What are my options for a ritual magic system?

[barsoomcore]

Barsoom uses this system:

Barsoom Magic

Which includes danger, potential madness and all that good stuff. It's kind of a conflation of Dark Sun and Wheel of Time -- not for everybody, to be sure, but it has proven to be fun in a sadistic sort of way.

Not exactly ritual, though that could be added easily, and there's also rules whereby Familiars can take Constitution drain in place of their masters. You could apply that to apprentices, I guess...

 

[anonystu]

If conversion is your kind of thing, then look at Ars Magica. (Search google for "ars magica" d20 for a d20 conversion that will give you a good head start).

If mass-conversion isn't your thing, I second the Incantantion thing, although I would be wary of just dropping it in whole sale: those checks are /hard/ hard. Characters of apprentice level just simply won't have chances to do anything but fail: the only characters who can use incantations even semi reliably without being high level seem to be those mid-level characters who focus on smart hero and the savant talent multiple times with skill focuses and the +2/+2 feats.

I don't think that's the feel you want: you want it to be dangerous and deadly to be an apprentice tapping into forces beyond your ken, not stupid because you don't have a chance in hell of succeeding.

So, either alter the DC's down for that, or in what I would recommend, pick up a Shadowforce Archer book (or browse in your FLGS), and look at the system for magic there (not their psionic system).

It's a ritual magic system that has characters being consumed by taint and corruption: very well done stuff, highly recommended, should adapt pretty easily.

 

[Ysgarran]

"The Witch's Handbook" from Green Ronin has rules on ritual magic also. I use that one for my game.

Ysgarran.

 

[RingXero]

Well I wouldn't want a system that required everyone to have feats.

you could just then remove the feat requirement. or just give it to spellcasters for free, same thing.


RX

 

[Larry Fitz]

So I lost my keys the other day, and was looking for them, eventually I found them.... but I kept looking for them just in case...


You know about Spellbound which has consequences for screwing up rituals, and has a system of checks and balances for not letting rituals get out of hand, but you're still looking for your keys?

Spellbound is out there right now, ready to blow your casters and their apprentices up, ready to give them Golems that exist solely to destroy them, ready to reduce their intelligence permanently by enough points to make spellcasting impossible, and yet you are still looking? Rituals for enhancing their own abilities, creating islands in the middle of the ocean, raising a tower in the forbidding farthest wastes of your world, animating a Spider-like Golem to protect said tower, and all sorts of other horrific things (many with their own "unique" screw ups and critical successes) await your players in Spellbound. This tome is a great resource for your Arcane and Divine Casters, not to mention what a wonderful thing it can be for your BBEG...

Don't even get me started on Agents of Faith

edit: dumb mistakes

 

[ergeheilalt]

Urban Arcana generally has up to fifth level spell access. For standard D&D spells that are sixth or ninth level, there are Incantations. Each incantation is different, but they all have a knowledge check that is associated with it. They make a check every 10 minutes for the "casting time", one failed check means that that 10 minute chunk was wasted, two failed checks in a row makes the entire spell fail. Another side note is that the caster need not be a spellcaster, they just need to make their knowledge (arcane lore) check.

Erge