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View Full Version : Pathfinder Unbound Magic: Removing the Christmas Tree



Realms of Chaos
2014-11-01, 11:09 PM
UNBOUND MAGIC

“You want to see magic, my son? Magic is the splendor of waking up each morning; the vapor of your breath upon the cold winter air; the spark that makes you unique among all beings. Foster this spark with your every breath and the spells will come in time.”

In most worlds of Pathfinder, Magic is a key component of existence. Even if your world doesn’t feature magic-powered airships and relegates the arcane arts to their titular obscurity, magic rests at the heart of D&D and Pathfinder. Magic explains the existence and powers that most monsters found in bestiaries and fiend folios. Magic of some sort is utilized by over half of all classes that players may select. So important is magic to this game that lacking sufficient magical augmentation through iconic magical artifacts qualifies as a terrible deficiency.

To some, the imagery of Pathfinder’s art, displaying buckles upon pouches (filled with magical powders, potions, reagents, and other equipment) upon audaciously mismatched gear (no doubt gathered from dozens of dungeon delves), exemplifies what it means to be an adventurer. For these individuals, treasure hunting may easily be half of the fun in this game and requiring gear is no hindrance at all.

For others, however, the idea that the heroes of every campaign are forced to rely upon an external source of power (much less a source of power that can be stolen, broken, or disenchanted) is disheartening. Going back to D&D 3e, the Forsaker Prestige class (Masters of the Wild) and Vow of Poverty (Book of Exalted Deeds) show early efforts at letting a player eschew magical objects without being overly punished. Unfortunately, these solutions have been proven time and time again to be mathematically inferior to normal wealth.

Other homebrewers on this forum have taken their own shots at creating alternatives for the “Christmas Tree Dilemma” (in which characters may seem to be defined more by their possessions than their inherent abilities) with varying degrees of success. Some have tried to simply grant more power while others have tried making the system more modular and others still have tried systems to enable “low-magic” settings.

The effort you look upon now is different from those that have come before in several vital respects:

The work intended here is intended as a mandatory global fix instead of a voluntary piecemeal one, affecting the damsel in distress (NPC), the brave knight (PC), and terrible dragon (Monster) all at once.
While replacements for magic items have ranged from gritty low magic systems to whimsical high-magic ones, this is literally the most “high-magic” that a replacement can be.
While other fixes simply replace magic items with a mathematical equivalent, this fix delves deeper into the mechanical and narrative affordances that magic items grant to deepen the equivalence.



By now, some of you may be asking what the fix actually is. Put into the simplest terms, this is the logical conclusion of the truism that only magic can replace magic. This fix creates the assumption in a game world that the spark of life and/or animation creatures and plants possess creates a flow of magic in the world. More powerful entities create more magic and sapient entities instinctively learn how to harness this ability, gaining a number of benefits (see next post), notably including spellcasting. As you will see from a quick read, however, this fix is far from a simple exercise in gestalting.

Before properly starting, however, it is worth taking time to note what this fix does not do:

This fix does not mesh well with gritty, low-magic environments. While a lack of items allows for wilderness and post-apocalyptic adventures without magic items, it is high magic by definition.
This fix does not “even out” class imbalances. The wizards are still better than the Bards which are Still better than the fighters and monks. Evening out the tiers was never a design goal here.
Unlike some other magic item replacements, this fix actually does allow for the presence of magic items, albeit with a few differences (see next post).
At the end of the day, “The Chrsitmas Tree Dilemma” can be interpreted in two ways. The dilemma is either that players rely too heavily upon external factors OR that the player’s race, feats, and class features account for such a small proportion of what a character really needs. This fix transforms magic items into an internal factor that grants players more agency. It doesn’t, however, magically prevent the fighter class from otherwise lacking flight and teleportation and death ward. Nothing short of an extensive class fix would be able to address that sort of problem.

Realms of Chaos
2014-11-01, 11:13 PM
Unbound Entities:

The unbound magic fix makes the general assumption that all living things and all nonliving or undead creatures produce magic into the world through the simple act of existing. This magic is mainly internalized, emitting amounts far too small to detect through arcane sight or similar abilities. Not all creatures are equal in their ability to manipulate this magic, however. Only creatures with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher, referred to as unbound entities, gain any benefit from this magic at all. Further, creatures with at least one racial HD or level in a PC class gain greater access to this magic through instinct or training.

All benefits from unbound magic are dependent upon the HD (Racial HD + Class HD + Mythic Tier) of the unbound entity, as indicated on the tables below. Temporary HD, such as that gained through a bard’s inspire greatness, never grant further benefits in this way (even temporarily) as they don’t represent genuine training or instinctual prowess.


Benefits By HD


HD
Special


1
Perfected Self, Unbound Magic


2
Bonus Feat


3
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus, +2)


4
Imbue Item 1/day


5
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus)


6
Bonus Feat


7
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus)


8
Imbue Item 2/day


9
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus, +4)


10
Bonus Feat


11
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus)


12
Imbue Item 3/day


13
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus)


14
Bonus Feat


15
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus, +6)


16
Imbue Item 4/day


17
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus)


18
Bonus Feat


19
Perfected Self (Ability Bonus)


20+
Imbue Item 5/day




Heroic/Monstrous Unbound Spells Per Day


HD
0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th


1
6
4
--
--
--
--
--


2
8
6
--
--
--
--
--


3
10
8
--
--
--
--
--


4
10
10
--
--
--
--
--


5
10
10
4
--
--
--
--


6
10
10
6
--
--
--
--


7
10
10
8
--
--
--
--


8
10
10
10
4
--
--
--


9
10
10
10
6
--
--
--


10
10
10
10
8
--
--
--


11
10
10
10
10
4
--
--


12
10
10
10
10
6
--
--


13
10
10
10
10
8
--
--


14
10
10
10
10
10
4
--


15
10
10
10
10
10
6
--


16
10
10
10
10
10
8
--


17
10
10
10
10
10
10
4


18
10
10
10
10
10
10
6


19
10
10
10
10
10
10
8


20+
10
10
10
10
10
10
10



Heroic/Monstrous Unbound Spells Known


HD
0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th


1
4
2
--
--
--
--
--


2
5
3
--
--
--
--
--


3
6
4
--
--
--
--
--


4
6
5
--
--
--
--
--


5
6
6
2
--
--
--
--


6
6
6
3
--
--
--
--


7
6
6
4
--
--
--
--


8
6
6
5
2
--
--
--


9
6
6
6
3
--
--
--


10
6
6
6
4
--
--
--


11
6
6
6
5
2
--
--


12
6
6
6
6
3
--
--


13
6
6
6
6
4
--
--


14
6
6
6
6
5
2
--


15
6
6
6
6
6
3
--


16
6
6
6
6
6
4
--


17
6
6
6
6
6
5
2


18
6
6
6
6
6
6
3


19
6
6
6
6
6
6
4


20+
6
6
6
6
6
6
6



NPC Unbound Spells Per Day


HD
0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th


1
2
--
--
--
--


2
2
0
--
--
--


3
3
0
--
--
--


4
3
1
--
--
--


5
4
1
--
--
--


6
4
2
0
--
--


7
4
2
0
--
--


8
4
3
1
--
--


9
4
3
1
--
--


10
4
4
2
0
--


11
4
4
2
0
--


12
4
4
3
1
--


13
4
4
3
1
--


14
4
4
4
2
0


15
4
4
4
2
0


16
4
4
4
3
1


17
4
4
4
3
1


18
4
4
4
4
2


19
4
4
4
4
2


20+
4
4
4
4
3



NPC Unbound Spells Known


HD
0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th


1
2
--
--
--
--


2
2
1
--
--
--


3
3
2
--
--
--


4
3
2
--
--
--


5
4
3
--
--
--


6
4
3
1
--
--


7
4
4
2
--
--


8
4
4
2
--
--


9
4
4
3
--
--


10
4
4
3
1
--


11
4
4
4
2
--


12
4
4
4
2
--


13
4
4
4
3
--


14
4
4
4
3
1


15
4
4
4
4
2


16
4
4
4
4
2


17
4
4
4
4
3


18
4
4
4
4
3


19
4
4
4
4
4


20+
4
4
4
4
4



Unbound Spell Magic Spell Level Equivalency


Unbound Spell Level
3- or 4-level spell list
5- or 6-level spell list
9-level spell list


1st

--

1st

1st


2nd

1st

--

2nd


3rd

--

2nd

3rd


4th

2nd

3rd

4th


5th

--

--

5th


6th

3rd

4th

6th




Unbound Entity Features:

Perfected Self: the magic pouring through the form of an unbound creature naturally enhances its normal attributes. For each HD it possesses or obtain (up to 20), the creature may select one of the following bonuses. These options stack with themselves, though not with any bonuses gained through magical means.

You gain a +2 bonus to all skill checks made with a skill of your choice. Once per day, you may roll 2d20 for a skill check and take the higher dice result.
You gain a +1 bonus to saving throws made with one save of your choice and gain energy resistance 5 against one form of energy (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic) of your choice).
You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls. All attacks you make are treated as magical for the purpose of damage reduction and incorporeal targets. You treat all damage reduction, energy resistance, and hardness as being one point lower (minimum 0).
You gain a +1 bonus to AC. This bonus applies to your touch AC, as well as to your flat-footed AC. You start each day with two temporary hit points.

Further, even the most basic characteristics of an unbound creature are enhanced by time through the constant exposure to magic. At 3 HD and every odd HD afterwards (up to 19th), an unbound creature must apply a +2 enhancement bonus to a single ability score. Starting at 9 HD, an unbound creature may instead increase a +2 enhancement bonus to a +4 enhancement bonus. Starting 15 HD, an unbound creature may instead increase a +4 enhancement bonus to a +6 enhancement bonus.

Notes and Explanation:

Why Use a “Number Buffer” At All?One aspect that nearly every VoP replacement holds in common is some manner of “number buffer”, something to keep numbers up to where “they should be”. A common response to such measures, however, is the simple assertion that we might as well subtract numbers from every monster to just get rid of the “number inflation”.

I want to be a little different. Whether or not you agree with me, I would like to walk you through why I feel that this ability has to exist in some form.

In the end, the answer I’ve reached isn’t all that mysterious. In the end, everything comes down to simple buffs. To show what I mean, let’s consider the possibility of reducing the attack bonuses of high CR monsters, seeing as rings of protection and amulets of natural armor are absent.

The problem that emerges comes up with spells that, on their own, aren’t too offensive. Consider the spells shield of faith and barkskin. If I lower the attack bonus of monsters, any PCs with those spells might become untouchable. If I don’t, however, every front-liner is forced to waste several of their spells known (and tons of their spells per day) on number buffs, which isn’t any more desirable.

On a similar line of thought, I decided early on in this fix that I wanted to let players have some access to magic items, letting them get things like bags of holding, crystal balls, blessed spellbooks, and other goodies that are either super-iconic or are hard to properly replace with spells. Allowing for any magic items, however, allows for PCs to use their limited supplies on magical armor, cloaks of resistance, and belts of strength. I would run into the same situation where either parties getting anything other than buffs are screwed or where parties only getting buffs start steamrolling their foes.

Of course, I could simply get rid of all buffs so they can’t be used and items can’t be based on them. Gutting several schools of magic to take out relatively benign spells like bull’s endurance and heroism, however, doesn’t exactly seem like a path I wanted to pursue.

A number buffer (especially one that doesn’t stack with magic) helps to reduce some of this problem, letting players sustain some normal values without forcing them to expend resources on them. While optimizers with custom items or well-planned buffs exceed what this feature can do, the simple fact of the matter is that CRs typically assume only average (or even sub-par) optimization so the loss of numbers relative to optimization shouldn’t translate to TPKs.

And yes, I know that players will still get buffs and enhancement items. This class feature can’t cover everything so some buffs and items may still be beneficial. At the end of the day, however, I think that this feature helps to lighten the pressures placed upon them.

What this Feature Does Differently: As mentioned above, this feature helps to smooth out numbers so that players can do other things with their spells and magic items. Most magic item replacements have a similar feature to help take out the sting of losing magic items. This fix, however, differs in a number of ways:

1. This Feature Gives Some Actual Choice: Most features like this one simply give set bonuses at set levels to different parameters, giving the players no choice or options because players need the numbers. Because this feature exists to lift a burden placed on spellcasting instead of picking up the slack all by itself, there is no reason for this feature to guarantee that everyone gets a +5 bonus to attack rolls or +10 bonus to AC. Instead, this feature grants actual options for character growth, letting players choose whether they want a more even approach or if they want to max something out.

2. This Feature Discourages Further Buffs: This is an odd point but one worth pointing out for those who try to remove the Christmas tree in the future. Especially when fixes try to emphasize grit and natural ability, it is pretty common for the bonuses usually provided to change types. Instead of a player gaining a +5 deflection bonus and +5 natural armor bonus from magic items, for example, they might get a +10 dodge or competence or insight bonus.

The problem with this, of course, is that a lack of magic items =/= a lack of magic. If you take away an amulet of natural armor and grant the players a +5 competence bonus to AC, that player can get an additional bonus through the barkskin spell. To avoid that sort of problem, these bonuses do not stack with magical means, including magic items.

3. This Feature Grants Actual Rewards: Unlike other “number buffer” abilities, the use of this ability to smooth out numbers isn’t exactly “free”. While not using your resources on minor buffs frees you up to do other things, the fact remains that your stats will always fall short of what you could do if optimizing your magic, thus carrying an “opportunity cost”. Even worse, spending only one or two points on a given option, especially at high levels, would feel like a total waste.

