The "Spatzworld" homebrew system

[Spatzimaus]

Quite a few people have posted or PM'ed me to get the details of the homebrew my friends and I have been using. I figured I'd get this all down once, so it's much easier to refer to in the future. And keeping it all in one thread makes things more convenient. Comments are welcome, of course.

The driving force was to make a setting where the players' world wasn't the center of the universe, and tie it to a somewhat generic game system that could be used for fantasy, modern, or futuristic settings. Thematically, it worked pretty simply: the adventures took place on Earth, but every good fantasy or science-fiction story was based on some event that had happened on one of Earth's planes, although details varied. (For instance, the events in Frank Herbert's "Dune" books were based on a revolt on the Plane of Fire.)

And as shocking as it may seem, this is going to be the short version for most of it. There's no point discussing the finer points of geography, history, or culture, beyond the most basic generalizations. I've got LOTS of pages of that stuff.

CHAPTER 1: Characters
There's no x4 skill points at level 1, and no max HP on the first die (which effectively shifts all CRs by 1). However, all adults are created as level 3 characters; level 1 are small children, level 2 are teenagers. This also means that the max skill ranks equal character level for class skills, or level/2 for cross-class (no +3 any more).

There are no LAs. Each race has at least one Racial Level, a race-specific HD that gives them their various racial abilities and that helps compensate for any extra racial abilities. Only humans have a single Racial Level; most player races have 2-3, a couple have 4-6, and Drak'hai have 9. Until you've taken all of your Racial Levels, they MUST be at least half your total levels.
Each race gives a few permanent class skills as well, some of which are flexible at creation. (For instance, Dwarves pick any three Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skills, plus Knowledge(Dwarf), plus any one other skill.) The skill points spent during Racial levels are not limited to the usual limit of max ranks = character level; if you're a high-INT Human and want to dump 10 points into a single skill at level 1, you can.

There's no Favored Class; multiclassing is encouraged. However, there are certain benefits that only apply to your very first class (your Primary); for instance, all class skills of your Primary class remain class skills no matter what you do later. And you can never have more levels in a secondary Basic class than you do in your Primary class. (Advanced/Prestige classes aren't limited like that, as they expand off of a Basic class.)

All magic is handled through Advanced classes, which can't really be taken until level 4 at the earliest (3 for Humans). Since it's partially skill-based, this doesn't hurt the nonhumans much, and the power ramps up slightly faster than the D&D classes. To enter these classes, you only need to take the appropriate Affinity feat (Innate, Freeform, or Ritual), which gives cantrip-level magic in that form. The only requirements for those Feats are that you had to have one save (Fort, Ref, or Will, respectively) be "good" in at least one previous class level or racial level.

All BAB and saving throws are fractional. You only get the +2 bonus for a "good" save once. (See UA.) Saves all depend on two stats equally; Fortitude uses both STR and CON (it's (STR bonus + CON bonus)/2, rounded down); Reflex uses DEX and INT; Will uses WIS and CHA. Magic-users can replace a Will save with a skill check using the new Manifestation skill.

INT changes give retroactive skill points (just like CON changes give bonus HP for all the previous HD), but only if it's a permanent INT increase (from leveling up, NOT from items). These retroactive points can only be spent on class skills for the classes in question. Only the current level matters for the purpose of max skill ranks.
That is, if I'm a Human 1/Fast 1/Channeler 6 and boost my INT by enough to increase my INT bonus, I effectively get 8 free skill points. 1 must be spent on a Human "class" skill, 1 must be spent on a Fast class skill, and 6 must be spent on Channeler class skills. In each case, I can only increase a skill to a maximum of 8 ranks.

CHAPTER 2: The Planes

Cosmology
There are ten Planes of existence: six Outer Planes, three Inner Planes, and the Hub. The six Outer Planes are placed in three opposed pairs with one Inner Plane connecting them. The three Inner Planes are connected through the Hub. (Ever play Jacks? That's what the whole thing looks like.)
Each Plane is usually represented by an element typically prevalent there. The Outer Planes are represented by the six “basic” elements (Life, Death, Fire, Water, Earth, Air), the Inner Planes are represented by the three “advanced” elements (Light, Nexus, Force), and the Hub is the basis of Time magic. Life and Death are connected through the Light plane, Fire and Water are connected through the Nexus plane, and Earth and Air are connected through the Force plane. Each element has its own distinct form of magic. In general, that form of magic is strongest in the appropriate plane, and weaker in opposed planes (if any).

The planes are heirarchical; an Outer Plane race simply can't travel to an Inner Plane or the Hub, and Time magic (the magic of the Hub) is simply impossible for them. The "higher" planes exist in more dimensions, making their inhabitants godlike to the Outer races (which they took advantage of).

Planar Turbulence is a common effect. The barriers between planes fluctuate in small amounts from day to day, and in larger amounts from year to year. Spellcasters who attempt to break these barriers classify the resistance as Low, Medium, or High. This turbulence has a large effect on Astral magic; when it is High for extended periods of time, Astral spells become almost unusable.
Historically this has followed a cycle of 1200-1300 years, where entire centuries can pass with only High turbulence, or with only Low turbulence. During most of the cycle, however, the turbulence averages a Medium level. Turbulence varies, but generally takes at least a day to move from one level to another.

History
First came the progenitor race, which has been called anything from "Travelers" and "Q" to "Old Gods" or "Amberites". They live on the Plane of Time.
They made three Inner Plane races: the Djinni (Force), Vortices (Nexus), and Wisps (Light).
There once was a protohuman race living in a jungle on the Plane of Life, aka Gaia. At some point, one member of one of the three Inner Plane races (no one knows who, but he's the cause of legends like Prometheus) found a way to give these protohumans magical ability. They proceeded to disperse across the six Outer Planes, evolving into ten distinct races (7 of which still exist): Humans (Life), Salamanders (Fire), Nymphs (Water), Dwarves (Earth), Sylphs (Air), Gargoyles (Death), and Shades (Death). Of these, six are playable; Shades are purely an NPC race, as they're completely xenophobic. These races can cross-breed easily, although all offspring (other than half-Humans, which are a special case) will have all of the base characteristics of one parent's race and only cosmetic signs of the other. Several of these races also have distinct subraces.
These races, in turn, magically Uplifted several other species into intelligence. These Uplifted races can only breed with themselves or with their nonintelligent ancestor race. There are many of these (at least a half-dozen with stable populations, and dozens of rarer ones), but the most populous are the Tabiranth (tigers), Fins (dolphins), Kraelphs (sort of sharks), and Drak'hai (drakes). The aquatic ones are off-limits for most campaigns for practical reasons.
Then there are the Gom'Tuu, on the Plane of Air, which are basically small organic telepathic zeppelins with two brains, four subgenders, and basic spaceflight ability. No one's really sure where they came from, but they ARE native to Earth. And yes, they're as strange as they sound.

The planes:
Amber (Time): No real information about it. Since the Q can travel through time at will, multiple copies of each person exist in Amber at any given time. Most of them never leave the plane; only a few have the knack to synchronize themselves with linear-time races.
Elysium (Force): Home of the Djinn, whose capital is the City of Brass. It's mostly a rocky wilderness, although the developed areas are beautiful, and the Djinn tend to focus on merchant empires. It's a cross between Mechanus and Sigil.
Limbo (Nexus): a randomly shifting plane, with a network of "moongates" connecting various areas. Pretty much all of the local life are shapeshifters of some sort. A cross between Limbo and the Astral Plane.
Adlivun (Light): think Plane of Shadow.

