Jürgen Hubert
First Post
You know, it seems to me that in most D&D settings, most wizards can walk around with Spells of Mass Destruction like fireball at their fingertips, and the only thing they have to worry about is the occasional pitchfork-and-torches-wielding peasant mob or the rare knight in shining armor knocking at the front door of their wizard's tower.
But it is my impression that in "default" D&D, magic is relatively common, and thus integrated into society - and this means that spellcasting ought to be regulated in some fashion as well.
At least, that's the case for Urbis, and thus I have attempted to seperate the various D&D spells into different categories of legality. Here is what I came up with:
Spell Legality
Not all spells are equal in the eye of the law. While some spells can be cast freely by anyone who knows them, others are restricted to licenced spellcasters, or even banned outright. While the legality of individual spells can vary widely from city to city, the following table can be used under most circumstances.
The table uses the following abbreviations:
Legal: The spell can be freely cast by anyone who knows it without fear of legal repercussions.
These spells have mostly fairly harmless effects, or effects that are solely centered on the spellcaster himself.
CL: Civilian licence. The spell can be cast by a registered spellcaster for his personal use only. He may not charge money for casting it - that requires a professional licence. Anyone, whether citizen of a city-state or a visitor, may get a civilian licence, though convicted felons are usually denied one. A civilian licence costs 25 gp times the highest spell level squared. So someone who wants a licence to cast up to third-level civilian spells would have to pay 25 gp x 3 x 3=225 gp.
These spells might be used for mischief, but the government trusts responsible citizens to use them correctly (and usually, those who apply for such a licence are lectured on what constitutes "correct usage" and what doesn't).
PL: Professional licence: This is required to charge money for spellcasting services, as well as being allowed to cast professional spells. A civilian licence is required to purchase a professional licence, and professional licence costs 50 gp times the highest spell level squared.
It is also possible to purchase professional licences for single schools of magic. This costs 10 gp times the highest spell level squared. Professional licences for a single spell cost 5 gp times the spell level squared.
Holders of professional licences must usually give a full list of all the spells they are able to cast to the authorities. These spells either hold potential for abuse or are a major money-maker for organisationed spellcasters, and as such are tightly monitored. Also included are a number of offensive spells that bodyguards and other non-military or non-guard professionals might require in their line of work
ML: Military licence: These spells are usually only legal for military forces, city guards, and similar organisations. In some cases, mercenary company may get licences for their own combat spellcasters, in which case the licence costs then company 50 gp times the highest spell level squared. Private individuals may be able to get military licences if they join a city's reserve forces. In this case, the licence doesn't cost them anything, but they must join military exercises (which usually last for a week and take place two times a year on average), and they will be drafted in times of war.
These spells have vast potential for abuse, and are often hard to justify to use in a civilian context. Examples include spells that cause devastation in a large area such as fireball, spells that deny the target its free will, such as charm person, or spells that might help wanted criminals to avoid the authorities, such as alter self.
Banned: These spells are illegal to cast for anyone with the possible exception of trusted government agents (and even then it often must be kept a secret from the general population). In some rare cases private individuals or non-government organisations may be granted permission to cast these spells, but there is no fixed price for this - it usually requires hefty bribes combined with huge favors for those in power.
Banned spells include those that create undead, permanently slay the living (i.e., those that prevent the victims from being raised), and anything that might significantly alter the status quo, such as wish.
All these prices assume a medium-sized city-state (Small Metropolis or Metropolis). Halve prices for smaller communities (down to Small City - smaller independent communities usually don't have any licensing system for spellcasters), and double prices for larger communities (Large Metropolis and Megalopolis). Some organized nations (such as Thenares and the League of Armach) have schemes for licences that apply across the region. Quadruple the price of the licence in this case.
A number of special cases is explained below:
Government employees: Spellcasters who work for the government of a city-state don't usually have to pay for any licences - the government usually gives them the necessary licences for their profession free of charge. However, professional and military licences are usually invalidated once the spellcaster leaves government service.