As such, I decided that this feature wouldn’t “just” grant bonuses. Instead, each option has an additional minor “kicker” effect (rolling 2d20, gaining temporary hp, gaining energy resistance, and ignoring certain defenses) to make “dips” less than total devotion to one option more tolerable and to make sure you get something from your choices even if you have a buff active for some or most of the time.

Buyer’s Remorse:As with all aspects that can’t be retrained later on, there are bound to be those that suggest that players may come to regret their decisions made through this class feature later on or that earlier decisions may be made pointless.

At least in this system, I don’t see that happening.

The thing about this system is that most of the impetus for bonuses comes with an entirely internal locus of control. You get to handpick each and every spell you learn and every magic item you maintain. If you are pumping all of your choices into boosting AC, you have little reason to select mage armor or imbue magic armor. Likewise, the odds of finding a random magic item that invalidates your earlier choices and that you are both able and inclined to maintain is pretty darn low.

It’s true that someone may wish that they had spent their points differently in the short-term, of course. Any player being lit on fire would retroactively wish that they had more fire resistance or (often) a higher reflex save bonus. This type of “regret”, however, easily shifts from encounter to encounter and even from round to round as immediate needs shift. In the long-run, however, any worries that new options or equipment will invalidate previous choices seem pretty remote on the whole.

Going All-In:As with every modular bonus system, there is always the niggling temptation to maximize a single area and see what happens. Each of the above bonuses was made with this in mind, however, providing large but not indomitable bonuses, as you can see:

Skills: by specializing in skills, you can gain a permanent super-glibness effect with any one skill, combined with the ability to take the better of 2d20 rolls for skill checks 20 times per day.
Saves: by specializing in saves, you gain either gain the rough equivalency of Mind Blank or Death Ward or a super cloak of resistance, coupled with energy resistance 20 against all forms of energy or virtual immunity against one or two forms of energy.
Attacks: By far the most powerful option, specializing in attacks allows you to eventually accomplish the eternal dream of having a sword of true striking (more or less). Given that you are giving up all magical bonuses to accomplish this, however, the RNG difficulties that you might expect from such a maneuver may not be as great as you would suspect. At the same time, you can eventually overcome most hardness, damage reduction, and energy resistance.
AC: While a +20 bonus to AC may sound big, this type of bonus merely replaces some of the many magic items that would otherwise be used to raise it. Going for +20 AC means getting the AC bonuses normally provided by magical armor, a magical shield, an amulet of natural armor, and a ring of protection. Combined with a small chunk of temporary hp to absorb a blow or two each day, you have the start of a decent defense.

Why Only +6 Enhancement Bonuses? This is an odd one to have to explain, though it really comes back to the original Vow of Poverty, which eventually granted a +8 enhancement bonus to a single ability score. This is one of the few fixes (at least in recent memory) that stops ability score bonuses at a “mere” +6.

The reason that I did things this way is simple. I am trying to replace enhancement bonus magic items, which only go up to +6. People seem obsessed with pumping ability scores (and Save DCs) to the moon but I honestly don’t see any real reason to go beyond +6. If you reread the feature, this bonus can stack with magic (though not other enhancement bonuses, obviously). You can still gain size bonuses (enlarge person), racial bonuses (polymorph), and inherent bonuses (wish).

Going beyond +6 just seems kind of silly. The feature is there to replace specific magic items. That’s it.


Unbound Magic: The magic that unbound beings possess is reflected most directly through the ability of creatures to manifest proper spells. These spells are neither arcane nor divine, counting as neither for the purpose of meeting prerequisites. Encumbered and armored unbound entities do suffer spell failure as arcane spells, however. Spells cast in this way have a caster level equal to the HD of the caster, ignoring caster level bonuses from any source.

While “normal” magic requires strong will, unyielding faith, or incredible intellect to call forth, Unbound magic can be created through more physical exertion, delicate tracing of patterns into the air, or through the natural processes of life. In effect, each creature selects two ability scores. To learn, prime, or cast a spell through unbound magic, its first chosen ability score must exceed 10 + its spell level. The second chosen ability score, meanwhile, is used to determine save DCs and bonus spell slots per day.

Unbound magic is neither prepared nor spontaneous. Instead, the magic is used through a method referred to as “primed magic”, a less refined spellcasting process. Like a spontaneous caster, a creature possesses a limited number of spells known that grows as they gain HD. These spells can be selected from any spell list. If a spell appears on multiple spell lists, use the highest spell level. If the spell appears on a single spell list (such as the paladin list or the sorcerer/wizard list), use the spell level equivalency table above to determine its new spell level. Creatures count their spells known as their spell list for all intents and purposes.

Despite using a list of spells known, spell slots aren’t immediately available to creatures (whether to cast or counterspell) until they have been “primed” with specific spells, a practice that typically requires a minute of work and that uses a single spell slot to prepare a single spell (possibly with metamagic effects, if desired). If a primed spell isn’t cast within 1 hour, however, the spell slot is lost without effect.

The priming process can be hastened to a single full-round action in dire emergencies, though doing so greatly weakens the magic. When casting a hastily primed spell, you take a -5 penalty to attack rolls, caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance, and concentration checks. Further, other creatures gain a +5 bonus to saves against such spells, to Spellcraft checks made to identify such spells, and to dispel checks against such spells. Finally, it must be noted that hastily priming a spell provokes attacks of opportunities, that such spells have a 20% chance of failing (stacking with other chances), and that hastily primed spells last for only 1 full round before the spell slot is lost.

A creature can only regain used spell slots with 1 hour of practice or meditation after 8 hours of sleep or rest. Spells can be regained no more often than once per day in this way.

Special Unbound Magic Rules:
Unbound Magic and Cantrips/Orisons: Like most proper casters, unbound creatures can learn and cast a number of cantrips or orisons, 0-level spells. Compared with other casters, however, this access to weaker magic is severely limited. An unbound creature does not treat Cantrips and Orisons any differently from other spells, expending the spell slots used for them entirely when they are used.

Unbound Magic and Changing Spells Known:
While the magical pathways unbound casters call upon are relatively stable, they can be made to change with sufficient time or effort. Whenever a creature gains an additional permanent HD, it may switch one of its spells known with another of an equal or lower spell level. Alternately, you may exchange two spells known of a single spell level for a single new spell known of that spell level or lower with 8 hours of practice and innovation. During this time, you may only engage in light activity.

Unbound Magic and Spell Research:
Experimenting with unbound magic outside of the individual spells you know is difficult and dangerous, much as trying to create new rhythms using your own heart. Even so, new spells can be created through unbound magic. Spell research for Unbound Magic functions much as normal spell research, save that all skill checks take a -5 penalty and each failure permanently reduces the hit points of the researcher by 1d4. Even when research is complete, however, the newly researched spell isn’t immediately added to your list of spells known, though it can be added to your list in the future.

Unbound Magic and Unusual Shapes:
Any intelligent creature can create motions and sounds capable of acting as somatic and verbal components in its native form for the purposes of their unbound magic. This benefit does not extend to other forms of magic and a creature transformed into another form without hands and/or speech is incapable of producing components as appropriate (even if their normal form shares similar difficulties).


Notes and Explanation:
Well, this right here is the meat of the fix, though it’s kind of funky. As advertised on the can, every intelligent entity in an unbound magic campaign becomes a spellcaster, with PCs and monsters eventually gaining 6 levels of spellcasting like a bard. This spellcasting is pretty unique, however, intended to be both weaker and broader than normal spellcasting. Let me walk you through everything that’s going on in this feature, as this is pretty busy.

1. To avoid stacking CL-boosting PrCs with natural advancement through HD (and avoid CL-boosting shenanigans in general), all CL bonuses are ignored by unbound magic.
2. To avoid flavoring the magic in one way or another (and prevent some prerequisite madness), unbound magic is neither arcane nor divine. Arcane spell failure does apply, however, to help cement the status of unbound magic as “inferior”
3. Unbound magic isn’t tied down to mental ability scores so that martial classes can get some benefit. Further, unbound magic is inherently MAD so that normally MAD classes aren’t inordinately punished.
4. To maximize the odds that PCs could have obtained a solution to a problem without magic items, all spell lists are available. To handle smaller spell lists and the stronger spells they have, however, a spell level equivalency table was created.
5. The method of spellcasting is somewhere between spontaneous and prepared. You have limited spells known like a spontaneous caster but you are encouraged to “prepare” your spells in advanced. I wanted to make sure that normal mid-casters like bards and inquisitors didn’t feel irrelevant next to the spellcasting this feature provides so it was packed with the worst of both worlds.
6. In spite of #5, I accept that there are situations where players need spells ASAP and aren’t able to prepare in advance. In such situations, players can rush their preparation, though doing so is rough.

Beyond that, there were just a few unique notes that I created:
7. Cantrips are not usable at will, mostly for self-explanatory reasons (don’t want a nation flooding its neighbors by having armies use create water in unison over and over again).
8. There are mechanisms put in place to trade out spells known as you grow stronger if you made a bad selection. If you really need a new spell effect that you don’t have, this fix also has a rough equivalent to selling your equipment to buy more suitable gear. Much as items can only be sold for 50% of their cost, however, there are diminishing returns on such trades.
9. As anyone could research spells and spell research is broken, the process is now more difficult and carries actual risk.
10. Even creatures normally unable to cast spells due to their form (such as sentient oozes) can cast spells through unbound magic in their natural forms.

Bonus Feat: Beyond simply empowering the body of a creature, unbound magic allows a creature to unlock its full potential. When you reach 2 HD and every 4 HD afterwards (to a maximum of 18 HD), you may select a single bonus feat of your choice. You must meet all prerequisites for that feat.

Notes and Explanation:This is another common feature present in nearly all magic item replacements. To be perfectly frank, feats and magical items, while not quite apples and oranges, are very difficult to properly compare to one another because each has different expectations and considerations. As such, throwing a ton of feats at a character and expecting them to take the place of magic items is kind of foolhardy. Even so, I’m not just repeating what I’ve seen around me. Rather, there are two big reasons why I’m giving bonus feats.

First, bonus feats act as a “capability cushion” of sorts. While I am trying to be as thorough as I can with this fix to have rough equivalencies for most of what players or DMs would want to do with magic items, there is bound to be something lost in translation, likely “weakening” characters. While bonuses from feats and items are difficult to compare, the small cushion of power a few bonus feats provide may help absorb some of the sting from these small losses.

Secondly, these feats provide a much-needed balm to former noncasters. While pathfinder gives a small feat bonus over 3.5, non-casters are notoriously feat-starved through their entire career. As such suddenly giving barbarians and monks access to metamagic feats and other magic-related feats while keeping their feat count static would hurt noncasters while letting proper casters get far more mileage out of the feats they would take either way. While the feats don’t even the scale by any means, they allow fighters to take a spellcaster feat or two without ruining normal builds.

Imbue Item: Item creation feats do not exist in settings with unbound magic. Instead, all creatures with unbound magic gain the ability to craft magic items as soon as they possess 4 permanent HD. Creating magic items in a setting with unbound magic is a simplified and streamlined process, typically used to gain more convenient or plentiful use of situational or short-lived spell effects.

Aside from the price of the physical object (10 gp for the basic mediums require for potions and scrolls and 150 gp for most other portable masterwork objects other than weaponry, armor, and shields), the only additional costs added are those for the need of a focus or material component. All prerequisites other than item creation feats, however, must be met by any creature imbuing it for the object to be crafted. “Crafting” a magic item involves spending an hour each day imbuing it with power, expending spell slots with a summed spell level equal to 1/1000 of its normal price in GP (minimum 1 spell level).

A magic item only gains power after being imbued in this way on seven consecutive days (requiring no skill check) and loses all power if it goes for 24 hours without being imbued at all. The daily imbuing process must be fulfilled by a single creature, though different creatures can imbue an item each day and the creature that benefits from an item need not be the one that imbued it. An item’s command word (if any) is determined when an item first gains power.

A magic item may not be further imbued with other properties until the first set of magical properties has faded. Further, a creature may only imbue a number of magic items up to 1/4 of their HD each day (up to a maximum of five). Whenever an item is expended to create permanent effects (such as a manual of gainful exercise +1), the most recent creature to imbue it with power has this limit permanently reduced by -1 (minimum 0).

Notes and Explanation:The obvious problem with any attempt to combine high magic with low magic items is that a good deal of iconic magical imagery involves magical items, especially in D&D and Pathfinder. While a magical society could certainly exist without holy swords, bags of holding, and crystal balls, it wouldn’t feel like most PF settings. Further, there are items with effects that spells have difficulty accurately imitating (such as a portable hole) but that players may still need.

As such, a compromise of sorts was reached, carrying a number of positives and negatives compared with the normal system:

Pros:
Nobody is burdened with item creation feats
Next to no gold is required to make items.
More powerful items are made relatively quickly.
No need to spend a full 8 hours every day spent crafting
No skill checks torturing skill point starved classes

Cons:
All prerequisites of the item must be met.
Weaker items are built relatively slowly.
Each item requires 1 hour of maintenance/day.
You can only maintain 1 item/4 HD
Dedicating all of your resources to items put you behind WBL.

I actually want to elaborate on that last point for a bit. This fix was made to reduce the reliance of players upon magic items. While players are allowed to have some irreplaceable items (such as blessed spellbooks, bags of holding, or grandfathered belts of battle), the intention wasn’t to let players pour all of their spellcasting back into magic items and get the other benefits “for free”. You can craft a couple of items if you want to but don’t expect to get what a “normal” character gets.

Things aren’t all gloom and doom, however. While expendable items take a while to produce, they no longer take a permanent bite out of your WBL. Likewise for replacing items with new ones. Of course, why you would even make a scroll or potion (except as an emergency button) is anyone’s guess.