Gaia (Life): Very fertile; there's more life on Gaia than on the other nine planes combined. A wide variety of environments. Pretty much every race has had colonies here at one time or another.
Arrakis (Fire): Desert world with rocky outcrops, and some cities near the poles. And yes, it has sandworms, although they're not THAT large.
Ghoti (Water): Water world. There are a few dozen "continental" shelves just below the sea level; the few floating cities are anchored to the reef structures that grow on these shelves. The largest and oldest surviving city is, of course, Atlantis.
Kuuki (Air): Mountainous world with most lowlands covered in toxic mists. Pretty much everything flies, as a result, although there's always at least one ground-based temporary city in whatever valleys are clear of fumes this decade.
Terra (Earth): Flat-surfaced world with >200 mph winds; everyone lives in caverns underground (It's the Underdark, with a nasty 3-way war going.)
Svarga (Death): Very opaque atmosphere. Little light reaches the surface, making the whole thing very dim, extremely cold at night, and pretty hot during the day. Every creature has adapted in one of three ways: lycanthropy, vampirism, or protective hibernation. The fact that the two humanoid races are locked in an eternal Blood War doesn't make it any more pleasant.

(all of these planes, collectively, are "Earth". The differences aren't nearly as huge as in stock D&D; the plane of Fire is just a desert world, not an actual plane made of fire.)

More to come later.

 

[Spatzimaus]

CHAPTER 3: Races
These are just the playable or almost-playable ones. I've got stats for the "god" races, but they're built differently. I've left out most of the campaign-specific "flavor" stuff to keep it short.

Unless otherwise specified, all races are Medium-sized with a 30' ground movement.

The "Original" races (those descended from the protohumans):
Human (Life)
Racial HD: 1 (d4+1 HP, BAB +1/2, any one Good save, 6+INT skill points)
Class skills: All Craft and Profession skills; any one of (any Knowledge skill, Speak Language, or Read Language); Knowledge(Human); any one other skill.
1: Novice Weapon Proficiency, Bonus Feat, Fast Learner 2
Novice Weapon Proficiency: Humans are proficient with a single Martial weapon. This does not stack with any later Novice Weapon Proficiencies.
Fast Learner 2: a Human gains two additional skill points for every level (including this racial level, effectively boosting it to 8+INT)

Subrace: Half-Breed (Life)
1: As nonhuman parent's race (Originals only, no Shades)
Racial HD: +1 (d4+1 HP, BAB +1/2, no good saves, 6+INT skill points)
Class skills: no extra
2: Novice Weapon Proficiency, Fast Learner 1
Fast Learner 1: a Half-Breed gains an additional skill point for every level. In addition to applying to this level, this is retroactive to any previous class or Racial levels.

Salamander (Fire) aka Lizardmen
Racial HD: 2 (d6+2 HP, BAB +1, Fortitude and Reflex good, 2+INT skill points)
Class skills: any one Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skill; Knowledge(Salamander); any one other skill.
1: 40' movement, CON +2, Hardness +1, Low-Light Vision (x2), Fire Subtype
2: INT +2, Affinity(Freeform), Darkvision 30'
Affinity(Freeform): Salamanders have the Affinity(Freeform) magical Feat
Hardness: Salamanders take less damage from every damage source. (Including elemental damage, magic missiles, etc.)
Fire Subtype: take double damage from Water sources, and half damage from Fire sources

Subrace: Orc (Earth)
Racial HD: 2 (d8+2 HP, BAB +1, Fortitude and Will good, 2+INT skill points)
Class skills: same as Salamander, although Knowledge(Salamander) checks not related to their biology only apply to the Orc culture.
1: 30' movement, CON +2, CHA -2, Hardness +1, Darkvision 30', Fire Subtype
2: STR +2, Hardness +1, Darkvision 60'

Nymph (Water) aka Elves, Merfolk
Racial HD: 2 (d6+1 HP, BAB +1, Fortitude and Reflex good, 4+INT skill points)
Class skills: any two Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skills; Knowledge(Nymph); Swim; any one other skill
1: Swim/Run 30', DEX +2, STR -2, Water Subtype, Low-Light Vision (x2)
2: Swim/Run 40', DEX +2, Amphibious, Affinity(Innate), Low-Light Vision (x3)
Amphibious: Nymphs can breathe underwater through gills. They can live outside of water, but dehydrate quickly in dry areas unless special precautions are taken.

Subrace: Drow (Earth)
Racial HD: 2 (d6+1 HP, BAB +1, Fortitude and Will good, 4+INT skill points)
Class skills: as Nymph, but Knowledge(Nymph) checks other than biology apply to the Drow culture.
1: Run 40', Swim 10', DEX +2, STR -2, Water Subtype, Darkvision 30'
2: Run 50', Swim 20', CON +2, Amphibious, Affinity(Innate), Darkvision 60'

Sylph (Air) aka Fae, Halflings
Racial HD: 2 (d6+2 HP, BAB +1/2, all saves good, 4+INT skill points)
Class skills: any two Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skills; Hide; Move Silently; Knowledge(Sylph); any one other skill.
1: Small, 10' movement, Flight 40'(average), DEX +4, STR -4, CON -2, CHA +2, Low-Light Vision (x2)
2; Flight 50'(good), DEX +2, INT +2, WIS +2, Affinity(any one)
Affinity (any one): Sylphs select one of the three magical affinity feats at level 2.

Dwarf (Earth) aka Trolls, Gnomes
Racial HD: 2 (d6+2 HP, BAB +1, Fortitude and Will good, 4+INT skill points)
Class skills: any three Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skills; Knowledge(Dwarf); any one other skill
1: 20' movement, burrow 10', CON +2, INT -2, WIS +2, CHA -2, Darkvision 30', Tremorsense 10', Stonecunning, Light Sensitivity
2: Darkvision 60', CON +2, Tremorsense 30', Armored Movement, Fast Healing 1, Affinity(Ritual)
Tremorsense: Dwarves detect any moving objects in contact with the ground, but only works through stone or packed earth, and not soft soil or metals. Underground, this also works along walls and ceilings of natural caverns.

Gargoyle (Death) aka Demons
Racial HD: 2 (d6+2 HP, BAB +3/4, Reflex good, 4+INT skill points)
Class skills: any two Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skills; Knowledge(Gargoyle); any two other skills
1: Climb 10', CHA -2, Flight 40'(clumsy), Darkvision 30', Hibernation mode, Heavy Build
2: STR +2, Flight 60'(poor), Darkvision 60', EWP(Heavy Weapons)
EWP(Heavy weapons): Gargoyles can wield all half-sized weapons (Bastard Sword, Dwarven Waraxe, etc.) as if they had the appropriate EWP, as long as they also have the appropriate martial proficiency.
Heavy Build: Gargoyles receive a +2 bonus to Grapple, Pin, Bull Rush, or Trample checks. Their carrying capacity is 50% higher, but all armor used must be custom-made, and weighs 50% more.
Hibernation Mode: Gargoyles must hibernate for 8 hours each day, during daylight hours. This must be done in an area of direct sunlight, although clouds are irrelevant. While hibernating a Gargoyle gains Hardness equal to his character level, and will be woken by any damage which penetrates this. If the gargoyle cannot hibernate (or chooses not to) he gains a negative level each day until he hibernates normally.

