Rituals

[Mathew_Freeman]

It's the stuff dreams are made of.

It contains the secret to happiness.

It's a little droid carrying the plans to a battle station.

And if anyone says they don't believe in fairies, it disappears...

On a more serious note, I feel like my faith in rituals has been rewarded. They place a firm emphasis on skills, they're time-consuming and not useful in combat, but they still have kick-ass power and drama attached to them.

And I love that Cure Disease can still kill the person being cured!

 

[blalien]

I'm sure this can be cleared up by someone who's actually seen the entire 4e book, but what's the difference between the scroll and the book?

A scroll only takes half as long to cast. Also, anybody can cast a scroll, regardless of whether they have Ritual Caster, have mastered the ritual, or are of sufficient level. You can buy ritual scrolls well above your level if you can afford them. You can give a fighter a Raise Dead scroll in case all the spellcasters bite the dust. Or a DM can be less generous than usual and give you a scroll instead of a book.

 

[Pinotage]

Interesting article. It's pretty much what I suspected it would look like. Disappointed by the low number of rituals, and in particular that they take 10 minutes. I mean, a wizard can blast fireballs around and do all sorts of powerful things in the blink of an eye, and yet it takes him 10 minutes to find a secret door. Just weird.

Pinotage

 

[hong]

Interesting article. It's pretty much what I suspected it would look like. Disappointed by the low number of rituals, and in particular that they take 10 minutes. I mean, a wizard can blast fireballs around and do all sorts of powerful things in the blink of an eye, and yet it takes him 10 minutes to find a secret door. Just weird.

Pinotage

"Control. You must learn control!"

 

[Pinotage]

"Control. You must learn control!"

Could be. No doubt there are numerous ways to rationalize this. At first glance it just looked weird. One can imagine that more time is spent by wizards on spells for combat than for rituals, but even that explanation is weak. I'm sure something will come up.

Pinotage

 

[WhatGravitas]

Could be. No doubt there are numerous ways to rationalize this. At first glance it just looked weird. One can imagine that more time is spent by wizards on spells for combat than for rituals, but even that explanation is weak. I'm sure something will come up.

Well, have you read the "Dresden Files"?

If not, read this. This approach fits 4E very well and rationalizes a lot. AND Dresden can sling small magic around, just like the 4E wizard cantrips!

Cheers, LT.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Oh, yes. WotC surely knows about oral tradition.

I can see the game issue, though. So...

Memorize Ritual [Feat, Heroic Tier]
You memorize a ritual you know. You can now perform it without a book or scroll. The casting time is the ritual's standard casting time, and you still require all ingredients.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. It applies to another ritual every time.

I had a similar idea...

Off course, you can still have your oral tradition, if you want. The (effective) cost to get the ritual are just equivalent to that of a scroll or a ritual book with the ritual. Otherwise, the wise man just won't teach you the full ritual...

 

[serch]

I love what I see, but shouldn't divination and scrying categories be merged?

 

[Nebulous]

***Possible SPOILERS for Keep on the Shadowfell!!!*****






Well, i was just reading KotS, and there is a character in the story who you can meet early on, the first session, who has non-heroic levels, and this person knows the ritual RAISE DEAD.

So, now i'm somewhat confused. Can you not cast the ritual until 8th level, or can you have it used on you at any level, so long as the 500 gp is paid? I would have hoped that raising the dead wasn't even an option at 1st-3rd level, but they included the possibility in their flagship adventure.

 

[D.Shaffer]

It's an NPC. NPC's follow different rules then PCs do. This way you can have the 'old mystic' stereotypical NPC who doesnt have to be level 10+ just so he can cast the rituals you want her to have.