Greywander
2018-11-12, 05:54 AM
I've had it on my mind to do a major overhaul of D&D 5e, and one of the things I think needs a facelift is the magic system. For the following, assuming that the resulting system works "like 5e", in that it will probably have things like ability checks and attack rolls, but may or may not have things like classes or levels. One of the other things I'd like to rework is HP and damage (which will itself require a rework of all the spells to tweak their damage).
General Changes
Among my general goals are to simplify and streamline the magic system (e.g. fewer spells, but perhaps more parameters for each spell), make magic feel more special by toning down "instant" spellcasting in favor of more deliberate and costly rituals, and differentiate different types of spellcasting and how they play.
To start with, let's change the terminology from spell "levels" to spell circles, to reduce potential confusion with character/class levels ("No, 9th level rangers can't cast 9th level spells"). In-universe, this would come from geometric magic, and literally describes the number of concentric magic circles required to power up the spell. Cantrips, if they still exist, can be called "uncircled", as they are cast without using a magic circle (perhaps the spellcaster would quickly trace the circle in the air or something rather than physically drawing it on a surface). I'm also considering compressing the ranks of spells, for example 1st circle = 1st-2nd level, 2nd circle = 3rd-5th level, 3rd circle = 6th-8th level, 4th+ circle = 9th+ level, but this may not mean much considering all the other changes that will need to be made to the way spells operate.
Another, more significant change is to do away with the idea of leveled spells. A spell is a spell, and it can be cast at any circle or uncircled. We can also reduce the number of spells by allowing more ways to tweak spells, and allowing casters to enhance a spell in different ways when they upcast it to a higher circle. For example, an "Energy Blast" spell might replace Fireball, but you could cast it uncircled (which would likely look similar to Acid Splash or Firebolt), and you can change the damage type (eliminating the need for similar spells of different elements), and by upcasting it to a higher level you might choose between increasing damage, expanding the area, or increasing the range, or even changing the type of saving throw targeted. Maybe we could even get by with a single damage spell by allowing you to choose the shape as well (sphere, line, cone, single-target, etc.).
One more big change is to do away with the idea of spell slots (and more generally moving away from a "you can arbitrarily do this once per long rest"). There will be other factors that limit spellcasting, such as time, materials, space, or other resources. Most spellcasters will actually be primarily ritual casters, with "at-will" casting generally referring to casting a spell without a ritual.
Sorcery
The goal here is twofold: First, a form of spellcasting that is as rules-lite as possible, with few restrictions and little bookkeeping. Sorcery is the spellcasting system for those who find spellcasting systems too complex and unwieldy, and just want to blast things with fire and lightning (the epitome of "spontaneous" spellcasting). Second, to allow a player to augment an otherwise mundane character with a special "gimmick", such as a swordsman who can teleport, or a thief who can turn invisible or spiderclimb. Basically, sorcerers are comic book superheroes.
As such, I'd like to take the concept of the sorcerer as it exists in 5e and take it up to 11. Sorcerers generally know very few spells, as in they'll generally be in the single digits their entire career. In exchange, they are entirely at-will: no rituals, no components, just fire off the spell whenever they please. Now, there has to be some kind of resource system in place so they can't just spam their spells at the highest circle, so I'll have to think on this. This might be casting from HP, making a CON save or suffering exhaustion, or reducing ability scores until they rest. Sorcerers can also choose the parameters of their spells when they release the spell, while most other casters have to decide on the parameters when they start casting the spell (usually as a ritual).
Sorcerers can use sorcery to augment another playstyle, as described above, but they can also be full spellcasters. Their power comes from being able to instantly cast powerful spells, while most other casters would need to perform a lengthy ritual to get the same effect. A sorcerer villain would be viable, but would likely have a ritual caster minion to take care of any magic they aren't innately gifted with.
Like in 5e, sorcery would generally come from your bloodline, although supernatural creatures could also give it to you as a gift. I'm also thinking that you may be able to choose passive supernatural abilities instead of or in addition to spells, like natural healing or flight. Again, think comic book superheroes.