Another matter that should probably be addressed is using items to cover weaknesses. While perfected self should help with this use of items, crafting magic items to cover your own weaknesses is kind of counter-intuitive as you need to meet all prerequisites. A ring of climbing requires you to already have ranks in climb, for example, while an amulet of natural armor requires you to already have barkskin. As such, players are generally more likely to enchant the items of other PCs rather than their own items, at least if trying to shore up a weakness.

As one last special note, the fact that magic items has to be maintained kind of removes the problem of hoarded expendable items. The party will never find tons of potions in a vault or a dragon’s hoard but the DM is free to have potions or scrolls on the bodies of fallen guards or enemies without regard for WBL and can rest easily knowing that none of them are likely to last beyond 24 hours. Likewise, the PCs have less incentive to hold such scavenged scrolls in reserve if the scrolls aren’t permanent.

Realms of Chaos
2014-11-01, 11:21 PM
Handling Affordances, Part 1: The DM’s Secret Lifeline:

While few people seem to discuss them in such terms, the magic items that players find and loot off of others in normal campaigns serve as an interesting (and possibly beneficial) form of DM fiat, especially in the context of pre-made adventures and campaigns.

We’ve all heard of these stories before. Maybe the party discovers a scroll of water breathing a few rooms away from a giant subterranean lake they have to cross. Maybe the party discovers heat-resistant armor and dragon-bane weaponry within a red dragon’s lair. Maybe a ghost touch axe rests over the mantle of a haunted house. Whatever the case, pre-made adventures often use treasure to ensure that parties have proper solutions for obstacles that might otherwise be insurmountable.

While these items can be placed with varying levels of realism or laziness, they represent the very real need of certain adventures to make sure that problems can be solved (especially if a time limit of some sort is involved or retreat to the nearest town is impossible). One of the many “problems” with many systems replacing magic items is that they don’t give DMs this sort of option. If your players don’t have an ability that they happen to need, most alternatives provide the DM with no means of getting that effect to the players (making it harder to use pre-made adventures).

This particular fix, however, helps to get around this sort of problem in a number of possible ways:

1. The Players: While it may seem like a cop-out, giving every single player the ability to cast spells greatly increases the odds that someone will always have the proper tool for any situation. The fact that the spells are somewhat spontaneous and that each player gains at least four spell slots of each spell level they have access to means that any player who has the right spell for a situation has a decent chance of being able to cast it on at least most of the team (if required). Finally, players willing to make a personal sacrifice and spend time waiting can gain access to whatever spell they need at the moment.

2. Magic Items: Despite the options and abilities given to players, you can’t always count on groups (especially new groups) having what they need or having the time to obtain it. In those situations, magic items can still perform their normal function. While players are generally restricted in the magic items that they can maintain, they are still free to steal magic items from recently slain foes, who might have precisely the tool to pass a nearby obstacle (especially if the slain creature needs to bypass that obstacle on a regular basis).

3. Magical Locations: If players can’t be trusted and there aren’t any creatures around to carry the items your party would need, they might still need magical effects in a hurry. If you want to anticipate this form of eventuality, three new forms of magical location (ley-lines, fonts of power, and ancient shrines) are described below, each of which can be used to grant temporary access to spells.

4. Relics: While giving spell effects through magical locations lets DMs do their work, some magic items simply do not have corresponding spell effects. If you need to get specific magic items effects to players in the wilderness or you’re the sort of DM that enjoys throwing lyres of building and decanters of endless water at your party to see what they do, a new form of artifact exists for those purposes.


Ley-lines (Magical Location)

In a world of unbound magic, mystical power is tied intrinsically to life, to undeath, and even to the lifeless animation of constructs. Only intelligent creatures can consciously draw upon this magic, however, leaving behind entire landscapes of plants, fungi, vermin, and animals that possess no means to cast spells. Instead, these entities release their energy as raw “magical ambience”. In a rare few locations, this ambient energy pools and accumulates, possibly granting others magical power.


What is a Ley-line?:
The precise nature of ley-lines are mysteries to all but the oldest lords of the Seelie and Unseelie courts, though some more general information has been discerned. Ley-lines are mystical accumulations of the ambient energy that creatures incapable of casting spells give off over time, though certain types of creatures (such as fey or magical beasts) are said to give off this energy even if capable of casting spells.

Most of these accumulations are established through geographical features that direct and shape the patterns of life in the surrounding are. As such, ley-lines are typically found around features such as deep subterranean chambers, sky-shattering mountains, tranquil oases, or dormant calderas. On rare occasion, even artificial features such as a sprawling city or necropolis can give rise to ley-lines. None but the most extreme of features (such as a continent-spanning desert) has any chance of possessing more than a single leyline, however.

Contrary to this general pattern, however, some ley-lines are formed around smaller or more monolithic features such as coral reefs, sacred groves, or lone myrrh trees of incredible age. Some ley-lines are even constructed by design, whether through druidic rituals spanning generations or through the machinations of powerful fey.


How Do They Work?:

While many ley-lines cover vast expanses of land, taking advantage of a ley-line involves finding the heart of a ley-line, a 20-foot radius area where the magic actually accumulates. The heart of a ley-line holds nearly tangible concentrations of magic. So intense are these magical concentrations that they often spill over into more manifestations. As such, it is not unusual for the hearts of ley-lines to possess such features as pools of water that always reflect the night sky or trees that blow in an unfelt breeze.

Any creature with an intelligence score of 3 or higher that enters the area automatically feels something odd about the area and are entitled to a DC 15 Perception or Spellcraft check (their choice) to determine what they have just entered. Any spell or effect that detects the presence of magical auras also detects the presence of a ley-line’s heart, though not what spell it is linked to.

Each ley-line is associated with a single spell, a spell that frequently (but not always) relates to the nature of the ley-line. A creature that has claimed a ley-line, if within 1 mile of the heart and closer to that ley-line than any others it has claimed, gains some access to that spell. The claimant effectively adds the chosen spell to all lists of spells known it may possess and may spontaneously convert any spell of an equal or higher spell level that it has prepared or primed into the linked spell. When casting the associated spell, the creature may ignore any somatic or verbal components it possesses. Finally, any creature benefiting from a ley-line gains a +2 insight bonus on Perception and Stealth, and Survival checks as they are made more aware of the world around them.


Claiming an Unclaimed Ley-Line:

Claiming an unclaimed ley-line is simplicity itself, requiring that a creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher spend a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity as they exert their will over the ley-line. Afterwards, that creature is linked to the ley-line until they are next slain or destroyed, even if that creature isn’t currently benefiting from that leyline.


Claiming a Claimed Ley-Line:

A claimed ley-line cannot be taken until the previous owner has died or been destroyed, though making the attempt (through the same process) can create a momentary connection between a creature and the current creature that has claimed the ley-line. The new claimant makes a caster level check against a DC of (current claimant’s HD + 10).

If this check is successful, the new claimant gains a mental image of what the current claimant looks like. If the check succeeds by 5 points or more, the new claimant learns the general direction to the current claimaint. If the check succeeds by 10 points or more, the new claimant learns the distance to the current claimant as well. Regardless of the dice result, the current claimant learns that the attempt has been made and the new claimant may not try again for 24 hours.

Information gained in this way ignores most effects that would block divinations effects, including even mindblank and similar abilities. Likewise, no form of divination reveals whether a ley-line is currently claimed or unclaimed.

Notes and Explanation: To help replace the ability of magic items to let DMs hand out solutions to problems, several types of magical locations have been created to perform similar under-handed functions. Of these magical locations, the most basic are ley-lines.

Ley-lines are rather simple in their effects, giving minor bonuses and the ability to cast a single spell. Despite the power, however, players can only benefit from one at a time and can’t take the effects too far away. Even worse, others looking to steal the lifeline would have to kill the previous claimant (if alive) and has an easy way to learn where the claimant is.



Fonts of Power

Magic begets magic. Some of the most magical spaces in the world gather more and more magic as they grow in age. Eventually, this collection of magic collapses back onto itself, creating a small region of intensified magic that endlessly generates new magic of its own. An enterprising caster within a font of power can draw upon this energy, releasing the unending flood of mystical might.


What is a Font of Power?

When too much magic accumulates in a single space, it risks collapsing back onto itself much as an ancient star in the evening sky. In some cases, this magical concentration comes from ancient leylines that have gone unclaimed for centuries. Far more often, however, Fonts of Power emerge from great magical events such as large-scale battles or the ascension of a deity.

When the large collections of magic collapse, they form a magical singularity of sorts, drawing in all ambient magic and forming a concentrated core of magic that no creature could hope to pierce. So strong is this concentration of magic, however, that it starts to produce new magic, releasing a continuous flow of power much as a mindless creature (if on a far greater scale). It is only this flow of power that a caster can access

As only the oldest of ley-lines and greatest of events can start a font of power, they are generally far more rare than normal ley-lines (above) or ancient shrines (below).


How Do They Work?:

In many ways, fonts of power work almost exactly as ley-lines. They are claimed for life in an identical manner and each is linked to a single spell effect. Only a few small differences exist to differentiate fonts of power from the effects of ley-lines.

Each font of power possesses its own “heart” with a 10-foot radius and a “vacuum” that extends a further 30 feet in every direction. While the heart produces its own energy, the vacuum sucks in additional magic from the surrounding area, imposing a -1 penalty to the caster level and save DCs of all spells cast within the area.

The heart, meanwhile, is far less subtle than that of a ley-line, frequently filled with crackling arcane energy, swirling mists, or floating sigils. The DC of Perception and Spellcraft checks made to identify a font of power is reduced to 10. Further, any creature within a font of power takes 1 point of damage each round, though any form of energy resistance or damage reduction stops this damage.

A creature that has claimed a font of power may only make use of its power while physically inside of the font’s heart, allowing it to use the linked spell at will as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to its own HD. If the linked spell has expensive material components or foci, they must still be provided.

Notes and Explanation:Sometimes, you can’t rely on gung-ho players to have spell slots remaining for whatever they want to do. Sometimes you want BBEGs to rain down fireballs every round without regard for spell slots. Sometimes you want to arm your players with a veritable arcane cannon to let them mow down wave after wave of enemy intruders just as surely as a wand of fireball would let them. While highly immobile and less “practical” than lay-lines, fonts of power allow DMs to grant players and enemies abilities that can be spammed freely.



Ancient Shrines

Generally speaking, deities rarely intervene directly on the behalf of mortals. Instead, deities leave their marks on the material plane through the actions of mortal and immortal intermediaries and through sacred items and places devoted to themselves. While creatures and items move around and fade away, religious sites have a tendency to remain long after their worshippers. Some of the oldest religious sites allow deities to establish a stronger hold within the world, to pass on their guidance to those who find their sacred sites and offer the proper prayer.


What is an Ancient Shrine?

An ancient shrine is a site devoted to a single entity, a site that has stood for so long that the presence of its patron has been firmly entrenched in the area. As a result, those who offer the proper prayers or supplication within the area may claim a magical boon from the associated entity. While most ancient shrines are dedicated to deities, others are dedicated to great old ones, empyreal lords, ancient kami, and other such entities of great power.

Despite the name, ancient shrines may take any number of forms, from humble roadside shrines to the fonts of abandoned abbeys or sacrificial alters of dark cults. Some ancient shrines are simply sacred sites without any physical structure (such as where a deity accomplished a great act) or persist after a physical structure has fallen apart through age.

All creatures with an intelligence score of 3 or higher feel that they are being watches while within 10 feet of an ancient shrine. As the shrines can take any number of forms, however, the Knowledge (Religion) DC to recognize a shrine and identify the linked being may range from 10 to 30 or higher.

Many ancient shrines are long-forgotten by the time that they gain their great power, though this is not always the case. Some ancient shrines are guarded by Divine Guardians (Bestiary 4) or other wardens while others are located in active churches or cathedrals (though such institutions are always highly restrictive on who will be permitted to use the shrine). The odds of more than one ancient shrine (even to two different entities) occurring within a single larger religious site are negligible.


How Does an Ancient Shrine Work?

An ancient shrine occupies a single 5-ft cube, typically (but not always) coinciding with the placement of a sacred object such as an alter, font, statue, totem pole, gong, or roadside shrine. Any creature aware of the shrine and who it is devoted to may spend 10 minutes entreating the linked entity for aid while within 10 feet of the shrine, requesting a single spell from the cleric spell list of any spell level that the supplicant can cast.

While creatures are free to supplicate entities other than the primary object of their worship, the effect this supplication has depends primarily on how similar the alignments of the supplicant and the supplicated entity are to one another.

If the supplicant’s alignment is within one step of the entity, they are granted access to the spell, allowing them to prepare, prime, and cast that spell as if it were on their spell list or list of spells known (as appropriate). Once the spell is cast once, however, this effect ends. The target is compelled to make an offering to the entity in a ritual requiring 10 minutes (the nature of which depends on the entity). The value of this offering is typically no more than 100 gp/spell level of the spell received, all of which is burnt, dissolved in acid, or is otherwise rendered unusable through the offering. For each day that this offering isn’t made, the supplicant takes a stacking -1 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. This offering can be made from anywhere, however.

If the supplicant’s alignment is two steps away from that of the entity, they are granted access to the spell but the cost of the offering is doubled and they are placed under a Quest effect by the linked entity. If they differ by three steps, the supplicant must additionally make the offering and fulfil the Quest before the boon is granted at all. If they differ by four steps, the supplicant gains no benefit at all, regardless of offerings made or services offered.

Alternatively, supplicants of the entity’s precise alignment that worship said entity may choose to gain the immediate benefits of an atonement without need for material components, though this benefit can be gained only once by each supplicant (even if using different shrines).