Subrace: Feral (Death)
Racial HD: 2 (d8+2 HP, BAB +3/4, Fortitude good, 2+INT skill points)
Class skills: Any one Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skill; Knowledge(Gargoyle); any one other skill
1: 40' movement, Climb 10', STR +2, INT -2, WIS -2, Darkvision 60', Hibernation mode, Natural Armor +1, Claws (2x1d4), Heavy Build
2: Climb 20', CON +2, Darkvision 120', EWP (Heavy Weapons), Natural Armor +1, Claws (2x1d6)

Shade (Death) aka Devils, Wraiths, Vampires
Racial HD: 5 (d10+1, BAB +1, Fortitude and Reflex good, 0+INT skill points)
Class skills: any one skill
1: 40' movement, STR -2, DEX +2, CON -2, WIS -2, CHA -2, Darkvision 30', Incorporeal 50%, Light Sensitivity, Claws (2x1d3, vampiric)
2: Hide +2, Move Silently +2, Minor Scent
3: Hide +2, Move Silently +2, Claws (2x1d4, vampiric), Darkvision 60'
4: Hide +2, Move Silently +2, Scent
5: DEX +2, Claws (2x1d6, vampiric), dimension door at will
Claws: the Shade's claws heal himself for the amount of damage dealt to a living target
Scent: as MM; Minor Scent has 1/3rd the range, all DCs increase by 5, and targets cannot be localized to a single square.
Incorporeal 50%: all attacks and spells targeting a Shade have a 50% miss chance. This ability can be suppressed at will.

Now, the Uplifted races: (there are actually dozens, but only these four are common enough to matter)

Tabiranth (Life)
Racial HD: 4 (d4+2 HP, BAB +3/4, Fortitude good, 2+INT skill points
Class skills: any one Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skill; Knowledge(Tabiranth); Survival, any one other skill
1: Quadraped, Large, 30' movement, Low-light vision (x2), CON +2, INT -2, WIS -2, CHA -2, Claws (2x1d4), Bite (1x1d8), Limited Equipment, Move Silently +2
2: 40' movement, STR +2, Limited Scent, Hide +2, Pounce
3: 50' movement, CON +2, Low-light vision (x3), Move Silently +2, Claws (2x1d8), Bite (1x2d6)
4: Scent, Low-Light Vision (x4), STR +2, Hide increases to +6 in rocky or urban terrain
Tabiranths are large, greyish tigers with dark green stripes, native to Gaia. No one knows why their coloration is different than their ancestor race, but non-sentient tigers don't even seem to notice the difference for some reason. They're a relatively recent Uplift, having only reached a self-sustaining population within the last couple generations.
Quadraped: Tabis naturally use all four limbs for movement. A Tabi can use one hand for equipment use, but this reduces movement speed by half and weapons are limited to light, one-handed weapons. Weapons that do not require grasping (clawed gloves) do not interfere with movement. A Tabi can also stand on his hind legs to free both hands, but this reduces movement to 10'.
Limited Equipment: Tabis can only use armor specifically made for them, resembling light horse barding.

Fin (Life)
Racial HD: 3 (d6+1 HP, BAB +1, Fortitude and Reflex good, 4+INT skill points)
Class skills: any two Knowledge skills; Knowledge(Fin); Swim; any two other skills
1: Large, 40' swim, cannot use equipment, DEX +2, INT -2
2: Sonar, CHA +2, STR +2
3: 50' swim, CON +2
Sonar: As a standard action, a Fin can detect the location of any target within a 120' cone, regardless of invisibilty; only full cover prevents detection.
Fins are Uplifted shallow-water dolphins. They were actually Uplifted LONG ago, by the magical members of the now-extinct Neanderthal subrace. It's not certain whether the widescale uplift was used to escape an extinction event, or whether the uplift CAUSED the eventual extinction; the Fins "went native" too long ago for records to survive.

Kraelph (Water)
Racial HD: 3 (d8+2 HP, BAB +1, all saves good, 2+INT skill points
Class skills: any one Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skill; Knowledge(Kraelph); Swim
1: 40' swim, DEX +2, CHA -2, Water Subtype, Sonar, Bite (1d6), cannot use equipment
2: 50' swim, Hide +4 when near cover, +1 Natural Armor, Bite (1d8)
3: 60' swim, CON +2, +1 Natural Armor, Bite (1d10)
Native to Ghoti, Kraelphs are biologically similar to both dolphins and sharks. They were uplifted by the Nymphs around 1200 years ago, to be used as combat troops; this backfired completely after a single generation.

Drak'hai (Fire) aka Dragons, Drakes
Racial HD: 9 (d6+2 HP, BAB +1, Fortitude and Reflex good, 2+INT skill points)
Class skills: any one Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skill; Knowledge(Drak'hai); any one other skill
1: Large, 20' movement, DEX +2, WIS -2, INT +2, Claws (2x1d4), Fire Subtype
2: STR +2, Affinity(Freeform), Low-Light Vision(x2)
3: CON +2, Breath Weapon (40' cone, Fear)
4: Flight 40' (poor), Hardness +1, Minor Scent
5: STR +2, Natural Armor +1
6: CON +2, Claws (2x1d6)
7: INT +2, Hardness +1
8: Flight 60' (average), Breath Weapon (80' line, Stun)
9: STR +2, Natural Armor +1
Breath Weapon: Drak'hai can emit a sonic "scream" as a Standard Action, once per 1d4 rounds. At level 3 they get a basic cone Fear attack, and at level 8 they can focus it into a line of Stun. DC for both is (10 + (level/2) + CHA).

Note that Drak'hai can use weapons and armor normally, although armor must be specifically fitted to them, and anything more than light armor interferes with flight.

Drak'hai are native to Arrakis, and were uplifted by the Salamanders around 2000 years ago. A few colonies have moved to other planes (mostly Gaia and Kuuki).

and finally...
Gom-Tuu (Air)
Racial HD: 3+3 (varies)
Class skills: all Knowledge skills
(all four genders have Telepathy, cannot use equipment, and fly 10x faster in vacuum.)

Gom-Tuu have four genders: two female (Mother, Woman), and two male (Father, Man). Mothers and Fathers are more fertile, but most offspring are Woman or Man. As a child (levels 1-3) each grows separately, and then at adulthood, a male bonds permanently with a female to form a Joined Gom-Tuu This results in four distinct types of adult, depending on the combinations. At merging, the size, speed, and maneuverability of the resulting creature will use the higher of its two components. All other abilities add.

Mother: (d8+2 HP, BAB +1/2, no good saves, 2+INT skill points)
1: Huge size, fly 60' (poor), DEX -4, CHA -2, CON +2, STR +6, Photosynthetic, Partial Shapeshifter
2: CON +2, STR +2
3: Gargantuan size, fly 80' (average)

Woman: (d6+1 HP, BAB +3/4, Fortitude good, 2+INT skill points)
1: Large size, fly 80' (average), DEX -2, CHA -4, CON +4, STR +4, Photosynthetic, Partial Shapeshifter
2: CON +2, STR +2
3: Huge size, STR +2, fly 100' (good)

Father: (d6+1 HP, BAB +1, Reflex good, 2+INT skill points)
1: Large size, fly 80' (poor), STR +4, CON +2, DEX -2, Electrical discharge (10d6 chain lightning), Lithovore
2: CON +2
3: Huge size, fly 100' (poor)

Man: (d4+1 HP, BAB +3/4, Reflex and Will good, 2+INT skill points)
1: Medium size, fly 100' (poor), STR +2, CON +2, DEX -2, Electrical discharge (5d6 chain lightning), Lithovore
2: INT +2
3: Large size, STR +2, fly 120' (average)

