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Climowitz
2019-04-21, 09:28 PM
Okay so i want to share with you guys something i am working on. Native language is spanish so please forgive my bad english.
I made some magic styles for my homebrew, but to understand them i need to clarify some things. This system is based on the fact that no longer vancian magic is used, no limit per day. There are several more basic attributes, the one mentioned are Vigor, Resistance, Mysticism and Devotion. Each atribute can grow up to 30 basic and enhanced by magic up to 40 so 40 is maximum. Spells have no level, they can be cast as any level and that alters the spells functionality and power, often making them better, bigger and stronger. Old magic schools are no longer, though this is not a problem here, there are now Remedium, Praesidium, Creatio, Invocatio, Motum,
Sensum, Visum, Imperium, Exitium, Transformatio, Hallucinatio, Mortum, Debilitatio, Incrementum, Musicorum and Naturum. There are no longer different actions, each turn a creature has 3 action points and a reaction point. I think this covers the most needed.

Well what i was looking for with this is to give different magic some stronger differences, that changes the way magic is done withouth needing a complete list of magic spells or the like. There are lot's of information not given and that is mostly things i haven't come up with so far. But please, read it all and tell me what you think. I really appreciate every bit of feedback i can get, and don't be afraid to ask as many questions needed i will try to answer them all.


Arcane
Arcane magic is the manipulation of the energies that surround the world and circulate through it, the arcane energies are those that can be transformed into spells, generating effects that otherwise would not occur. An arcane caster requires accumulating this energy and giving it shape.

Arcane Magic is regulated by Mysticism, it needs a Mysticism equal to or greater than 10 + Spell Level to be cast. Arcane casters can cast spells of level equal to or less than ½ * (Arcane caster level + 1). As in all types of magic, there are two types of casters, the spontaneous (Sorcerer and Legionary) and the prepared (Wizard). The spontaneous caster knows a defined number of spells, while the prepared caster has an undefined number of spells in his spell book and prepares a defined number of spells. These are given in the following table

LevelWizardSorcerorLegionary
1383
2393
3493
44104
55104
65114
76115
86125
97125
107136
118136
128146
139147
149157
1510157
1610168
1711168
1811178
1912179
2012189

To cast a spell, an arcane caster must harness several arcane points. Harnessing consumes a point of action, and in case of harnessing enough points to cast the spell you want to cast, this is considered a free action, that is, if you harness enough points to cast a spell, and it has a time of one point of action, then casting will be a free action, if it consumes two action points, then casting would consume a point and if casting consumed three action points, then casting would consume two points. One harnesses a number of points equal to Mysticism Modifier + ½ * Level of Arcane Caster. An arcane caster can have as many points as his Mysticism, without losing them.

The points required to cast a spell are the following:

Spell Level123456789
Points3711151923273135

As with all types of magic, when one begins casting a spell, the arcane points required to cast it are consumed, regardless of whether the spell is successful. The spell takes effect at the beginning of the next turn of the caster. These have somatic and verbal components, so they are subject to spell failure.
The Class Difficulty of an Arcane Spell (DC) is equal to 10 + ½ * Arcane Caster Level + Attribute Modifier + Spell Level. The attribute varies for each class, in the case of the Wizard the attribute is Intelligence.

Arcane casters have access to schools and descriptors, allowing specializations that require banning others, that is, if a Sorcerer wishes to specialize in the Hallucinatio school, he must prohibit two other schools that he will not be able to use.
Being an arcane caster, gives access to the special ability known as Counterspell, this allows to counter the casting of magic of other casters, whether arcane or not. To perform a counterspell, it is necessary to first identify the spell that the other caster is casting with a Spellcraft roll (free action), once identified, the casting of a disruptive spell is prepared, which takes effect at the moment in which the other caster casts his spell effectively and where a caster check is made (1d20 + Caster Level), which must beat the DC of the spell even though it does not grant save. The check obtains the following modifiers:

Disruptive spell is the same spell cast+5
Disruptive spell is from the same school or descriptor+2
Disruptive Spell is a Dispel+10
Target spell is not arcane-4
Disruptive spell is of another level2 * Difference of Spell Level



Divine

Divine magic is the concentration of power of the deities in a devotee, through their body and faith, the deities manifest their power and the devotee gives shape to that power. Divine magic can come from several sides, what differences them from other types of magic is the channeling of a higher being to achieve the magical effect.