Entities never lend out spells with an alignment descriptor opposed to their own alignment or that oppose their own interests (a frostfell deity will never answer a request for fire storm, for example). Spells that can be used in multiple ways, however, need not be used with the interests of the entity in mind, however (an elemental swarm gained from Pazuzu, for example, need not summon air elementals and can even summon earth elementals). If the entity has any reason to dislike a particular supplicant, it can also reject otherwise innocuous requests. Such denials are frequent if the supplicant has paid for access to the shrine or for knowledge of its whereabouts, reducing it to mere treasure to be bought and sold.

A creature can benefit from ancient shrines no more often than once per week and only gains the benefits of one ancient shrine at a time (replacing one granted spell with another). An ancient shrine may be utilized no more than once per week, though many require far longer periods of time to regain their power.


Destroying an Ancient Shrine:

There are two main ways to rob an ancient shrine of its power, though most entities are only capable of one. First, ancient shrines can lose their power if they are sufficiently desecrated or defiled. Any attempt to move the shrine counts as desecration for this purpose.

While not normally performed for the purpose of removing shrines, the death of an entity also renders all ancient shrines dedicated to it nonmagical (unless otherwise enchanted).

Notes and Explanation:Ancient shrines are perhaps the most versatile and controlled of all magical locations possessed here. Shrines can grant nearly any spell, don’t require players to kill a previous “owner”, and have no maximum range. For these factors, shrines are very powerful.

At the same time, however, the shrines grant only a single use of the spell they lend out, can’t be used too often, and requests can be denied. Add that to the relative frailty of shrines and the DM possesses a fine level of control over what is available. Given the element of bargaining involved, shrines might be used with some success as alternatives to an urban spellcaster for hire in a more wild or apocalyptic setting, granting rare doses of reasonable magic (possibly for a price and/or task).



Relics

When most heroes think of artifacts, they think of wondrous and horrible items, items upon which the fates of kings and nations depend. Most heroes think of swords that can split the world asunder, tomes recording the greatest of virtues and sins, and destructive singularities of oblivion.

At the end of the day, however, all that being an artifact really means is that an item cannot be crafted by the hands of mortals. Nowhere is it stated that artifacts must mythic in the scope of their powers. No being has decreed that artifacts can’t be mimicked by conventional magic. In fact, the only thing that separates certain artifacts from normal items is the fact that they can sustain themselves indefinitely.


What is a Relic?

Relics are the weakest form of artifact known to the multiverse, far weaker in effect than even “minor artifacts”. So weak are they, in fact, that relics can be effectively imitated by mortal magic with perfect fidelity. The only two traits that relics share with traditional artifacts are that 1) relics cannot be crafted and 2) relics remain empowered without regularly being imbued with magic.

While most relics comes from the vaults or palaces of godlike entities or the ruins of lost civilizations, relics need not have ever been “manufactured”. The bulb of a magical pitcher plant that resists all attempts at cultivation may function much as a decanter of endless water while a gem from the deepest dwarven mines may act as a crystal ball. Such “natural” relics are rare, however, and rarely have meaningful words as command words.

Not every form of magic and magical item is derived from a relic, however. Many relics are bound with more wild and fantastical effects, rarely serving any direct offensive or defensive power. As such, most relics function similarly to certain rings, rods, and slotless wondrous items. As the odds of finding unused relics is relatively small, so too are the odds of finding relics that are expended with use or that possess a limited number of charges.

Minor Relics (For Players with 1-6 HD):
Animated Portrait
Bag of Holding (type I)
Bag of Holding (type II)
Bag of Holding (type III)
Bag of Tricks (gray)
Bottle of Air
Campfire Bead
Clamor Box
Escape Ladder
Eversmoking Bottle
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Silver Raven)
Folding Boat
Handy Haversack
Horn of Fog
Ioun Torch
Insistent Doorknocker
Instant Bridge
Iron Rope
Iron Spike of Safe Passage
Mallet of Building
Martyr’s Tear
Pipes of Haunting
Pipes of Sounding
Ring of Feather Falling
Rope of Climbing
Rope of Knots
Stone of Alarm
Sustaining Spoon
Traveler’s any-tool

Medium Relics (For Players with 7-12 HD)
Bag of Holding (IV)
Bag of Tricks (rust)
Bag of Tricks (tan)
Broom of Flying
Carpet of Flying (5 x 5 feet)
Chalice of Poison Weeping
Decanter of Endless Water
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Bronze Griffon)
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Ebony Fly)
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Golden Lions)
Figurine of Wondrous Power (ivory goats)
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Marble Elephant)
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Onyx dog)
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Serpentine Owl)
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Slate Spider)
Immovable Rod
Lyre of Bulding
Orb of Golden Heaven
Portable Hole
Ring of Animal Friendship
Ring of Invisibility
Ring of X-Ray Vision
Rod of Flame Extinguishing
Rod of Metal and Mineral Detection
Rod of Wonder
Stone Horse (courser)
Stone Horse (destrier)
Treasurer’s Seal

Major Relics (For Players with 13+ HD):
Apparatus of the Crab
Carpet of Flying (5 x 10 ft.)
Carpet of Flying (10 x 10 ft.)
Cauldron of Flying
Cauldron of Seeing
Crystal Ball (any type)
Cube of Force
Cubic Gate
Darkskull
Efreeti Bottle
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Obsidian Steed)
Gem of Seeing
Instant Fortress
Lantern of Revealing
Orb of Pure Law
Orb of Storms
Orb of Utter Chaos
Racing Broom of Flying
Ring Gates
Ring of Return
Rod of Alertness
Well of Many Worlds

Destroying Relics: Unlike normal artifacts, relics can be destroyed without any special difficulty, having no special protections that normal items of that variety lack. Likewise, relics can be suppressed or negated through magical effects as normal.

Buying Relics: Like other forms of artifacts, the actual value of a relic (even one with relatively weak effects) is incalculable and few are willing to sell one for any cost. Relics can be sold, however, for between twice and four times the normal market price of the related magic item.

Notes and Explanation:
One of the biggest downsides with having players make their own items is that the number of magic items that players will build for themselves is frustratingly finite. Consider all of the magic items from the magic item compendium, the vaults filled with third-party content, and the landslide of items grandfathered in from third edition D&D. The moment you restrict each player to four items of their choice, 99% of those items will never see use. Ever.

For the most part, I am pretty happy to see the endless clutter of redundant items (such as dozens of “might-as-well-be-potions” called wondrous items), my greatest regret was that there are a whole slew of “fun” items that few players would choose to make for themselves. Indeed, it is a common habit among DMs to throw an occasional unorthodox item like decanters of endless water or immobable rods at players to see how they end up being used. To help preserve the presence lesser-used items without inflating the power of an average party, relics were created.

Distributing Relics:

Relics can appear in active or ruined urban settings as well as within natural environments, making it possible for them to be found nearly anywhere within a campaign world. Further, few of the common relics listed above (except those that summon allies) are of any immediate use in combat, making it hard to gauge the increase in power that they grant to players. For these reasons, the number of relics that a party needs or deserves is a slippery matter.

On the one hand, giving parties too many relics undermines the entire point of having an unbound magic campaign and risks disrupting power levels a tad. Further, players may choose to never craft more useful items (like bags of holding) in the hope of getting a relic if you spoil players. In most cases, however, relics are things that players never would have crafted in the first place.

My personal rule of thumb is that players should get about one relic per four HD that the party possesses, getting moderate relics starting at around 8 HD and major relics starting around 16 HD. What works for you in the end, however, is a matter of personal preference.

Beware the Hog:

Generally speaking, relics are intended to serve as collective items belonging to an adventuring party that can be shared or at least used for the common good. This approach brings out the worst in some players, unfortunately.

Many players of RPGs have a deep-rooted love for magical loot and want as much of it as possible. While the party rogue would probably let the team wizard take a ring of wizardry and the team fighter take a magical battleaxe, no class has any particular claim on a portable hole… or gem or seeing… or most relics. With that in mind, be mindful of hoarders within your playgroup who may take the “traditional” approach of “calling dibs” on every single relic.

Even worse, some players may even be right to claim such ownership. If one player shows far more craftiness with the use of an item than others, that player will probably do well with other items requiring creative thought as well. If every relic you throw at a party challenges them to think in new ways, therefore, don’t be surprised if all of the relics start accumulating in the possession of only one or two players.

While this is certainly a possible issue with relics (and may dissuade some DMS from using Relics, which are in no way necessary), the issue isn’t really one that can be fixed with mechanics. In the end of the day, your best bet for problems of human behavior is probably clear and open communication.

Magic Armor, Shields, and Weaponry:
Let’s suppose for a moment that you support the limited items per person. Let us suppose that the effective removal of magical redundancies like seer’s tea, dowsing syrup, and dust of tracelessness appeals to you. Let us even suppose that the way this fix frees players from needing the same sets of gloves and boots and headbands and cloaks in every game is somehow liberating.

Even with all of that accomplished, there remains one thing that most players cannot overlook. Players want their combat gear. They want their magical mithral armor that lets them fly. They want to bite enemies with the lion shield they’re wielding. They want to smash [s]Excalibur]/s] their holy avenger into the face of their nemesis.

Unfortunately for those players, armor, shields, and weaponry (especially weaponry) is one of the most expensive things in the game. Just keeping a +5 suit of armor, a +5 shield, and a +5 weapon would cost a huge chunk of spells from a level 20 fighter (not to mention over half of its equipment) in this system. Getting exciting battle gear requires a ton of resources. Further, having a sword that gains its own reputation is just about impossible without relics.

For these reasons, I can imagine players wanting and DMs rewarding magical armor, shields, and weaponry as relics. While I don’t necessarily discourage this, I would personally treat the distribution of these items slightly differently from most relics.

Most relics act as general commodities for the entire party and that might serve a vital requirement. Relics for the battlefield, meanwhile, serves as the awesome (but mostly unnecessary) enhancements of a single player. Rather than taking away from the party and giving relics to particular characters, I recommend treating permanent weapons, shields, and armor as proper artifacts.

In a world where most expensive items are never crafted and few items pass from owner to owner, one might expect every permanent luck blade, oathbow, and frost brand to hold the same gravitas and storied history one might expect from a staff of the magi.



When Magic Goes Wrong: Jinxes

Separate from the actively baleful hexes of witches, a Jinx is a simple error within the weave of magic. In sites of rampant use and abuse of magic, the flow of magic through living things can sometimes be caught or tangled upon itself. These tangles within the weave of magic, colloquially known as jinxes, are frequently dangerous to mortals who find their own magic caught within the snarl.


Anatomy of a Jinx:
Jinxes are wide and varied forms of magic, covering a broad array of forms and effects. Some are passed from individual to individual, passing on like a plague. Others are born from rotted leylines that readily replicate their effects for anyone unlucky enough to end up in the crossfire.

Like most magical effects, a Jinx possesses a caster level and a school of magic. While they aren’t detected through the use of detect magic, an arcane sight spell successfully reveals the aura of a jinx. An individual who can see such an aura may attempt a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + Caster Level) to identify the jinx (including how it is triggered, what it does, and how to remove it).

Every Jinx possesses a tingle trigger, an extended course of action that an individual would have to take in order to wrap their own magic into the jinx. Thankfully, these triggers are rarely as simple as simply walking into an area or touching an object. Instead, typical triggers may include reading a book upside-down, admiring oneself in a mirror while wrapped in a specific shawl, or executing a secret handshake with a guardian statue. Any creature that performs the trigger is automatically Jinxed (no save).

Once a creature is Jinxed, a bit of its magic is permanently embroiled in maintaining the jinx. While the jinx occupies no item slot, the creature loses a daily use of the imbued item ability for as long as they remain jinx. If the creature has no such uses to lose, it instead takes a stacking -1 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. Further, the creature suffers the effects of the jinx as listed in its description until it is freed from the jinx. A creature suffering from a jinx is immune to further instances of the same jinx.

Finally, the creature inherits the Token of the Jinx, a physical manifestation of the jinx that can appear as anything from a golden statuette to a boil upon the nose. A token may never be used as a tool, weapon, or material component regardless of its physical form. While a token might be discarded, stolen, or broken, it reappears upon the person of the jinxed individual in its prior state of repair almost instantly and cannot be permanently rid of while the jinx continues. While a token may double as the trigger of the jinx or be to carry out its effects, it is just as likely that the token simply signifies the jinxed status of the individual. A DC 30 spellcraft check identifies a token for what it is.

Example Jinxes:

Dust of Sneezing and Choking
Aura:Moderate transmutation; CL 7th
Trigger: Any individual who personally opens at least half of the eight sarcophagi in the tomb of Et-Manshul triggers this jinx.
Token: A thin layer of dust that coats your flesh.
Effects: The dust that covers your body flies into the air at the lightest provocation, frequently provoking minor sneezes or coughing (no game effect). Whenever a critical hit is scored against the jinxed creature, however, the dust flies up into a fury. The jinxed individual must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or take 3d6 points of Constitution damage immediately. Whose who succeed are nonetheless disabled by choking (treat as stunned) for 3d4 rounds. Any creature that touches you or that makes a melee attack against you during this time, however, is likewise effected.
Removal: A Remove Curse effect only removes the Dust of Sneezing and Choking after the individual has received an Atonement effect to make up for their transgression.

Dampening Sludge
Aura: Strong evocation; CL 15th
Trigger: Any individual who fully inserts a held weapon into this pool of pitch triggers this jinx.
Token: A thick layer of black pitch that covers any weapon (even natural weapons or unarmed strikes) the user wields.
Effects: The pitch dampens any weapon used, negating any enhancement bonus it may possess and imposing a -2 penalty to attack rolls and damage rolls. Even worse, the pitch prevents the use of ranged attacks as the projectiles are caught in the black pitch and the attack roll automatically fails.
Removal: If a creature washes its hands clean with a dose of universal solvent within 10 minutes of receiving a successful Break Enchantment effect, the pitch pools down onto the ground and evaporates.