Lithovore: male or joined Gom-Tuu can extract nourishment from raw minerals
Photosynthetic: female or joined Gom-Tuu can extract nourishment from sunlight
Electrical Discharge: male or joined Gom-Tuu can cast chain lightning at will; the number of secondary targets is the Gom-Tuu's character level, and the DC is 10+(level/2)+CHA. This also bypasses the hardness of inanimate materials. The listed damage is a maximum; Fathers deal 1d6 at level 1 and increase by 1d6 every two levels later (3, 5, 7, 9, etc), while Men deal 1d6 at level 1 and increase every 4 levels later (5, 9, 13, 17)
Dual Sentience: Joined Gom-Tuu retain two distinct personalities, and both brains have full control over all internal systems.
Cannot use equipment: Gom-Tuu have no fine manipulators. However, they can carry/mount equipment as if they were a vessel. Gom-tuu expecting a fight often absorb a variety of hard materials into their outer skins.
Telepathy: Gom-Tuu can freely communicate with any creature within line of sight, regardless of language. Additionally, a Joined Gom-Tuu can bond to a single non-Gom-Tuu; this "Captain" often acts as a tiebreaker in cases where the two minds disagree, and a joined Gom-Tuu can communicate with its Captain regardless of distance or obstruction, as long as it is on the same plane.
Partial Shapeshifter: male Gom-Tuu have a rigid structure, while females are effectively fluid, incapable of exerting force. A Joined gains characteristics of both; it cannot warp its surface enough to perform fine manipulation, but can adjust gross structure, such as creating internal compartments for passengers, cargo, etc. Huge Gom-Tuu can carry 6 Medium-sized passengers and their equipment, while Gargantuan carry 12 and Large only 3. Small passengers take up half as much room, Large take double.

Gom-Tuu live around 2000 years, but only around 20,000 exist at the present time, and only a few have any magical ability.

Still more to come later.

 

[Spatzimaus]

CHAPTER 4: Basic Classes
This part's short.

There are six Basic Classes, one for each of the six attributes. They're based on the d20Modern classes, with some modifications for the medieval setting. If you wanted to use a modern or futuristic setting, just use the d20Modern classes themselves.
We've removed the class-based Defense Bonuses (they don't interact well with D&D's system of stacking magical AC bonuses), there are no "medium" saves, and we removed Action Points (but are intending to put them back in soon).

Every character has to take a Basic Class level sooner or later, because it's impossible to enter a Prestige or Advanced class without one. The first Basic Class you take becomes your "Primary" class, as detailed in Chapter 1. The most important aspect of this is that Class skills for your Primary class, and those selected for your Racial levels, are ALWAYS class skills.

All characters begin with Simple Weapon Proficiency, regardless of class (or even if they've only taken racial levels), as well as proficiency with any rays (including firearms) and natural weapons (including gauntlets, clawed gloves, etc.). In our system there are only a half-dozen Martial Weapon Proficiencies (MWPs: Bladed, Hafted, Piercing, Blunt, Projectile, Thrown), so if a class is ever given "Martial Weapon Proficiency" it means they can select one additional category. If a class is given "Novice Weapon Proficiency" it means they can select one category, as long as they didn't already have NWP from a previous class (to prevent multiclass abuses).

Class skills for each class are just all the skills that key off that stat, plus Craft and Profession. I won't bother listing them all.

Each class follows the d20Modern progression: Talent at all odd levels, Feat at all even levels. Unless someone asks for it specifically, I'm not going to list which bonus feats each class has access to or what the talents are. It's not that hard to whip up your own list, and it'd probably work about as well.

Strong Hero (STR)
BAB: +1
HD: d8
Saves: Fortitude
Skill Points: 2+INT
Armor: Heavy
NWP at 1, MWP at 3,7

Fast Hero (DEX)
BAB: +3/4
HD: d8
Saves: Reflex
Skill Points: 6+INT
Armor: Light
NWP at 1, MWP at 7

Tough Hero (CON)
BAB: +3/4
HD: d12
Saves: Fortitude
Skill Points: 2+INT
Armor: Medium, Shield
NWP at 1, MWP at 7

Smart Hero (INT)
BAB: +1/2
HD: d4
Saves: Will
Skill Points: 8+INT
Armor: none
NWP at 5

Dedicated Hero (WIS)
BAB: +3/4
HD: d6
Saves: Fortitude, Will
Skill Points: 4+INT
Armor: Light, Shield
NWP at 3, MWP at 9

Charismatic Hero (CHA)
BAB: +1/2
HD: d4
Saves: Fortitude, Reflex
Skill Points: 4+INT
Armor: none
NWP at 5

I should also note that MWP is on the list of Bonus Feats for both the Strong and Tough Hero classes, Exotic Weapon Proficiency is one of the Strong bonus feats, AND one of the Talents a Strong Hero can select gives either an MWP or an exotic proficiency. In other words, someone who plays a tank-type character can very quickly become proficient with every weapon.

Next up, the Advanced (magical) Classes, which were the point of doing this whole thing.

 

[Spatzimaus]

CHAPTER 5: Advanced Classes
Terminology issue: "Prestige Classes" refers to mundane classes that base off of the Basic classes, and generally require a half-dozen Basic levels before entry, while the "Advanced Classes" are purely magical and require only a single Feat to enter. I'm not going to list Prestige Classes, because no one's ever wanted one IMC; we designed the system such that most people went at least semi-mage, and the only guy who stayed purely mundane just mixed up the Basic Classes into a high-skill high-feat hodgepodge.

There are three Advanced Classes, one for each magical style (Innate, Freeform, and Ritual). All are only given up to class level 18, since that's the most a level 20 character can have (he needs at least 1 racial level and one basic level). To go "Epic" in any class, you only need 10 class levels (but we've never actually worked out the Epic rules for these classes).

We added two magic-related skills, Focus and Manifestation. Focus effectively replaces Caster Level, and isn't tied to any stat. Manifestation checks replace attack rolls and caster level checks on rays, opposed psionics, dispelling, etc., and is a CHA-based skill. Each also has other minor effects on the magic classes, although it varies with each class.

I'll put one Advanced Class per post.

Mutant
The Innate magical class, mostly CHA-based. Think X-men. Mechanics inspired by 4 Colors to Fantasy's "Hero" class, among others. In D&D terms, cross a Barbarian, Monk, Dragon Disciple, and Psychic Warrior.
Prerequisite: Affinity(Innate)
BAB +1/2, d6 HD, no good saves, 4+INT skill points
Additional Class Skills: Autohypnosis, Focus, Manifestation, Stabilize Self, Use Magic Device.
Armor: Light, Shields
NWP at 1; (MWP OR Talent) at 7 and 13

At 5th, 11th, and 17th levels the Mutant may select a Bonus Feat; this can be any Psionic Feat, Mutant-specific Feat, or Feat from his Primary basic class. The Mutant can also select Psionic Feats with his general Feat slots. Mutants gain Psionic Focus (as per the XPH) and are considered to be inherently magical, although they can't be dispelled and retain all abilities in an anti-magic zone (other than Spell-Like Abilities).

At class levels 1-6, each Mutant gains 6 Mutant Points (MPs) per level. From 7-12 he gains 7, and from 13 on he gains 8; a level 18 character will have 126 MPs. These can be spent on abilities which fall into two categories: Bioenhancements (permanent ability boosts) and at-will Spell-Like Abilities. No single power may cost more points than your Focus skill rank, and you can't have a number of distinct powers higher than your Manifestation skill rank. (These tend to keep it all balanced.)

