, the Color mages don't have any Space or Time spells! You can add your own Time mage, make space/time magic a skill, even make it as a benefit to one of these new "traditions." Besides, the ultimate fact is: if you don't like the rules, change them! I'm thinking of ditching alignment in my game, maybe with the exceptions of outsiders. Just be sure to tell your players about changes to printed systems (which you will do when you introduce EOM in to your 3.5 edition D&D players who are used to sorcerers and clerics.)

oh yeah, I'm also using wild spellcraft people who wanna multiclass conflicted schools of magic.

 

[RangerWickett]

The colored mages will not be revised, but the updated Mage class is flexible enough that it should let you recreate them if you'd like.

Our official goal is to have Elements of Magic on sale on April 20th. The book has been split up, so that all the core rules will be in Elements, and then optional rules and sample ways to use the rules for differet campaigns will be released in Lyceian Arcana, which should be out a month afterward.

 

[mbgrove]

Yes!! A date!!

Now, as positively excited as I am to actually have a REAL LIVE EXPECTED RELEASE DATE (!!!!!!!!), I also am aware (all too well) of reality and how they often don't mesh with our hopes. ::wry smile:: (I'm a programmer, so I know /all/ about deadlines and the nice whooshing sounds they make as they go by.
)

At the VERY least, I'm excited to see that Elements are in the last stages of things and that we'll hopefully get to see it soon. Thanks RangerWicket!!

I am wondering, though. At first, the revised EoM was going to be a PDF. Then it was going to be a book (I think). So... I suppose my main questions are, will both of them be PDFs? Books? One is will be a PDF, the other a printed?

Thanks!

Michael B. Grove
If at first you don't succeed, perhaps skydiving is not for you.

 

[Blue mage for hire2]

Hey, what about character sheets?

I mean, since the magic system relies on magic points, and such inventions as signature spells and spell lists....It'd be nice to have a spell caster sheet to go along with it all for us to make copies of.

I could try to hunt down a sheet that uses spell points, but they never quite get it right....There's too much other clutter to ruin it as an effective sheet.

I mean, look at this!:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Spell+points+character+sheet

Anyway, its good to see the Book is coming out soon. I can't wait!^_^

 

[Verequus]

Hi!

Here is now my collection of questions:

-What do you think of my base spell concept? (See post #66) I saw something similar in the revised psionics articles. Interestingly, the revised psionics seem to be akin enough to the revised EoM, so things like the psionic focus or other psionic feats can be used without changing them except the
terminology.
-Can Dispel Magic on area spells dispel only a part of the affected spell? Suppose, someone casts a wall of fire, will his spell dispelled all at once or only the area, where the dispel spell works?
-Can somehow the permanent destruction of a soul achieved, so no resurrection will work?
-Is it possible to target a clones of a magic user at once, even if only one of the clones is in line of sight (and no others are in the area)? Or has the transform spell to be dispelled first? Mages clone themselves before every battle and have the lich phylactery effect at the cost of one spell.
-Makes the missing cost of resurrection death more a small game break instead a real threat?
-How are Spellcraft checks affected, if one or both components aren't recognizeable? Is there a possibility to recognize the casting of simultanously stilled and silent spell?
-Exist still all types of magic items? Also scrolls? Are those the XP price worth, because these can be easily simulated through spells from books, except one don't have to pay MPs? If there is no Read Magic, how are spells written down? In rhymes? Or unintelligible words, so one has only to understand
the alphabet and the language normally used by the wizard (we all use the latin alphabet but pronounciate differently)?
-If someone has protected himself against scrying, where is the line, which differentiates the success or failure of a question? Suppose following situation: A mage is in a tavern, while someone tries to find out his location. Version 1: "Where is [insert name]?". Version 2: "Is there someone, who looks
without using magic or mundane methods for disguise like [insert name]? If yes, where is he?" Is version 2 prohibited?
-Suppose one certain spell has four spell lists barring General. How many spell lists one has to know to get a bonus for his Dispel check? Does one list suffice as a key or a open weakness for the spell to counter?
-If your mind has been changed through a Transform spell, what knowledge do you have? Suppose that someone has now the mind of an orc. Did he forget his old friends? Has he an alibi story why he is here and not with his friends?
-Can spell lists be forgotten through level drain?
-Share Spells with Familiars isn't quite as effective as in the core rules: There is no range of "You" in EoM. What is the solution? Allowing every spell with touch range? This means that every spell, one can cast, can be changed to a touch version and is so applicable.
-[Exalted] and [Vile] spells in EoM: How can these one created?
-Transform spell: Retain subjects their own ex-, su- and sp-abilities?
-Is there a possibility to create an instant permanent curse with only the casting of a spell (and donating the XPs, of course)?
-Where lie the limits of contingencies? Can they used as a scry-replacement ("Activate the effect, if the prince of Valhorn is attacked!")? Or need they the Scrying skill? If so, how about the rule, that contingencies can do what the caster can be aware of with assumed natural 20s for rolling skills? It would be better, if one can assume the Blindsight ability for the caster, so blind beings don't have a disadvantage. The same is valid for other senses.
-RangerWickett, you don't use class skills in your home games. Are you and your players happy with this rule or lurk some unseen problem behind that decision?
-Regarding the EoM-SRD: I have spent some thoughts about that. I believe, the new subforum should be structured like that: One thread for feats, for new classes and for spells one for every letter of the alphabet for reference only. Discussions about the content should be in separate threads which mirror the reference threads, so approved content (only regarding error-free, balanced stuff and no censoring beyound Eric's Grandma) has simply to be copied by volunteers. Copies shouldn't have an entry regarding the authorship, but at the end of the feats/classes/spells there should a be list of the authors - if I use the spells I don't want to read such a entry all the time, but for questions is such information important, at least if there is not a standard use of spell lists and similar.

Such a structure has the following problems:
1. The volunteers would need moderator privileges for the forum only.
2. The topics aren't the right order for quick searching - its even worse trough the discussion threads. Either the EoM-SRD and discussion threads are in a seperate forums or the SRD threads are pinned (Can pinned threads change their position among themselves?).

RangerWickett, what do you think about it?