"Overcasting" in your campaign.

[drakhe]

I would allow it if there were good rules to support overcasting. I feel it gives spellcasting a sense of power AND of danger. Wield great power and bear the concequences (magic powers exhausted, backlash, miscasts, ...)

The basic spellcasting classes in DnD are a bit bland in my view. There is no inherent danger or difficulty in casting. Know the spell, have an appropriate spellslot available, if necesary prepare the spell and appart from missing components or not being able to speak or move, casting is "a snap of tha finger"

By allowing overcasting, you give more power to the caster which could prove very welcome in tight situations, but at the same time does it limit the power of a caster. Whats so great about casting a 50D10 fireball, if you don't have enough power left to cast a simple cantrip after. So gibing more power also gives more responsability to the caster who needs to manage his craft more carefully

 

[Sixchan]

Well, if it's the boss monster of a dungeon, and you'll get all your spells back before the next adventure, then a 50d10 fireball won't be a problem. If the Spell Loss is PERMENANT, or the Character dies in the casting, then it becomes one of these things the player's new Bard character is singing songs about.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Well, if it's the boss monster of a dungeon, and you'll get all your spells back before the next adventure, then a 50d10 fireball won't be a problem. If the Spell Loss is PERMENANT, or the Character dies in the casting, then it becomes one of these things the player's new Bard character is singing songs about.

I'd go for a middle ground. As a GM I don't use "boss monsters" or if there is a major bad guy he won't be the last thing encountered. If you blow everything on the lich you'll be really embarrassed when the rear gaurd skeletons kill you on your way out.

I'd have the possible consequences be severe, but not definite. HP damage from the backlash but you can make a fort save to reduce it. If you miss the fort save, there is the additional risk of permanent consequences, but not gauranteed. It stil allows the players to take chances and make dramatic attempts without automatically pnishing them as a result. But the powergamer who does it in every fight will eventually roll a 1 and be screwed.

Kahuna Burger

 

[Sixchan]

Well, for slight overcasting, maybe. But if on of my 6th level PCs tried something like 50d10 on the lich or dragon or whatever, I'd probably make it roll a 20 or DIE (and probably not even that). No-one's doing that in my campaign without making the ultimate sacrifice.

 

[DarkJester]

I'd thought about it before. Never came up with much though, as I found it hard to balance. What I came up with:

If a caster wants to cast a spell beyond their limits (via metamagic or out of slots) they must make a caster level check vs 10+2(Spell Level). Not passing the check results in one or more of the following:

1) Miscast: Something harmful happened to you as a result of a magical surge. Spell effects you, or perhaps 1d6 per level (Subdual or real) difference needed to cast the spell.

2) Loss of spell slot. The character permantly looses the use of one of his highest level spell slots.

3) Loss of magical ability. Character permantly looses all magical ability.

#1 would happen 95% of the time. #2 on a roll of 1. And #3 on a roll of 1 and a second failed caster check.

I threw the idea around, never tested it.

 

[JohnClark]

That's an interesting concept, I think if I were dm'ing I would allow it in a situation like when Gandalf is facing down the balrog. If you want to unleash all your magical energy to try and save the party, I'd try and work something out with that. (I know that's not what Gandalf did, but that situation is one where I could see using your magic to the fullest, even beyond your normal power limit, sacrificing yourself to save your buds)

 

[Bhaal]

I actually enjoyed the way Rolemaster handled spellcasting. In a campaign a while back I had a dwarven paladin cast a *very* simple spell for him, yet I low open ended so badly (-300ish) that went into a week-long coma and my effective caster potential was halved for another week.

I liked the table Rolemaster used for Extreme Spell Failure. I think it wouldn't be too difficult to adapt to a D&D overcasting system. Let's say they want to metamagic a spell, or cast a 5th level spell in a 4th level slot, something like that. Figure out a spellcraft roll that will be very difficult to make, give an XP penalty for even trying (eg. using your powers incorrectly messes you up). If the spellcraft is made then the spell goes off, hooray. If failed, by a small amount the spell still goes off but you get penalized, and if failed completely then no spell and just penalties.

The penalties would start with a fort save (probably based off whatever they were trying to do + how badly they failed the spellcraft), if they make it then some nominal penalty will apply (more XP, lose a highest level slot for the day), if they fail however, you start looking at an Extreme Spell Failure table to see how bad it really is. It could range from something slighly worse than if they made the fort save, all the way to dying/losing all casting abilities.

I really like the idea of characters being able to pull off an insanely suicidal stunt in a dire situation. You just have to make the consequences serious enough that powergamers won't try and use it all the time.

In short, yes I would consider it, and in fact I think I'll start looking into a system to use it in...

 

[ichabod]

In my campaign, metamagic doesn't take up higher level slots. It adds to spell failure percentage. You can gain feats that reduce this effect, but only up to a point. I also have consequences for spell failure, but none of my players has failed a spell yet.

 

[nopantsyet]

Haven't, don't, but have considered doing a game where you have overcasting and limit breaks like FF. In the end I dumped it because it was either rules-light and just did extra of the same (eg boring), or it was rules-heavy but interesting (eg too hard to be worth it). So we're sticking with just looking forward to the next level to learn new tricks. Besides--in 3E advancement is so quick that you're always getting new toys anyway.

 

[dao.silverman]

i allow over casting using modded WOT rules but I've balanced things with insanity being a by product of castings gone wrong. My players have enjoyed the extra versatility and my non spell class think it helps the playing field.