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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next A Flavorful Twist on Ritual Casting



KOLE
2018-07-05, 01:02 PM
Well, yesterday was the 4th of July! We all know what that means!

...Time to start preparing for Halloween!

Joking aside, I'm currently planning an ambitious Halloween campaign to take place over the course of this October. Lots of homebrewing and world building have to be done over the next couple of months whilst I balance my new overtime gig with college, girlfriend, and our other homebrew and campaign endeavors. Better to be too busy than the alternative, IMO.

Anyway, I'm working on a Witch core class for 5e, with a lot of inspiration drawn from MFOV's attempt. Much as I love MFOV, I feel their take on the Witch leaves a little to be desired, and I wanted to make it more unique to my world. So, I had an idea and was wondering what you all would think about this class feature.

Boil And Trouble

At X level, you gain the ability to conjure a large Cauldron in seconds. After finishing a long rest, you may expend up to three spell slots to create potions using this cauldron. These potions can be given to and used by allies, but lose their potency after 24 hours and will not be recognizable by most merchants.

Additionally, you can use this cauldron to perform spells with the ritual tag. To do this, you must have the spell in a spellbook. See the Wizard class for the rules of keeping a spell book. The spell must have the ritual tag, but can be from any class' spell list. You must have the material components for this spell, and these materials are consumed in the cauldron even if they aren't when cast normally. You can only cast these spells as rituals.

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I understand it's situational, but I think it's a fun mechanic. The many restrictions keeps this from getting too out of hand, as ritual casting can be very powerful for full casters.

Lalliman
2018-07-06, 05:24 AM
At X level, you gain the ability to conjure a large Cauldron in seconds. After finishing a long rest, you may expend up to three spell slots to create potions using this cauldron. These potions can be given to and used by allies, but lose their potency after 24 hours and will not be recognizable by most merchants.
Surely, you have rules in place for which kind of potions can be created?


Additionally, you can use this cauldron to perform spells with the ritual tag. To do this, you must have the spell in a spellbook. See the Wizard class for the rules of keeping a spell book. The spell must have the ritual tag, but can be from any class' spell list. You must have the material components for this spell, and these materials are consumed in the cauldron even if they aren't when cast normally. You can only cast these spells as rituals.
So if I understand correctly, you have a list of rituals you can cast that starts off empty and can only be filled in by copying a written spell. Sure, it's cool if your DM accommodates it... but I've never actually seen the mechanic for copying written spells being used. So depending on your DM, it might never come up. I would personally prefer to avoid such a swingy feature, perhaps by letting the witch cast any level-appropriate ritual at an increased time and gold cost.

KOLE
2018-07-06, 11:58 AM
More thorough rules on what potions and how many are forthcoming, I mainly wanted feedback on the second part of the feature.

I get what you’re saying about having no spells to start out with. I think I’ll alter it so Witch spells can be cast using the cauldron without being in the Ritual Book and without needing material components. I wouldn’t be opposed to offering two first level spells from any class spell list but I don’t want to step on the Ritual Caster feat too hard. This is mainly intended to be a ribbon with some mechanical advantage if you can get everything to work out.

GaelofDarkness
2018-07-08, 09:46 AM
I really like the idea of ritual casting a spell consuming that spell's material component. It's definitely not the style of play for everyone, but as long as it's not difficult to replenish one's supply I think it has some appeal. It gives a nice flavour to witches as opposed to wizards.

There is definitely a few 5e-specific issues though. For something like Detect Poison and Disease, it just requires a yew leaf so that's no big deal. However, Identify is one of the more common spells cast as rituals (imo anyways) and it requires a 100gp pearl. If you're looking to restrict Identify and make it harder to use, especially at low levels, it could be made to work I guess. I do see players just choosing to take an extra day at the tavern so the witch can use their spell slots for identify after an adventure though, which feels like it could slow things down more than you intend. Alternatively, just ban Identify (shock and horror!) or change it's material components by house rule.

There's also a lot of verbal and somatic only spells with the ritual tag. I'd add a common material component for the ritual casting of them, just for flavour. Like a strand of hair or maybe pet dander for Speak with Animals? Maybe a witch's ritual casting of a spell always features different additional material components and it's those that are consumed? That could handle the problem with Identify too, but it feels like a fair bit more effort for you the designer or for a person playing the class. It's a really cool idea and I wish you the best of luck with it.

I'd also love to see what ideas you have for potions!