Divine Magic is regulated by Devotion, a Devotion equal to or greater than 10 + Spell Level to be cast is needed. Divine casters can cast spells of level equal to or less than ½ * (Divine caster level + 1). As in all types of magic, there are two types of casters, the spontaneous (Priest and Favored) and the prepared (Cleric). The spontaneous caster knows a defined number of spells, while the prepared caster, has in its sacred texts an indefinite number of spells and prepares a defined number of spells. These are given in the following table:


LevelPriestClericFavored
1332
2332
3442
4442
5654
6654
7764
8864
9874
101076
111086
121186
131296
141296
1514108
1614108
1715118
1816118
1916128
20181210

Divine Casters have access to Domains, each domain grants up to 5 spells and a power, in each level multiple of 5 and in level 1, the caster can choose a spell from each of his two domains to add to his list of known spells or sacred texts. The domains grant a special power, which can be sacrificed to get one of the following bonuses: Double effect of the other domain power (Variables are doubled), +1 bonus to the Caster level and the DC of the spells of a or a reduction of 1 turn from the exhaustion from spells cast from that domain or the other.
Divine casters must recharge their energies after casting a spell, so they have an exhaustion. This implies that they must wait a number of rounds to be able to cast another spell. The exhaustion table by level is the following:

Level123456789
11
21
301
401
5002
6002
70012
80002
900013
1000003
11000023
12000013
130000024
140000014
1500000034
1600000024
17000000235
18000000134
19000000124
20000000123

As with all types of magic, when one begins casting a spell, exhaustion is considered applied, regardless of whether the spell is successful. The spell takes effect at the beginning of the next turn of the caster. These possess verbal components and an object of divine focus, so they are not subject to spell failure.
The Class Difficulty of a Divine spell (DC) is equal to 10 + ½ * Divine Caster level + Attribute modifier + Spell level. The attribute varies for each class, in the case of the Cleric the attribute is Wisdom.
Divine casters see their capacities increased or reduced in areas of particularly strong divine magic, these zones are usually temples, churches, ancient ruins or simple geographical marks, all strongly linked to an alignment, color, deity or power. While a divine caster is in a sacred area opposite to his, the variables of his spells will be reduced by 25%, and if this area is an exact opposite to that of the caster, the exhaustion will double (Minimum 1 turn for each spell) and the variables will be reduced by 50%. However, in sacred areas to which it is tuned, the divine caster inverts these bonuses, meaning that the variables increase by the same value instead of decreasing, and the exhaustion is reduced by half (Minimum 1 for spells with greater than 0 exhaustion).
Being a divine caster gives access to a special ability known as Invocations, which allows you to cast a spell that grants a bonus or passive ability, with a duration of 24 hours, or until a complete rest, this requires that the divine caster sacrifice his ability to cast spells of his highest level. That is, the divine caster could cast Mage Armor as a level 3 spell, its highest level, and get the bonus for 24 hours, and in return it could only continue casting spells of up to level 2. The divine caster can have as many active invocations as ¼ * (Divine Caster Level + 3).


Psionic

In every creature there is power, the life force that unites the whole that is and gives it form and life, but that energy, can be used and transformed like any other. Psionic magic finds a way to use the mind and the psyche as fuel to manifest powers.
Psionic Magic is regulated by Vigor, a Vigor equal to or greater than 10 + Spell Level to be cast is needed. Psionic casters can cast spells of level equal to or less than ½ * (Psionic caster level + 1). As in all types of magic, there are two types of casters, the spontaneous (Psychic and Mentalist) and the prepared (Manifester). The spontaneous caster knows a defined number of spells, while the prepared caster has an undefined number of spells stored in his subconscious and prepares a defined number of spells. These are given in the following table:

NivelManifesterPsychicMentalist
1371
2381
3482
4492
5592
65103
76103
86114
97114
107124
118125
128135
139136
149146
1510146
1610157
1710157
1811168
1911168
2012178

To cast a spell, a psionic caster must consume power points, he has a total equal to 2 * Psionic Caster Level + Vigor + Number of Spells Known or Prepared. When a psionic caster casts a spell, it must succeed a Concentration check with a DC equal to points used, and in case of failure the spell is not effective and the points are lost. A psionic caster can use in a single spell cast as many points as Psionic Caster Level + Vigor Modifier. Using an extra power point, you can increase a variable or value by one step, or if you have access to metamagic feats, using two extra power points for each level of spell consumed by the metamagic, you can apply the metamagic to the spell without an increase in the effective spell level, this allows you to apply metamagics that exceed the maximum level of spell available. The points required to cast a spell are the following:

