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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 3473718" data-attributes="member: 3051">CHAPTER 6: MagicThere 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 SpellsEach 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 roundThis 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: +0Adjacent outer plane: +1 (any of the four)Opposing outer plane: +2Inner 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: +0Familiar destination: +1 (roll on Teleport table, only "extremely familar" allowed)Large Error (5d100 miles): +1Small Error (3d10 miles): +2No error: +3Maintain enchantments in transit: +1Gates 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: +0Y minutes: +110*Y minutes: +2Y hours: +3Y days: +4Dismissible at will: +1Only allows travel in the desired direction (not 2-ways): +1So, 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.</blockquote>

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