Maginomicon
2013-10-06, 11:00 AM
I want to make powerful spell/power effects require significant in-game time to both acquire and use them. I want to base the method off of the SRD's incantation system (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm). However, divine incantations use "Knowledge (religion)" as the base skill and psionics use "Knowledge (psionics)" as the base skill.
By splitting up powerful spell effects into a spell and an incantation, it allows you freedom to dictate what exactly the powerful effect can do by the text of the incantation procedure. For example, even if the party finds a scroll of Wish, they can't actually use it until they locate the Wish incantation procedure. Then, the incantation procedure they find could at GM's descretion be so specialized as to only grant a specific Wish or a certain kind of Wish. Suddenly that uber-powerful Wish effect isn't gamebreaking anymore.
Furthermore, gaining a scroll of an effect or adding it to your spellbook or spells known or some equivalent event can be a highly-satisfying narrative plot hook. You can play up a lot of fluff and ceremony in giving someone access to something that powerful, but more importantly doing so gives you as GM the ability to essentially send the players anywhere you want and have them fight anything you want in the quest to find the incantation procedure. You could, for example, require the PCs travel to the "Ancient Library of Ogg" (http://youtu.be/zNrU0_A-PFk?t=38m18s)... on a boat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw84Kusbr5g) (Mwahahaha! Release the Kraken!!! :smallbiggrin: ).
Anywho, here are the details of what I've implemented:
Charged Incantations
Certain spells now require an incantation as part of the casting process. Attempting to cast the spell without the incantation fails without wasting the action, spell slot, or other spell components. Unlike normal incantations, there’s never more than one skill involved, there are never secondary casters, you are not allowed to interrupt the incantation, the normal school-based DCs are reduced by 20, and you use the caster’s relevant ability modifier and CL for all relevant effects that involve them. Gaining access to a casting of a spell that has a charged incantation associated with it merely gives you the ability to charge the incantation. Having knowledge of the spell’s incantation procedure is meaningless if you don’t have the means to charge it.
For charged incantations, the new casting time is either that of the original spell or the incantation, whichever ends up taking longer. Thus, if the spell’s original casting time is longer -- such as with the identify spell -- the original casting time is the minimum amount of time that must be spent casting (even if all of the incantation skill checks are successful before that period of time is spent). Nothing can reduce the casting time of a charged incantation.
The charged incantation starts at the beginning of the casting time, with the number of successes and failures “using up” the original casting time or extending the length of the casting time as appropriate until the spell either fails or succeeds. For example, the identify charged incantation usually requires one success and thus must succeed by its second skill check (20 minutes into the casting) or the spell will fail (failing two times in a row causes the spell to fail just like it were any other incantation).
The “primary caster” of a charged incantation must be the person that has access to the spell (such as through it being on their spells-known list or accessible through something such as a wand). The primary caster must at the incantation’s start give up some spell slot (or use the relevant scroll, etc., if spell slots are irrelevant) to “charge” up the first stage of the incantation. These incantations also follow all of the normal rules for casting a spell.
Example Charged Incantation: Identify
(Lines marked in blue can be left out if they match the original spell)
Divination
Level/Successes: Bard 1 Success, Sorcerer/Wizard 1 Success, Hoardstealer 1 Success, Vigilante 1 Success, Sha'ir 1 Success, Death Master 1 Success, Savant (Arcane) 1 Success, Oracle 1 Success, Magic 2 Successes
Skill Check: Knowledge (Arcana) DC 24 if Arcane, Knowledge (Religion) DC 24 if Divine
Components: V, S, M/DF
Minimum Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Touch
Targets: One touched object
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
NOTE: 40% of all magic/psionic items are self-identifying (MoF p136).
Charged Communals
Charged communals are very similar to charged incantations. Certain powers now require a communal as part of the manifesting process. Attempting to manifest the power without the communal fails without wasting the action, power points, or other power components. Unlike normal communals, there’s never more than one skill involved, there are never secondary manifesters, you are not allowed to interrupt the communal, the normal discipline-based DCs are reduced by 20, and you use the manifester’s relevant ability modifier and ML for all relevant effects that involve them. Gaining access to a manifesting of a power that has a charged communal associated with it merely gives you the ability to charge the communal. Having knowledge of the power’s communal procedure is meaningless if you don’t have the means to charge it.
For charged communals, the new manifesting time is either that of the original power or the communal, whichever ends up taking longer. Thus, if the powers’s original manifesting time is longer -- such as with the identify power -- the original manifesting time is the minimum amount of time that must be spent manifesting (even if all of the communal skill checks are successful before that period of time is spent). Nothing can reduce the manifesting time of a charged communal.