Spell Level123456789
Power Points24681012141618

Power points are recovered at the rate of Modifier of Vigor, every 1 hour after having consumed at least 1 points, in case of taking a break at that time, 2 * Modifier of Vigor is recovered, and with a full rest of 8 hours, the total of power point are recovered.
Psionic spells like the divine ones have an exhaustion time after casting, this number can be reduced by 1 for every 3 extra power points used while casting the spell. All the extra power points that are used when casting a spell are applied before the concentration check is made. The exhaustion after casting a psionic spell is as follows:

Level123456789
11
21
301
401
5002
6002
70012
80002
900013
1000003
11000023
12000013
130000024
140000014
1500000034
1600000024
17000000235
18000000134
19000000124
20000000123

As with all types of magic, when one begins casting a spell, the psionic power points required to cast it are consumed, regardless of whether the spell is successful. The spell takes effect at the beginning of the next turn of the caster. These do not have somatic or verbal components, so they are not subject to spell failure.
The Class Difficulty of a Psionic spell (DC) is equal to 10 + ½ * Psionic Caster Level + Attribute Modifier + Spell Level. The attribute varies for each class, in the case of the Manifester the attribute is Intelligence.
Psionic casters have access to the following disciplines: Psychometabolism, Psychokinesis, Psychoportation, Clarisensation, Metacreativity, Telepathy, Metamorphosis, Psychopathy and Universalis. Every caster must choose 4 Disciplines, added to Universalis, from which they can learn their spells, so they ban 3 of these when the get their first level.
Psionic casters have access to Synapse, which allows to manifest several spell that have the same target, that is within range and the sum of every spell level does not exceed the maximum level of spell allowed, that is, a psionic caster could cast spells Bull’s Strenght, Cat’s Grace and Owl’s Wisdom, as second level spells, in a single casting while casting a single level 6 spell. If the spell combination was not possible because the target cannot be chosen for one or more spells, or these are not compatible, the psionic caster suffers an amount of non-lethal damage equal to the number of power points used.


Pact

Pact magic is a very dangerous magic, since it is strengthened by a bond between a creature and the vestige of a powerful entity. In exchange for power the creature accepts the vestige as part of itself, allowing it to manifest itself on occasions when the overwhelming power surpasses the control of the caster.
Pact Magic is regulated by Resistance, a Resistance equal to or greater than 10 + Spell Level to be cast is needed. Pact casters can cast spells of level equal to or less than ½ * (Pact caster level + 1). As in all types of magic, there are two types of casters, the spontaneous (Emissary and Purifier) and the prepared (Warlock). The spontaneous caster knows a defined number of spells, while the prepared caster, has an indefinite number of spells in the knowledge of the vestige and prepares a defined number of spells. These are given in the following table:

LevelWarlockEmissaryPurifier
1361
2371
3472
4482
5582
6593
7693
86104
97104
107114
118115
128125
139126
149136
1510136
1610147
1711147
1811158
1912158
2012168

Pact spells can be cast at will, but these generate corruption within the caster, and when reaching 100%, it takes on the appearance of the vestige, changing its appearance, receiving a strong influence (sometimes controlling the caster) and granting more primordial skills. The corruption decreases with each hour, a number equal to the Resistance Modifier per hour, or 2 * Resistance modifier per hour in case of having taken a break of at least one hour. After a complete rest, the corruption returns to 0%. Spells generate corruption depending on their level and it’s total is reduced by Resistance Modifier.

The corruption generated to the caster is the following:

Level123456789
116
215
31518
41417
5141720
6131619
713161922
812151821
91215182124
101114172023
11111417202326
12101316192225
1310131619222528
149121518212427
15912151821242730
16811141720232629
1781114172023262932
1871013161922252831
1971013161922252831
206912151821242730

