[Planescape] Squaring the Circle Redux - OOC (Full)

[Serpenteye]

Ehr, nope. Not much that I can see. Just two clarifications: 1) Kiaros' home plane would still be Toril, not the Outlands. That's where he's buried (and will reform if destroyed). But if he's banished, he'll get sent to Toril. And 2) he gets a 50% miss chance against any damage from corporeal sources (except for positive energy, negative energy, force effects, and attacks made with ghost touch weapons). However, if the spell does no damage, it affects him normally (no miss chance), if it is of a type that can affect him, such as halt undead. You may already be aware of that, but I wanted to let you know in case you weren't.

Ok.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Yeah... sorry Sephiroth, I figured we could tinker with stuff on the fly for the Hound Master class.

 

[Sephiroth no Miko]

I've got a question for everyone. In PS 2e, there were all sorts of interesting rules concerning magic that got tossed out in 3e. For example, there was the one where your cleric level decreased the further away you got away from your patron deity's home plane. There was another one where your magic weapons and armor decreased in bonuses the further away you got from the plane where it was forged. And finally, some spells and schools were enhanced or diminished or altered, depending on which plane you were.

I was thinking about leaving out the first two magic conditions (fluctuating clerical caster level and weapon/armor bonuses), but what do people say to bringing back the last one (spell keys and all)? For me, saying "nonlawful characters on Mechanus suffer a -2 penalty on all Charisma-, Wisdom-, and Intelligence-based checks" and "Normal Magic" just don't capture some of the flavor of the old setting....

 

[Thanee]

Wouldn't have a problem with that, as long as it is remotely fair.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Sephiroth no Miko]

Oops-- kindly ignore this post.

 

[deadestdai]

What if I can't ignore it? It could have been rather captivating afterall.....

But ya - sounds good to me. Though, won't that kinda dampen our spellcasters and leave the rest of us non-spellcasting-types free of the affects? Or had you something else in mind?

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

I wouldn't mind too much. hmm.. I would have to determine where everything was forged though...

Edit - All magical equipment now has a plane of origin!

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

double post

 

[Sephiroth no Miko]

Wouldn't have a problem with that, as long as it is remotely fair.

Well, if by fair, you mean that everyone is affected (natives and non-natives of the plane alike), then yes, it is fair. What spells are enhanced are enhanced both for you and for the enemy. What spells are diminished are likewise diminished both for you and your foes.

Though, won't that kinda dampen our spellcasters and leave the rest of us non-spellcasting-types free of the affects? Or had you something else in mind?

Mmmm... true. It can make life somewhat harder for spellcasters than non-spellcasting types. But that can be mitigated in part by knowing what spells/schools are going to be affected where and the use of spell keys (which lets a caster cast a spell on a particular plane without penalty). Part of the challenge in PS is knowing what you're getting into before jumping through that portal, after all.

I wouldn't mind too much. hmm.. I would have to determine where everything was forged though...

I wasn't going to bother with the varying weapon/armor bonus (since that tends to hurt the party overall more than their enemies), but if people want to go with that as well, I guess we could.

 

[Sephiroth no Miko]

Here's an example of what I'm talking about, so people have a better understanding of what I mean:

Since the group was just on Carceri (the last adventure), here would be the magical conditions for that plane:

• Conjuration: A berk performing summonings on Carceri is likely to ge a nasty surprise. Though the summoning still brings the called creature to the caster, the creature isn't bound by the spell. Summoned creatures aren't specifically hostile to the caster (please note that the intelligent ones almost always will be), but the caster has to give 'em some show of good faith, offering a bribe to make them want to work for the caster. Otherwise, they turn on him and tear him to pieces.
• Divination: Carceri is indeed the plane of treachery and back-stabbing; any divination spell requires the sacrifice of a comrade. The spell takes shape in the spreading pool of the poor sod's blood. It's for this reason that diviners are universally hated on Carceri-- and bonds of treacherous friendship form between those who practice the forbidden art.
• Necromancy: Healing spells function at half their normal power on Carceri; nothing about the plane is conducive to life-giving powers. Spells that create undead or cause damage, on the other hand, are much more efficacious. Raised undead are automatically free-willed, and may well choose to attack the caster, while damage-causing spells grant a bonus of +1 per level of the caster to the damage caused.
• Transmutation: Spells of this achool always turn to the most evil result possible. If the spell can't actually produce evil, it manifests itself in a hostile way; flames writhe into tortured faces, while sigils and symbols twist around into horribly screaming faces.

Spell keys allow a spellcaster to bypass some of the above restrictions. They enable casters to cast spells so they function normally on planes where such magic is altered or even completely ineffective. Some keys prove more useful than others to a spellslinger. General keys allow a cutter to effectively cast any spell from a group of spells (such as all Transmutation spells), while specific spell keys only affect one particular spell (such as the invisibility spell on Arcadia). Regardless, spell keys are particular to the plane they're intended for, and won't work on other planes (and in a few rare cases, there is no spell key for that plane). Be warned that on some of the more chaotic planes, spell keys can shift unexpectedly; what might work yesterday might not work tomorrow.

Spell keys for Carceri would have been: The conjuration key is a perfectly round, fist-sized lodestone. For divinations, the key's a good quantity of the caster's own blood-- not comfortable, but preferable (to most) over sacrificing a companion. The necromancy key requires the thigh bone of a farastu gehreleth. The transmutation key is a lead necklace, worned wrapped around the wrist of the caster.

They're not big mysteries and most of them can be found with a modicum of research or decent ranks in Knowledge: Planar (except for the shifting keys-- you're better off asking the natives or a lanned blood in that case).

Hey, if you guys think this is too much of a problem, we can ditch it. But I thought it would add a lot of flavor to the setting and had been sorry to see it go in 3e.