Geometric Magic
This is the polar opposite of the sorcerer. The goal here is a method of spellcasting that caters exclusively to those who like bookkeeping and resource tracking, and who prefer to carefully plan things out and prepare in advance instead of flying by the seat of their pants.
Geometric spellcasters (I'm in the market for a better name) cast spells by drawing magic circles and using the appropriate spellcasting ingredients. As such, it's almost exclusively ritual-based. And costly. A good example of this kind of spellcasting would be alchemy from Fullmetal Alchemist. These spells require enough space to accommodate the circle, time to actually draw the circle, and material components, some of which are consumed, and all of which are expensive. A 1st circle spell might require about 1 minute and a 5-foot square to draw, and consume 10 gp worth of components, a 2nd circle spell 10 minutes and a 15-foot square, and consume 100 gp, 3rd circle 1 hour, 30-foot square, and 1000 gp, and 4th circle (= 9th level, roughly) 8 hours to draw, 60-foot square, and 10k gp. These are all rough numbers, but it gives you an idea of how the escalation of power can affect the requirements for the ritual.
Different spells would have different component requirements, all of which would need to be tracked (and would of course weigh you down). It would be up to the mage to decide which components they need and make sure they bring them. I'd probably include a variant that makes the bookkeeping simpler, such as treating common ingredients as simply costing gold to cast the spell.
Geometric magic users keep spellbooks with the various diagrams necessary to draw the circles for their spells, much like a 5e wizard. You might be able to memorize a limited number of spells (up to INT mod?), allowing you to reproduce the circles for them without looking at your spellbook. If you lose your spellbook, you could copy these memorized spells into a new spellbook. Furthermore, even casting uncircled spells would require looking at your spellbook if you don't have them memorized. This means that (a) you'd need the spellbook in one hand while the other hand traces the circle, and (b) reading your spellbook would probably adversely affect you in combat, such as making attacks against you have advantage, or provoking opportunity attacks.
Does this mean you're restricted to uncircled spells in combat (again, if they still exist)? Not necessarily. Introducing spell scrolls. Spell scrolls are a way to pre-cast a spell and save it for later. However, you have to pay the full cost for the spell up front, including both material components and casting time, and may even include additional costs to preserve the magic circle on the scroll so it doesn't get damage during transport. You'd also need to decide all the parameters of the spell up front (not sure how this would interact with spell targeting). Furthermore, the space requirements are not waived, which means given the numbers above, a 1st circle spell scroll is going to be at least 5x5 feet. That's pretty big. A 2nd circle spell scroll would need to be 15x15 feet, although more likely you'd use multiple, smaller scrolls (each of which would require an action to use as part of creating the combined magic circle). Some things I'm not sure about are (a) should non-casters or at least non-geometric magic users be able to use spell scrolls? and (b) should scrolls be temporary e.g. the magic fades after 24 hours but the scroll can be reused? and permanent spell scrolls would be more expensive to make?
Theurgy
I'm expecting this one to be the most controversial. On the one hand, I see this as being a nice middle ground between the two above spellcasting styles, offering some rituals, but not as many as the geometric caster, and some at-will magic, but not as much or as often as the sorcerer. Now, that's not unreasonable. However, the other aspect I see with divine magic is that the cleric merely petitions the deity (or other entity), and it is them who casts the spell. I thought it might be interesting to recreate that feeling using the DM as a proxy for the entity the cleric serves.
What makes a divine spellcaster unique would be their interaction with the DM. They do not choose spells to cast, instead they petition their deity for aid, and they (and thus, the DM) chooses whether or not to give aid, and if so, which spell they use to aid their servant. As much as I like the idea, it sounds mad to me. It would certainly require a good DM-player relationship, and a DM who is fair and doesn't show special favor (or disfavor) toward the divine spellcaster. As an additional complication, it could be a source of friction between the DM and players: if a player picks a bad spell and the group wipes, it's the player's fault, if the DM picks a bad spell and the group wipes, it's the DM's fault.
