Designing a SuperMAD Caster.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

So, I had an idea recently for a casting concept that would actually rely on all three mental attributes, but in different ways, such that the same class could work with any one of them, but would play differently.

The caster would be something like a Psion - if I actually draw this up, I'll probably use Psionics as the base, cause the general arcane and divine spell lists aren't meant to work this way. (Neither is Psionics, but it's closer.)

So, in order to cast, a player would have to pay a certain number of power points, but also make a casting check vs. a DC inherent in the spell.

Charisma would determine the base number of Power Points available to spend - these would renew with an extended rest, so highly Charismatic casters could use more high-level spells and abilities throughout the day.

Intelligence would inform the casting check itself; some abilities would have higher or lower casting DCs, so even an un-intelligent character would still have spells they could reliably cast. (If I do build this off of already-written Psionic abilities, I might make the casting check apply to a set of custom Metamagic feats - so you could cast almost any spell with a low intelligence, but trying to use metamagic requires more brains.)

Finally, Wisdom would allow the caster to "Channel" a certain number of points every time they cast - essentially, every time they cast, the first X points are free. A character with a low-but-positive Wisdom modifier could function sort of like a low-level warlock, able to do limited blasting every turn, but not much else; with a higher Wisdom, more abilities would be "Free." They wouldn't be able to cast as many high-level abilities as a Charisma-based character, but they could win in endurance fights.

Ideally, it should be possible for a character of this class to be perfectly functional with any one of the mental stats, or with a balance of all three - but, the play styles would be distinct. An intelligent caster would be able to use more complicated spells and meta magic reliable; a charismatic caster would be able to use more high-level abilities more often, while a Wise character would be able to keep using their low-to-mid level abilities indefinitely.

So. Where am I being stupid, and how stupid am I being? :smalltongue:

[Kornaki]

In high level play they'll just have 20+ in every stat... either you make the requirements scale with level somehow to get the best bang for the buck or you just allow that the class will lose a lot of flavor after level 10 or so

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Not sure I follow - are you saying that high level characters will have equal stats, or just that they'll be able to get moderate stats in everything?

[AttilaTheGeek]

I like it! But I'm worried about the similarity of the abilities. I would have thought it would be like this:


WIS makes your spells cost less.
INT increases the DCs of your spells, or otherwise makes them harder to resist.
CHA gives you more power points total.


You'll have to make sure WIS doesn't overdo CHA, though, because they both have similar roles (letting you cast more spells in a day).

[Durazno]

I'd reverse Int and Cha in that model, since Cha is the mental stat that you most often use to reach out and affect other beings, but that looks good to me.

[LordErebus12]

I like it! But I'm worried about the similarity of the abilities. I would have thought it would be like this:


WIS makes your spells cost less.
INT increases the DCs of your spells, or otherwise makes them harder to resist.
CHA gives you more power points total.


You'll have to make sure WIS doesn't overdo CHA, though, because they both have similar roles (letting you cast more spells in a day).

id do something like this, myself

Intelligence = your understanding of magic allows your spells to cost less and to know more spells.
Wisdom = your force of will governs your pool of power point size.
Charisma = makes your powers harder to resist, increasing the DC's, etc.

It would be unique and versatile if this class was generic in the sense that you could choose between arcane (wizard's spell list), divine (cleric's spell list), Natural (druid's spell list), or Psionic (Psion's power list) types at creation, allowing you to choose your focus of study.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

There's always argument back and forth about what each of the stats mean, but here's the justification I'm using:

Charisma represents your raw power and force of personality; it determines the total power available to you over a day.

Intelligence represents your capacity to handle complicated mental effort on the fly; it determines your ability to cast spells with complex effects, or to modify spells with metamagic effects.

Wisdom represents your ability to be aware of, and form a connection with, the natural magic around you; it allows you to draw power from the local magical field in order to power your effects, without tapping in to your own reserves.

But, really, you could argue these any way you like - this just happens to be the one that makes the most sense to me, for the setting and fluff I have in mind.

[AttilaTheGeek]

id do something like this, myself

Intelligence = your understanding of magic allows your spells to cost less and to know more spells.
Wisdom = your force of will governs your pool of power point size.
Charisma = makes your powers harder to resist, increasing the DC's, etc.

I like this a lot.