Yitzi
2012-08-26, 05:38 PM
Since Kane0 made a thread for general feedback on his ideas for his system rework, I figured I could do the same for mine. So here are the major changes; any ideas or feedback is appreciated. Because I'm changing a lot, I'm organizing this into sections:
General character/adventuring information
1. The system will use point buy as its primary feature. As you gain levels, you get more points (this replaces the boost every 4 levels in normal 3e), and also can transfer points from one ability or feat (see below) to another at a limited rate.
2. Feats are completely redone; they now refer specifically to certain primarily noncombat miscellaneous abilities (such as magic item creation or speed boosts), which are bought with points just as ability scores are. (Combat feats have been replaced by combat styles, discussed below.)
3. Races have been given more distinct special abilities to distinguish them; for instance, dwarves get both spell resistance and scaling energy resistance, while humans get a choice (changeable between adventures) of three "adaptability" abilities that help them in situations where their primary choices are not so useful (for instance, one of the abilities lets them use their INT modifier instead of skill ranks whenever it's higher, possibly letting them use a skill untrained).
4. In addition to race, a character picks a background and primary class. The background gives bonuses to certain skills and possibly feats, while the primary class gives a bonus (depending on the class) when the first level in that class is taken.
5. Going up a level requires not only reaching the appropriate experience threshold, but also spending time (up to the GM, but the suggested amount is a year) training. Naturally, this system is not designed for "1 to 20 in 10 months" campaigns.
6. Experience is given not as a number of XP points, but as percentage to the next level. It is assigned not by encounter, but by goals: Each adventure has one or more goals, and each goal is worth a certain amount of experience if completed. It is suggested that each goal be worth roughly 1% for each level-appropriate encounter that is expected to need to be beaten to achieve it (or less if the encounter is shared with another goal), but innovative solutions that bypass encounters still give full experience for the goal, and extra encounters due to the characters messing up don't give any extra experience.
7. Leadership has been changed; each character can have (if circumstances provide) up to one cohort and a number of followers based on level; by taking the Leadership feat, this is doubled (and the feat can be taken multiple times to further increase it.) Cohorts, as NPCs (yes, that means the DM controls them) who stay with the PC for who he is as a person, do require heavy RP maintenance, so having a lot of cohorts may be inadvisable even if one's Leadership permits it.
8. Alignments have been reworked to reduce ambiguous cases and create more fundamental differences between the alignments.
General combat mechanics
9. The three saves are now Fortitude (primarily used against physical conditions, such as poison or nausea), Insight (primarily used against charm and illusion effects), and Will (primarily used against other direct magical effects, usually negating them on a successful save). Saves are also substantially higher; a poor save is level/2, and a good save is a base bonus equal to class level.
10. There is a "reflex" system where you can effectively ready an action to trigger on a particular effect without having to take an action the previous round (you do lose the corresponding action the next round, though, so the total action economy is unaffected). The number of reflexes you can have stored depends on your class and level (similar to a base save bonus), while the chance of successfully acting before the trigger completes depends on your total bonus plus an ability modifier (DEX for physical actions, CHA for mental/magical ones) as compared to the character performing the trigger. Initiative also makes use of the Reflex modifier, but with WIS as the key ability score.
11. Hit dice are now all d4s, but more martial classes give more dice per level (the possibilities are 2 dice, 1.5 dice, or 1 die; the total is rounded down.) The CON modifier is added to each die, so a level 20 fighter with high CON has a lot of hit points.
12. All healing effects scale with the recipient's hit dice. Healing per round does not scale with the healer's level as well, but the number of rounds healed per cast of a healing spell does scale.
13. You aren't dead until your negative hit points are twice your full hit points, but damage taken by a helpless character is also multiplied by the character's hit dice. (So even at level 20, you're not likely to be killed in the same blow that knocks you out, but it's quite quick to kill an unconscious character if you want to.)
14. All attacks have DEX as the key ability, rather than STR, but get twice as much bonus to STR (so off-hand attacks get a bonus to damage equal to STR modifier, one-handed, thrown weapons, and composite bow get twice the STR modifier, and 2-handed weapons get 3 times the STR modifier.)