As with all types of magic, when one begins casting a spell, the corruption points generated when casting are acquired, regardless of whether the spell is successful. The spell takes effect at the beginning of the next turn of the caster. These have somatic components, so they are subject to failure probability by armor, to this value is added a failure percentage equal to ¼ * Current Corruption.
The Class Difficulty of a Pact spell (DC) is equal to 10 + ½ * Pact Caster Level + Attribute Modifier + Spell Level. The attribute varies for each class, in the case of the Emissary the attribute is Charisma.
Pact casters have access to schools and domains granted by the selected vestige. Each vestige grants access to two magic schools and two domains, giving the total spells of the domain but not its power.
When the vestige manifests, it affects the creature in the following way, it cannot cast until it has made a complete rest, obtains a Physical Transformation, Mental Influence, a Passive Skill, an Active Skill and Special Qualities. The vestige becomes active after reaching or exceeding 100% corruption, this lasts one hour in which the Pact caster can make a Will save to end the manifestation of the vestige, this DC equals the DC of the strongest spell the caster can cast, Feats and Abilities that increase the DC of one or more spells apply to this DC. Every hour after the first, the DC is reduced by 1, whether the save is attempted or not. If the manifestation of the vestige is not ended by a Will save, it will last a number of hours equal to 1 + higher Spell Level available. When the manifestation of the Vestige ends, the caster is Exhausted.
The vestiges that a pact caster can choose are the following:

SacredProfaneNeutral
AzazelDagonCu Chulain
AzraelAsmodeoSun Wukong
ZadkielBaphometBeowulf
RazielBelialBellorophont
SamaelAtroposGilgamesh
UrielAbaddonSigurd
BaraquielTiamatArash
SarathielBehemotKarna
ZephanielFurfurSetna
NurielAdramelechArthur
SelaphielOrobasHua Mulan
PhanuelLamiaSamson
JarahmeelBerithRomulo y Remo
CamaelMolochAlexander

Being a pact caster, gives access to the special ability known as the Ritual, this allows to cast a spell with a casting time much higher than normal, but with a power level around 10 times the original spell. This value should not be taken literally, it could be considered that a spell can be cast with duration of 24 hours or permanent by means of a ritual. Casting time will equal 100 * Spell Level * Caster Level rounds (10 Rounds equals one minute), if a spell has a casting duration longer than one round, multiplicate the duration by that value and not by rounds. The ritual can last a long time, and many times (depending on the DM) it requires previous preparation, which includes a place, objects and activities according to each ritual. This long rituals can be done in several days and does not need to be completed at once. You can divide the duration of a ritual into blocks of 4 to 8 hours and perform each block in a day. At least one block of the ritual must be performed every 48 hours, or the ritual must start again, often triggering an unexpected magic reaction.


Soul

Soul casting is a very dangerous magic, since it uses the life force of the caster as its source of energy. This consumes a portion of the user's life into magic that he then bonds to his body to use at will.
Soul magic is regulated by Constitution, a Constitution equal to or greater than 10 + Spell Level to be cast is needed. Soul casters can cast spells of equal or less than ½ * (Soul caster level + 1). As in all types of magic, there are two types of casters, the spontaneous (Totemist and Binder) and the prepared (Shaman). The spontaneous caster knows a defined number of spells, while the prepared caster has an undefined number of spells in his totem and prepares a defined number of spells. These are given in the following table:

LevelShamanTotemistBinderMeld
13632
23633
34843
44844
55844
651055
761055
861056
971266
1071267
1181267
1281478
1391478
1491479
15101689
161016810
171116810
181118911
191218911
201218912

Soul casting meld spells to their body parts, these body parts when filled with magic, do not allow magic objects to act accordingly, so a magic item used in a part charged with magic is disabled.
Each part of the body can nest a single spell, and each part of the body can only possess spells from two specific schools. Melding a spell reduces the Constitution of the caster by 2 for each part of the body melded with a spell. The soul caster can only meld a number of spells on his body parts given in the known and prepared spell table. The melded spells can be used in two ways, as an enchantment of an object, passively obtaining a bonus according to the rules of body parts and bonuses in Create Magic Objects, or as an active ability. The spells melded as an ability, work like the spell normally. The spells are melded as level 0 spells, and then every two rounds, they gain a level until reaching the maximum available. Once a spell is used, it returns to level 0 and must be recharged to reach the maximum level again. Melding a spell takes a minute, and once a spell is melded it cannot be changed until after a rest. After a complete rest the melded spells disappear and the caster recovers its constitution points, in the case of a short break of one hour, the caster can change melded spells but does not recover the Constitution points and loses new points for melding new spells
As with all types of magic, when one begins casting a spell, the level of the spell returns to 0, regardless of whether the spell is successful. The spell takes effect at the beginning of the next turn of the caster. These spells do not have somatic or verbal components, so they are not subject to spell failure.
The Class Difficulty (DC) of a Soul spell is equal to 10 + ½ * Soul Caster Level + Attribute Modifier + Spell Level. The attribute varies for each class, in the case of the Binder the attribute is Wisdom.
Soul casters can learn any spell from any school, they are added to their known spells or to their totem, a small figure that works like a magic book from which it is not possible to copy spells. The essence of the totem cannot be destroyed as the object, so if the totem were to be destroyed, the caster can make another and recover all the spells he had in the previous one.
The schools and enchantments that the soul caster can nest are the following:

