D&D 5E Spellbook Rituals (a new Wizard feature)

[DND_Reborn]

How about 10 minutes/level of spell, but restricting to spells of 1/4 of the Wizards level or below. Round down for most spells, round up for school specialists casting a spell of their school.

I was thinking of limiting it to 5th level and lower... I would probably just set a static limit instead of having it be dependent on level. Or maybe limiting it to a spell level equal to your proficiency bonus (or PB -1?).

Alternatively, simply making it you gain a number of levels of exhaustion equal to the spell level for failing would be a strong deterrent--but probably to the point no one would really use it much.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I was thinking of limiting it to 5th level and lower... I would probably just set a static limit instead of having it be dependent on level. Or maybe limiting it to a spell level equal to your proficiency bonus (or PB -1?).

Access to resource-free spells at the point that you get them is much more powerful than getting them at a later level. - It probably depends on how severe you believe the power differential is.
Level 5 is where there start to be permanent effects that resource-free casting of could be very disruptive, but I thought that school spacialists should get a bonus in that area.

Alternatively, simply making it you gain a number of levels of exhaustion equal to the spell level for failing would be a strong deterrent--but probably to the point no one would really use it much.

I do not think a check should be involved. It is not clear in the OP whether you still cast the spell if you fail the check, just that you gain exhaustion.
One exhaustion level might be reasonable, but has the risk of transferring the burden of your spellcasting onto another character.

Multiple levels of exhaustion are probably not a good idea since they would likely prevent this rule from being used rather than just taking a long rest and swapping out the spells anyway. - But again, this depends on what the purpose of the houserule is and what it is meant to fix.

 

[bedir than]

I like the PB number of castings, as it feels like what the post-Tasha's limiter will be.

But, I really like Exhaustion, as it fits the mechanics of so much of the literature. While D&D doesn't have a cost to casting, often, so much of the fiction the game is built upon and around does.

 

[tetrasodium]

Originally I was thinking 10 minutes per spell level but didn't want archmages casting Wish after 90 minutes of ritual casting. I'll continue to think about ways to restrict it...

"wish" is one of those strawmen that get thrown out like the boogieman far too often, There are just way too many things against it.

• As an eighth level spell a wizard needs to be level 15 just to cast it & few games ever make it that far so nearly all uses of wish are from an item the gm gave to the party
• even if the wizard is high enough to cast it, the spell itself is pretty scary to cast.
  
  Spoiler: Wish, note the highlighted pararaph

  

  
  

  

10 min/level is probably both too short for many spells that would be unbalancing & too long for oh so many spells that this kinda thing should shine with, but if making it not work for wish is the goal just setting it to "spells in your spellbook available to a wizard 5 levels lower" & making it a flat 10 min or they lose a bunch of prepared spell slots & can cast those spells with a 5 min cast time would do. Unfortunately concentration still cripples it

edit: also 5e doesn't have spellcasting checks & you don't define it so it's d20 vrs 10+spell level making it a pretty "no never" feature simply because it's pretty rare a wizard is going to desperately need to cast a low level spell at the lowest level a long time from now

 

[DND_Reborn]

Access to resource-free spells at the point that you get them is much more powerful than getting them at a later level. - It probably depends on how severe you believe the power differential is.

I'm fine with the limit to fifth level, but then I would probably leave the casting time to one hour per spell level. It allows spell use but by keeping it resource free you have your slots for combat and when time is precious. By keep the time to one hour per level, it becomes the resource you're expending.

I'm not a big fan of having something special for the school subclasses, but not opposed to it altogether.

I do not think a check should be involved. It is not clear in the OP whether you still cast the spell if you fail the check, just that you gain exhaustion.
One exhaustion level might be reasonable, but has the risk of transferring the burden of your spellcasting onto another character.

If I cap it to 5th level spells, I'll probably remove the check requirement, or just have the check to avoid the level of exhaustion I mean--either way the spell is cast, the check would just be to see if you can shrug off the efforts of channeling the magic for hours during the ritual.

Nah, I won't go with multiple levels of exhaustion, it was just a fleeting thought yesterday LOL.

I like the PB number of castings, as it feels like what the post-Tasha's limiter will be.