So here's my plan to alleviate this somewhat. First, theurgists are ritual casters, just like geometric magic users, although their rituals much different. Theurgists have access to all their spells from the start, though geometric magic users will eventually have more spells than them (this echoes 5e clerics vs. wizards). Theurgists use many of the same ingredients in all their rituals, meaning there is less bookkeeping (although the spells still eat up the same amount of gold). Generally, there are no space requirements for theurgy, and drawing magic circles is replaced with incantations, hymns, prayers, and occasionally the offering of a sacrifice (which uses up the same amount of time). Finally, while a ritual will usually give you the result you expect (for rituals, you DO choose the spell), your deity (the DM) may decide to create a different effect (if they know better than you do what you need at that moment) or no effect (if you've been naughty). But most of the time you get what you expected.
For at-will casting, you can make an emergency petition to your god for aid. Like sorcery, this waives casting time, components, and all other requirements. However, you do not get to choose the specific effect. Instead, you choose one of the following:
Blessing. You ask your god to buff your allies.
Curse. You ask your god to debuff your enemies.
Judgement. You ask your god to deal damage to your enemies.
Intervention. You ask your god to deliver an indirect effect, such as a wall of fire or fog cloud.
Revelation. You ask your god for divination effects, or for knowledge.
Salvation. You ask your god for healing or defensive magic.
The DM can then choose an appropriate spell of an appropriate circle, or they can roll on a table if the players prefer that. While a theurgist can cast uncircled spells at-will nearly all day as long as they've been good, a circled spell generally expects the theurgist to perform some kind of ritual or other act of worship after the fact to show proper gratitude and respect for their deity. A theurgist may also be limited to a certain number of such divine interventions per day (circles sum up to your WIS mod?), just so they don't abuse this power, or it may sap your Wisdom until the "thanks for the spell" ritual is performed. Regardless, the cost for at-will spells should be more severe than it is for sorcerers.
Too Long, Didn't Read
General. Fewer but more customizable spells. Any spell can be any level (including cantrip). No spell slots.
Sorcery. Gets very few spells, but ignores casting time and component cost. A comic book superhero.
Geometric Magic. Ritual caster, obsessively track components and plan and prepare for everything. Really big spell scrolls.
Theurgy. Ritual caster, less bookkeeping. Ask your deity for help, let them choose the spell.
What do people think? Do these sound like fun, or do they sound like a nightmare? Is there another style of spellcasting that could fit in alongside these?
General Changes
Among my general goals are to simplify and streamline the magic system (e.g. fewer spells, but perhaps more parameters for each spell), make magic feel more special by toning down "instant" spellcasting in favor of more deliberate and costly rituals, and differentiate different types of spellcasting and how they play.
To start with, let's change the terminology from spell "levels" to spell circles, to reduce potential confusion with character/class levels ("No, 9th level rangers can't cast 9th level spells"). In-universe, this would come from geometric magic, and literally describes the number of concentric magic circles required to power up the spell. Cantrips, if they still exist, can be called "uncircled", as they are cast without using a magic circle (perhaps the spellcaster would quickly trace the circle in the air or something rather than physically drawing it on a surface). I'm also considering compressing the ranks of spells, for example 1st circle = 1st-2nd level, 2nd circle = 3rd-5th level, 3rd circle = 6th-8th level, 4th+ circle = 9th+ level, but this may not mean much considering all the other changes that will need to be made to the way spells operate.
Another, more significant change is to do away with the idea of leveled spells. A spell is a spell, and it can be cast at any circle or uncircled. We can also reduce the number of spells by allowing more ways to tweak spells, and allowing casters to enhance a spell in different ways when they upcast it to a higher circle. For example, an "Energy Blast" spell might replace Fireball, but you could cast it uncircled (which would likely look similar to Acid Splash or Firebolt), and you can change the damage type (eliminating the need for similar spells of different elements), and by upcasting it to a higher level you might choose between increasing damage, expanding the area, or increasing the range, or even changing the type of saving throw targeted. Maybe we could even get by with a single damage spell by allowing you to choose the shape as well (sphere, line, cone, single-target, etc.).
One more big change is to do away with the idea of spell slots (and more generally moving away from a "you can arbitrarily do this once per long rest"). There will be other factors that limit spellcasting, such as time, materials, space, or other resources. Most spellcasters will actually be primarily ritual casters, with "at-will" casting generally referring to casting a spell without a ritual.
