mabriss lethe
2018-11-20, 07:32 PM
Today, I want to share my thoughts on a possible revision to the metamagic system for my take on a modern reinvention of the 3.5 edition rules set. My working title for the project is RE-3, shorthand for Refined 3rd edition.
Changes to Metamagic:
1. Metamagic no longer increases the level of the spell slot needed to prepare or cast a modified spell. In its place, it requires sacrificing an additional spell slot of equal or greater value to the sum of the modifier costs for all metamagic applied to the spell. Spellcasters may only sacrifice a single slot per modified spell. Spontaneous casters can sacrifice the appropriate slot on the fly as part of their regular spell casting while prepared casters must dedicate the slot to the specific metamagic modifications they want and associate it to a specific prepared spell. Both the sacrificed slot and the slot for the modified spell are expended as part of the casting. +0 Metamagic by itself doesn't require the sacrifice of a spell slot, though it can be added at effectively no cost to other metamagic modifications.
-Repercussions: On one hand, it will make metamagic more powerful by virtue of being able to apply it to a character's highest level spells. It will offer greater utility for lower level spell slots that might otherwise never be used for anything at mid to high levels of play. As a balancing factor, it will come at the cost of versatility and longevity. Heavy use of metamagic will leave less spell slots available for casting other spells. Low level metamagic will be far more attractive than heavy modifications, since burning a spell from the bottom of your list will be far less of a hit than if you take it from the top. +0 metamagics are balanced solely by the casting time increase mandated in Point 3 and the cost of the feat used to acquire it.
2. Removal of Quicken and Heighten from the list of Metamagic feats: There are completely different reasons for each of these. Heighten is removed as a feat, its function is rolled into the basic rules of spell casting. Using a higher level slot than needed for a spell will automatically Heighten it. Removing Quicken makes it more difficult to snap off multiple spells in a round. I don't want to completely gut that mechanic, though. Instead, unique methods of quickening spells will be baked directly into the features of spellcasting classes, to be determined upon the revision of each class.
-Repercussions: Rolling Heighten's functionality into the basic mechanics will offer a more intuitive experience and make casting lower level spells a more attractive option for more spells. It will keep more of a caster's spellbook relevant throughout their adventuring career. Removing Quicken and replacing it with class based options will allow a greater freedom to fine-tune balance between classes. It also frees up some space in the rules for point 3, listed below.
3. Metamagic requires more of an action economy investment from prepared casters, slightly less from spontaneous, thus meeting in the middle with a unified mechanic. All casters, prepared or spontaneous, must spend their swift action as well as their standard to cast a metamagic spell. Whatever "quickened" option a class grants will normally be incompatible with metamagic.
-Repercussions: It will streamline the rules as a whole by offering a single unified mechanic for all casting classes. It also balances metamagic casting against quickening. If a caster wants to fire off two spells in a round, they have to cast the standard versions of each. It now requires too much of a caster's attention to tinker with the underpinnings of a spell to do more, curbing some of the power gained by Point 1.
Changes to Metamagic:
1. Metamagic no longer increases the level of the spell slot needed to prepare or cast a modified spell. In its place, it requires sacrificing an additional spell slot of equal or greater value to the sum of the modifier costs for all metamagic applied to the spell. Spellcasters may only sacrifice a single slot per modified spell. Spontaneous casters can sacrifice the appropriate slot on the fly as part of their regular spell casting while prepared casters must dedicate the slot to the specific metamagic modifications they want and associate it to a specific prepared spell. Both the sacrificed slot and the slot for the modified spell are expended as part of the casting. +0 Metamagic by itself doesn't require the sacrifice of a spell slot, though it can be added at effectively no cost to other metamagic modifications.
-Repercussions: On one hand, it will make metamagic more powerful by virtue of being able to apply it to a character's highest level spells. It will offer greater utility for lower level spell slots that might otherwise never be used for anything at mid to high levels of play. As a balancing factor, it will come at the cost of versatility and longevity. Heavy use of metamagic will leave less spell slots available for casting other spells. Low level metamagic will be far more attractive than heavy modifications, since burning a spell from the bottom of your list will be far less of a hit than if you take it from the top. +0 metamagics are balanced solely by the casting time increase mandated in Point 3 and the cost of the feat used to acquire it.
2. Removal of Quicken and Heighten from the list of Metamagic feats: There are completely different reasons for each of these. Heighten is removed as a feat, its function is rolled into the basic rules of spell casting. Using a higher level slot than needed for a spell will automatically Heighten it. Removing Quicken makes it more difficult to snap off multiple spells in a round. I don't want to completely gut that mechanic, though. Instead, unique methods of quickening spells will be baked directly into the features of spellcasting classes, to be determined upon the revision of each class.
-Repercussions: Rolling Heighten's functionality into the basic mechanics will offer a more intuitive experience and make casting lower level spells a more attractive option for more spells. It will keep more of a caster's spellbook relevant throughout their adventuring career. Removing Quicken and replacing it with class based options will allow a greater freedom to fine-tune balance between classes. It also frees up some space in the rules for point 3, listed below.
3. Metamagic requires more of an action economy investment from prepared casters, slightly less from spontaneous, thus meeting in the middle with a unified mechanic. All casters, prepared or spontaneous, must spend their swift action as well as their standard to cast a metamagic spell. Whatever "quickened" option a class grants will normally be incompatible with metamagic.
-Repercussions: It will streamline the rules as a whole by offering a single unified mechanic for all casting classes. It also balances metamagic casting against quickening. If a caster wants to fire off two spells in a round, they have to cast the standard versions of each. It now requires too much of a caster's attention to tinker with the underpinnings of a spell to do more, curbing some of the power gained by Point 1.