We've got a LONG list of what abilities you can get and what they cost. Here's a short list:
For 2 MP, you can increase any one stat or save by +1, or add 1 point of Deflection or Natural Armor AC. You could also boost BAB by +1, but only to a max of (BAB=character level)
For 1 MP, you can also increase initiative by 1, add 2 ranks to a class skill or 1 to a cross-class skill, or add 3 HP. Skills still cap at the usual amount, and the base HP can't be boosted above (10*level) this way.
Adding x2 low-light vision costs 2 MPs, and increasing it by x1 adds 1 MP, and you can do this as many times as you want. Likewise, Darkvision 30' costs 4 MPs, and adding each +30' costs 2 more.
2 points of damage reduction costs 2 MPs for 1/magic, 3 for silver or cold iron, 4 for adamantium, 5 for 2/-, and 6 for Hardness 2. You can only have one kind of DR from Bioenhancement (although you can pick up other kinds from spells, racial abilities, etc., in which case they all stack).
+5' land speed costs 2 MPs, adding gills costs 3 MPs, a swim speed of (land /2) costs 2, while a swim speed equal to your land speed costs 4. A climb speed of (land/2) also costs 2.
A 30' speed for winged flight with Clumsy maneuvering costs 5. Each +10' costs another 2, each maneuver class costs another 4. If you want wingless flight, get fly as a spell-like ability and hope no one dispels you.
A basic natural attack (1d4 damage of slashing/bludgeoning/piercing) costs 2 MPs. Each increase in die size costs another 2, if you want to be able to deal Subdual without penalty it's another 2, if the weapon is retractable or concealable it's another 2. If you want it magical, it's +4 per Market Price modifier. And if you want dual attacks (like claws), it's 150% of the single-attack cost.
Fast Healing of 1 HP per minute costs 4; for an additional 3 this increases to 1 HP per round, and each additional 3 increases this by another 1 (so Fast Healing 4 costs 4 + 3*4 = 16).

If your race already has these abilities, you can improve them in the same way. (A Darkvision race extending the range, a winged race getting better flight, a race with claw attacks making them stronger.) It's actually very cost-effective to do so.

Spell-Like Abilities are a bit different. They're actually spells, but can be used at will, can't be interrupted, don't draw AoOs, and don't use components. (It's closer to the Warlock invocations than anything else). Spells that require expensive components or XP can't be turned into SLAs. However, all SLAs have a flashy Display when activated.

The cost of an SLA is N * (spell level + 1) MPs. The value of N depends on the type of spell and some options:
Basic Elements are N=3, Advanced Elements are N=4, Astral or Psionic magic are N=5, Time magic is N=6. (The ability to cast fireballs at will would require 12 MPs.)
If the SLA can trigger involuntarily, subtract 1 from N; the character can usually find an item that keeps this from happening (Cyclops' visor, Rogue's gloves, etc.), but wearing or removing the item requires a Full-Round Action.
If the SLA has no displays, add 1 to N. For some SLAs this would be pointless, but for others (especially psionic stuff) it can make a huge difference.
"Proc" SLAs activate whenever a successful melee attack is made; no saving throw or separate attack roll is needed (but the spell doesn't gain any benefits from Focus skill or caster level, which tends to keep it weaker). An SLA that can only be used as a Proc costs the same as one that can only be used the normal way, but if you increase N by 2 you can choose to use it EITHER way.

You can use metamagic on non-Proc SLAs. Using a level N metaform simply disables the spell-like ability for the following 1dN rounds (so Empowering your blast would disable it for 1d2 rounds). If you use multiple metaforms at once, add their levels (so Still, Silent is also 1d2, not 1d1+1d1). All level 2 Mutants get the "Quicken I" metaform for free (which simply reduces Full-Round Action spells to a Standard Action, nothing more).

At 3rd level, a Mutant gains the ability to enter a short-duration "Trance" for extra benefits. (i.e., Barbarian Rage, but with no downsides and weaker benefits.). He can enter the Trance as a Free Action, once per day (plus one additional activation per 6 class levels), and the Trance lasts 3 rounds plus his Innate CHA modifier (Innate means no benefit for +CHA items or spells, and if the Trance boosts CHA it doesn't effect duration).
The Trance is made up of Bioenhancement (not SLA) abilities with a total cost equal to his Innate CHA. (That is, a CHA of 18 gives you 18 extra MPs to play with). These abilities can exceed any of the usual level-dependent caps (like if you want a REALLY high BAB), including the Focus and Manifestation limits. You decide what abilities make up the Trance every time your CHA changes, and the only way to remove an ability from your Trance would be to take that ability with your general MPs, in which case you select new abilities with the same cost for the Trance.

In general, the Mutant class ends up being for those people who want to be fighter-type characters but still be magical.

 

[Spatzimaus]

Channeler
My favorite, the INT-based Freeform class. It's a drain-based class, dealing a combination of Mental and Physical damage to the caster as he throws spells; Mental is treated like Subdual, except it can only be healed with a specific line of heal-over-time spells, the "Clarity" line, or with natural rest; normal heal spells do nothing for it.

Prerequisite: Affinity(Freeform)
BAB +3/4, d6 HD, good Will save, 6+INT skill points
Additional class skills: Concentration, Focus, Knowledge(arcana), Manifestation, Spellcraft
Armor: none
NWP at 1

At 3rd and 11th levels the Channeler can pick a Talent from his Primary class.
At 7th and 15th levels the Channeler gains a Bonus Feat; this can be from his Primary class or be any Channeler-specific Feat (including magical Feats, i.e. metamagic).

At level 2 the Channeler can use metamagic spontaneously, which increases the level used by the spell for purposes of drain (i.e., an empowered fireball has the same drain as a 5th-level spell); for spells with casting times of "1 action", this increases the casting time to a Full-Round Action. He also gains any 1 "Shaping" metaform; these are metamagics that take single-target spells (especially rays) and convert them into more useful shapes (cone, ball, chain, etc.).
At level 5, he gets another level 1 Shaping metaform; at 9 he gets a level 1-2 Shaping, at 13 he gets a level 1-3 Shaping, at 17 he gets a level 1-4 Shaping. (A few examples: "Cone" is level 1, "Ball" is level 2, "Chain" is 3, "Cloud" is 4)

And now for the important part.
At each level, a Channeler gains a number of Discipline Points (DPs) equal to his class level plus 3. Additionally, he gets bonus DPs from high INT equal to (INT mod * character level / 2), rounded down; only Innate INT counts for this (no bonus for temporary INT from items or buffs).
DPs are used to determine how effective the Channeler is at each type of magic. In each discipline (think school of magic), he buys a number of ranks (max equal to his class level, not character level).
Basic Elements cost 3 DP/rank, Advanced Elements cost 4 DP/rank, Astral or Psionic magic cost 5 DP/rank, and Time magic costs 6 DP/rank.
(Effectively, the number of ranks corresponds to D&D's class level when determining what level of spell you can cast consistently.)

A Channeler can't use any spell of higher level than his INT minus 10, and INT determines save DCs. He also can't cast a spell if double the spell level is higher than his rank in the appropriate magic type, and if the spell level is higher than his rank he has a few other limitations I won't really bother with here.

The Channeler spell list is identical to that of the Wizard (our prepared-magic class, which will be explained next), except for two limits:
> Channelers can't use any spell with an XP cost
> "Chain" spells (spells that have analogues at every level, which we have quite a few of; imagine a cure spell that cures Xd8 + level (max 5*X) and you get the idea) can be used normally; anything else is one spell level higher. This tends to focus Channelers on the more basic magic, like shooting lightning or healing people.

