Variant Spell Point System: 2nd Edition (expanded) basis

[Pall Bearer]

Hi all,

As I've mentioned in another post, I am restarting (presently we were suffering in a 3rd edition game), for my gaming group, a "2nd edition-Expanded" Forgotten Realmsesque campaign. In it we use an alternate style of magic system... still HEAVILY based on the 2nd Edition "Players Option: Spells and Magic" book, but incorporating some stuff of my own that seems appropriate to such a campaign. I thought that I'd go ahead and present it here, updating it as I go along, until it is ready to present to them. I would appreciate any and all feedback... especially if you see something that you think might be unbalancing.

Now, most of this will be stuff we've already had in our game for about a decade in most cases and IS tried and true, but some is relatively new, or tweaked versions of older stuff and so ALL input will be carefully considered... even if it challenges things that we have been doing in a certain way for years. So... without further ado:


Ok, as it seems that I am going to be presenting this system to a wider audience than usual, I guess that I had better set it down in a more regularized and intelligent format. First and foremost, in acknowledgement, this is not my own system in basis, but rather is based off of the work of Richard Baker, from the “Players Option: Spells and Magic” book and then simply tweaked to my campaign’s needs and my players temperament. In essence it is a half way compromise between the Fixed and Free costs for individual spells and between the standard mage and specialist wizard spell points, with the proviso for more or fewer base points based on any bonuses already existant for either Fitness (x2) and/or Will Power (x1) and another minor bonus based on Intelligence as laid out by Mr. Baker .

So, the points per level are the same for both Mages and Wizards (my term for specialist mages), but the Wizard pays fewer points to cast a spell from his specialty list only. The points per level are as follows.

1st: 06
2nd: 12
3rd: 20
4th: 30
5th: 50
6th: 65
7th:88
8th:113
9th:150
10th:180
11th:230
12th:295
13th:345
14th:415
15th:465
16th:565
17th:640
18th:745
19th:820
20th:920
21st+:+100 pts. per level

The points necessary to cast a spell of a specific level are found on the chart below as follows, before the / is the requirements for a non-specialist spell while those after the / are for a specialist IN HIS OR HER FIELD OF SPECIALIZATION ONLY.

1st: 6/4
2nd: 9/6
3rd: 15/10
4th: 22/15
5th: 33/22
6th: 45/30
7th: 60/40
8th: 75/50
9th: 90/60

It is thus easy to see that specializing is still a very viable option, in some ways more so than it was. Too, it is seen that an 18th level mage has quite a bit less total spell capacity (about 135 points less), but they do have an infinitely higher degree of flexibility that more than makes up for it.

For instance: a 12th level mage with bonuses or penalties for his/her stats could cast a few spells of several differing levels… almost as many as formerly, OR, he/she could cast six 6th level spells in rapid succession, instead of just one. All in all it makes for a bit more variety and a less desperately artificial feel.

A Mage now though has a deficit that balances all this extra flexibility. We have in place an alternate spell system.

In the Standard AD&D spell system the mage memorizes his spells at the various level and they are set in stone until he expends them or spends time re-studying new ones. Too, once he has cast a specific spell, it is gone from his memory. If he wants to use Magic Missile three times in a given combat, he must have memorized the same spell three times for the day, and be at least 4th level so that he can have three first level spells in his repertoire.

In the Channeling system set out above any caster with the points available can cast any given spell of a level he is able to comprehend that he has access to, irregardless of the number of times he wants to cast it. BUT…he must worry about the effects of fatigue.

Channeling the raw energy necessary for a spell from the world around him(her) is a difficult task that can be deadly. A caster can easily over extend themselves and find themselves exhausted during the height of a battle or so physically drained that they can no longer sustain their own life force. But, it also allows a HUGE bonus. In game terms it allows one to cast spells that one knows that one normally could not cast because of level restrictions. There are severe penalties for this and a mage taking such chances can even kill themselves in the process. In point of fact we use almost exactly the same system as was laid out by Mr. Baker, with a few twists.

