gothtaku said:
Well...that's sort of the point. The magic is unreliable, but sometimes you get better than you expected (and sometimes butterflies shoot out of your mouth instead).
It all ties into the idea that Wild Mages aren't Wizards, they don't have precise control over the power.
No, I totally understand what you're trying to do; what I'm saying is, make it a carrot instead of a stick.
Basically, give the guy reliable spellcasting that's
inferior to what a Wizard or Sorcerer would get. Then, give him this tempting Wild Surge thingy that's unreliable
but powerful to compensate. Now, when he really needs to cast a spell, he can do so (to
dimension door out of a burning building for example); but when he wants to do something impressive, he can cross his fingers and Wild Surge (to end a fight early or whatever). The point is, you have to put the risk in the player's hands.
See what I'm saying?
Well, if you have a player who'd be willing to play your version, by all means go ahead!
I just can't imagine anyone in my group wanting to play such a thing.
- - -
Anyway, let's work on a Wild Surge table that doesn't suck. I'll start by making it a tree, so the sub-tables can be filled in to whatever size they eventually end up being, while the main categories stay appropriately likely:
Wild Surge (d10):
1: Mishap! Bad things happen to you.
2: Spell Mishap! Bad things happen to your spell.
3-4: Minor Mishap.
5-6: Miscellaneous.
7-8: Minor Boon.
9: Spell Boon!
10: Boon!
Mishap: d6
1: Cursed! You suffer a random effect of a
bestow curse for one hour.
2: Stunned! for 1 minute.
3: Nauseated! for 1 minute.
4: Unlucky! -6 Luck penalty to AC and saves for 1 minute.
5: Target! Demon or Slaad with a CR equal to or lower than your level appears and attacks you until dead.
6: Blighted! You are rendered permanently blind or deaf as the spell
blindness / deafness.
Spell Mishap: d6
1: Spell target opposite -- beneficial spell targets a foe, baneful spell targets you.
2: Spell damage is minimized (as though each damage die rolled a 1).
3: Caster level halved.
4: Casting spell is painful: you suffer 1d6 damage per spell level, or you may abort the spell to avoid damage.
5: Casting spell is draining: you must expend another spell slot of equal or higher level to cast the spell, or you may abort the spell to avoid being drained.
6: Spell duration, damage, area or number of targets halved (your choice).
Minor Mishap: d6
1: Stunned for 1 round.
2: Dazed for 1 round.
3: Nauseated for 1 round.
4: Blind for 1 round.
5: Unlucky: -2 to AC and saves for 1 round.
6: Immobilized: movement reduced to 5 ft. for 1 round.
Miscellaneous: d12
1: Brightly colored butterflies surround all spell targets for 1 minute; this may reveal their location.
2: Brightly colored butterflies swarm around you; you gain Concealment but also a -20 penalty on Hide checks.
3: Thick grass grows in a 60 ft. area centered on you; acts as the spell
entangle for 1 round, then reverts to being normal tall grass.
4: Random object near you animates as though by an
animate object spell cast at your caster level; 50% chance to be hostile to you, 50% chance to be friendly and defend you.
5: All creatures within 60 ft. become invisible as though by an
invisibility spell.
6: Wind speed increases by three categories for 1 minute.
7: Wonky gravity, 60 ft. radius: +4 to Climb and Jump checks, but Fly speeds reduced by half for 1 minute.
8: Wonky winds, 60 ft. radius: -4 to all ranged attacks (regular and magical) for 1 minute.
9: Wonky light, 60 ft. radius:
daylight if it's dark near you,
deeper darkness if it's bright near you, for 1 minute.
10: Pandemonic Howl, 60 ft. radius: very loud noise centered on you; -10 to Listen checks for 1 minute, 20% chance to lose any spell as though deafened; lasts 1 minute.
11: Your hair color changes to something silly for 1 hour.
12: Your skin color changes to something silly for 1 hour.
Minor Boon: d6
1: +1 AC for 1 minute.
2: +2 to next save (if made within the next minute).
3: +10 ft. speed for 1 minute.
4: Teleport up to 50 ft. as an Immediate action.
5: Gain temporary HP equal to twice your caster level (last 1 minute).
6: Foe of your choice (within 60 ft.) suffers banana peel attack; make a free Trip check; foe can't counter-trip you.
Spell Boon: d6
1: Wild thematics: +10 to Spellcraft DC to identify spell.
2: Spell deals 50% less damage, but all damage is raw chaos (untyped); or spell is Still, Silent, Empowered or Extended for free (your choice).
3: One target of the spell also gains effect of
daylight,
silence or
entropic shield (if ally); or suffers +2d6 raw chaos damage (if enemy).
4: Caster level +2 or spell DC +2 (your choice).
5: Spell-slot not expended.
6: Cast an additional spell as part of the same action; additional spell's casting time must be equal or shorter than original spell's casting time.
Boon: d6
1: In addition to the spell's normal effect, you gain the effect of a
summon monster spell of the same level; the monster(s) you summon must have the [Chaos] subtype.
2: +4 to all saving throws for 1 minute.
3: +4 to attack rolls for 1 minute.
4: Remove any one negative condition or effect from yourself, or negate next such condition imposed in the next minute.
5: You gain SR equal to 15 + caster level for 1 minute.
6: You gain DR X/lawful where X is your caster level for 1 minute.
Cheers, -- N