A spell deals 4 lethal damage per spell level to its caster (cantrips deal 2), by default, and he's forced to make a Concentration check (DC 5 + spell level + damage) to succeed in the spell. However, Channelers have learned to mitigate this damage by channeling the energy (hence the name). They make a check:
1d20 + number of ranks (see DPs above) + INT mod - ACP + circumstance modifiers vs a flat DC of 10
(ACP = Armor Check Penalty; the circumstance modifiers are small, such as +2 if using an element on its associated plane or -2 on the opposed plane.)
Failing causes the spell to be lost, but since the DC is a flat 10, this isn't a problem for whatever magic you focused on.
For each point of success, 2 lethal damage is converted to 1 mental damage. Once all of the damage is mental, each additional point reduces the mental damage by 1, to a minimum of 1 point of mental damage (which doesn't trigger a Concentration check). No form of damage reduction or immunity can prevent this damage.
Since mental damage can't be quickly healed, this tends to keep Channelers from casting low-level spells ad nauseum between fights; it adds up quickly.

As a practical example: a character level 7 Channeler, corresponding to a level 6ish 3E character, with around 40 HP, can cast 2nd level or lower spells at will, 3rd-level spells with minimal drain (~4 mental), 4th or 5th spells while taking some damage (~8 mental, or ~4 physical and 8 mental) and having a noticeable chance of fizzling, and could even try a 6th-level spell in an emergency (although the chances of successfully casting through the damage would be slim).

Effectively, to go up by one spell level requires gaining 4 to your Channeling checks; you can increase the base ranks by 1 per level, plus your INT mod is increasing, but it means you won't progress quite as quickly as a Wizard would; it's more Bard-like, in practice, although you CAN throw high-level spells if you're willing to accept a decent drain.

 

[Arkhandus]

CHAPTER 4: Basic Classes
*snip*
Class skills for each class are just all the skills that key off that stat, plus Craft and Profession. I won't bother listing them all.
*snip*

Question. So, Strong Heroes have only 3 class skills besides Craft/Profession, and Tough Heroes have only 1 class skill besides Craft/Profession? Any particular reason they don't get anything else to represent at least how athletic they must be to get so strong or tough? I should think they deserve to at least both get all Strength- and Constitution-based skills, since they have so few.

Also: Do you use the Reputation bonus from D20M, or no?

Thirdly: Some of the basic classes are really weakened in your set-up, it seems. Depending on how much of the Talents' effects you kept from D20 Modern, the Fast or Tough Heroes may be a bit weaker than the Strong Hero (especially since offensive power is more useful than simply being a little more survivable; can't survive too long if it takes quite a while to gradually defeat your foe). They probably need a feat or two worth of extra power.

The Smart, Dedicated, and Charismatic Heroes are definitely too weak here. Smart definitely needs something along the lines of doubling its Bonus Feats or its Talents. Their greater skills only make up for their lower HP and their far inferior proficiencies, plus maybe a single point of their lost Base Attack Bonus; thus the need for several feats (or Talents) worth of extra power. Smart Heroes in D20 Modern are already kind of hard pressed to survive and contribute well in a battle (their Talents and their good compatability with the Field Scientist AdC, in D20 Modern, given its Smart Defense/Weapon/etc. abilities, are the only things really keeping them from being near-useless in combat). And you weakened their stats from D20M, it looks like (lower hit die, no defense bonus, and good reputation is one of the Smart's advantages in D20M).

The Dedicated just needs a few feats or Talents worth of extra boosting. Their reduced class skills and lack of the decent defense bonus they had in D20M hurts a bit more (they're one of the more flexible D20M classes skill-wise and sorta combat-wise, normally) than with some of the other classes. And you gimped the Charismatic about as much as the Smart, compared to how they are in D20M (lower hit points, lower skill points, fewer class skills, no defense bonus, no high reputation bonus probably). They'll need more boosting than the Dedicated, maybe as much as the Smart.

 

[Flynn]

For those seeking to "roll their own" in this direction, an excellent resource for ideas would be the Classicly Modern website, where the D20 fantasy classes have been broken down into talent trees and the like:
http://www.freewebs.com/merlinsworkshop/CMsap.htm

For Action Points, I'd highly suggest that you consider Grim Tales' approach. This can be found in the Grim Tales SRD (viewable at this Google cache since the site seems down at the moment):
http://www.google.com/search?q=cach...+action+points&hl=en&client=firefox-a&strip=1

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[Spatzimaus]

Question. So, Strong Heroes have only 3 class skills besides Craft/Profession, and Tough Heroes have only 1 class skill besides Craft/Profession?

For Strong Hero, yes, they just get Climb, Jump, and Swim. It sounds like a small amount, but there are two mitigating factors.
1> They only get 2+INT skill points.
2> Remember that your Racial Levels ALSO give you some permanent class skills; while some are Craft, Profession, or Knowledge skills, every race gets to pick at least one more.

So, in practice, it's not that limiting.

For Tough Hero, I fudge it, because as you noted, there's just Concentration in the PHB, and that's not very useful for a tank. We gave them Climb (STR) and Survival (WIS), plus Stabilize Self (CON) from the PsiHB, which is actually a nice little skill to have and doesn't HAVE to be psionic.

Also: Do you use the Reputation bonus from D20M, or no?

No, we ditched the reputation and wealth rules as well. Reputation because it's one of the things that we felt should be done through roleplaying, and wealth because it's been done so much better in other systems.

Thirdly: Some of the basic classes are really weakened in your set-up, it seems.

Actually, very few people have taken the Strong hero; Fast and Smart are the most popular, by a substantial margin. Part of this is because most people intend to take the Advanced (magical) classes, and brute strength isn't quite as useful there. In d20Modern, there's really no way around the lack of combat ability inherent in the Smart Hero build, but once you factor magic in, that's not really a problem any more.
We've altered the spell list a bit, to encourage the psychic warrior style of play (enhance the sword/natural attacks rather than just throw offensive spells), and since we use the UA fractional system for BAB and saves, you just don't worry about that 1/4th BAB you lose by taking Fast instead of Strong, for instance (assuming you're just going to take a single level, which most mages do). And Fast has the best Talents, IMO: Evasion, Uncanny Dodge I, Uncanny Dodge II form one of the talent trees.

The bigger reason is that, as I noted before, the class skills for your Primary basic class are PERMANENT class skills, as are the racial ones. As you noted before, the Strong Hero only gets three class skills other than Craft/Profession, all of which are "physical" things that really get ignored in the long term once you have various spells, and the Tough Hero only gets a few. On the other hand, Fast gets Hide/Move Silently and lots of Rogue stuff; Smart Heroes get the Knowledge skills, Disable Device, and Search; Dedicated gets Spot/Listen and Survival; and Charismatic gets the social skills, of course. If one of those is your Primary basic class, you'll be much better off in the long run.

But if you take Strong or Tough as your Primary class, you'll NEED to mix in some high-skill basic classes from time to time, or else go magical. Our group tends to play very skill-oriented games. The one person we had who didn't take a single magical level is now a Strong 7/Dedicated 4/Fast 3; he's sort of a Fighter/Rogue, with a lot of nice Feats and a wide variety of skills. (He's a Feral, the wingless Gargoyle subrace; they don't get many good class skills.) On the other hand, we have one character who's a Drak'hai 9 / Tough 1 / Mutant 6; he's only got a few skills (and 22 of his 52 skill points have gone into Focus and Manifestation, the "required" magical skills, and they're not even maxxed out yet), but he's a combat machine.

 

[Spatzimaus]

And for the final Advanced class:

Wizard
A WIS-based slot-casting class that sort of rolls the Wizard, Cleric, and Sorcerer into one messy whole.
Prerequisite: Affinity(Ritual)
BAB +1/2, d4 HD, Reflex and Will saves are good, 4+INT skill points
Class skills: Autohypnosis (see PsiHB), Concentration, Focus, Knowledge(arcana, nature), Manifestation, Ride, Spellcraft
Armor: none

Bond Familiar at 1st level (as PHB)
At 4 and 16, gain a Talent from the Primary class, and at level 10 gain a Bonus Feat; as usual, this feat can be from your Primary list or a Wizard-specific one.