Body partMagic SchoolEnchantment
HeadHallucinatio / SensumMental Enhancement
BackCreatio / InvocatioTransformation or Protection
ShouldersInvocatio / PraesidiumProtection or Discernment
ChestPraesidium / RemediumSkills Enhancement
ArmsTransformatio / IncrementumMoral Enhancement
HandsExitium / MortumDestructive Power
WaistRemedium / MortumPhysical Enhancement
LegsTransformatio / MotumCombat
FeetMotum / IncrementumMovement
WristsDebilitatio / ExitiumAllies
EyesSensum / VisumViewing or Seeing
MouthImperium / DebilitatioInteraction

Being a soul caster, gives access to the special ability known as Soulshape, it allows to meld spells on objects that are not being worn by the caster. This only allows you to meld spells as enchantments, and the caster must pay a Constitution point for each +1 that the enchanted item would be. The enchantment will last 24 hours or until the caster makes a complete rest and recovers the Constitution points, whichever occurs first.

aimlessPolymath
2019-04-22, 08:41 PM
Those tables take up a lot of vertical space, and should probably be put in spoiler boxes.


Arcane:
Spellcasting section is sort of a word salad, and you're getting very confusing sentences like

if casting consumed three action points, then casting would consume two points..

The 10+Mysticism requirement seems pretty much negligible to me, given that it seems like it goes up to 40; what is the assumption for a level 1 character's Mysticism range? Also, it seems as though you have two restrictions on spell level; this seems to me as though one of them is unnecessary.

I note all spells take effect at the start of the spellcaster's next turn, instead of when they cast them; it sounds like all spells have the same effective casting time, then?

Arcane points: It's not clear to me how quickly these regenerate.

Spell DC: Scales by 10+1/2 level + stat +spell level; I assume spell level scales roughly linearly with level, so this will actually somewhat outscale my default assumptions for what is a standard saving throw DC.

Counterspell is w/e. "The preparation of a disruptive spell" is not well-defined; you don't have the reaction action involved at any point, and it's not clear how you can identify the appropriate level of the opposing spell since spells can be cast at any level.

Divine:
I note Favored and Legionary have differing casting rates, but there's a solid priest/sorcerer match and cleric/wizard match.
Recharge magic, hm. I'm not clear on when the countdown starts; in addition, what do you expect a Cleric to do after they cast their "big spell"? Will they have access to a second action of reasonable use, or are they passing their turn each time?
The ability to trade away your domains for generalist power is something I'm personally opposed to; I prefer more specialized characters.
Special zones: Ehhh, there's a lot of complex stuff here involving numerical variables; I'd convert it to a +/- to the effective level of their spells for recharge purposes.
Invocations seem either really really bad (since you can just cast the spell every few minutes, duration permitting, and recharge normally) or really busted (stack all your buff spells to become a combat god, becoming a better fighter than the fighter).

Psionic:
blah BLAH blah blah same first rules paragraph slightly different table...
Power points... with a concentration check attached, but overcasting involved... ehhh. Recharge rate.... seems pretty restrictive. Power point total seems pretty restrictive compared to the arcanist, too, and you have exhaustion like the divine caster as well, so you can't burst efficiently either.
Skillcasting for the sake of skillcasting, combined with exhaustion, seems like a mistake to me; there's already a chance of failure in save DCs. so adding a second one makes me imagine that a psionic will spend a significant portion of a combat waiting around and flubbing their techniques.

Disciplines don't appear to have overlap with the first spell classes you described.
Synapse: Break the action economy, but not very well. Probably gets used to stack blasting spells for burst, or save-or-suck spells, or something. Depends how spells scale with investment.

Pact
Egh, corruption table looks pretty gross to me; it's basically a big mishmash of numbers and I can't meaningfully convert it into spellcasting rate.

I don't understand how vestiges and the spells known table interact at all.

The process of vestiges taking over seems really bland to me; you have a number going up; you understand how much it goes up by; it goes up in such a predictable way that you can tell whether or not a given spell will take you over the limit; but determining your effective spells available before you hit that limit is the most boring computational task I can imagine.