15. Armor provides damage reduction instead of AC (which has therefore been renamed to defense). Certain weapons can partially ignore this. A character wielding a light weapon with an appropriate combat style can take a penalty to their attack roll to reduce this DR on a 1-for-1 basis.
16. If you beat the target's defense, you add the difference to your damage as precision damage. Sneak attacks multiply this damage instead of adding bonus dice. If the base damage is completely negated by armor, the precision damage is also negated. (What happens when a weapon partially ignores armor depends on the weapon.)
17. You have combat skill (replaces BAB) equal to half your hit dice, rounded down. Your base defense is equal to 10 plus half your combat skill (rounded down, and you can also use combat skill each round on a number of other effects (the total spent on all the other effects cannot exceed your total combat skill): You can boost your attack bonus for all attacks that round (this replaces adding your BAB to attacks), boost your damage for all attacks that round, or boost your defense against one enemy, on a 1-for-1 basis (the defense boost against a single enemy cannot exceed half your combat skill, rounded up). You can also spend 5 points of combat boost to get an additional attack that round (this replaces iterative attacks).
18. Attacks and spellcasting are normally full-round actions, but can be taken as standard actions (or as part of a charge, in the case of melee attacks) for -2 to the attack roll or caster level.
18a. d20 rolls are replaced by 3d6. Rolling 2 6s on the 3d6 means you roll an exploding d6 (you roll a d6, and if it's a 6 you keep rolling until you get something other than a 6 and add all the results) and add it, rolling 2 1s on the 3d6 means you roll an exploding d6 and subtract it. If you roll an 18 on your 3d6 you roll again and add 18; if you roll a 3 on your 3d6 you roll again and subtract 18. This replaces rules about natural 20s and natural 1s.
Classes
19. The number of classes has been reduced some, with barbarian's combat abilities folded into fighter and its noncombat abilities made into a background, and bard removed (the closest equivalent will be a rogue). Paladin is no longer a class, but rather a template that has some very nice abilities for low LA, but at the cost of extremely inconvenient RP requirements.
20. Every class now has a powerful capstone ability (or, in the case of fighter, a choice of capstone abilities, one for each combat style); paladins also get a powerful ability at ECL 20 (assuming they have no sources of LA other than the paladin template).
21. Fighter now has good Will saves (in addition to Fort) and good reflexes, with added boosts against standard save-or-die effects (but still has poor Insight saves.) Pretty much all nonmagical combat abilities have been made into combat styles, at which fighters are by far the best.
22. Rogues get good Insight saves and more skill boosts, but are otherwise pretty much unchanged. They do benefit from minor improvements to skills and from the fact that magic lost its ability to step on their toes, though.
23. Rangers now have only 1.5 hit dice/level (equivalent to medium BAB), but get a selection of special abilities to use their skills (usually Survival) in new ways. Unlike druids, they can get animal companions, although without any supernatural abilities.
24. Monks are heavily reworked; their most important ability scores are now DEX, WIS, and CHA, and many of their class features consist of getting to use those three scores instead of the other three. They have all good saves and good reflexes.
25. Druids are not true spellcasters, but rather can enter a trance to commune with nature, giving them a repertoire of at-will abilities usable only when acting in the interest of nature. They have good Will and Fort saves, but poor Insight and poor reflexes. They no longer have Wild Shape or animal companions, although they can gain the temporary service of natural creatures (animals, plants, and oozes) and fey.
26. Clerics now have only 1 HD/level (equivalent to poor BAB) and poor Fort saves (but good Insight), but get (depending on their deity and probably a choice from a number of selections) either a bonus background or the ability to gestalt with another class at every other level. They now have multiple-attribute casting, relying on both CHA and WIS. Their spell selection is also very much dependent on which deity they serve.
27. Wizards have poor Insight saves, but are otherwise pretty much unchanged in terms of the chassis. They use Spellcraft to determine their caster level and can therefore get a caster level above class level, but they have easy save DCs (they don't get to add an ability modifier) and horrible spellpoint regeneration, so they're usually best just buffing the party.
28. Sorcerers are largely unchanged; with single-attribute casting and without the downsides of wizards, they're usually the best for blasting and debuffing.