Spellcasting: WIS-based, limited by the usual "Arcane Spell Failure" of armor.
Spells Per Day: as Cleric/Druid/Wizard (no bonus Domain spell), but shifted one level up; that is, at class level 2 you get your first 2nd-level slot, at level 4 you get your first 3rd-level, and so on. (Remember that you need at least one racial level and one Basic level before entering these classes.)
Spells Known: as Sorcerer, but shifted up TWO levels (so you get your first known 2nd-level spell at class level 2 as well)
Metamagic: Applied spontaneously, costing "Metamagic Points". Each day, you get a number of metapoints equal to your WIS modifier plus your Wizard class level. Using a level N metaform costs N metapoints, and the metaform used is then disabled for N rounds. (So if you Empower a spell, you'll have to wait two rounds before empowering another.) Casting time increases to a Full-Round Action (as Sorcerer).
(As a Feat, Wizards can gain Prepared Metamagic, which allows them to use the old-style metamagic, where it increases spell levels and doesn't affect casting time or cost metapoints.)
At level 2, all Wizards pick a free level 1 Metaform from a small list: Heighten I (+1 to DC), Empower I (increase all die sizes by 1), Enhance I (+2 to caster level), or Extend I (duration x2)

At level 1 the Wizard selects two "Specialty Chains" from his specialty (below). Generally these are like Domain spell lists, although typically it's more of that X-level spells that I mentioned in the Channeler section; a spell that can be used at any spell level with effects scaling to match. At class levels 7 and 13 he picks an additional Specialty Chain.
The Wizard automatically knows all spells within these chains, which greatly increases his spells known. He can also cast spells from his chains without the need for a Focus (see below), but this increases the casting time to a Full-Round Action; if he has a Focus, he can cast the cantrip from the chain at will, without expending spell slots (again increasing the casting time). Also, his chain spells have +1 to their DC and Manifestation checks.

SPECIALIZATION
All Wizards must specialize. Wizards have eight choices for specialization:
Three Elemental triads (Life-Light-Death, Earth-Force-Air, Fire-Nexus-Water)
Two Astral subschools (Planar and Material)
Two Psionic subschools (Divination and Enchantment)
Time
Each Wizard picks one specialty, and sacrifices two others. Races not capable of Time magic (which includes ALL of the playable races) can't sacrifice Time.

Every spell within your specialty has a +1 bonus to caster level and Focus skill (which determine spell effects). Also, only spells within your specialty can be picked for your Specialty Chains (above).

Wizards who choose to specialize in an Elemental triad have an additional option; they can double-specialize in one of the two Basic elements in their triad (+2 instead of +1), sacrificing the opposing element as well. That is, a Nexus specialist gets +1 to Fire, Nexus, and Water spells; he could choose to change that to +2 Fire, +1 Nexus, and can't cast Water spells.

FOCUS
All Wizards require a Focus item. Typically it's a wand or a holy symbol, but if you want to make your sword (or a hockey stick...) into your Focus, that's just fine. The Focus is an integrated part of the gestures needed to trigger a prepared spell; without it, the Wizard can only cast cantrips, or his specialty chains (above). As the Wizard gets stronger, his Focus gets stronger; its base HP increases by +1 per Wizard level, and its Hardness increases by an amount equal to the WIS modifier of the Wizard.

More importantly, starting at 4th class level, the Focus can hold a number of non-cantrip spells whose total level is not higher than his character (not class) level. These spells must be from the Wizard's specialty chains.
These spells can be cast directly from the Focus, as if they were prepared spells, and this expends them for the day. But more importantly, the Wizard can swap any of his prepared spells for a stored spell of equal or lower level, expending the prepared spell instead of the stored spell.
That is, if you're a 12th-level character who's specialized in healing and shapeshifting, both Life magic chains, you could put a level 1 healing spell, level 2 shapechange, level 4 heal, and level 5 shapechange into a wand. This'd give you a few options for spontaneous swapping.

 

[Spatzimaus]

CHAPTER 6: Magic

There are three basic schools of magic: Elemental, Astral, and Psionic. Each follows slightly different rules. Each of the three Advanced classes can access all three.

Elemental magic involves direct manipulation of the physical world, and is broken into ten elemental Disciplines, one per element. A Wizard or Channeler can strengthen their elemental magic with the creation of "taps", magical links to locations of "pure" elements. Also, elemental magic gets weaker or stronger depending on which plane you're on. It's very combat-oriented; there's almost nothing with a Will save in elemental magic.

Astral magic concerns manipulation the planes themselves. It's broken into two Disciplines: Planar and Material. Astral magic gets weaker or stronger depending on the amount of planar "turbulence", which changes from day to day and is the same regardless of what plane you're on.
Planar magic involves the interactions between the planes themselves, and includes almost all of the travel spells, summonings, and a few divinations.
Material magic involves magic bonded into items. This includes all the item-enchantment spells, Symbols, dispels, etc.

Psionic magic concerns the presence of living beings in the world. It's broken into two Disciplines: Enchantment and Divination. The main difference from the other types of magic is in how it's resisted: Psionic spells ALWAYS use Will saves, and the save DCs are set by a Manifestation skill check instead of being a constant.
Enchantment spells include the ability to deal mental damage, charm an enemy, heal mental wounds, communicate telepathically; it's anything that involves mind-to-mind (or mind-vs-mind) contact.
Divinations don't always require a living being to be the target (for instance, clairvoyance requires a location), but all psionic divinations only give information about living beings.

The spell list for all three classes is the same, although as mentioned earlier, Channelers treat all spells other than chain spells (those with X as their level) as one level higher. Most of the spells are taken directly from 3.5E, with only the minor modification of replacing "caster level" with "Focus skill ranks" in the effect. Many spells were removed entirely. But we've also added the Chain spells, which I've mentioned many times.

Chain Spells
Each Discipline, whether elemental, astral, or psionic, contains at least a half-dozen "Chain" spells, with a level of X (and one of these is always a raw energy Ray attack, one is a "Dispel" spell, and for the elements, one is a "Control" spell). These can be put into any spell slot or cast at any spell level, with X being set to the level in question. Many also allow a cantrip (X=0) version with a defined, limited effect.
For instance, an offensive spell might deal X*2d6 damage (which is NOT the same as (2X)d6). Memorized in a level 1 slot, it'd deal 2d6 and have the usual saving throw DC for a level 1 spell, while in a level 5 slot it'd scale up accordingly.
Many Chain spells are designed to replace a whole series of 3E spells. For instance, the "Planar Jump" Astral spell replaces Dimension Door, Teleport, Plane Shift, Teleport Circle, Teleport without error, etc. Likewise, the "Heal" spell replaces all of the "cure * wounds" spells.