Arcane Obsession
Aura: Moderate enchantment; CL 6
Trigger: The jinx is triggered if another creature successfully counterspells spells cast by the user on three consecutive rounds.
Token: A small, golden statuette of a robed arcanist with a staff raised up in one hand.
Effects: The jinxed individual becomes utterly confident in its arcane might. The creature uses spells at every opportunity, even when not needed or useless. Once a creature has expended all of its spell slots and/or spells prepared for one day, it is freed from this obsession until it next regains its supply of spells.
Removal: whenever a creature acquires this jinx, the previously jinxed creature is instantly healed of this jinx.

Notes and Explanation:While it was extremely difficult to make, I think that I have come up with a suitable replacement for cursed items if they are ever needed in a campaign. While there are differences (such as instantly knowing that something is wrong), the concept of doing something willfully that results in you having an affliction is preserved, as is the idea that unruly characters may pass on a curse to players even though they can’t create them. It was a difficult design space to work wish but if cursed items are necessary, something like this should work.


Alternate Rule: Binding Magic
In a world suffused with magic, necessity forces any society to deprive more dangerous individuals (whether insane or malicious) of their more dangerous magical ability for the benefit of the populace. This restriction can take a number of forms, ranging from bound limbs or removed tongues to magical imprisonment (whether physical or mental). One option to develop over time, useful for manhunts and short-term imprisonment, is the art of binding magic.

The art of binding magic, while frequently seen as (and used as) some minor form of curse, is in truth an altered counterspell attempt, binding both the target and the binder from certain spells for a limited period of time. Over the course of one uninterrupted hour, a creature unambiguously indicates a single creature that they have observed within the past 24 hours (even through scrying effects) and casts any number of spells, reducing their casting times to 1 standard action if not already lower and negating their normal effects.

At the end of this hour, the binder must make a Caster Level check (DC = 1/2 target’s HD + summed spell level of all spells to be bound). If this check is successful, the binder becomes incapable of casting or priming the chosen spells through unbound magic and can only cast it through other spellcasting, magic items, or spell-like abilities with a successful Caster Level check (DC 25 + spell level). Attempts to do so result in items, charges, and spell slots being wasted, through material components are never consumed in this way. Both effects last for 24 hours.

If the target is within 1 mile of the binder throughout this entire process, they are similarly affected starting 1d4+1 hours after the conclusion of the binding and lasting until 24 hours after the binding attempt was completed (thus lasting 19-22 hours). Further, the conclusion of the binding ritual (whether successful or not) grants the target a mental image of the binder unless the binder succeeds on its check by 5 or more and alerts the target that they have been magically bound (but not what spells) unless the binder succeeds on its check by 10 points or more.

While binding magic may be a prevalent component of the legal system in worlds with unbound magic, it arises out of spite and necessity rather than as a natural extension of the tremendous magic in the world. As such, not just any creature can bind the magic of another. Instead, the magic binder feat is required for this purpose.

Magic Binder
You can seal the magical abilities of others.
Benefits: You can bind magic, as described above.

Realms of Chaos
2014-11-01, 11:27 PM
Handling Affordances, Part 2: The Pursuit of Wealth:

One of the more obvious consequences of any magic item replacement system is that they remove one of the larger expenditures of gold that most PCs face. While some PCs are happy to adapt and to sink their money into mundane sources (minions, fortresses, vehicles, etc.), this shift can easily hamstring the normally insatiable hunger of PCs for more treasure. Unfortunately, this hunger for lucre is one of the easiest incentives for DMs (especially new ones) to grab onto and many adventure hooks make the assumption that PCs want as much loot as possible.

To remedy the problem of players never caring about treasure or gear, I have devised a few optional rules. Items of Legacy and Imprinted Objects are objects that carry real (but not overpowering) benefits, hopefully prompting some PCs to actually shift their gear instead of using the same gear they had at level 2 all of the way at level 20. The Rewards of Opulence grants players a more social outlet to sink money into, getting definite benefits that don’t undermine the abilities of the character. Finally, a small assortment of new focus-dependent spells allow for the focus to become a treasure worth pursuing in its own right.


Items of Legacy:

While magic remains quite flexible within a campaign of unbound magic, it is still natural for creatures to associate certain entities with the physical objects that they favor. Even if the magical effects of these objects can be imitated by any with sufficient strength, the effects that they have on the minds and hearts of others is unique.

“Objects” of the following varieties that belong to a creature of 5 HD or more class HD and that have been used regularly by that creature for a period of at least one year are treated as items of legacy: weapons, shields, armor, items taking the body slot, mounts.

For each item of legacy a creature visibly displays, a creature gains a +1 bonus on disguise checks made to disguise as the original owner, intimidate checks against that creature’s allies (present or former), and diplomacy checks against that creature’s enemies (present or former). If the original creature possessed 10 HD or more Class HD, the carrier also gains a +1 bonus to its leadership score.

None of these bonuses are gained for possessing your own equipment or possessing the equipment of an obscure or secluded creature. At DM discretion, objects used by a creature when it was anonymous (such as the blade a tyrant used as a child) may grant no bonuses even if the user has since grown famous. None of the bonuses gained in this way may exceed +5.[/spoiler]

Notes and Explanation:No, not the magical items that grow with your power level. What I’m talking about here are objects that might develop a reputation through association with a creature. While less enticing than imprinted objects (below), they provide a minor wow-factor for an item without bringing up magical goods and may provide an incentive to take an object from a fallen foe even if that object isn’t magical.



Imprinted Objects:
Even aside from magical relics, the regalia of a hero or tyrant can often earn a reputation and “personality” of its own. In the aftermath of extreme magical events or with the final demise of a particularly charismatic individual, this “personality” may be far more literal, blooming into genuine sentience and intelligence.

In most respects, an imprinted object is functionally identical to a normal intelligent item. This intelligence, however, is both reliant upon and separated from normal magical enhancement. As such, the ability of the object to think (complete with the same senses, alignment, and abilities) resurfaces each time the object is enchanted, even if the base enchantment is different (An intelligent ring of invisibility might end up as a ring of the ram later on).

The intelligence of a dormant item cannot be discerned through any magical means. Despite this potential edge in going undetected, most objects are loathe to have their minds go silent, making their presence known to even detestable would-be owners and manipulating owners into neither abandoning them nor expending permanent charges. Imprinted objects cannot be purposefully created.

Notes and Explanation:Generally speaking, intelligent items are very rarely required for the completion of a quest. The actions of one may save your group from a TPK but I hesitate to list it as a vital affordance that magic items provide.

What intelligent items have always done, however, is provide a mechanical advantage to one object over others of the same kind (making one hat of disguise better than another, for example). Taking that principle further, I have used object intelligence as a way to, for example, make a specific belt better than an average bet (a difficult task when all belts can be enchanted as all kinds of belts).

This was performed for two main reasons. First of all, it provides what would otherwise be a rare incentive for a character to choose the physical objects they use instead of just the enchantments upon them. Secondly, it allows for a specific magical armor or weapon to become famous without going all of the way and making it a relic.



Rewards of Opulence:
In a world without magical objects, the number of things for an individual to do with money is greatly reduced. Maintaining the lifestyle of aristocracy requires only 1,000 gp per month and a player can realistically only benefit from so many yachts, hirelings, and strongholds. To handle some of the extra gold that would otherwise pile up in uselessness, presented here are some uses for money that any creature maintaining an extravagant lifestyle can purchase. These benefits can only be bought in settlements at least as large as hamlets.

Above the Law (2,000 gp+): While nobody is truly above the law, proper licensure and good barristers can be obtained in many societies to bend the laws in your favor. You are allowed to carry armor, shields, spell components, and weaponry (whether concealed or openly) and aren’t punished for minor, nonviolent crimes such as lesser vandalism or public drunkenness. This bonus is permanent, though it only applies within a single settlement.

For 20,000 gp, you may save yourself from nearly any legal charge short of murder or treason. Creatures you have wronged, however, may still seek revenge through means outside of the law. For each time this defense is used in a settlement beyond the first in a month, the price increases by +5,000 gp.

Commissions (See Text): You keep a lot of irons in the fire, preparing for several tasks at once with the use of your wealth. You may retrieve a non-magical item of any value from a non-hostile community with 1d10 minutes (even if it exceeds the gp limit) by paying twice its value in gp, having retroactively commissioned for the object to be created.

Insurance (5,000 gp+): You have made an arrangement with the local church or healer in a community. In exchange for one hour of negotiation and 5,000 gp, you are entitled to up to 10,000 gp of magical healing upon your person within the space of the next month. The healer won’t travel with you to dangerous locations, however, requiring you to travel into the community to receive aid. At the end of any month in which you use over 5,000 gp of healing from your insurance in a settlement, the cost of your insurance in that settlement increases by +500 gp permanently (max 9,000 gp).

Logistical Solution (250 gp+): Generally speaking, most of the benefits of maintaining a high lifestyle are highly sedentary, making each expedition and quest a journey away from comfort. With 8 hours of organization, however, you can change all of that.

For every 250 gp you spend in this way, you can supply a single creature with 100 pounds of supplies. These supplies include the finest of pavilion tents (or equivalent) with all of the luxuries of home. For one month, the individual may secure any nonmagical object worth up to 5 gp by searching through these supplies and the supplies are assumed to possess enough food and drink to sustain the individual. For every individual you provide for in this way, you gain a pool of 100 virtual gp that can only be spent on mounts and/or vehicles (which are purchased at the same time as the other supplies).

Network of Informants (100 gp): With 1d4+1 hours of work in a settlement, you can establish a quick network of informants to keep you up to date on the happenings within the community for 1 week. During this time, a diplomacy check made to gather information within the community takes only 10 minutes to perform and Knowledge (local) checks made regarding the community gain a +2 bonus.

Old Money (1,000 gp+): With 24 hours of work in a community, you can use your extravagant wealth to cozy up with the existing financial powers in that settlement, gaining some level of (perhaps grudging) acceptance among the upper class. You gain a +1 bonus to diplomacy checks made in that settlement, except for those made against hostile creatures. This option can be selected multiple times in a single community, though the price is doubled each time. Old money is fickle, however, and the bonus is lost entirely if you ever lose your extravagant lifestyle (though you can build it up once more).

Revelry (2,000 gp): With 6 hours of preparation, you can organize a 4-hour gala, feat, or other celebration of the highest caliber. The effects of holding such a celebration in a settlement are threefold. First of all, you gain a +4 bonus on diplomacy checks made within the community for 24 hours afterwards thanks to the remaining good will. Secondly, you may ensure the attendance of up to six individuals from the community, so long as they are not actively concealing themselves. Finally, the cost includes the price for a single casting of Heroes’ Feast (Caster Level 11) for yourself and chosen guests of honor.

Servants (1,000 gp+): With 24 hours of work in a community, you can assemble a taskforce of level 1 individuals for one month that function as followers gained through the leadership feat. If you pay an extra 1,000 gp, you attract 2nd-level followers as well. If you pay an extra 2,000 gp, you attract 3rd level followers. If you pay an extra 3,000 gp, you attract a being similar to a cohort, though its maximum level is equal to your level – 4. For every additional 1,000 gp spent above 4,000 gp, you gain a +1 bonus to your leadership score for the purpose of this ability. You must possess at least 6 Hit Dice to attract the attention of followers in this way (though weaker creatures can still use hirelings as normal). This ability does not stack with itself. A cohort gained in this way may not benefit from the rewards of opulence.

Title (50,000 gp): Even in societies where money technically can’t buy positions of power, the reward of a title is a relatively cheap way for a society to reward support for the proper causes and individuals. Spending money on these causes requires at least seven days spent in a community, spending 8 hours per day campaigning and spending.

The title is rewarded 1d4 weeks later, granting the creature a permanent +2 bonus to diplomacy and intimidate checks made within that settlement while increasing the attitudes of all creatures within one step closer towards helpful (unless otherwise hostile). The first time that a creature is awarded a title within a settlement, it is granted a plot of land (normally on the edge of the settlement) large enough to support a manor fit for your extravagant lifestyle. This ability does not stack with itself within a single settlement.

Urban Planning (10,000 gp+): With 8 hours spent inside of a community, selectively supporting a number of individuals or programs, you can shift how the city operates. 1d6+1 days after making the donation, you can increase or decrease the corruption, crime, economy, law, lore, or society modifiers of that settlement by 1 point. For each time you have used this ability in the same settlement in the past month, the price increases by +5,000 gp.

Notes and Explanation:While items of legacy and imprinted objects are certainly things that player might like, that only addresses half of the wealth problem that the removal of magical items creates. While giving players something to hunt for is certainly important, the other side the equation is giving players something to sink their normal wealth into. Without a proper outlet for gold and gems, normal sources of wealth might as well be pointless in your campaign.

The rewards of opulence provided here are an extension of the lifestyle costs provided in pathfinder, letting players sink money into outlets that don’t undermine their own stats. The above are only a few examples that DMs are free to expand upon if they want to get players interested. DMs using Ultimate Campaign may allow players to use wealth to earn fame or support a business, for example. Some DMs may even let players pay higher-level NPCs for training with minor mechanical benefits or to pay larger sums to temporarily gain the benefits of social or economic feats such as Profits of Kalistrade.



Focus-Dependent Spells:
If your players aren’t interested in social matters and you don’t want to throw an artifact-level relic or imprinted object their way, what other type of item might get a PC invested without totally taking over? To that question, I would answer “narrative treasures”.