Combat Styles
29. Combat feats have been replaced by combat styles, which serve as sort of a mix of scaling feats, feat chains, and ToB stances. Medium-combat-skill classes (rogue, ranger, monk) select a single combat style from a limited selection, warriors (the NPC class) select a single combat style with no restrictions, and fighters select a single combat style and get another style every 3 levels, plus the ability to spend skill points for more styles. Each style grants a number of abilities and boosts depending on combat skill (with the skill 20 ability being the capstone for the fighter.)
30. If someone is using a combat style against you, and you know that combat style, you can attempt to counter it with a DC 10 INT check. If successful, you subtract your combat skill from your opponents for determining their benefits from the style (if your combat skill is more than your opponent's, you counter it completely and they gain no benefit.) Some abilities, and a few entire styles, cannot be countered.
31. With a few exceptions, you can only use one combat style at a time; switching is a move action, or a free action if taken over the course of an entire round (during which you get the benefit of no style.)
Skills
32. Some skills have been combined, although to a lower degree than Pathfinder.
33. Profession now can (depending on which profession) have any ability except CON as its key ability. Craft has been folded into profession, and no longer can be used to make items. The one exception is Craft (Alchemy), which is now simply Alchemy (INT) and can be used not only to make alchemical items (which are greatly improved in variety and ability) but also poisons and some potions.
34. Diplomacy has added functionality in getting someone to accept a deal (similar to the Giant's fix); it can also now be used to worsen a target's attitude (to provoke a fight or even force them to attack you and not your allies.) Abuse of the skill is being fixed by removing most means of boosting one's skill checks and by formalizing some circumstance modifiers, although a high-level rogue or monk can still do some very impressive things.
35. Concentration is replaced by a Fort save; on a failed Fort save, the skill or spell does not automatically fail, but rather takes a penalty to the skill check or caster level equal to the difference between the save result and the DC. Casting/skill-using defensively is done by taking a penalty to caster level or the skill check and thereby providing the same penalty to AoOs in response to the spell/skill; if the combat skill bonus to an attack roll is less than the penalty, the AoO can't be taken at all. Cleric spellcasting reduces the effective class level (which caps the caster level) instead of the actual caster level, since for clerics the caster level is often well below class level.
36. The Heal skill can be used to heal characters to some extent without magic.
37. The Spellcraft skill can be used to unmake your own spells (takes longer than dismissing them, but you get back some of the spellpoints you put into them), as well as in place of an Insight save against magical effects. It is also used by wizards to determine caster level for spells, and wizards can specialize in different schools (having a lower score for some schools but higher for others).
38. You can only spend one skill point per level on each skill (an exception is a favored-class rogue, who gets 4X skill points the first level and so can spend up to 4 on each skill.) Thus, you couldn't multiclass between two classes to get full ranks in some skills of both.
Magic
39. Magic now uses seed-based casting. There are a number of seeds, which the caster puts together into spells. Sorcerers and clerics can do this freely; a wizard can only cast a spell he previously had in his spellbook (but adding to the spellbook is essentially free.)
40. Magic has been rearranged into 6 schools:
-Abjuration contains most of the old Abjuration, plus force effects from other schools.
-Conjuration contains teleportation, calling, and telekinesis effects, but not creation or healing. It also contains a few other effects, such as calling flames from the elemental plane of fire, and raising the dead is combined conjuration/transmutation.
-Creation contains creation effects. Evocation effects such as Fireball no longer exist as such, but can be imitated (and with no save and no SR) by creating an alchemical item and using Conjuration to propel it to the desired location. Illusory figments also fall under Creation.
-Divination is pretty much unchanged.
-Enchantment is largely unchanged, but now includes fear effects (formerly necromancy) and certain illusions (including most of the ones that allow saves without interaction).
-Transmutation contains most of the old transmutation plus most necromancy effects, and illusions that were previously in the glamer subschool, and healing effects.
41. Vancian casting has been replaced by a spellpoint system. Spellpoints are regained at a constant rate (1/day for wizards, levelXability modifier for sorcerers and clerics), with no extra for resting. Total spellpoint pool is dependent only on class level; sorcerer and wizard stack for this purpose.