One: instead of mutating the existing Endurance proficiency I decided to make a new one. So, there is now a new Non-Weapon Proficiency, Arcane Endurance; that works as follows:

ARCANE ENDURANCE (cost:3 points; starting ability: special): A character with Arcane Endurance may reduce the fatigue caused by any spell they cast with a successful proficiency check. The base proficiency is equal to the Con/Fitness score +1 point for every two character points spent on the skill –1 per level of the spell. A special success (succeeding by 10 or more) with this skill, allows the user to reduce the fatigue cost by two levels, while a critical failure (a roll of 1, irregardless of the number needed to succeed) increases the fatigue level by one place. The proficiency is available to any spell caster at the given point cost.

So, if a mage with a Fitness of 10 who has, over the course of his career, spent 4 extra points on this non-wpn prof. would have a rating of 12 with the proficiency. Now, let's say that he is a elevnth level mage who has been forced by circumstance to cast a Limited Wish spell he has copied into his book but can not yet normally use. The Fatigue cost of this is normally Mortal for a mage of his level, so he desperately wants to reduce it. He rolls against his ability of 12 modified by a -7 for the level of the spell. Our mage needs to roll a 5 or less on the d20. Not fun, but it is certainly better than no chance at all.

Likewise if our mage had a fitness of 15 and had spent another 6 points uping his ability here (giving him a base of 18) and were casting
a simple 3rd level spell, his chances are of reducing the fatigue from moderate to light are quite good (18-3=15 or less). Now, let's say he rolls a 4, succeeding by 11, a special success, he would reduce the spell fatigue to nothing.


Two: we do NOT use the loss of spell points as an added fatigue factor BUT, the loss of HIT points IS capable of increasing fatigue though, as per the book. So a caster who usually has 16 hit points, but who has suffered 8 hit points of damage, will have an extra level of fatigue from casting any spells that can cause him fatigue. So, if this were a 7th level mage in the example above, casting a simple first level spell, usually a lightly fatiguing process at worst, now becomes a heavily fatiguing one, while casting a 4th level spell, usually only heavily fatiguing, now becomes mortally fatiguing and may kill him.

Three: While the Existing Fatigue rules are in use, they are modified slightly as follows: there is no increase in the fatigue level of the new spell if the caster is moderately or less fatigued. There is an increase of one fatigue level for a new spell if the caster is already heavily fatigued and an increase of two fatigue levels for the new spell if the caster is already severely fatigued. So, if we have a 5th level mage who was already heavily fatigued and casts another 1st level spell his fatigue rating would not increase (as the fatigue level of the 1st level spell for a fifth level caster is only moderate, increased to heavy and he is already heavily fatigued.) but if he were to cast a third level spell his fatigue level would increase to severe although normally he would be only heavily fatigued from casting a third level spell. Likewise if he were already severely fatigued casting a third level spell would put him into the mortally fatigued range, necessitating a save versus Death Magic as is detailed later.

Recovering from fatigue is handled as per the book, except that the same modifiers mentioned below to the Death Magic save for mortal fatigue are also present in the save to recover from the differing levels of fatigue. The character also regains spell points, of course, while he is recovering from fatigue, so it is not impossible for low to mid level characters to fully recover their spell points while they are recovering from being severely fatigued, for instance.

Finally, when Mortal Fatigue level is reached the roll is versus Death Magic modified by both the Wis/Will Power bonus or penalty as though it were a Mind Effecting spell and the Con/Fitness addition or subtraction to hit points times two. (I.e.: Draxlin ,is a fifth level Mage with a Will Power of 16 and a Fitness of 16 as well. He has just cast a spell that has pushed him into the Mortally Fatigued category and needs to make a save versus Death Magic, for which he would normally need a 14 or more . This is modified by his +1 Ring of protection to 13 or greater and further modified by his Will Power to 11 and then by his Fitness (remember, it’s times to the bonus or penalty) to just a 07 or better needed to save. If his Will Power were a 4 however, and his Fitness was a 3 (say as the result of a curse or a spell affecting him that drained certain stats) he would need a roll of 19 or more to save.) If he does not save, he takes the amount of points that he had invested in the spell as direct damage, with blood vessels rupturing and probably a very messy death in the offing. Pushing past your limits is dangerous here.