The charged communal starts at the beginning of the manifesting time, with the number of successes and failures “using up” the original manifesting time or extending the length of the manifesting time as appropriate until the power either fails or succeeds. For example, the identify charged communal requires two successes and so the fourth skill check (40 minutes into the manifesting) is the latest check that can have the second success without the power failing (failing two times in a row causes the power to fail just like it were any other communal).
The “primary manifester” of a charged communal must be the person that has access to the power (such as through it being on their powers list or accessible through something such as a dorje). The primary manifester must at the communal’s start give up some power points (or use the relevant tattoo, etc., if power points are irrelevant) as appropriate to “charge up” the first stage of the communal. These communals also follow all of the normal rules for manifesting a power.
Example Charged Communal: Identify, Psionic
(Lines marked in blue can be left out if they match the original power)
Clairsentience
Level/Successes: Psion/wilder 2 Successes
Skill Check: Knowledge (Psionics) DC 23
Display: Material and mental
Minimum Manifesting Time: 1 day
Range: Touch
Targets: One touched object
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Power Resistance: No
Power Points: 3
Special: You must take 1 hour for each skill check.
NOTE: 40% of all magic/psionic items are self-identifying (MoF p136).
What I Want to Know:
Is there anything particularly ambiguous or unclear about charged incantations/communals?
Assuming I don't give players the ability to "research" (modify) an incantation/communal procedure, are these safeguards enough to prevent all significant abuse? (NOTE: Even monster SLAs and magic items that grant spell use now become simply the means to charge the incantation/communal procedure)
What uber-powerful spells/powers aren't so poorly-written as to be inherently abusable but still could be useful narratively, and thus should be converted to charged incantations/communals?
How would you as a player feel if this method were in-use in your game?
Is there anything in my example charged incantation (Identify) that is in error about the base incantation rules? (such as the DCs)
What I Don't Want to Hear:
I don't want to hear about how adding a Knowledge check to casting/manifesting locks mundanes out. There's always ways around that.
I don't want to hear about how this "overcomplicates" the process of gaining spells/powers or how it makes choosing to add a spell/power to your permanent resources meaningless. You can create a lot of narrative mysticism out of a sorcerer choosing Wish, for example, as it gives the sorcerer the "innate power to someday change the universe" (even though what they can change is up to you from the incantation procedure).
By splitting up powerful spell effects into a spell and an incantation, it allows you freedom to dictate what exactly the powerful effect can do by the text of the incantation procedure. For example, even if the party finds a scroll of Wish, they can't actually use it until they locate the Wish incantation procedure. Then, the incantation procedure they find could at GM's descretion be so specialized as to only grant a specific Wish or a certain kind of Wish. Suddenly that uber-powerful Wish effect isn't gamebreaking anymore.
Furthermore, gaining a scroll of an effect or adding it to your spellbook or spells known or some equivalent event can be a highly-satisfying narrative plot hook. You can play up a lot of fluff and ceremony in giving someone access to something that powerful, but more importantly doing so gives you as GM the ability to essentially send the players anywhere you want and have them fight anything you want in the quest to find the incantation procedure. You could, for example, require the PCs travel to the "Ancient Library of Ogg" (http://youtu.be/zNrU0_A-PFk?t=38m18s)... on a boat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw84Kusbr5g) (Mwahahaha! Release the Kraken!!! :smallbiggrin: ).
Anywho, here are the details of what I've implemented:
Charged Incantations
Certain spells now require an incantation as part of the casting process. Attempting to cast the spell without the incantation fails without wasting the action, spell slot, or other spell components. Unlike normal incantations, there’s never more than one skill involved, there are never secondary casters, you are not allowed to interrupt the incantation, the normal school-based DCs are reduced by 20, and you use the caster’s relevant ability modifier and CL for all relevant effects that involve them. Gaining access to a casting of a spell that has a charged incantation associated with it merely gives you the ability to charge the incantation. Having knowledge of the spell’s incantation procedure is meaningless if you don’t have the means to charge it.
For charged incantations, the new casting time is either that of the original spell or the incantation, whichever ends up taking longer. Thus, if the spell’s original casting time is longer -- such as with the identify spell -- the original casting time is the minimum amount of time that must be spent casting (even if all of the incantation skill checks are successful before that period of time is spent). Nothing can reduce the casting time of a charged incantation.