42. Every spell has 3 "levels".
-The caster level represents the skill placed into the spell, and affects range and duration. For sorcerers it is equal to class level, for wizards it equals the Spellcraft check result minus 15 (a wizard can always take 10 on this check), and for clerics it's equal to Prayer Points (a WIS-based spellpoint analogue) spent, or class level if the cleric is acting in the direct interest of his deity. The caster level must be at least as high as the spell level; if it is lowered below that point by some circumstance (e.g. disruption, or a poor Spellcraft roll for a wizard), the spell fails. Each spell has a single caster level; it's not added up for each seed.
-The spell level represents the complexity of the spell, and is added up for each seed. It affects the effects of buffs and debuffs, as well as spellpoint expenditure by sorcerers, and must be at least as high as the spell power.
-The spell power represents the energy put into the spell, and is also added up for each seed. It affects the effects of damaging spells, as well as save DCs. It also determines spellpoint expenditure by wizards, and channeling point (a CHA-based spellpoint analogue) expenditure by clerics.
43. Spellpoints or prayer points (but not channeling points) used on a lasting effect are "invested" in the spell and cannot be regenerated until the spell ends. Thanks to Ziegander for the core idea here.
44. When using a noninstantaneous seed on a target, the spell levels for all seeds of the same school already in place on the same target are also added to the total spell level for purposes of the minimum caster level (but not for determining a sorcerer's spellpoint expenditure or the maximum spell power). Thus, stacking buffs of a particular school will soon result in being unable to achieve the necessary caster level to cast the spell.
Equipment and money
45. Nonmagical equipment now comes in multiple tiers, not just regular/masterwork. (Thanks to Seerow for the core idea.)
46. Wands and staves are now nonmagical items that are used to aid spellcasting; wands give a bonus to spellcraft checks for a particular school (for wizard casting), while staves boost the DC of spells.
47. Scrolls are simply another type of (usually quite old) book.
48. Potions now can only produce certain transmutation effects, but are nonmagical and made by the Alchemy skill.
49. Magical items (with the exception of certain artifacts, as determined by the GM) have some spell imbued in them, and grant the benefits of that spell to whoever wears or wields them. These benefits are subject to the usual spell stacking rules, so having a lot of magical items will usually result in only a few (often only one) of them working.
50. As a result of this, money for personal use becomes irrelevant after the first few levels, and is replaced either with money for strongholds and the like, or with other rewards.
So, thoughts?
General character/adventuring information
1. The system will use point buy as its primary feature. As you gain levels, you get more points (this replaces the boost every 4 levels in normal 3e), and also can transfer points from one ability or feat (see below) to another at a limited rate.
2. Feats are completely redone; they now refer specifically to certain primarily noncombat miscellaneous abilities (such as magic item creation or speed boosts), which are bought with points just as ability scores are. (Combat feats have been replaced by combat styles, discussed below.)
3. Races have been given more distinct special abilities to distinguish them; for instance, dwarves get both spell resistance and scaling energy resistance, while humans get a choice (changeable between adventures) of three "adaptability" abilities that help them in situations where their primary choices are not so useful (for instance, one of the abilities lets them use their INT modifier instead of skill ranks whenever it's higher, possibly letting them use a skill untrained).
4. In addition to race, a character picks a background and primary class. The background gives bonuses to certain skills and possibly feats, while the primary class gives a bonus (depending on the class) when the first level in that class is taken.
5. Going up a level requires not only reaching the appropriate experience threshold, but also spending time (up to the GM, but the suggested amount is a year) training. Naturally, this system is not designed for "1 to 20 in 10 months" campaigns.
6. Experience is given not as a number of XP points, but as percentage to the next level. It is assigned not by encounter, but by goals: Each adventure has one or more goals, and each goal is worth a certain amount of experience if completed. It is suggested that each goal be worth roughly 1% for each level-appropriate encounter that is expected to need to be beaten to achieve it (or less if the encounter is shared with another goal), but innovative solutions that bypass encounters still give full experience for the goal, and extra encounters due to the characters messing up don't give any extra experience.
7. Leadership has been changed; each character can have (if circumstances provide) up to one cohort and a number of followers based on level; by taking the Leadership feat, this is doubled (and the feat can be taken multiple times to further increase it.) Cohorts, as NPCs (yes, that means the DM controls them) who stay with the PC for who he is as a person, do require heavy RP maintenance, so having a lot of cohorts may be inadvisable even if one's Leadership permits it.