Take Trap the Soul, for example. The material component of that spell becomes a magical item in a certain sense, holding the soul of the target. Owning it doesn’t let you fly or grant you a bonus to bluff checks but PCs who want or need that soul freed would still perform a quest for what is essentially a material possession. Similarly, parties facing off against liches are forced to hunt for the phylactery of that lich because the narrative makes that object important.

While there are all sorts of objects that could become the object of a quest (from tapestries to journals to the crown of the rightful king), those are largely specific to a quest. Instead, I provide you here with a number of spells that grant significant to otherwise humdrum foci.

Concealed Passage
School: Conjuration (Creation); Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Casting Time: 10 Minutes
Component: V, S, F (Everburning Torch)
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One Doorway, archway, or similar portal up to 15 feet long and 15 feet tall.
Duration: Permanent until expended
Saving Throw: None; Spell Resistance: No

The chosen portal is instantly closed, filled with up to 1 foot of solid stone that resembles the surrounding surface in appearance and texture alike (DC 30 Perception check detects). Any creatures in the doorway may choose which side they are sealed upon, The stone can be broken through normal means if desired, though it cannot be dispelled.

Upon casting this spell, the focus is carved with a unique series of marks corresponding to the general location of the passage and what it holds beyond. If the focus is brought within 30 feet of the hidden passage, it glows bright blue. If the focus is broken or is brought within 5 feet of the hidden passage, the stone that this spell has created crumbles to fine dust.

Hide the Path
School: Illusion; Level: Druid 6, Sor/Wiz 6
Casting Time: 1 hour
Component: V, S, F (Any form of map to the area, whether obvious or concealed)
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area: Up to one 10-ft. cube/level.
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None; Spell Resistance: No

The area concealed through this spell cannot be reached or discovered through most means. Teleportation and planar travel fail to reach the targeted area, attempts at navigating towards the affected area always fails, and divination effects fail when used to find the area or scry upon it (even foiling powerful effects such as Find the Path).

A creature that possesses the focus is immune to the effects of this spell. If the focus is destroyed, the effect instantly comes to an end. The effects of this spell are suppressed while a creature larger than fine in size occupies the affected area. If multiple Hide the Path effects are contiguous, a creature only requires a focus for one of those effects in order to reach any of them.

Tombcrafter’s Ward
School: abjuration; Level: Cleric 4
Casting Time: 1 hour
Component: V, S, F (a silver piece)
Range: See Text
Area: See text
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None; Spell Resistance: No

As part of casting this spell, you may select any number of traps (mundane or magical) that you have helped to create and touch any number of locks. The silver piece used as a focus transforms into a silver token engraved with patterns roughly indicative of the selected obstacles.

So long as all of the traps and locks remain in a single self-contained structure (such as a tomb or prison), any creature holding this token fails to set off the selected traps and can unlock any of the selected locks as a swift action by touching them to the token.

Cage Heart
School: Necrommancy; Level: Sor/Wiz 7, Witch 7
Casting Time: 24 hours
Components: V, S, F (Onyx-studded cage worth 5,000 gp)
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Permanent; see text
Saving Throw: None; Spell Resistance: No

Through the use of this spell, you store a large portion of your soul and life-force within a small cage, granting yourself all immunities enjoyed by those of the undead type. Further, you are healed by both positive and negative energy and only perish at -50 hp (unless you would otherwise survive at lower).

The connection between yourself and your cage, however, is tenuous at best. If the cage is broken or you target the cage with an additional spell effect, the spell is instantly ended and you take 2d6 points of constitution damage. Further, you must touch the cage as a full-round action at least once each week to retain your connection with your soul. Failure to do so inflicts 5d6 damage to you each week and removes your ability to heal hit points (whether naturally or through magic) until you touch it. Finally, the cage can be used as an optional focus to any spell. When it is used in this way, the spell ignores all immunities this spell has granted you and increases any save DC by +4.

Mage’s Memoire
School: Divination; Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Components: V, S, F (Any nonmagical object worth at least 300 gp)
Range: Touch
Effect: Magical Memoire
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None; Spell Resistance: Yes

As this spell is cast, the caster speaks up to 1,000 words to be held within the memoire. Any creature that touches the focus hears the caster speak those words with the same inflection and cadence. A single focus can hold up to 1,000 words, which can be produced over several castings (possibly by several mages). If more than 1,000 words would be recorded, the oldest recorded words are lost first.

Notes and Explanation:
And here we have a small assembly of spells that may make an object worth pursuing. I would understand if you think that concealed passage, hide the path, and tombcrafter’s ward are a bit circular in nature as they would let the PCs achieve more treasure in an average campaign. I would argue that these spells simply allow for greater exploration, however, a goal that need not be tied to treasure.



So What’s the Deal With Treasure (A Summary)?
In an unbound magic campaign, wealth is not strictly necessary for players to obtain. Even so, wealth and objects can be incorporated into the campaign in a number of ways.

First of all, there are still plenty of avenues for someone to spend money normally. Whether buying mounts, vehicles, hirelings, fortresses, spell foci, or weaponry and armor crafted from superior metal, there is at least some permanent gear worth obtaining. Expended objects such as alchemical objects, material components, and poisons also represent a route of expenditure that provides a worthwhile bonus without entirely taking over your character concept. The Rewards of Opulence have been introduced as a new social outlet for regularly sinking money into.

Beyond that, magical objects still have a place in the campaign. Players of at least 4th level can craft them, common-place ones can likely be purchased for use in some towns, and players are free to loot the treasure off of fallen enemies. Even better, players take no permanent hit to their WBL for using charged or expended items or for having items broken or stolen, don’t have to worry about losing WBL if a “bad item” is given to them, and are encouraged to actively use pilfered items instead of hoarding potions and scrolls (which would fade after 24 hours anyways).

Items of Legacy, Imprinted Objects, and Relics are all unique objects that might drive players into the middle of an adventure or serve as an impetus for players actually changing their gear instead of simply changing their enchantments. The concept of focus-dependent spells has been further explored as a means to get players treasure hunting, if for more narrative purposes.

Realms of Chaos
2014-11-01, 11:30 PM
Remaking Opponents:

One of the larger problems that global fixes (such as unbound magic) have when compared to voluntary fixes (like vow of poverty) is that they create more work for the DM. If all creatures get a +1 bonus to their AC, for example, the DM has to mentally add that bonus to each and every creature they wish to pit players against. This fix is far more complicated than a simple bonus, however. Using this fix, a large number of additional decisions have to be made for every single creature the players fight, ranging from their spells known to their bonus feats to the bonuses provided by perfected self.

With all of those additional choices, it is easy to imagine that improvised campaigns would have great difficulty using unbound magic and that even DMs who plan statblocks out in advance may not want to deal with the extra effort. In an effort to streamline the process of creating enemies, I produce a quick heuristic guide to different forms of enemies, similar to the archetypes suggested in 3.5’s Dungeonscape supplement. While the below might be used as the rough base for players as well, the options provided below are pointedly over-simplified and are generally underpowered. Note that all feats and spells can be found for free on Paizo’s PRD (http://paizo.com/prd/).

Skirmishers:
Whether or not they attack before running off, some monsters become a great challenge through their mobility. Whether they move at high speeds, teleport around, or otherwise move in ways that defy expectations, skirmishers challenge the mobility of your players as much as anything else.
Examples: Blink Dog, Bulette, Quickling, Shadow.
Perfected Self: Prioritize attack bonus and/or Saves. Prioritize Dexterity and Strength scores.
Sample Bonus Feats: Acrobatic, Acrobatic Steps, Agile Maneuvers, Athletic, Dodge, Dimensional Agility, Fleet, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Lightning Stance, Mobility, Mounted Combat, Nimble Moves, Run, Sidestep, Spring Attack, Trick Riding, Wind Stance, Wingover
Sample 1st-Level Spells: Adjuring Step, Anticipate Peril, Burst Bonds, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Feather Step, Illusion of Calm, Jump, Mount, Touch of the Sea
Sample 2nd-Level Spells: Blur, Certain Grip, Find Traps, Glide, Grace, Knock, Levitate, Rope Trick, Spider Climb, Whispering Wind
Sample 3rd-Level Spells: Burrow, Blink, Burst of Speed, Fly, Gaseous Form, Haste, Mass Feather Step, Phantom Steed, Water Breathing, Water Walk
Sample 4th-Level Spells: Air Walk, Arcane Eye, Aspect of the Stag, Dimension Door, Dimensional Anchor, Freedom of Movement, Greater Invisibility, Shadow Projection, Shadow Step, Tongues.
Sample 5th-Level Spells: Hostile Juxtaposition, Lesser Astral Projection, Life Bubble, Overland Flight, Passwall, Planar Adaptation, Telekinesis, Teleport, Treasure Stitching, Tree Stride
Sample 6th-Level Spells: Acid Fog, Antilife Shell, Blade Barrier, Dance of a Hundred Cuts, Find the Path, Fluid Form, Getaway, Mislead, Shadow Walk, Transport Via Plants

Meathulk:
Some greater exist as a rather unsubtle form of threat, offering little or no subtlety but delivering large injuries and withstanding blow after blow. Whether used as a bestial “endboss” or as a hulking bodyguard to another threat, meathulks are dangerous: pure and simple.
Examples: Grey Render, Hill Giant, Tarrasque, Troll
Perfected Self: Prioritize attack bonuses and AC. Prioritize Strength and Constitution scores.
Sample Bonus Feats: Antagonize, Bloody Assault, Cleave, Diehard, Endurance, Enforcer, Furious Focus, Great Fortitude, Heroic Defiance, Heroic Recovery, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Drag, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Natural Attack, Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Lunge, Multiattack, Power Attack, Toughness
Sample 1st-Level Spells: Ant Haul, Break, Enlarge Person, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Magic Weapon, Shield, Shield of Faith, Stone Fist, True Strike
Sample 2nd-Level Spells: Aspect of the Bear, Bear’s Endurance, Brow Gasher, Bull’s Strength Bullet Shield, Cushioning Bands, False Life, Instant Armor, Knight’s Calling, Lead Blades
Sample 3rd-Level Spells: Deadly Juggernaut, Fireball, Fly, Force Punch, Greater Magic Weapon, Haste, Heroism, Keen Edge, Pain Strike, Rage
Sample 4th-Level Spells: Beast Shape II, Black Tentacles, Divine Power, Fear, Fire Shield, Freedom of Movement, Ice Storm, Phantasmal Killer, Shout, Spell Immunity
Sample 5th-Level Spells: Aspect of the Wolf, Beast Shape III, Cone of Cold, Death Ward, Hold Monster, Interposing Hand, Mass Pain Strike, Stoneskin, Wall of Fire, Waves of Fatigue
Sample 6th-Level Spells: Beast Shape IV, Cleanse, Chain Lightning, Coward’s Lament, Disintegrate, Enemy Hammer, Force Hook Charge, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Heroism, Transformation

Lurker:
Other than direct combatants and those who rely on mobility, some creatures rely on ambush or distance in order to finish their job. Whether these creatures hide in the shadows, hide in plain sight, or hide through invisibility, they can burst out of nowhere with carefully planned ambushes before retreating once more under the cover of magic.
Examples: Chokers, Mimics, Phantom Fungus, Skulk
Perfected Self: Prioritize Attack and Skill bonuses. Prioritize Dexterity and Wisdom
Sample Bonus Feats: Agile Maneuvers, Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Disengaging Feint, Dodge, Far Shot, Fleet, Go Unnoticed, Improved Feint, Improved Initiative, Learn Ranger Trap, Mobility, Moonlight Stalker, Point-Blank Shot, Second Chance, Shadow Strike, Spring Attack, Stealthy, Weapon Finesse
Sample 1st-Level Spells: Aspect of the Falcon, Disguise Self Innocence, Mask Dweomer, Memory Lapse, Negate Aroma, Pass Without Trace, Tireless Pursuit, Vanish, Ventriloquism
Sample 2nd-Level Spells: Arrow Eruption, Blur, Create Pit, Detect Thoughts, Dust of Twilight, Invisibility, Minor Image, Mirror Image, Silence, Undetectable Alignment
Sample 3rd-Level Spells: Arcane Sight, Bloodhound, Displacement, Enter Image, Hunter’s Eye, Invisibility Sphere, Major Image, See Invisibility, Seek thoughts, Spiked Pit
Sample 4th-Level Spells: Absorbing Touch, Acid Pit, Detect Scrying, Dimension Door, Find Quarry, Glibness, Greater Invisibility, Nondetection, Shadow Projection, Shocking Image
Sample 5th-Level Spells: False Vision, Hungry Pit, Magic Jar, Mirage Arcana, Nightmare, Persistent Image, Polymorph, Prying Eyes, Teleport, Wall of Force
Sample 6th-Level Spells: Animate Objects, Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Greater Dispel Magic, Mislead, Permanent Image, Programmed Image, Tar Pool, Veil, Wall of Stone