Ritual is an extremely vague ability, and seems useless 90% of the time.

Soul
Constitution loss for spells, and then there's this sort of a mess of a spellcasting as-items system that confuses me; it's a fancy recharge magic system where you have to track up to 8 different recharges or so?

Overall notes:
-I like the Soul casting the best out of all of these; it's got an interesting mechanism once you disentangle it a bit, and could be fleshed out with a bit of work; suppose for example that the Soul caster could use clothing made from slain monster body parts to enhance a melded spell related to the monster? The system you have now feels a lot like a cleric's Invocation, so you could borrow some parts from that.
-Psionics feels like a sorta bland mishmash of Divine and Arcane casting, with nothing really making it distinctive; the overcasting ability makes more sense in Arcane to flesh it out a bit.
-Divine spellcasting isn't going to really play well unless you can guarantee that the Cleric will have something interesting to do each turn. I honestly think you should cut out the spells-known system entirely and replace it with something more religious; it never sat right to me that the 3.5 Cleric had to decide at the beginning of the day which miracles they would be most likely to ask from their deity later on.
-Pact is a numbers game, and not an interesting one; I'd suggest ripping out the Corruption and replacing it with Will saves with DC dependent on the spell level; on a failure, you get the Vestige blowback for 2d6 minutes. An hour is probably too much time to wait just for an ability to turn off.
-You really, really forced the batch-of-three system for these system. It's not clear how well that will work in practice.

Climowitz
2019-04-24, 08:34 AM
Ok, first of all, thank you so much for the time you took reading, analizing and responding. I really appreciate it. Now i will try to adress a global point and then each separate one. Sorry about lack of spoilers i will fix it later, i promise.

What i want to achieve with this modifications, is in conjunction with the new system of action points and no leveled spells is a major difference between casting types. I know it needs a lot of polishing, but i am actually really happy with the outcome i've got so far.

Spellcasting section is sort of a word salad, and you're getting very confusing sentences like
if casting consumed three action points, then casting would consume two points.

Ok, i have a difficulty trying to explain myself, and is even harder in a different language. Gathering Arcane Points requires an action point, so if the gathering of points allows you to cast a spell, you can use the action point you used to gather points as part of the casting, that is why i say that the casting time after gathering arcane points get's reduce by one if you cast right away.
Gathering Arcane Points = 1 Action Point
Casting a Simple Spell = 1 Action Point
Casting a Normal Spell = 2 Action Points
Casting a Complex Spell = 3 Action Points
So if you use an action point to gather arcane points, you can cast simple as free action, normal as 1 action point and complex as 2 action points.
It's like saying that gathering arcane points is free, but it is actually not

The 10+Mysticism requirement seems pretty much negligible to me, given that it seems like it goes up to 40; what is the assumption for a level 1 character's Mysticism range? Also, it seems as though you have two restrictions on spell level; this seems to me as though one of them is unnecessary.

This is just heritance from 3.5 which is the root of all this. 3.5 forces you to have a casting attribute equal to Spell Level + 10 to be able to cast that spell. And since i don't want to create a table saying at which levels an arcane caster can cast the new levels, i just formulated it as 1/2 * (Level + 1) being that at levels 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 and 17, you gain access to 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 and 9 level of spells. The assumption on characters for level 1 is as usual Max 18 + Racial Modifiers. At each level a character gains a +1 on one attribute, and can't chose the same twice in a row.

I note all spells take effect at the start of the spellcaster's next turn, instead of when they cast them; it sounds like all spells have the same effective casting time, then?

This one is actually something i haven't thought about, and with you pointing me out i will define that once a caster starts casting, it remains like that until start of next turn. This is to give the opportunity to other characters to act acordingly to the fact that a caster is casting, and since when a caster defines an area as objective it remains there, many will be able to move and get cover before the magic explosion goes off. That being said, this is also to make casting a once per turn, and the last thing a caster should do with his actions.

Spell DC: Scales by 10+1/2 level + stat +spell level; I assume spell level scales roughly linearly with level, so this will actually somewhat outscale my default assumptions for what is a standard saving throw DC.

DC is a bit higher, because now saving throws have 2 Attributes affecting it.

Counterspell is w/e. "The preparation of a disruptive spell" is not well-defined; you don't have the reaction action involved at any point, and it's not clear how you can identify the appropriate level of the opposing spell since spells can be cast at any level.