But, I really like Exhaustion, as it fits the mechanics of so much of the literature. While D&D doesn't have a cost to casting, often, so much of the fiction the game is built upon and around does.

I am inclined to PB number. I think it is better than using ability scores. I think bardic inspiration should be by PB number, for example. Anything to stop the "need to max out" your prime ability.

I like exhaustion as well and wish it was used more in the game at large.

 

[Teemu]

Maybe cap it to 5th-level, automatically gain one level of exhaustion, takes an hour per spell level, no checks? Something simple and straightforward.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Maybe cap it to 5th-level, automatically gain one level of exhaustion, takes an hour per spell level, no checks? Something simple and straightforward.

I'm leaning towards that. Simple is better IMO, too.

Options are:

• Cap 5th level or no cap?
• Limit uses to proficiency bonus or Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) per long rest?
• One hour or 10 minutes per spell level?
• Check to succeed in casting the ritual and/or
• Check to avoid a level of exhaustion?
• Maybe give school casters advantage on checks for school spells

Current those are the specifications.

 

[tetrasodium]

I'm leaning towards that. Simple is better IMO, too.

Options are:

• Cap 5th level or no cap?
• Limit uses to proficiency bonus or Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) per long rest?
• One hour or 10 minutes per spell level?
• Check to succeed in casting the ritual and/or
• Check to avoid a level of exhaustion?
• Maybe give school casters advantage on checks for school spells

Current those are the specifications.

• Cap 5th level or no cap? up to fifth level spells works out to "every spell you could learn before level 11", coincidentally everyone gets something nice at 11 that is when third attack is open for fighters & warlock's eldritch blast, pally improved smite & so on. That level 11 notch is important in relevant ways down the list.
• Limit uses to proficiency bonus or Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) per long rest? Your already limiting it to out of combat & surprise attack on a particularly distracted foe with the long cast times, I'm not sure this is even needed.
• One hour or 10 minutes per spell level? 2 minute per spell level to start then at level 11 caps to a flat 5 or 10. lets be honest with ourselves, all of those time frames effectively might as well say "if the gm allows you time to cast it". Making the time too long only results in making that almost certainly not & reducing the scenarios where it could be used effectively so lthe longer it takes, the better it needs to be elsewhere. .
• Check to succeed in casting the ritual and/or Check to avoid a level of exhaustion? This one seems superfluous, more one of those things that plays out well either way in a novel but in a ttrpg not so much. Something like an arcana or int+prof+d20 dc 10+level might be Justified if other aspects are cranked to 11 in favor of the wizard. Otherwise it makes no sense. If exhaustion comes into the equation the dial needs to go well past just 11 elsewhere to compensate. it also pretty much forces the lucky feat onto wizards
• Maybe give school casters advantage on checks for school spells. See last point. This question is moot because it shouldn't even be needed

 

[NotAYakk]

The key components are access to entire contents of spellbook to me.

Spellbook Casting:
Starting at 5th level, you can cast a spell directly from your spellbook. This takes 3x as long as casting a spell normally, and if your concentration is broken the spell slot is lost.

Saving throws against a spell cast this way are at disadvantage, and it gains the "at higher levels" effect of a spell cast with a 2 level higher slot.

At 11th level this only takes twice as long as usual.

---

This is usable in combat/surprise. It continues to cost spell slots. It gives access to entire spellbook.

 

[DND_Reborn]

The key components are access to entire contents of spellbook to me.

Spellbook Casting:
Starting at 5th level, you can cast a spell directly from your spellbook. This takes 3x as long as casting a spell normally, and if your concentration is broken the spell slot is lost.

Saving throws against a spell cast this way are at disadvantage, and it gains the "at higher levels" effect of a spell cast with a 2 level higher slot.

At 11th level this only takes twice as long as usual.

---

This is usable in combat/surprise. It continues to cost spell slots. It gives access to entire spellbook.

Not the manner I am going for really, but if it works for you... shrug

The points of this feature are:

• Gives access to the wizard's entire spellbook (the only thing we agree on--no surprise there given our track record ).
• It takes a long time so it can't be used in combat.
• It doesn't require a spell slot so you can cast more during the adventuring day.