There are some ameliorating factors though. For one there are certain magic items, especially potions, that restore lost fatigue levels. Indeed, any Potion of Healing also restores one lost Fatigue level while a potion of Extra Healing restores up to (depending on whether the potion is consumed whole or taken in “doses”) three lost fatigue levels. Too, there are several Potions available, some quite easy to obtain, some indeed obtainable from any apothecary that will speed the recovery of lost fatigue and there are even certain drugs (those though can have severe drawbacks) like Quicken, that will also restore lost fatigue levels, and there are a few rare (and highly addictive) drugs, like Shar’s gift, that can ADD extra spell points to the user. Also, there is an item from fabulous Amn, the Mage’s Stave, that somehow decreases the fatigue drain of any spell cast through it by one level, but it does have a limited life span and once 99 levels of fatigue have been absorbed by this wondrous item it crumbles to a fine grayish dust that when combined with certain other substances, makes a sleeping powder (blown through a tube… it acts like the Spell of the same name, but one so powerful that saves against it (where applicable) are made at a minus five!

Many Mage types actively pursue a quasi-mystical path that allows them to recover more quickly and to focus themselves in a single manner, but this is not universal by any means. Still, Mystics are exceedingly common as one recovers from fatigue twice as quickly when in a deep meditative state than is usual.

There are a few other changes we have implemented to the way mages operate, including a proviso that makes it much easier to research any Universal School spell(providing a +25% bonus to the learn spell percentage irregardless of other factors) that yan individual mage/wizard/whatever doesn’t yet have that he/she might want.

 

[Pall Bearer]

And more was asked, so the following is part of an FAQ that exapnds it all a bit further and answers some of the unanswered questions.
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For instance: Let's say we have a fifteenth level mage who starts his day at full spell cpacity. To make this easier we won't have him running about with any items that ameliorate fatigue costs. Also we make him a mage and not a specialist so that we don't have to worry about the differing spell point costs for casting spells that you specialize in. Now, our mage has a base 465 spell points at his level, and he also happens to get, let's say, a total of 10 more through bonuses from high Fitness, and Reason scores for a total of 475. Too, he has the Arcane Endurance nwp at 17.

He heads out and at some point he encounters a trio of trolls who catch him nearly unawares. He has the Wall of Fire spell and since they're almost on him, he snaps it out quickly in a circle around himself so as to keep them off of him for a moment. Now Wall of Fire is just a 4th level spell, so for a mage of his level it is only lightly fatiguing. He rolls against his Arcane Endurance nwp which is a 17-4 for spell level, or a 13. he rolls a 10 and succeeds in reducing the fatigue cost to nothing.

The trolls, not being really bright today, decide to wait out the spell to get at the tasty looking guy they see through the flames. Feeling a bit peckish, our mage decides to get nasty and unleashes an Acid Storm on the trio. Now, Acid Storm is a seventh level spell, and heavily fatiguing even for such a high level mage. He rolls to reduce the fatigue (his base 17-7 for the spell level) but rolls an 11 and doesn't manage it this time. He is now heavily fatigued, incurring, according to the book, -2 penalty to all attacks, a +1 penalty to Armor Class and has his movement rate decreased to 1/4 of it's normal (3 in this case). He is exhausted and is suffering a spliting headache and all over body pains.

One of the trolls survives the acid storm and incensed, leaps through the wall of fire, also surviving it. It gets the initiative for the round and strikes first in the round. It gets lucky, doing a total of 25 points of damage. Now our mage is a stout guy with a high Fitness to boot, he normally has 48 hit points, but since that 25 points reduces him to less than half of his normal hit point total it increases his fatigue level by one as well. Even before our mage whips out his wand of magic missiles and finishes the staggering troll off, since the acid damage will keep it from regenerating, just like it's two companions, it out of the picture; but even before that, our trusty mage is now suffering from the effects of severe (-4 attack penalty, a +3 AC penalty, a movement rate or 1 and just walking about now requires either a Will or Balance save, whichever is more advantageous) fatigue.

Not even wanting to think of the possibility of facing anything else just now, he prays that there is nothing in the immediate area and he casts a Leomunds Secure Shelter (another 4th level spell) right on the spot. Normally this spell is only able to cause light fatigue... but he's almost ready to pass out as it is. Thankfully, even increased by two fatigue levels (which is the penalty for casting a spell when you are already severely fatigued) the Leomunds Secure Shelter is only heavily fatiguing for such a high level mage and it does not thus increase his fatigue level to mortal.