8. Alignments have been reworked to reduce ambiguous cases and create more fundamental differences between the alignments.
General combat mechanics
9. The three saves are now Fortitude (primarily used against physical conditions, such as poison or nausea), Insight (primarily used against charm and illusion effects), and Will (primarily used against other direct magical effects, usually negating them on a successful save). Saves are also substantially higher; a poor save is level/2, and a good save is a base bonus equal to class level.
10. There is a "reflex" system where you can effectively ready an action to trigger on a particular effect without having to take an action the previous round (you do lose the corresponding action the next round, though, so the total action economy is unaffected). The number of reflexes you can have stored depends on your class and level (similar to a base save bonus), while the chance of successfully acting before the trigger completes depends on your total bonus plus an ability modifier (DEX for physical actions, CHA for mental/magical ones) as compared to the character performing the trigger. Initiative also makes use of the Reflex modifier, but with WIS as the key ability score.
11. Hit dice are now all d4s, but more martial classes give more dice per level (the possibilities are 2 dice, 1.5 dice, or 1 die; the total is rounded down.) The CON modifier is added to each die, so a level 20 fighter with high CON has a lot of hit points.
12. All healing effects scale with the recipient's hit dice. Healing per round does not scale with the healer's level as well, but the number of rounds healed per cast of a healing spell does scale.
13. You aren't dead until your negative hit points are twice your full hit points, but damage taken by a helpless character is also multiplied by the character's hit dice. (So even at level 20, you're not likely to be killed in the same blow that knocks you out, but it's quite quick to kill an unconscious character if you want to.)
14. All attacks have DEX as the key ability, rather than STR, but get twice as much bonus to STR (so off-hand attacks get a bonus to damage equal to STR modifier, one-handed, thrown weapons, and composite bow get twice the STR modifier, and 2-handed weapons get 3 times the STR modifier.)
15. Armor provides damage reduction instead of AC (which has therefore been renamed to defense). Certain weapons can partially ignore this. A character wielding a light weapon with an appropriate combat style can take a penalty to their attack roll to reduce this DR on a 1-for-1 basis.
16. If you beat the target's defense, you add the difference to your damage as precision damage. Sneak attacks multiply this damage instead of adding bonus dice. If the base damage is completely negated by armor, the precision damage is also negated. (What happens when a weapon partially ignores armor depends on the weapon.)
17. You have combat skill (replaces BAB) equal to half your hit dice, rounded down. Your base defense is equal to 10 plus half your combat skill (rounded down, and you can also use combat skill each round on a number of other effects (the total spent on all the other effects cannot exceed your total combat skill): You can boost your attack bonus for all attacks that round (this replaces adding your BAB to attacks), boost your damage for all attacks that round, or boost your defense against one enemy, on a 1-for-1 basis (the defense boost against a single enemy cannot exceed half your combat skill, rounded up). You can also spend 5 points of combat boost to get an additional attack that round (this replaces iterative attacks).
18. Attacks and spellcasting are normally full-round actions, but can be taken as standard actions (or as part of a charge, in the case of melee attacks) for -2 to the attack roll or caster level.
18a. d20 rolls are replaced by 3d6. Rolling 2 6s on the 3d6 means you roll an exploding d6 (you roll a d6, and if it's a 6 you keep rolling until you get something other than a 6 and add all the results) and add it, rolling 2 1s on the 3d6 means you roll an exploding d6 and subtract it. If you roll an 18 on your 3d6 you roll again and add 18; if you roll a 3 on your 3d6 you roll again and subtract 18. This replaces rules about natural 20s and natural 1s.
Classes
19. The number of classes has been reduced some, with barbarian's combat abilities folded into fighter and its noncombat abilities made into a background, and bard removed (the closest equivalent will be a rogue). Paladin is no longer a class, but rather a template that has some very nice abilities for low LA, but at the cost of extremely inconvenient RP requirements.
20. Every class now has a powerful capstone ability (or, in the case of fighter, a choice of capstone abilities, one for each combat style); paladins also get a powerful ability at ECL 20 (assuming they have no sources of LA other than the paladin template).