The charged incantation starts at the beginning of the casting time, with the number of successes and failures “using up” the original casting time or extending the length of the casting time as appropriate until the spell either fails or succeeds. For example, the identify charged incantation usually requires one success and thus must succeed by its second skill check (20 minutes into the casting) or the spell will fail (failing two times in a row causes the spell to fail just like it were any other incantation).
The “primary caster” of a charged incantation must be the person that has access to the spell (such as through it being on their spells-known list or accessible through something such as a wand). The primary caster must at the incantation’s start give up some spell slot (or use the relevant scroll, etc., if spell slots are irrelevant) to “charge” up the first stage of the incantation. These incantations also follow all of the normal rules for casting a spell.
Example Charged Incantation: Identify
(Lines marked in blue can be left out if they match the original spell)
Divination
Level/Successes: Bard 1 Success, Sorcerer/Wizard 1 Success, Hoardstealer 1 Success, Vigilante 1 Success, Sha'ir 1 Success, Death Master 1 Success, Savant (Arcane) 1 Success, Oracle 1 Success, Magic 2 Successes
Skill Check: Knowledge (Arcana) DC 24 if Arcane, Knowledge (Religion) DC 24 if Divine
Components: V, S, M/DF
Minimum Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Touch
Targets: One touched object
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
NOTE: 40% of all magic/psionic items are self-identifying (MoF p136).
Charged Communals
Charged communals are very similar to charged incantations. Certain powers now require a communal as part of the manifesting process. Attempting to manifest the power without the communal fails without wasting the action, power points, or other power components. Unlike normal communals, there’s never more than one skill involved, there are never secondary manifesters, you are not allowed to interrupt the communal, the normal discipline-based DCs are reduced by 20, and you use the manifester’s relevant ability modifier and ML for all relevant effects that involve them. Gaining access to a manifesting of a power that has a charged communal associated with it merely gives you the ability to charge the communal. Having knowledge of the power’s communal procedure is meaningless if you don’t have the means to charge it.
For charged communals, the new manifesting time is either that of the original power or the communal, whichever ends up taking longer. Thus, if the powers’s original manifesting time is longer -- such as with the identify power -- the original manifesting time is the minimum amount of time that must be spent manifesting (even if all of the communal skill checks are successful before that period of time is spent). Nothing can reduce the manifesting time of a charged communal.
The charged communal starts at the beginning of the manifesting time, with the number of successes and failures “using up” the original manifesting time or extending the length of the manifesting time as appropriate until the power either fails or succeeds. For example, the identify charged communal requires two successes and so the fourth skill check (40 minutes into the manifesting) is the latest check that can have the second success without the power failing (failing two times in a row causes the power to fail just like it were any other communal).
The “primary manifester” of a charged communal must be the person that has access to the power (such as through it being on their powers list or accessible through something such as a dorje). The primary manifester must at the communal’s start give up some power points (or use the relevant tattoo, etc., if power points are irrelevant) as appropriate to “charge up” the first stage of the communal. These communals also follow all of the normal rules for manifesting a power.
Example Charged Communal: Identify, Psionic
(Lines marked in blue can be left out if they match the original power)
Clairsentience
Level/Successes: Psion/wilder 2 Successes
Skill Check: Knowledge (Psionics) DC 23
Display: Material and mental
Minimum Manifesting Time: 1 day
Range: Touch
Targets: One touched object
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Power Resistance: No
Power Points: 3
Special: You must take 1 hour for each skill check.
NOTE: 40% of all magic/psionic items are self-identifying (MoF p136).
What I Want to Know:
Is there anything particularly ambiguous or unclear about charged incantations/communals?
Assuming I don't give players the ability to "research" (modify) an incantation/communal procedure, are these safeguards enough to prevent all significant abuse? (NOTE: Even monster SLAs and magic items that grant spell use now become simply the means to charge the incantation/communal procedure)
What uber-powerful spells/powers aren't so poorly-written as to be inherently abusable but still could be useful narratively, and thus should be converted to charged incantations/communals?
How would you as a player feel if this method were in-use in your game?
Is there anything in my example charged incantation (Identify) that is in error about the base incantation rules? (such as the DCs)
What I Don't Want to Hear:
I don't want to hear about how adding a Knowledge check to casting/manifesting locks mundanes out. There's always ways around that.
I don't want to hear about how this "overcomplicates" the process of gaining spells/powers or how it makes choosing to add a spell/power to your permanent resources meaningless. You can create a lot of narrative mysticism out of a sorcerer choosing Wish, for example, as it gives the sorcerer the "innate power to someday change the universe" (even though what they can change is up to you from the incantation procedure).