Now, on the good side: our mage has used a total of two fourth level spells for 44 points and one seventh level spell for 60 points. The total being 104 points. WHILE he is recovering from his fatigue he is also recovering used hit points. He does NOT need to "restudy" his spells, as any spells he has in memory are available to him. The old "spells per level" limit is used solely to see how many spells he can actively store at one time. The only time he needs to "study" is if he wants to exchange one for another.

Recovering from fatigue for our exemplar mage is as follows: Since he is severely fatigued he can roll to recover from his fatigue after one hour of rest. Since our boy has the Meditiation nwp at 15 and a secure place in which to meditate, if he makes his roll then after half the otherwise required time he can roll. Let's say he made it. After half an hour he rolls a save vs. Death Magic modified by his high Fitness of 16 (a +2 bonus) and by an additonal +1 for being in a meditative state. A 15th level Mage normally needs an 11 to save, our boy needs an 8. Let's say he's unlucky and he rolls a 4. Well, no harm done, he's still secure, and because of the meditative state, a simple half an hour later he rolls again. This time he has an additonal +1 bonus from the extra time spent so he needs only a 7. He rolls a 9 and makes it. His fatigue level drops then to heavy.

Heavy fatigue has a recovery of once per turn normally, but still in his meditative half trance, our mage needs only 5 minutes between rolls. On the first one, still needing the normal 8 he needed the first time he rolls a 19. In our game this is a special success (as it is more than 10 more than the number needed to succeed) and he recovers not one, but two levels of fatigue, bringing him all the way back to light fatigue. One round and one further succesful roll later he is completely recovered from his fatigue.

During this time he has also recovered a number of the 104 spell points he spent. Since he was meditating during this time he is treated as though he had been sleeping and he recovers 1/10th of his normal spell point maximum per hour. Now since he has a normal maximum of 475 spell points, he just recovered 48 in the one hour and six minutes that he meditated. Thus he is only 56 points short of his maximum spell casting total.

Our mage decides to venture on. He leaves the shelter and continues walking deeper into the edges of the fens. He will continue to recover his spell points, even walking, since this is not strenous exercise at the rate of 2% per hour, or 10 (actually 9.5, but we round up) points per hour in his case. In less than six hours he will, if he encounters no further troubles, be back to his full spell point potential. If he DOES encounter trouble though, it will be a real pain in the ass for him as since he is at less than 1/2 of his normal hit points, all his spells are increased by one category in fatigue cost. So, 1st through 3rd level spells that normally have no fatigue cost will have a fatigue cost one light. If he tries to cast a seventh level spell with a normally heavy fatigue he will find himself faced with the possibility of severe fatigue again. He needs to be FAR more careful until he's regained atleast a few hit points and is thus no longer handicapped by his hit point state.

Well, this long example has given you an idea of how all this works in practice.

There, as I mentioned, are very few things that are new about this system we use (we've been using most of these modified rules since early 97) and we've adapted to it to the point that it takes little more book keeping than the old system. Truly, it is no harder than the original system to use once you've learned it and it takes no longer to learn this from scratch than the original from scratch. PLUS, to my mind at least, this is both more flexible and less contrived in feel as well.


PB

 

[Pall Bearer]

And more of the FAQ:


Hi Nanok,

Quote:
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What will happen when a character uses up all of their available spell points?

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After they use up all of their available spell points, they can, if they feel the need is great enough, empower their spells directly from their hit points, even to the point of being able to go as far as his levels into the negatives.

For instance: Let's say we have a fifth level mage who is down to just six spell points but has eight of his original thirteen hit points remaining after a long combat. He's in a fix as everyone else in the party is either dead or unconscious and suddenly a quartet of orcs appear at the mouth of the corridor he's looking at. He's got to drop these guys quick or everybody is dead meat.

Wincing, as he is already heavily fatigued, he slams them with his Lightening Bolt spell. Since he has only 6 spell points left and needs 15 to cast the spell, he is using 9 HIT POINTS to empower the rest of the magic. The spell goes off and fries the four orcs, but it also takes him to -1 hit points as well as blood vessels burst and his heart stops from the strain.

