kenjib said:
Sorry about the previous post, that is what I get for not reading the thread in full before responding
. Point is, this is exactly what I was proposing sometime at the begining of the old thread. It is a huge ammount of work but I think it is ultimately worthwile. If we pool our resources we might make it a bit less horrible.
The way I was thinking about it is: Have a scholar class as a base class, they would be a rogue variant with vastly different skill selection and various "Lore" class abilities replacing sneak attack.
On top of that have a number (as many as we can come up with) of spell-casting classes. Most of them being able to sattisfy the entry requirements somewhere between 3rd and 6th level depending on the power of the class (which need not and shoud not be equal if we are to achieve the classical-fantasy feel of this varius traditions).
Next step might seem a bit drastic but the idea is to change spell progression level to one spell-level per character level. In that way 5th level necromancer would be able to cast 5th level necromantic spells. Given that we will be fiddling with the spell-lists anyway we can fix the balance issues in those. Having the progress through levels directly related to spells reinforces the traditional mystical feel (He is 5th chapter necromancer) and removes one of the ore annoying DnDisms. It is also good as it allows the entire prestige class to be "realized" within the 9 levels. This should go a long way to balance out the fact that spell-casters start out later and that they are significantly more specialized.
In most cases I would allow multiclassing between various prestige classes but caster levels would *not* stack. Much slower progress is a price you pay for versatility and that is like it should be. In the "real" world you do not expect that an acomplished Kabbalist will also know much about the Druidic lore... Of course there could be "jelaous" classes that do have you lose your perks and possibly even spells if you multiclass out or "incompatible" classes that negate each other and so on...
Another major departure point from DnD that I propose is getting rid of spells per day, spell-slots, "mana" or any other game-like measure for artificial limitation of the spell-casting. Two things that should limit the spell-caster are time, components and consequences.
Time should be a major one. In mythology most spells are what in gaming could be termed "ritual" spells. They take very long time to complete but have effects that are more long-lasting then ones in PHB. My "Bull's Strength" from the previous thread is an example of how I think this things should work. Most summonings, alterations, abjurations and necromantic spells should have casting time in hours and duration adequately extended. There is few things in DnD as it stands that are more Diablo-like then the summoning spells that take seconds to complete and bring forth a creature from nether planes for a whooping half a minute (not to mention that the creatre is frequently a fiendish dire badger or something of that ilk). Prefered duration for almost any spell of that sort is something like till the next sunset or sunrise in the best keeping with tradition. Also some "escape clause" to end it early such as washing off the blood in my spell, or whatever is good thing to have.
Components are greatly important. Both for controling the ammount of casing and for atmosphere. Traditionaly, components have to be something that is not mass-produced (no pinches of sulfur, or bat guano because those can all be aquired in large quantities at once). Very good components are ones from Mongooses "Necromancy" book: bladed weapon burried with a corpse, skull of an infant and so on are excellent examples of what I have in mind. They should end up enhancing atmophere, providing the controlling factor for number of spells and most importantly cutting down on frivoulous casting.
Consequences are the most heavy-handed way of limiting the spell-casting. They can be very interesting (again enhancing the atmosphere - see the "Eater of Dead" and other consequences of the necromantic feats in "Necromancy") but if they are used to the point of effectively shutting down the PC spell-casters then they are overused. Idealy a wizard should be able to go through the career in more or less safe way following one of the more pedestrian paths, say Alchemy, without ever being xposed to serious consequences. His spells, in that case, should be slow expensive, usefull but not spectacular. Consequences should be reserved for those who wish to get lots of power quickly. Besides those obviously dangerous paths as Demonology and Necromancy, any attempts to cut down on time and components should be dangerous. Perhaps it is possible to cast the Bull's strength without a night of fasting and a ritual sacrifice by invoking Spirit of the Bull straight into oneself, but these spirits are hard to controll and maybe some less desirable after-effects will inger long after the strength has gone away...
Finaly I do thing that there should be a casting check for all spells. I aslo think that DC's shoul be such that it is realtively easy for the character to pass them. This way spells are still *largely* reliable but there is always a chance of mishap. Giving bonuses and minuses to this role for extraordinary circumstances is also in the best tradition of myth and fantasy... Full or New Moon, Caster is Virgin, Recepient is Blood Realtive of the caster etc... are all good examples of possible conditins that affect the role. Giving extra bonuses to succeding Roll with margin of 5 or 10 or some other high number might give further incetive for the casters to look for the most appropriate conditions for casting, again as per traditional fantasy.
I have more ideas but have to leave for now.
I would *really* like some comments on those ideas and idealy some volounteers to split the work with...