21. Fighter now has good Will saves (in addition to Fort) and good reflexes, with added boosts against standard save-or-die effects (but still has poor Insight saves.) Pretty much all nonmagical combat abilities have been made into combat styles, at which fighters are by far the best.
22. Rogues get good Insight saves and more skill boosts, but are otherwise pretty much unchanged. They do benefit from minor improvements to skills and from the fact that magic lost its ability to step on their toes, though.
23. Rangers now have only 1.5 hit dice/level (equivalent to medium BAB), but get a selection of special abilities to use their skills (usually Survival) in new ways. Unlike druids, they can get animal companions, although without any supernatural abilities.
24. Monks are heavily reworked; their most important ability scores are now DEX, WIS, and CHA, and many of their class features consist of getting to use those three scores instead of the other three. They have all good saves and good reflexes.
25. Druids are not true spellcasters, but rather can enter a trance to commune with nature, giving them a repertoire of at-will abilities usable only when acting in the interest of nature. They have good Will and Fort saves, but poor Insight and poor reflexes. They no longer have Wild Shape or animal companions, although they can gain the temporary service of natural creatures (animals, plants, and oozes) and fey.
26. Clerics now have only 1 HD/level (equivalent to poor BAB) and poor Fort saves (but good Insight), but get (depending on their deity and probably a choice from a number of selections) either a bonus background or the ability to gestalt with another class at every other level. They now have multiple-attribute casting, relying on both CHA and WIS. Their spell selection is also very much dependent on which deity they serve.
27. Wizards have poor Insight saves, but are otherwise pretty much unchanged in terms of the chassis. They use Spellcraft to determine their caster level and can therefore get a caster level above class level, but they have easy save DCs (they don't get to add an ability modifier) and horrible spellpoint regeneration, so they're usually best just buffing the party.
28. Sorcerers are largely unchanged; with single-attribute casting and without the downsides of wizards, they're usually the best for blasting and debuffing.
Combat Styles
29. Combat feats have been replaced by combat styles, which serve as sort of a mix of scaling feats, feat chains, and ToB stances. Medium-combat-skill classes (rogue, ranger, monk) select a single combat style from a limited selection, warriors (the NPC class) select a single combat style with no restrictions, and fighters select a single combat style and get another style every 3 levels, plus the ability to spend skill points for more styles. Each style grants a number of abilities and boosts depending on combat skill (with the skill 20 ability being the capstone for the fighter.)
30. If someone is using a combat style against you, and you know that combat style, you can attempt to counter it with a DC 10 INT check. If successful, you subtract your combat skill from your opponents for determining their benefits from the style (if your combat skill is more than your opponent's, you counter it completely and they gain no benefit.) Some abilities, and a few entire styles, cannot be countered.
31. With a few exceptions, you can only use one combat style at a time; switching is a move action, or a free action if taken over the course of an entire round (during which you get the benefit of no style.)
Skills
32. Some skills have been combined, although to a lower degree than Pathfinder.
33. Profession now can (depending on which profession) have any ability except CON as its key ability. Craft has been folded into profession, and no longer can be used to make items. The one exception is Craft (Alchemy), which is now simply Alchemy (INT) and can be used not only to make alchemical items (which are greatly improved in variety and ability) but also poisons and some potions.
34. Diplomacy has added functionality in getting someone to accept a deal (similar to the Giant's fix); it can also now be used to worsen a target's attitude (to provoke a fight or even force them to attack you and not your allies.) Abuse of the skill is being fixed by removing most means of boosting one's skill checks and by formalizing some circumstance modifiers, although a high-level rogue or monk can still do some very impressive things.
35. Concentration is replaced by a Fort save; on a failed Fort save, the skill or spell does not automatically fail, but rather takes a penalty to the skill check or caster level equal to the difference between the save result and the DC. Casting/skill-using defensively is done by taking a penalty to caster level or the skill check and thereby providing the same penalty to AoOs in response to the spell/skill; if the combat skill bonus to an attack roll is less than the penalty, the AoO can't be taken at all. Cleric spellcasting reduces the effective class level (which caps the caster level) instead of the actual caster level, since for clerics the caster level is often well below class level.