Unless one of his comapnions comes to VERY soon he's just sacrificed himself as he will continue, as per normal rules, to loose one hit point per round until he reaches -10 and dies. This has happened in our campaign twice in the six or so years we've been using these rules. One of those times the others weren't fast enough to help the mage and the sacrifice became a permenant one. The player didn't mind though, as it fit the story and the way he protrayed his character to the letter.



PB

 

[Pall Bearer]

and yet more FAQ: This set more geared towards expanding the entire alternate Fatigue system so that it more reflects the whole and not just magi.

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Hi Deadinwater,

You're quite welcome. We don't use much of the stuff from the Combat and Tactics rules though, and I'm afraid that what I've presented is more of a crossbreed thing again. The Combat and Tactics fatigue system is really very different.

We use the Fatigue ideals from the Spells and Magic book as a basis but our system for combat, for instance, is really somehwhat other. Each person has a fatigue rating that is affected most heavily by their class but that is modified by their Fitness and Will Power.

A person in combat uses a variable amount of energy according to several factors: class being foremost:

A fighter is fatigued by one level (from none to light to moderate to heavy to severe) for every X# of attack actions he/she takes. This number is equal to level+Endurance+exceptional Fitness bonus or penalty+exceptional Will Power bonus or penalty. So, if we have a 8th level fighter with an Endurance of 5, a Fitness of 17 and a Will Power of 12, he/she has a total of 16 melee attack actions (each attack in a round counts seperately of course for those with multiple attacks). Missile attacks use only one half the fatigue.

A Priest or Rogue class character has the same except that for them they must half their level when figuring number of allowable actions before going up one fatigue category.

For Mages class Characters it is the same except that they use only 1/5 of their class levels (rounded down) into the mix.

We also have additional manners in which to become fatigued of course. Climbing is very fatiguing (less so to Rogues with the Climb Walls skill and anyone with Mountaineer nwp) as are forced marches or going without sleep, for instance. Too, heavy fatigue can not be lessened except by complete rest and severe fatigue cannot be lessened except by sleep (or meditation). It keeps the PC's from bouncing from one fight to the next, never resting, never considering all those tactical things that we try to simulate with our campaign. It also means that the PC's are less likely to want to just fight, fight, fight, fight, fight. They start quickly looking for more intelligent ways to solve their problems than on the tips of their swords.


Pall Bearer
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[Pall Bearer]

And a final part for now: I can always add more in there is interest as we (my gaming group and I) have been using these variants (most of them) for six plus years now. They've seen alot of testing, but I'd still love to get some feedback.


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I don't know if I mentioned this yet, but we are also set to allow a magic user to cast for greater or lesser effect as well.

By increasing the casting cost of any spell that one wishes to cast to the next higher spell level, one can increase the relative level at which it is cast by a like amount.

For instance. Let's say that we have a 2nd level mage who is casting a Magic Missile spell. Normally he gets a single missile at the normal 1d4+1 effect, but under this system he can cast it as though he were 3rd level (thus getting a second missile also at normal damage) by paying for the spell as though it were one level higher; ie: 9 points instead of 6.

There are drawbacks of course. For one, the spell is treated, for fatigue purposes, as though it were one level higher than it is as well. So, our second level mage, who would normally be heavily fatigued, as a basis, from casting the spell, is instead severely fatigued, because of the extra power he has channeled into the spell itself.

Also, one can reuce the casting cost of a spell that is enhanced by being of a greater level by reducing it's effect by a like amount (to the nearest whole number), but to no less than the level neccesary to cast the spell in the first place.

For instance: We have a 9th level mage casting a Fireball. Wanting to decrease the effect of the spell, or maybe just being unable at the time to pay the normal casting cost, he decreases the amount of power he puts into the spell to it's minimum amount. The spell is castable by a fifth level character minimum, so he can reduce it's cost to 5/9ths the normal cost, or 8 points in this case. The spell, of course, is now treated as though it were cast by a fifth level mage though, not by a 9th level mage. It does 5d6 hit points of damage and has the range and other attributes of a 5th level mages fireball.




PB