Sorcery
The goal here is twofold: First, a form of spellcasting that is as rules-lite as possible, with few restrictions and little bookkeeping. Sorcery is the spellcasting system for those who find spellcasting systems too complex and unwieldy, and just want to blast things with fire and lightning (the epitome of "spontaneous" spellcasting). Second, to allow a player to augment an otherwise mundane character with a special "gimmick", such as a swordsman who can teleport, or a thief who can turn invisible or spiderclimb. Basically, sorcerers are comic book superheroes.
As such, I'd like to take the concept of the sorcerer as it exists in 5e and take it up to 11. Sorcerers generally know very few spells, as in they'll generally be in the single digits their entire career. In exchange, they are entirely at-will: no rituals, no components, just fire off the spell whenever they please. Now, there has to be some kind of resource system in place so they can't just spam their spells at the highest circle, so I'll have to think on this. This might be casting from HP, making a CON save or suffering exhaustion, or reducing ability scores until they rest. Sorcerers can also choose the parameters of their spells when they release the spell, while most other casters have to decide on the parameters when they start casting the spell (usually as a ritual).
Sorcerers can use sorcery to augment another playstyle, as described above, but they can also be full spellcasters. Their power comes from being able to instantly cast powerful spells, while most other casters would need to perform a lengthy ritual to get the same effect. A sorcerer villain would be viable, but would likely have a ritual caster minion to take care of any magic they aren't innately gifted with.
Like in 5e, sorcery would generally come from your bloodline, although supernatural creatures could also give it to you as a gift. I'm also thinking that you may be able to choose passive supernatural abilities instead of or in addition to spells, like natural healing or flight. Again, think comic book superheroes.
Geometric Magic
This is the polar opposite of the sorcerer. The goal here is a method of spellcasting that caters exclusively to those who like bookkeeping and resource tracking, and who prefer to carefully plan things out and prepare in advance instead of flying by the seat of their pants.
Geometric spellcasters (I'm in the market for a better name) cast spells by drawing magic circles and using the appropriate spellcasting ingredients. As such, it's almost exclusively ritual-based. And costly. A good example of this kind of spellcasting would be alchemy from Fullmetal Alchemist. These spells require enough space to accommodate the circle, time to actually draw the circle, and material components, some of which are consumed, and all of which are expensive. A 1st circle spell might require about 1 minute and a 5-foot square to draw, and consume 10 gp worth of components, a 2nd circle spell 10 minutes and a 15-foot square, and consume 100 gp, 3rd circle 1 hour, 30-foot square, and 1000 gp, and 4th circle (= 9th level, roughly) 8 hours to draw, 60-foot square, and 10k gp. These are all rough numbers, but it gives you an idea of how the escalation of power can affect the requirements for the ritual.
Different spells would have different component requirements, all of which would need to be tracked (and would of course weigh you down). It would be up to the mage to decide which components they need and make sure they bring them. I'd probably include a variant that makes the bookkeeping simpler, such as treating common ingredients as simply costing gold to cast the spell.
Geometric magic users keep spellbooks with the various diagrams necessary to draw the circles for their spells, much like a 5e wizard. You might be able to memorize a limited number of spells (up to INT mod?), allowing you to reproduce the circles for them without looking at your spellbook. If you lose your spellbook, you could copy these memorized spells into a new spellbook. Furthermore, even casting uncircled spells would require looking at your spellbook if you don't have them memorized. This means that (a) you'd need the spellbook in one hand while the other hand traces the circle, and (b) reading your spellbook would probably adversely affect you in combat, such as making attacks against you have advantage, or provoking opportunity attacks.