36. The Heal skill can be used to heal characters to some extent without magic.
37. The Spellcraft skill can be used to unmake your own spells (takes longer than dismissing them, but you get back some of the spellpoints you put into them), as well as in place of an Insight save against magical effects. It is also used by wizards to determine caster level for spells, and wizards can specialize in different schools (having a lower score for some schools but higher for others).
38. You can only spend one skill point per level on each skill (an exception is a favored-class rogue, who gets 4X skill points the first level and so can spend up to 4 on each skill.) Thus, you couldn't multiclass between two classes to get full ranks in some skills of both.
Magic
39. Magic now uses seed-based casting. There are a number of seeds, which the caster puts together into spells. Sorcerers and clerics can do this freely; a wizard can only cast a spell he previously had in his spellbook (but adding to the spellbook is essentially free.)
40. Magic has been rearranged into 6 schools:
-Abjuration contains most of the old Abjuration, plus force effects from other schools.
-Conjuration contains teleportation, calling, and telekinesis effects, but not creation or healing. It also contains a few other effects, such as calling flames from the elemental plane of fire, and raising the dead is combined conjuration/transmutation.
-Creation contains creation effects. Evocation effects such as Fireball no longer exist as such, but can be imitated (and with no save and no SR) by creating an alchemical item and using Conjuration to propel it to the desired location. Illusory figments also fall under Creation.
-Divination is pretty much unchanged.
-Enchantment is largely unchanged, but now includes fear effects (formerly necromancy) and certain illusions (including most of the ones that allow saves without interaction).
-Transmutation contains most of the old transmutation plus most necromancy effects, and illusions that were previously in the glamer subschool, and healing effects.
41. Vancian casting has been replaced by a spellpoint system. Spellpoints are regained at a constant rate (1/day for wizards, levelXability modifier for sorcerers and clerics), with no extra for resting. Total spellpoint pool is dependent only on class level; sorcerer and wizard stack for this purpose.
42. Every spell has 3 "levels".
-The caster level represents the skill placed into the spell, and affects range and duration. For sorcerers it is equal to class level, for wizards it equals the Spellcraft check result minus 15 (a wizard can always take 10 on this check), and for clerics it's equal to Prayer Points (a WIS-based spellpoint analogue) spent, or class level if the cleric is acting in the direct interest of his deity. The caster level must be at least as high as the spell level; if it is lowered below that point by some circumstance (e.g. disruption, or a poor Spellcraft roll for a wizard), the spell fails. Each spell has a single caster level; it's not added up for each seed.
-The spell level represents the complexity of the spell, and is added up for each seed. It affects the effects of buffs and debuffs, as well as spellpoint expenditure by sorcerers, and must be at least as high as the spell power.
-The spell power represents the energy put into the spell, and is also added up for each seed. It affects the effects of damaging spells, as well as save DCs. It also determines spellpoint expenditure by wizards, and channeling point (a CHA-based spellpoint analogue) expenditure by clerics.
43. Spellpoints or prayer points (but not channeling points) used on a lasting effect are "invested" in the spell and cannot be regenerated until the spell ends. Thanks to Ziegander for the core idea here.
44. When using a noninstantaneous seed on a target, the spell levels for all seeds of the same school already in place on the same target are also added to the total spell level for purposes of the minimum caster level (but not for determining a sorcerer's spellpoint expenditure or the maximum spell power). Thus, stacking buffs of a particular school will soon result in being unable to achieve the necessary caster level to cast the spell.
Equipment and money
45. Nonmagical equipment now comes in multiple tiers, not just regular/masterwork. (Thanks to Seerow for the core idea.)
46. Wands and staves are now nonmagical items that are used to aid spellcasting; wands give a bonus to spellcraft checks for a particular school (for wizard casting), while staves boost the DC of spells.
47. Scrolls are simply another type of (usually quite old) book.
48. Potions now can only produce certain transmutation effects, but are nonmagical and made by the Alchemy skill.
49. Magical items (with the exception of certain artifacts, as determined by the GM) have some spell imbued in them, and grant the benefits of that spell to whoever wears or wields them. These benefits are subject to the usual spell stacking rules, so having a lot of magical items will usually result in only a few (often only one) of them working.
50. As a result of this, money for personal use becomes irrelevant after the first few levels, and is replaced either with money for strongholds and the like, or with other rewards.
So, thoughts?