The other unusual aspects of our magic system:
Focus (N): Every N ranks of Focus skill the caster possesses will add some additional effect to the spell. In the case of spells involving dice rolls, this generally is an increase in the die size (d3 -> d4 -> d6 -> d8 -> d10 -> 2d6 -> 2d8 -> 3d6 -> 4d6 -> 5d6 -> 6d6 -> 8d6, then 10, 12, 16, 20, etc.) instead of a flat increase (+1d6, +2d6, etc.). This keeps the spells from drastically jumping up in power, but with a similar increase at high level.
Secondary Damage: If an adjacent target is told to take "secondary damage" (typically by being on the fringes of an AoE spell), it means it follows these rules:
If the effect has a numerical effect, the numbers are halved.
If it has no numerical effect but allows a saving throw, the DC is reduced by 5.
If it has no numerical effect and no save, secondary targets are not affected at all.
Overflow: Some spells reach a point where their effect can't work any further. A healing spell on a fully-healed person, a penetrating beam attack that's just destroyed the wall it was hitting, etc. In some cases, the spell then specifies what happens to the remainder of the effect.
[Ray]: Ray spells require a ranged touch attack and can target anyone within the caster's line of sight. The caster makes a Manifestation skill check, opposed by either the target's Manifestation, or his touch AC. No saving throw allowed. Within Close range, the spell is at its full attack bonus; within Medium, -4 to hit; within Long, -8 to hit; beyond that, -12 as long as line of sight is maintained. No attack roll is needed to hit a willing target within Close range, and willing targets at longer ranges are treated as AC 10, modified only for size and range.
[Infusion]: Touch-range spells typically cast on creatures or constructs to infuse them with an element. A target can only have a single Infusion spell at one time, unless the caster has a specific Feat. If a caster is creating an Astral Construct (which are only a Standard Action to cast), the Infusion can be included as part of the casting action, extending the casting time to a Full-Round Action, and the construct gains the appropriate elemental descriptor.
Almost all elements (not Time) have four Infusion spells: a "Weapon" spell (adds elemental damage to your attacks, can dispel the opposing element), a "Skin" spell (gives SR to that element and absorbs a set amount of the opposing element), a "Shield" spell (gives a bonus to one stat or AC, elemental resist to that element and gives a one-shot spell-like ability), and a "Fist" spell (unarmed attacks deal more elemental damage, gives a bonus to one stat or AC, and gives a one-shot spell-like ability).

A few of the more common examples:
Heal (Life X) [Ray]
A healer can channel life energy into a living target, repairing bodily damage. A bolt of energy is fired, converting X*2d6 Lethal damage into Subdual on a successful hit.
Focus(3): Every 3 ranks of Focus skill increases the die size by one category.
Overflow: Each point of overflow removes 1 point of Subdual damage.
Cantrip: 1d3 Lethal damage is removed entirely.
Example: a Heal 9 cast by a level 18+ Wizard might have an effect of 9*10d6, an average of 315. And that's roll 10d6 and multiply the result by 9, NOT roll 90 dice.
315 points of Lethal damage would be converted to Subdual. If the target has taken less than 315 lethal damage, the subdual damage equal to the difference would then be removed entirely. So, if the target has taken less than 157 damage, he'll be healed completely. This sounds pretty weak, but since you can stack spontaneous metamagic onto this, it's pretty common at high level to heal the entire group this way, or pump the effect up even more.

Fly (Air X)
Up to X target creatures within Close range gain the ability to fly without wings. Each can fly at a speed of 20' with Clumsy maneuverability when in light armor or encumbrance; Medium cuts the speed in half, and heavy reduces the speed to 5'. Targets do not need to remain near the caster once the spell has begun.
Focus(2): Every 2 ranks of Focus adds 10' to the "light" movement rate and 5' to the "medium" rate; the "heavy" rate is always 5'.
In addition, the level of the spell has the following effects (use all entries up to X):
0: The spell lasts for 1 round and only affects the caster.
1: The spell lasts 1 round/level.
2: Poor maneuverability.
3: If anything suppresses or dispels the effect, the target feather falls towards the ground for the remaining duration. The spell lasts 2 rounds/level.
4: Average maneuverability.
5: The spell lasts 1 minute/level.
6: Good maneuverability.
7: The spell lasts 10 minutes/level.
8: Perfect maneuverability.
9: The spell lasts 1 hour/level.
So, for a level 20 wizard casting Fly 9, nine people can fly at a speed of 120 with perfect maneuverability for basically an entire day. That might not be worth a 9th-level slot to many people, but there WILL be times when you want that.

Fire Bolt (Fire X) [Ray]
A bolt of fire is thrown at the target, dealing X*1d8 Fire damage.
Focus(4): Every 4 ranks of Focus skill increases the die size by one category.
Cantrip: The bolt deals 1d4 Fire damage.
Very simple, obviously. Like Heal, it's only mediocre in a high-level slot until you put a Shaping metaform onto it. Chain Fire, anyone?

Dark Aura (Light X)
The caster is surrounded by a dark, flowing aura of energy. Its effect depends on the spell level (use all entries up to X):
0: Gain +1 deflection bonus to AC against melee attacks. Self-only, lasts 1 round/level.
1: Gain DR +1/silver against melee attacks. Unintelligent creatures prefer to stay away from the caster unless they have a specific reason not to.
2: Deal +1 point of Light damage to anyone performing a melee attack against you. Gain elemental resistance 1 to Death and Life damage. Gain a +1 bonus to all Fortitude saves.
3: Instead of being a personal spell, this may be delivered to one willing creature as a Touch spell. Gain 1/10th Concealment (10% miss chance). The elemental resistance also applies to Light damage.
4: The AC and DR bonuses above apply to all attacks, not just melee. Unintelligent creates refuse to enter or remain in squares adjacent to the target, and will not attack under any circumstances.
5: The spell lasts 1 minute/level. The elemental resistance also applies to Fire, Water, Air, and Earth damage.
6: The save bonus applies to Reflex saves as well. All melee attacks by the target deal +1 Light elemental damage.
7: The spell affects one willing creature per level within a 20-foot burst centered on the caster. The elemental resistance also applies to Force and Nexus damage.
8: The target gains 1/4th concealment (20% miss chance). The save bonus also applies to Will saves and defensive Manifestation checks.
9: The spell lasts 10 minutes/level. Intelligent creatures entering adjacent squares must make a Will save to take any action other than moving away. Success makes them immune to this effect for the duration of the spell.
Focus(5): Increase the numerical bonuses by 1. (Does not apply to the Concealment percentage, duration, or the size of the burst, only the things listed as "+1")
So, a level 20 caster casting the level 9 version gets a 3-hour group spell giving +5 AC, DR 5/silver, 5 resistance to all elements other than Time, +5 to all saves, 20% miss chance, deals +5 on his attacks and 5 to anyone who hits him, and scares away opponents.

Planar Jump (Planar X)
Casting Time: 1 full round
This spell allows the caster to move from location to location, or plane to plane. The level of the spell depends on what effect you want. At its simplest version (level 1), it can take the caster to one point within visible range and removes all magical effects in transit. This is then modified as follows:
Targets:
Group: +2 levels (limit 1 target per level, must be willing and in physical contact)
Gate: +4 levels (sets up a portal with a specified duration, below.)

Destination Plane:
Same: +0
Adjacent outer plane: +1 (any of the four)
Opposing outer plane: +2
Inner Plane or Hub: +3 (and you must be of a race that can actually enter these planes)

Destination Error:
Visible desination: +0 (no error, but can't use if you're going to another plane unless you're actively scrying it at the moment you port)
Random destination: +0
Familiar destination: +1 (roll on Teleport table, only "extremely familar" allowed)
Large Error (5d100 miles): +1
Small Error (3d10 miles): +2
No error: +3

Maintain enchantments in transit: +1

Gates have extra options:
(the value of Y depends on the Planar Turbulence for the moment. If it's low, Y=4d6, if it's medium, Y=2d6, and if it's high, Y=1d6.)
Duration of Y rounds: +0
Y minutes: +1
10*Y minutes: +2
Y hours: +3
Y days: +4
Dismissible at will: +1
Only allows travel in the desired direction (not 2-ways): +1

So, a self-only transit to another plane with no control over destination can be done as a 2nd-level spell, which explains why planar travel in our world is so common. Most of the 3E spells translate with spell levels intact, although Plane Shift ends up a 6th-level spell.