Does this mean you're restricted to uncircled spells in combat (again, if they still exist)? Not necessarily. Introducing spell scrolls. Spell scrolls are a way to pre-cast a spell and save it for later. However, you have to pay the full cost for the spell up front, including both material components and casting time, and may even include additional costs to preserve the magic circle on the scroll so it doesn't get damage during transport. You'd also need to decide all the parameters of the spell up front (not sure how this would interact with spell targeting). Furthermore, the space requirements are not waived, which means given the numbers above, a 1st circle spell scroll is going to be at least 5x5 feet. That's pretty big. A 2nd circle spell scroll would need to be 15x15 feet, although more likely you'd use multiple, smaller scrolls (each of which would require an action to use as part of creating the combined magic circle). Some things I'm not sure about are (a) should non-casters or at least non-geometric magic users be able to use spell scrolls? and (b) should scrolls be temporary e.g. the magic fades after 24 hours but the scroll can be reused? and permanent spell scrolls would be more expensive to make?
Theurgy
I'm expecting this one to be the most controversial. On the one hand, I see this as being a nice middle ground between the two above spellcasting styles, offering some rituals, but not as many as the geometric caster, and some at-will magic, but not as much or as often as the sorcerer. Now, that's not unreasonable. However, the other aspect I see with divine magic is that the cleric merely petitions the deity (or other entity), and it is them who casts the spell. I thought it might be interesting to recreate that feeling using the DM as a proxy for the entity the cleric serves.
What makes a divine spellcaster unique would be their interaction with the DM. They do not choose spells to cast, instead they petition their deity for aid, and they (and thus, the DM) chooses whether or not to give aid, and if so, which spell they use to aid their servant. As much as I like the idea, it sounds mad to me. It would certainly require a good DM-player relationship, and a DM who is fair and doesn't show special favor (or disfavor) toward the divine spellcaster. As an additional complication, it could be a source of friction between the DM and players: if a player picks a bad spell and the group wipes, it's the player's fault, if the DM picks a bad spell and the group wipes, it's the DM's fault.
So here's my plan to alleviate this somewhat. First, theurgists are ritual casters, just like geometric magic users, although their rituals much different. Theurgists have access to all their spells from the start, though geometric magic users will eventually have more spells than them (this echoes 5e clerics vs. wizards). Theurgists use many of the same ingredients in all their rituals, meaning there is less bookkeeping (although the spells still eat up the same amount of gold). Generally, there are no space requirements for theurgy, and drawing magic circles is replaced with incantations, hymns, prayers, and occasionally the offering of a sacrifice (which uses up the same amount of time). Finally, while a ritual will usually give you the result you expect (for rituals, you DO choose the spell), your deity (the DM) may decide to create a different effect (if they know better than you do what you need at that moment) or no effect (if you've been naughty). But most of the time you get what you expected.
For at-will casting, you can make an emergency petition to your god for aid. Like sorcery, this waives casting time, components, and all other requirements. However, you do not get to choose the specific effect. Instead, you choose one of the following:
Blessing. You ask your god to buff your allies.
Curse. You ask your god to debuff your enemies.
Judgement. You ask your god to deal damage to your enemies.
Intervention. You ask your god to deliver an indirect effect, such as a wall of fire or fog cloud.
Revelation. You ask your god for divination effects, or for knowledge.
Salvation. You ask your god for healing or defensive magic.
The DM can then choose an appropriate spell of an appropriate circle, or they can roll on a table if the players prefer that. While a theurgist can cast uncircled spells at-will nearly all day as long as they've been good, a circled spell generally expects the theurgist to perform some kind of ritual or other act of worship after the fact to show proper gratitude and respect for their deity. A theurgist may also be limited to a certain number of such divine interventions per day (circles sum up to your WIS mod?), just so they don't abuse this power, or it may sap your Wisdom until the "thanks for the spell" ritual is performed. Regardless, the cost for at-will spells should be more severe than it is for sorcerers.
Too Long, Didn't Read
General. Fewer but more customizable spells. Any spell can be any level (including cantrip). No spell slots.
Sorcery. Gets very few spells, but ignores casting time and component cost. A comic book superhero.
Geometric Magic. Ritual caster, obsessively track components and plan and prepare for everything. Really big spell scrolls.
Theurgy. Ritual caster, less bookkeeping. Ask your deity for help, let them choose the spell.
What do people think? Do these sound like fun, or do they sound like a nightmare? Is there another style of spellcasting that could fit in alongside these?