Hoser
Perhaps one of the most dangerous forms of creatures out there, hosers exist to take individuals out of combats entirely instead of engaging the entirety of the team in pitched combat. Whether this means turning creatures into stone, destroying weapons, or simply halting magic in the surrounding area, hosers ensure that enemies are able to shift the burden of a battle’s results onto the shoulders of others
Examples: Alraune, Golem, Medusa, Rust Monster
Perfected Self: Prioritize AC and Saves. Prioritize Intelligence and Charisma scores
Sample Bonus Feats: Antagonize, Ability Focus, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Disruptive Spell, Fleet, Following Step, Great Fortitude, Improved Counterspell, Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Iron Will, Sickening Spell, Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Stand Still, Step Up, Toughness
Sample 1st-Level Spells: Beguiling Gift, Break, Bungle, Color Spray, Decompose Corpse, Fumbletongue, Grease, Ill Open, Lock Gaze, Stumble Gap
Sample 2nd-Level Spells: Accelerate Poison, Destabilize Powder, Feast of Ashes, Ghostbane Dirge, Glitterdust, Pernicious Poison, Pox Pustules, Silence, Steal Voice, Web
Sample 3rd-Level Spells: Bestow Curse, Contagion, Cup of Dust, Flying, Fester, Healing Thief, Hunter’s Eye, Screech, See Invisibility, Wind Wall
Sample 4th-Level Spells: Arcana Theft, Control Summoned Creature, Curse of Magic Negation, Debilitating Portent, Fleshworm Infestation, Freedom of Movement, Phantasmal Killer, Rusting Grasp, Solid Fog, Spite
Sample 5th-Level Spells: Absorb Toxicity, Curse of Disgust, Death Ward, Feeblemind, Greater Contagion, Mass Ghostbane Dirge, Mind Fog, Phantasmal Web, Rest Eternal, Teleport
Sample 6th-Level Spells: Acid Fog, Circle of Death, Contingency, Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Greater Dispel Magic, Major Curse, Mass Fester, Mislead, Unwilling Shield

Leader
When large numbers of creatures gather, it is normal for one or two to take the job of organizings its fellows in combat. Taking on the role of leader and (if applicable) ambassador, the presence of a leader makes other creatures more dangerous. Thankfully, there are incredibly few races composed of leaders.
Examples: Bards, Drakainia, Inquisitors, Summoners
Perfected Self: Prioritize AC and Skill Bonuses. Prioritize Intelligence and Charisma scores.
Sample Bonus Feats: Alertness, Allied Spellcaster, Augment Summoning, Combat Expertise, Cosmopolitan, Duck and Cover, Enforcer, Escape Route, Gang Up, Improved Reposition, Leadership, Lookout, Outflank, Saving Shield, Selective Spell, Shield Wall, Swap Places, Swift Aid, Team Up, Undead Master. Note: When giving leadership feats to a creature, strongly consider giving the same feats to its allies regardless of their roll in combat.
Sample 1st-Level Spells: Bless, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Enlarge Person, Liberating Command, Magic Weapon, Moment of Greatness, Mount, Timely Inspiration, Unseen Servant
Sample 2nd-Level Spells: Communal Mount, Communal Reinforce Armaments, Enthrall, Honeyed Tongue, Magic Siege Engine, Protection from Arrows, Resist Energy, Tactical Acumen, Telekinetic Assembly, Whispering Wind
Sample 3rd-Level Spells: Badger’s Ferocity, Communal Endure Elements, Communal Protection from Arrows, Communal Resist Energy, Coordinated Effort, Gallant Inspiration, Hidden Speech, Hide Campsite, Prayer, Suggestion
Sample 4th-Level Spells: Animate Dead, Blessing of Fervor, Communal Phantom Steed, Communal Protection from Energy, Imbue with Spell Ability, Litany of Escape, Mass Enlarge Person, Phantom Chariot, Remove Curse, Telekinetic Charge
Sample 5th-Level Spells: Break Enchantment, Communal Air Walk, Communal Spell Immunity, Dominate Person, Energy Siege Shot, Greater Magic Siege Engine, Life Bubble, Scrying, Sending, Telepathic Bond
Sample 6th-Level Spells: Animate Objects, Battlemind Link, Communal Stoneskin, Eagle Aerie, Geas/Quest, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Energy Siege Shot, Greater Heroism, Mass Suggestion, Veil

Guardian
While similar in most ways to a normal meathulk, some creatures exist less for the sake of doling out pain and more to protect specific objects, locations, or creatures. These creatures are trained in withstanding enemy strikes while preventing them from getting to their personal wards.
Examples: Argus, Crypt Thing, Divine Guardian Template, Mummies
Perfected Self: Prioritize AC and Saves. Prioritize Constitution and Wisdom scores.
Sample Bonus Feats: Alertness, Antagonize, Blind-Fight, Bodyguard, Combat Patrol, Combat Reflexes, Diehard, Dodge, Endurance, Fleet, Following Step, Great Fortitude, In Harm’s Way, Iron Will, Mobility, Saving Shield, Stand Still, Step Up, Toughness, Uncanny Alertness
Sample 1st-Level Spells: Alarm, Bane, Compel Hostility, Cure Light Wounds, Death Watch, Hold Portal, Keen Senses, Liberating Command, Mage Armor, Shield
Sample 2nd-Level Spells: Acute Senses, Arcane Lock, Blessing of Courage and Life, Eagle Eye, Knight’s Calling, Magic Mouth, Make Whole, Phantom Trap, Shield Other, Zone of Truth
Sample 3rd-Level Spells: Create Food and Water, Cure Moderate Wounds, Explosive Runes, Glyph of Warding, Helping Hand, Hunter’s Eye, Invisibility Purge, Obscure Object, Remove Disease, Sacred Bond
Sample 4th-Level Spells: Arcane Eye, Cure Serious Wounds, Discern Lies, Divination, Freedom of Movement, Greater Darkvision, Litany of Escape, Remove Curse, Tongues, True Form
Sample 5th-Level Spells: Banish Seeming, Blessing of the Salamander, Break Enchantment, Cure Critical Wounds, Echolocation, Hallow, Mage’s Faithful Hound, Mage’s Private Sanctum, Mark of Justice, Raise Dead
Sample 6th-Level Spells: Age Resistance, Animate Objects, Contingency, Forbiddance, Geas/Quest, Greater Glyph of Warding, Guards and Wards, Permanent Image, Symbol of Fear, Symbol of Persuasion

Further Customization Made Easy:
With 10 spells listed per spell level for each of those archetypes, it is easy to imaging that things might start to get stale after a while or that creatures should logically possess different spells in a given setting. While DMs are free to customize the above as they see fit (if they use the guides above at all), the following is a simpler solution for minor tweaks. For each environment and creature type, a single spell of each spell level from 1st to 6th has been suggested as a possible replacement spell.


Environments
Desert
1. Cloak of Shade; 2. Feast of Ashes; 3. Shifting Sand; 4. Thorn Body; 5. Mirage Arcana; 6. Sirocco

Forest/Jungle
1. Call Animal; 2. Forest Friend; 3. Mad Monkeys; 4. Grove of Respite; 5. Wall of Thorns; 6. Transport Via Plants

Mountains
1. Expeditious Excavation; 2. Spider Climb; 3. Stone Shape; 4. Obsidian Flow; 5. Transmute Rock to Mud; 6. Stone Tell

Hills/Plains
1. Pass Without Trace; 2. Animal Messenger; 3. Plant Growth; 4. Spike Stones; 5. Teleport; 6. Move Earth

Ruins/Dungeons
1. Detect Secret Doors; 2. Soften Earth and Stone; 3. Create Treasure Map; 4. Fire Trap; 5. Passwall; 6. Find the Path

Sky
1. Alter Winds; 2. Gust of Wind; 3. Call Lightning; 4. Ball Lightning; 5. Control Winds; 6. Chain Lightning

Swamps
1. Faerie Fire; 2. Haunting Mists; 3. Lily Pad Stride; 4. Repel Vermin; 5. Plague Carrier; 6. Swarm Skin

Tundra
1. Frostbite; 2. Frost Fall; 3. Sleet Storm; 4. Ice Storm; 5. Icy Prison; 6. Freezing Sphere

Underground
1. Flare Burst; 2. Stone Call; 3. Spike Growth; 4. Wandering Star Motes; 5. Stoneskin; 6. Wall of Stone

Urban
1. Peacebond; 2. Share language; 3. Shrink Item; 4. Secure Shelter; 5. Secret Chest; 6. Wall of Iron

Water
1. Air Bubble; 2. Fog Cloud; 3. Aqueous Orb; 4. Solid Fog 5. Suffocation; 6. Control Water

Creature Type:
Aberration
1. Entropic Shield; 2. Disfiguring Touch; 3. Countless Eyes; 4. Confusion; 5. Feeblemind; 6. Flesh to Stone

Construct
1. Jury-Rig; 2. Kinetic Reverberation; 3. Ablative Barrier; 4. Malfunction; 5. Rapid Repair; 6. Globe of Invulnerability

Dragon
1. Unseen Servant; 2. Acute Senses; 3. Draconic Reservoir; 4. Illusory Wall; 5. Polymorph; 6. Guards and Wards

Fey
1. Beguiling Gift; 2. Hideous Laughter; 3. Nature’s Exile; 4. Hallucinatory Terrain; 5. Commune with Nature; 6. Envious Urge

Magical Beast
1. Bristle; 2. Natural Rhythm; 3. Greater Magic Fang; 4. Bloody Claws; 5. Death Ward; 6. Primal Scream

Monstrous Humanoid
1. Detect Snares and Pits; 2. Bull’s Strength; 3. Rage; 4. Minor Creation; 5. Righteous Might; 6. Heroes’ Feast

Ooze
1. Grease, 2. Acid Arrow; 3. Gaseous Form; 4. Touch of Slime, 5. Corrosive Consumption, 6. Conjure Black Pudding

Air Outsider
1. Shock Shield; 2. Whispering Wind; 3. Cloak of Winds; 4. River of wind; 5. Fickle Winds; 6. Sirocco

Chaotic Outsider
1. Entropic Shield; 2. Shatter; 3. Rage; 4. Chaos Hammer; 5. Baleful Polymorph; 6. Disintegrate

Earth Outsider
1. Stone Fist; 2. False Life; 3. Burrow; 4. Calcific Touch; 5. Stoneskin; 6. Dust Form

Evil Outsider
1. Disguise Self; 2. Undetectable Alignment; 3. Suggestion; 4. Unholy Blight; 5. Slay Living; 6. Contingency

Fire Outsider
1. Burning Hands; 2. Burning Gaze; 3. Ash Storm; 4. Firefall; 5. Fire Snake; 6. Contagious Flame

Good Outsider
1. Challenge Evil; 2; Consecrate; 3; Righteous Vigor; 4. Light Lance; 5. Pillar of Life; 6. Divine Transfer

Lawful Outsider
1. Command; 2. Arrow of Law; 3. Confess; 4. Denounce; 5. Commune; 6. Geas/Quest

Water Outsider
1. Hydraulic Push; 2. Slipstream; 3. Hydraulic torrent; 4. Ride the Waves; 5. Geyser; 6. Aqueous Form

Plant
1. Entangle; 2. Tree Shape; 3. Burst of Nettles; 4. Command Plants; 5. Absorb Toxicity; 6 Transport Via Plants

Undead
1. Deathwatch; 2. Blood Transcription; 3. Lesser Animate Dead; 4. Enervation; 5. Unhallow; 6. Harm

Vermin
1. Ray of Enfeeblement; 2. Summon Swarm; 3. Cape of Wasps; 4. Giant Vermin; 5. Inset Plague; 6. Mislead

Improvising Spells: If you are improvising a campaign on the fly (such as lunch-hour one-shots, coming up with even a rudimentary spell list may be too difficult. One the advantages of the unbound magic system, however, is that it makes improvisation easier.

If a DM doesn’t have time to prepare a spell list, it is entirely fair for the DM to improvise the list on the fly so long as the creature starts with no spells primed. In this way, a creature might gain access to a weakened and risky version of the precise spell it needs every other round instead of casting normally from a pre-set list every round. Unless a creature escaped to fight the PCs later (or is later revived), there’s not even a need to record what spells have been used (though spell slots should be tracked as in normal encounters).

Unbound Magic and Treasure-less Creatures:
In most cases, creatures without treasure are unintelligent or are of animal-level intelligence, meaning that they don’t get access to unbound magic and nothing is changed. For ethereal creatures and others that don’t carry gear, however, gaining unbound Magic is a rather abrupt boost.

If a creature that normally doesn’t carry treasure gains the benefit of unbound magic, increase its CR by +1 (+2 if it has at least 10 HD). Likewise, be aware that other unbound creatures are going to seem more powerful than normal ones if you don’t normally use the treasure of creatures to actually aid them in the battlefield.

Realms of Chaos
2014-11-01, 11:36 PM
Unbound Magic and the World:

A setting with Unbound Magic is going to have more magic within it than pretty much every other setting ever published for 3.5. While some people have given some thought on the effects of magic within the world, the effects of magical saturation may be a bit harder to wrap one's mind around.

While I lack degrees in economics, political science, and sociology, I offer you some of my musings on the ways in which magical saturation may affect a world. They aren't comprehensive, though they may prove as a jumping off point for fleshing out a world with unbound magic.

Unbound Magic and the Economy: Technically speaking, there is no great need to modify Wealth By Level when using unbound magic. Even if a draconic horde can’t be spent on a better sword of dragonslaying, many would propose that RPGs need giant piles of gold for you to discover. On the other hand, the fact that magic items aren’t as necessary means that campaigns with unbound magic can just as easily take place in the aftermath of a magical apocalypse as in the middle of a magical renaissance.

As far as the effects of unbound magic upon an economy, there are several things worthy of consideration. First, keep in mind that alchemy is likely more prevalent in countries and worlds of casters and that spell unguents and foci are likely found in most prominent marketplaces, rather than being found in musty old curiosity shops (those who harvest guano from caves and sell it to warring kingdoms may find themselves doing brisk business indeed).

While magic items might be more available in a world with unbound magic, there are some caveats worthy of note. First of all, any business that wishes to make a business out of magical items requires the use of many highly-trained (level 4+) employees to maintain them as even a level 8 shopkeeper could only maintain two at a time. Considering that the greatest advantage of shops is being able to skip the creation time, however, few shops could keep in business through “commissions” and most shops would thus keep themselves stocked only with high-demand items.