This is a big one from me, i will try to fix it. But yeah, the disruptive spell is actually a normal spell, but instead of being cast normally it is used to disrupt another caster, Counterspell should be allowed to be made with either an action point or reaction point (this will require feat), however the reaction point will be lost when the spell that is being counterspelled is cast, that is, at the start of caster's turn. Spellcraft should allow a character to learn level also.

I note Favored and Legionary have differing casting rates, but there's a solid priest/sorcerer match and cleric/wizard match.

I forgot about the third caster, which is supposed to have a gish structure, it has fewer spells, but will have higher BAB and Hit Dice, the known spells table of the divine is weird because it takes into consideration that at levels 1 5 10 15 and 20, spontaneous casters will learn 2 spells from domains.

Recharge magic, hm. I'm not clear on when the countdown starts; in addition, what do you expect a Cleric to do after they cast their "big spell"? Will they have access to a second action of reasonable use, or are they passing their turn each time?

one of the ideas behind this, is that casters will chose wisely what level of spell to cast in order to keep action on the next turn, and not just spam higher levels until depleted. Divine gets the hardest one
with cooldown, the alternatives when waiting will be, fighting with weapons, using class features that are not here, but every class will get, or using reserve feats, which will scale acording to level and availability of required spells and not their level, so if a caster is rechargin his highest spell level which is 6 he can use a reserve feat as if he had a six level spell required. Other alternative is to use his invocations to get some buffs and hit harder.

The ability to trade away your domains for generalist power is something I'm personally opposed to; I prefer more specialized characters.

Me too, and i was looking to get that actually, the idea to specialize into one of his domains instead of both, perhaps i will have to change that, but the idea is to be better at something if you neglect other things, and that should work for almost every caster.

Special zones: Ehhh, there's a lot of complex stuff here involving numerical variables; I'd convert it to a +/- to the effective level of their spells for recharge purposes.

I like what you are suggesting, i will change this, using higher level to get the power and lower to get the cooldown works a lot better, also reversing.

Invocations seem either really really bad (since you can just cast the spell every few minutes, duration permitting, and recharge normally) or really busted (stack all your buff spells to become a combat god, becoming a better fighter than the fighter).

Well the idea with invocations is to get the best buff, without the chance of falling from time, and giving up casting. I'm aware this can lead to a buff accumulator and get massive strenght to fight, but that's the way my players already use clerics. When they are not heal bots, they are buff fighters better that fighters. Also with a bit of disadvantage, a dispel will clear every buff you have, and for which you have sacrficed all your spellcasting, so it's a really high risk to go, but whoever wish to risk that, should get rewarded.


Power points... with a concentration check attached, but overcasting involved... ehhh. Recharge rate.... seems pretty restrictive. Power point total seems pretty restrictive compared to the arcanist, too, and you have exhaustion like the divine caster as well, so you can't burst efficiently either.
Psionic is the one i fear the most is not quite right. I'm aware i should get rid of exhaustion in this one, but i'm afraid it will become a spell machine gun until depleted, and i want to avoid that. The idea behind psionics is to have the ability to do just what is necesesary avoiding overkills and some risks, while getting lot of power, greed can become a high price, since manifesting too much, will make you fail Concentration or run out of points.

Skillcasting for the sake of skillcasting, combined with exhaustion, seems like a mistake to me; there's already a chance of failure in save DCs. so adding a second one makes me imagine that a psionic will spend a significant portion of a combat waiting around and flubbing their techniques.
I'm using the concentration check to avoid manifesting the highest possible without chance of failure. Since saves can easily be overcome boosting DC, i need a fail chance that is bound to the caster and not the target, in order to add a bit of self control to psionic casters. However i will look into and see if i come up with a better solution.

Disciplines don't appear to have overlap with the first spell classes you described.
I wanted to force a bit more specialization in the psionic, since i already feel is powerfull, i don't want them to be able to do everything, spells will have a school and a discipline in their entries, so every caster can see if they can learn it. I know disciplines are not explained, but knowing that a player will get access to 5/9 disciplines, will get them to chose their focus from the start.

Synapse: Break the action economy, but not very well. Probably gets used to stack blasting spells for burst, or save-or-suck spells, or something. Depends how spells scale with investment.
Yes this can be overwhelming, it will need testing, but im confident it will turn out well. Psionics gives caster a chance to spend lots of points seducing them into failure of not succeeding Concentration.
Egh, corruption table looks pretty gross to me; it's basically a big mishmash of numbers and I can't meaningfully convert it into spellcasting rate
The formula for corruption is this: 13 + 3 * Spell Level - 1/2 * Caster Level, that's how corruption grows, i know is not a clean progression, but i like it overall the table, since you can reduce it strongly with Resistance.