Licences in other cities: Cities that have established firm diplomatic relations with each other (this usually means that they are within the same region, or within a neighboring region close to the regional border) and aren't hostile to each other will honor each other's civilian licences for up to three months, and each other's professional licences for up to 30 days. After this, the visitor will have to acquire an additional licence in the new city to continue spellcasting.
Cities will not honor each other's military licences unless they are actively allied.
Magic Items: The production of magic items for sale requires at least a professional licence. If the spell effect created by the item would require a licence, the buyer must usually show proof that he has the appropriate licence as well.
Priests and spellcasting: Priests of all recognized faiths in a city (i.e., all faiths that have established a permanent and official temple in a city, as opposed to small shrines or hidden temples) are considered to have the equivalent of a civilian licence. Priests of major faiths (usually the two or three most popular or influental faiths, though the exact number can vary considerably) are considered to have the equivalent of a professional licence for all spell levels, while priests of minor faiths are considered to have the equivalent of a professional licence for spells up to spell level four. Priests of faiths without official representation in the city will have to purchase civilian and professional licences like other spellcasters. This also applies to druids, whose faith isn't recognized in most cities and often is, in fact, illegal. Druids who bother with acquiring licences will usually pretend to follow another faith.
Renewing licences: Professional and military licences (in the case of mercenaries) must be renewed each year in most cities. This costs 10% of the original price for each year.
Self-defense: It is usually permissable to use PL spells in self-defense even if the spellcaster does not have a professional license. The spellcaster must have clearly been the victim in this situation, however - casting such a spell when defending himself from thieves breaking into his home is one thing, while casting a spell when running from the city guards is quite another! Casting ML spells is seen less leniently - the caster will be held responsible for any collateral damage, and unless he has very good explanations for his actions, and why he even knows the spell in the first place, he will have to face large fines or even imprisonment.
The full list of spells and their legality codes is too long to be posted in this forum, and can be found here
So, what do you think? Would you add any new categories, or handle some things differently?
And have any of you also attempted to come up with rules for the legality of spells?
But it is my impression that in "default" D&D, magic is relatively common, and thus integrated into society - and this means that spellcasting ought to be regulated in some fashion as well.
At least, that's the case for Urbis, and thus I have attempted to seperate the various D&D spells into different categories of legality. Here is what I came up with:
Spell Legality
Not all spells are equal in the eye of the law. While some spells can be cast freely by anyone who knows them, others are restricted to licenced spellcasters, or even banned outright. While the legality of individual spells can vary widely from city to city, the following table can be used under most circumstances.
The table uses the following abbreviations:
Legal: The spell can be freely cast by anyone who knows it without fear of legal repercussions.
These spells have mostly fairly harmless effects, or effects that are solely centered on the spellcaster himself.
CL: Civilian licence. The spell can be cast by a registered spellcaster for his personal use only. He may not charge money for casting it - that requires a professional licence. Anyone, whether citizen of a city-state or a visitor, may get a civilian licence, though convicted felons are usually denied one. A civilian licence costs 25 gp times the highest spell level squared. So someone who wants a licence to cast up to third-level civilian spells would have to pay 25 gp x 3 x 3=225 gp.
These spells might be used for mischief, but the government trusts responsible citizens to use them correctly (and usually, those who apply for such a licence are lectured on what constitutes "correct usage" and what doesn't).
PL: Professional licence: This is required to charge money for spellcasting services, as well as being allowed to cast professional spells. A civilian licence is required to purchase a professional licence, and professional licence costs 50 gp times the highest spell level squared.
It is also possible to purchase professional licences for single schools of magic. This costs 10 gp times the highest spell level squared. Professional licences for a single spell cost 5 gp times the spell level squared.
