Rituals in a hurry?

[On Puget Sound]

I don't like the universally slow rituals, so I'm considering this house rule to make them more useful and to add dramatic tension when you need to cast one in a hurry (i.e. during a fight). It will also make a cool mechanic for encounters in which the players have to stop a ritual before it is completed.

ENCOUNTER RITUAL CASTING: Ritual casting during an encounter is a standard action that provokes opportunity attacks. The square you are in when you begin is the site of the ritual; this cannot be changed once designated. When you perform this action you grant Combat Advantage to all enemies until the ritual is completed or interrupted. You must have the ritual materials available, and may not have a weapon, implement or shield in hand (you may still wear a holy symbol).

Skill Check: Use the skill associated with the ritual. The DC is 10 + 2/3 ritual level (round up). Success counts as 1 minute of ritual casting accomplished. For each 5 points by which you exceed the DC, add another minute accomplished. Failure means no progress was made this round.

Interrupting a ritual: You may interrupt your own ritual as a free action. If, on any turn, you fail to perform a Ritual Casting action while in or adjacent to the ritual site square, the ritual is interrupted.

Comments or suggestions?

 

[CapnZapp]

Guess its really difficult to provide helpful comments.

Either youre sensitive to the general objection to this kind of houserule: that any combat-casting of rituals renders skills and their users (ie rogues) obsolete. (martial fighters too, but to a much lesser degree)

Or youre not And in this case theres no balancing issues to speak of, so youre good to go!

 

[Dragonblade]

This is what I use:

Ritual Casting: Standard action

• Can only perform minor actions – While using the Ritual Casting action, the only other actions a character can perform are Minor actions.
  
• Combat Advantage – Until the beginning of your next turn, you grant combat advantage.
  
• Provoke Opportunity Attacks – Ritual casting provokes opportunity attacks from adjacent enemies.
  
• Casting time – The default time required to perform a ritual is outlined in the description of the ritual. This time can be reduced by performing skill checks.
  
• Skill check – Make a Moderate difficulty skill check using the key skill specified in the ritual description. If you succeed, the Standard action you spent casting the ritual counts toward the time required to perform the ritual as if you had spent 1 minute performing the ritual. Every 5 points by which you exceed the DC counts as another minute. Once you begin performing a ritual you must continue to use the Ritual Casting action for multiple round until you fulfill the time requirement, at which time the ritual takes effect. Otherwise, the rules for interrupting a ritual apply normally.
  
• Final effect – A completed ritual takes effect at the end of the turn you fulfilled all the time and other requirements. Follow the rules under the ritual description as normal. If a skill check is required to determine the effect, make that skill check separately from any skill checks made to reduce the time requirement.
  
• Aid Another – Up to 4 others can assist you in performing the ritual per the Aid Another action. They do not need to know the ritual to assist you.

 

[Dragonblade]

Looks like you had a lot of the same ideas I did. Your rules are very similar to mine.

 

[On Puget Sound]

Very nearly the same! In fact, the formula for DC I used was a simple way of expressing the Moderate DC for the ritual's level. How has your rule worked in play?

And re rituals vs skills, yes, there will be some overlap, but I don't think it will be overshadowing so much as having more than one character who can tackle a problem, in different ways. As long as skills are still cheaper and quicker, the rogue will still be the preferred lockpick. But if the rogue is down, missing or busy, an arcanist can get the door open in 3 or 4 rounds...by taking himself out of combat and becoming very vulnerable.

 

[CapnZapp]

[*]Can only perform minor actions – While using the Ritual Casting action, the only other actions a character can perform are Minor actions.

Perhaps a better way of accomplishing about the same result is to say ritual casting consumes both the standard action as well as the move action?

This way, powers that grant extra actions still work. (Spending an AP regains its usefulness, for example)

[*]Combat Advantage – Until the beginning of your next turn, you grant combat advantage.

Nice. I like how "while casting a ritual you continuously grant CA" can be easily distilled into the above.

You only grant CA until your next turn, but of course at that time you need to take the ritual action again, accomplishing the same result.

 

[CapnZapp]

And re rituals vs skills, yes, there will be some overlap, but I don't think it will be overshadowing so much as having more than one character who can tackle a problem, in different ways. As long as skills are still cheaper and quicker, the rogue will still be the preferred lockpick.

And as long as this remains true for your group, you should proceed and use your rule.

Of course, if we for the moment assume the main reason for the 10 minute ritual casting time was because WotC found out that in the end, that was the time needed for adventurers to stop using them when a skill user was available; there is a chance/risk that it won't stay true for your group permanently...

 

[On Puget Sound]

Examining what skills might be rendered useless or less useful by faster rituals, focusing just on those that might conceivably want to be done faster than a short rest:

Comprehend Languages---Linguist feat
Water Walk---Athletics
Detect Secret Doors---Perception
Arcane Lock---Thievery
Knock---Thievery
Commune with Nature---Nature*
Cure Disease---Heal*
Discern Lies---Insight
Remove Affliction---Heal*
Water Breathing---Endurance

*Anyone who can hurry these rituals is already invested in the skill the ritual would replace.

Even this system probably won't let a wizard cast water walk or water breathing in a water-based emergency.

I think any party with a trained skill user (no GP cost, 1 round for most applications) will prefer that over the hurried ritual option. But for parties without one, this makes a viable alternative.

Rituals for which no easy feat equivalent exists, that I think ritualists should be able to speed up in a pinch:
Animal Messenger
Make Whole
Silence
Hallucinatory Item
Sending ( Here is why )
Hallucinatory Creature
Passwall (1000 gold is the balancing factor for this one)

 

[On Puget Sound]

Perhaps a better way of accomplishing about the same result is to say ritual casting consumes both the standard action as well as the move action?

This way, powers that grant extra actions still work. (Spending an AP regains its usefulness, for example)

What I was trying to allow, by NOT restricting move actions but requiring the casting to happen in about the same space every turn, was for a caster who is forcibly moved to scramble back in time to avoid an interruption. I didn't want a simple Positioning Strike to end the evil cultist's rite so easily, but did want to allow that sort of tactic to make it harder to continue. I'm envisioning this rule as a DM plot aid as much as a player tool.

 

[Dragonblade]

And re rituals vs skills, yes, there will be some overlap, but I don't think it will be overshadowing so much as having more than one character who can tackle a problem, in different ways. As long as skills are still cheaper and quicker, the rogue will still be the preferred lockpick. But if the rogue is down, missing or busy, an arcanist can get the door open in 3 or 4 rounds...by taking himself out of combat and becoming very vulnerable.

Yes, that is exactly what I was going for. So far, its only come into play once when the PCs wanted to get across a chasm in hurry because they were worried about being pursued. The PCs used Shadow Bridge from the FR book, and it took them only a couple of rounds to get it off. But the scene was dramatic and tense and the enemy mob showed up just as they were crossing the chasm. So it worked out well.