I don't understand how vestiges and the spells known table interact at all.
You get power from vestiges, that power being spells, and each vestige will add to your available spells 2 domains and 2 spell schools. From that list, both schools and both domains, you will be able to learn spells or prepare spells, depends on which caster, different vestiges will provide access to different domains and schools, allowing for different combinations. For example let's asume Cu Chulainn gives you access to the schools Praesidium and Incrementum and the domains War and Strength, from those four, you will be able to pick your daily prepared spells or learn them permanently.

The process of vestiges taking over seems really bland to me; you have a number going up; you understand how much it goes up by; it goes up in such a predictable way that you can tell whether or not a given spell will take you over the limit; but determining your effective spells available before you hit that limit is the most boring computational task I can imagine.
Calculating how many spells one can cast before transforming is not the ideal, i know it might be tedious, but the idea here is to actually lose control and have access to the vestige itself, imaging a Warlock (3.5) casting until he becomes the Binder (3.5) and then he manifest the vestige. This caster is supposed to be a two faced coin, giving a bit more fluff than mechanic and power.

Ritual is an extremely vague ability, and seems useless 90% of the time.
Ritual is an ability that should be used campaign wise and not combat wise, for example, let's say you have to open a way to a sealed catacomb or ruin, but do not have the power, well a Stone Shape ritual could open a tunnel there. Ritual is more of a key to DM to get players do something than a useful tool. However since you can ritual yourself into an Invocation like buff, it will have some uses.


Constitution loss for spells, and then there's this sort of a mess of a spellcasting as-items system that confuses me; it's a fancy recharge magic system where you have to track up to 8 different recharges or so?
Yes, it might be a pain in the ass, but i wanted that feeling, that you use this power and then recharge it slowly until it gathers enough strength again. Constitution melding gives this caster a chance to be the thoughest one to crack, if you do not use alll your slots and reserve some constitution, you could end with a really high HP. And yes tracking at higher levels could be troublesome, but having a total of 50 spells every day to prepare can be too, so i assume it can be done.

OVERALL
Overall notes:
-I like the Soul casting the best out of all of these; it's got an interesting mechanism once you disentangle it a bit, and could be fleshed out with a bit of work; suppose for example that the Soul caster could use clothing made from slain monster body parts to enhance a melded spell related to the monster? The system you have now feels a lot like a cleric's Invocation, so you could borrow some parts from that.
Thank you, it was a mix between the meldshaper and artificer infusions. I hope i can get a good system for everything. And yes what you say is totally possible since class feature are not decided yet.

-Psionics feels like a sorta bland mishmash of Divine and Arcane casting, with nothing really making it distinctive; the overcasting ability makes more sense in Arcane to flesh it out a bit.
Specialiazing in Arcane should give enough power spike in one aspect to give more general possible power. I believe that psionics distinct in being able to cast really powerfull but with a high chance of risk, if you can calculate the threat and the power needed to overcome it correctly, psionic can be a very powerful casting style.

-Divine spellcasting isn't going to really play well unless you can guarantee that the Cleric will have something interesting to do each turn. I honestly think you should cut out the spells-known system entirely and replace it with something more religious; it never sat right to me that the 3.5 Cleric had to decide at the beginning of the day which miracles they would be most likely to ask from their deity later on.
Yes i know that fluff wise is not right, but i wanted to have each of three types of caster whithin each casting style, a Prepared caster, an Spontaneous caster and a Gish caster. I'm open to suggestion on how to achieve a prepared divine caster with a nice fluff.

-Pact is a numbers game, and not an interesting one; I'd suggest ripping out the Corruption and replacing it with Will saves with DC dependent on the spell level; on a failure, you get the Vestige blowback for 2d6 minutes. An hour is probably too much time to wait just for an ability to turn off.
It's not a bad suggestion, but this means that one could lose control after the first spell with some bad luck. The hour based duration can be reduce to 10 mins or even 1 Min. However i want people to be able to choose to use the vestige aspect instead of casting as a focus. I will look into this and see if i can come with a more balanced solution.

-You really, really forced the batch-of-three system for these system. It's not clear how well that will work in practice.
I'm not sure what is the batch-of-three system, but if it means the 3 different casters, it is something i wanted in the first place.