Holders of professional licences must usually give a full list of all the spells they are able to cast to the authorities. These spells either hold potential for abuse or are a major money-maker for organisationed spellcasters, and as such are tightly monitored. Also included are a number of offensive spells that bodyguards and other non-military or non-guard professionals might require in their line of work
ML: Military licence: These spells are usually only legal for military forces, city guards, and similar organisations. In some cases, mercenary company may get licences for their own combat spellcasters, in which case the licence costs then company 50 gp times the highest spell level squared. Private individuals may be able to get military licences if they join a city's reserve forces. In this case, the licence doesn't cost them anything, but they must join military exercises (which usually last for a week and take place two times a year on average), and they will be drafted in times of war.
These spells have vast potential for abuse, and are often hard to justify to use in a civilian context. Examples include spells that cause devastation in a large area such as fireball, spells that deny the target its free will, such as charm person, or spells that might help wanted criminals to avoid the authorities, such as alter self.
Banned: These spells are illegal to cast for anyone with the possible exception of trusted government agents (and even then it often must be kept a secret from the general population). In some rare cases private individuals or non-government organisations may be granted permission to cast these spells, but there is no fixed price for this - it usually requires hefty bribes combined with huge favors for those in power.
Banned spells include those that create undead, permanently slay the living (i.e., those that prevent the victims from being raised), and anything that might significantly alter the status quo, such as wish.
All these prices assume a medium-sized city-state (Small Metropolis or Metropolis). Halve prices for smaller communities (down to Small City - smaller independent communities usually don't have any licensing system for spellcasters), and double prices for larger communities (Large Metropolis and Megalopolis). Some organized nations (such as Thenares and the League of Armach) have schemes for licences that apply across the region. Quadruple the price of the licence in this case.
A number of special cases is explained below:
Government employees: Spellcasters who work for the government of a city-state don't usually have to pay for any licences - the government usually gives them the necessary licences for their profession free of charge. However, professional and military licences are usually invalidated once the spellcaster leaves government service.
Licences in other cities: Cities that have established firm diplomatic relations with each other (this usually means that they are within the same region, or within a neighboring region close to the regional border) and aren't hostile to each other will honor each other's civilian licences for up to three months, and each other's professional licences for up to 30 days. After this, the visitor will have to acquire an additional licence in the new city to continue spellcasting.
Cities will not honor each other's military licences unless they are actively allied.
Magic Items: The production of magic items for sale requires at least a professional licence. If the spell effect created by the item would require a licence, the buyer must usually show proof that he has the appropriate licence as well.
Priests and spellcasting: Priests of all recognized faiths in a city (i.e., all faiths that have established a permanent and official temple in a city, as opposed to small shrines or hidden temples) are considered to have the equivalent of a civilian licence. Priests of major faiths (usually the two or three most popular or influental faiths, though the exact number can vary considerably) are considered to have the equivalent of a professional licence for all spell levels, while priests of minor faiths are considered to have the equivalent of a professional licence for spells up to spell level four. Priests of faiths without official representation in the city will have to purchase civilian and professional licences like other spellcasters. This also applies to druids, whose faith isn't recognized in most cities and often is, in fact, illegal. Druids who bother with acquiring licences will usually pretend to follow another faith.
Renewing licences: Professional and military licences (in the case of mercenaries) must be renewed each year in most cities. This costs 10% of the original price for each year.
Self-defense: It is usually permissable to use PL spells in self-defense even if the spellcaster does not have a professional license. The spellcaster must have clearly been the victim in this situation, however - casting such a spell when defending himself from thieves breaking into his home is one thing, while casting a spell when running from the city guards is quite another! Casting ML spells is seen less leniently - the caster will be held responsible for any collateral damage, and unless he has very good explanations for his actions, and why he even knows the spell in the first place, he will have to face large fines or even imprisonment.
The full list of spells and their legality codes is too long to be posted in this forum, and can be found here
So, what do you think? Would you add any new categories, or handle some things differently?
And have any of you also attempted to come up with rules for the legality of spells?