Further, the sale of magic items would be divided into “pre-activation” and “rental” sales. Both forms of sales charge the physical cost of the object + costs for foci or material components + 100 gp/spell level sacrificed. While pre-activation charges customers only once, rental sales charge 100 gp/spell level for each additional day that the effect is to be maintained. Depending on the shop, turning in the physical object at the end of use or providing your own may result in not being charged for it or being refunded for its cost (though not the cost of the enchantment). Components and foci may likewise be provided by the buyer to reduce costs.

Finally, it must be understood that selling magic items for more than a small fraction of their price is far more difficult (if not impossible) for unestablished parties (like most PCs) for a number of reasons. In a normal campaign, an average trader with gold to spare doesn’t need to worry about caring for a magic sword or selling it immediately and can buy an occasional magic item with plans to sell it to others later. In an unbound magic campaign, meanwhile, any item being bought by the trader has to take the place of more reliable items or has to be sold or expended in under 24 hours, both of which are tremendous risks. Even when dealing with valuable items, such as a ring of three wishes, it is difficult to sell to anyone who doesn’t wish to use the item immediately as a trader may not find a suitable customer in time and likely lacks the ability to personally maintain the item.

Spellcasters for hire generally work just as they do in normal campaigns. For low-level spells, however, finding one is as simple as tracking down a citizen with the proper spell and paying them for a moment of their time, generally requiring the same cost. Finding someone with nearly any spell up to 2nd level requires a simple DC 20 (DC 25 if it is illegal) diplomacy check made to gather information.

Unbound Magic and Warfare: Generally speaking, the average foot soldiers in a world with unbound magic are still too weak to cast fireballs and lightning bolts across the battlefield. Even so, the effects of magic on warfare are almost beyond calculation. From massive use of silent image to more than double the apparent size of your army to use of grease to halt cavalry charges to having “immortal” warriors” who can each heal themselves when given the slightest break, magic can change how events unfold on the battlefield almost entirely.

Perhaps surprisingly, one of the most feared spells on the battlefield is none other than magic missile. When thousands of troops can launch bolts of force with nearly no chance of failure entire legions of soldiers can be mowed down in seconds. Even gigantic foes such as dinosaurs may fall within seconds if not guarded by spell resistance or a shield effect (a spell that most soldiers favor over the longer-lasting mage armor for this very reason).

Beyond the rank and file soldiers, however, stronger generals and captains might fly over the battlefield, lead invisible teams behind enemy lines, scry on enemy positions in advance, dominating enemy captains, and generally dispelling or countering inconvenient enemy dweomers. While a powerful caster can still tip the balance of power one way or another, these generals and even rank-and-file soldiers make far more of a difference in the push and pull of the battlefield.

Two final tactics that warrant special notes are constructs and guerilla tactics. While constructs may be expensive to build in noral campaigns, teams of tinkerers can produce small teams of elite soldiers immune to most forms of incapacitation and that are relatively quick and easy to replace. Also, in an unbound magic campaign, guerilla tactics are far more powerful, letting a small team with their spells primed catch larger forces off-guard and evening the odds while enemies try to hastily prime countermeasures or return fire without the aid of magic.

Unbound Magic and Law: Frequent exposure to magic, much like frequent exposure to anything, has a way of building strong and informed opinions. While laws regarding magic in most campaigns may be simple extensions to mundane law or be found in esoteric legal tomes, magic in an unbound magic campaign is something that legal systems are bound to look at closely, especially with the risks involved in allowing any old Joe to, for example, magically charm others for the sake of promotions, discounted goods, or ‘companionship’.

Abjuration: All but the most paranoid of nations allow for some degree of abjuration, though dispelling magic may be interpreted as a threat or vandalism (depending on what is dispelled), warding public property or the property of others is typically outlawed, and wearing personal abjurations carries the same connotations as walking around in a full suit of armor. Banishing outsiders who violate no laws is typically punished much as unlawful teleportation. Freeing criminals from lawful magical punishment is a crime in and of itself.

Conjuration: The use of conjuration for healing is legal in just about all nations, though reviving or removing the curses of criminals may result in great punishment. While teleportation is typically legal, teleportation for the purpose of trespassing or abduction is illegal as always. While some nations have moral qualms against summoning or calling of creatures (especially with the planar binding spells), nearly all nations have some form of restrictions on what can be summoned or called and for what purpose. Those who wish to call creatures may additionally be required to meet certain requirements of safety and prove their proficiency with such spells. The legality of creation spells largely depends on what is being created. Teleportation effects may be used as some form of banishment/exile.

Divination: While most divination effects are fairly legal, invasive effects such as detect thoughts are typically outlawed to the public. Further, over-use of certain effects like locate person may qualify as stalking while scrying in any amount may count as voyeurism. Divination effects used to force the truth or peer into the future, especially in the context of business deals, may be viewed either as good business sense or as a grave insult, depending on the culture. Divination effects are frequently used to gain information in criminal trials and protection from divination effects may be punishable by law in some societies, interpreted as intent to commit crimes.

Enchantment: As a general rule, most mind-affecting effects with any negative side-affects are outlawed, even if they possess benefits as well (such as the rage spell). Some punishments may be carried out through enchantment effects, used to force compliance during a trial and/or force servitude to the state or a wronged party as punishment.

Evocation: Use of destructive evocation spells is typically punished just as any other form of violence, if perhaps a bit more due to the penchant of such spells to deal collateral damage. Non-destructive evocation effects, few though they are, typically have their legality determined on a case-by-case basis. Few judges have any problems with floating disks, for example.

Illusion: Pattern and phantasm effects, like all mind-affecting effects, are typically outlawed. Shadow effects, meanwhile, have their legality determined by their specific use (though some communities think of shadow magic as innately evil and are quick to ban it). As glamer effects allow for ambushes, imposters, and invisibility, such effects are typically only allowed within very narrow limits, typically requiring approval of the community for specific uses. Figment effects are permitted by many communities for the purpose of entertainment but even their use often faces high regulation.

Necromancy: Most spells dealing with death, disease, poison, curses, and other afflictions are banned or are restricted for state use, as are spells that create or control undead or that deal with negative energy damage. Even so, spells that harm the undead without controlling them are typically permitted, as are inoffensive spells like deathwatch, false life, or speak with dead.

Transmutation: So broad are the uses for transmutation that legal precedence often has to be built spell by spell. Even so, a few general tendencies exist. Baneful transmutation effects are outlawed or are reserved for punishment. Transformation into another form is typically outlawed as it allows creatures to easily escape in chases, impersonate others, or avoid being recognized after committing a crime. In the few cases where it is allowed, it typically requires the use of a license outlining what form will be assumed, for what duration, and at what location (druids may or may not be granted religious rights to use their wildshape at will, depending on the community). Magic used to grant alternate forms of movement are typically outlawed due to the security threats they create (though communities may have certain areas where such spells are welcome or necessary such as three-dimensional open-air markets or underwater fisheries). Magic dealing with physical enhancement is typically dealt with by communities much as carrying concealed weaponry and may be banned or accepted as appropriate.

While technically illegal, it is rare to punish someone who targets themselves with an effect that they could not legally use on others. Targeting oneself with flesh to stone, for example, will rarely get you into any further trouble (unless it leads to neglect of your children or something similar), though you may face punishment for targeting yourself with a confusion effect (which puts those around you in danger). Even among every acceptable form of magic, individual spells may be outlawed for various reasons and specialized guilds may work to restrict the use of spells by the masses. As normal, Lawful Evil communities typically possess enough loopholes and exceptions in their magical code of law.

Even among lawful- or good-aligned communities, the risk of having criminals simply escape or weak more havoc often makes it too dangerous to simply contain them for a proper trial. While dimensional anchors can hold creatures in place and antimagic fields can stop further magic, it is not unusual for the hands or jaws of suspects to be bound, shattered, or dislocated and healed at the start of a trial. Some communities go even further, denying prisoners any chance to rest and regain their magic between their incarceration and trial through the use of loud noises and bright lights. Other communities choose to use reversible afflictions to keep prisoners in check, such as turning them to stone or taking over their mind. In extreme cases, a community may even kill suspects when they are caught and attempt to return them to life to stand trial later on, though the cost and trauma associated with such a maneuver thankfully restricts its use.

Due to the risk of imposters or mind-control in a courtroom, most magic other than abjurations needed to keep a suspect in check and divinations used to ascertain the truth are completely banned within a courtroom, as ascertained by one or more court recorders scanning the room with detect magic. Of course, less civilized races take fewer such precautions against magic, though they might turn on an arbiter the moment they think that something is wrong (or that they might lose).

Unbound Magic and Politics: Most solitary leaders in a world with unbound magic use the magic of the world to the very fullest, surrounding themselves with an entourage that maintain a slew of protective items while constantly scanning for any sign of mental influence, imposters, or potential assailants. Even with such aid, however, it is harder to maintain an iron grip over a populace that can cast spells of their own, forcing most tyrants to appear benevolent or use more cunning ploys.

With magic available to the entire world, churches and wizard colleges and towers lose a bit of their influence in the world. While they are still the most talented at magic and have lone access to or powerful spells, “normal” casters no longer hold a monopoly on basic magical goods and services, diminishing their power and influence on the world (if only a bit).

Unbound Magic and Everyday Life: Exposure to magic on a massive scale has a profound effect on the life of an average citizen. While far from all citizens will be well-versed in spellcraft or arcana, information about magic is generally more available in a world with unbound magic than in a normal world. As such, alchemy is a more common practice in most communities while unfounded superstitions are often less common.

When water (or food) can be made out of nothing, minor chores need just the wave of a hand, and even grave wounds can be quickly mended, the quality of life available to most humanoid citizens greatly increases in a world with unbound magic. Even beyond the benefits that cantrips and curative magic provide, communities may come together to form collective magic items, hiring experienced citizens to power a magical trolley around town, fuel a soup kitchen for the poor, or maintain illusory exhibits within a town museum.

Of course, access to magic means that each citizen has more to fear from his or her neighbors if such a neighbor is slighted or insulted. Stories of deals supposedly worked out during charm effects and murders taking place after putting the victim to sleep might be commonplace in certain communities or neighborhoods. Even so, citizens are left less defenseless against the world around them.

Realms of Chaos
2014-11-01, 11:38 PM
Two Final Matters



Selling the Fighter on Spellcasting

At the end of the day, unbound magic is intended a global fix. Thus, no matter how much you may like it for your own character or for your campaign world, it can only be implemented as envisioned if everyone is on board with the idea. Unfortunately, everyone happens to include “The Fighter”.

While I’m going to call these individuals, “The Fighter”, I want to specify that they could be barbarians or rogues or monks or any other non-caster. In a realm where magic is king, there are some players who just don’t want to be bogged down by the mechanics of spellcasting… if they even know how spellcasting really works. Some people want things streamlined and simplified so they know exactly what to do on their turn. These individuals are what I call “The Fighter”

If you want to get “The Fighter” interest in unbound magic, keep in mind that spellcasting need not have ANY effect on combat. If the player wishes, it can split its spells between pre-combat buffs to be used as a set, post-combat healing to clean up after a fight, and non-combat utility to do the same job as skill checks. There is no need for the presence of spellcasting to mean doing dozens of mental calculations each round in combat.


Why This Fix is So Scatter-Brained

Anyone who has read this far is probably wandering how exactly everything fits together. While I do indeed provide a magi item alternative and even give some aid in setting up encounters, the fix doesn’t stop there. Instead, I have added on several types of items, magical locations, and other materials that may not seem to have any relationship to the heart of the fix. What gives?


Well, to put a long story short, this was my attempt to make a more “responsible” fix.

What does that mean? For that, you need the long story. This fix was designed for the sole purpose of giving players a more internalized locus of power instead of having them rely on external sources of power. That was the one thing I wanted to fix; a thing that so many others on this board have tried to fix in the past. Things just aren’t that simple, however.

Taking out one troublesome area of a game system with entrenched play conventions is kind of like trying to remove a single species away a single species from a local ecosystem. You can do it if you really want to but there are going to be unforeseen consequences.

In the case of removing magic items, removing the need for external power creates a couple of problems. Without the lack of external power input, DMs lose not only one of the stronger motivators for adventure but also one of the most favored avenues for tossing players a metaphorical “life raft”. Removing magic items from the economy has consequences that few fixes even seem to realize, let along address.

Apart from the fix that I sought to create, I decided to make some potential tools for DMs to help mitigate the unintentional shifts my fix has made and ease their burden with the transition. With luck, the jinxes and relics and magical locations and so forth can help DMs continue using pre-made campaigns with relatively few changes and otherwise continue their games with only one noticeable shift. As it turns out, changing only one thing wasn’t nearly as easy as it sounds. While a more unified set of fixes may have been preferable, removing magical items from the equation has created disparate problems that seemed to require separate answers.

Starsign
2014-11-04, 09:49 AM
If nothing else, this is an especially planned out idea for an alternative/fix to the magic item "Christmas Tree" as some seem to call it. I for one do see how this could be interesting as I find magic items can be not only cumbersome to figure out (like a shopping list for your character) but helps to possibly simplify a complicated system that has always made me groan (though I'd miss some interesting things that you can get with items :smalltongue:)

Do have a couple things I'm curious about. Firstly how could things like antimagic or dead magic fields be used effectively with these sort of mechanics? While I know that limiting magic at specific points can be interesting (as we both have noticed before), I'm curious as to how that can be done to a game not in epic levels, and how such a game can do it in a way that doesn't overstay its welcome while changing things up a little (without severely limiting everything that players want to do).

Also, seeing that magical items still have a role, would this make such items perhaps have more of a role in the narrative rather than be to power the character up? Like involving one for diplomatic purposes or like as an important treasure that others will recognize.

Considering the various "forms" of magical areas like Ley-lines or Fonts of Power, how much could this system be supported for players involving those in their backstories and such, depending on what sort of game it might be?