PEACH my new freeform spell system for 5e (SWDM System)

[SunderedWorldDM]

Alrighty, folks! Here it is: first finished draft of the SWDM Spell System. Please don't be intimidated by the length of the document, most of it is redundant for the purposes of being easy to reference, and it as a lot of lengthy examples. Some parts I'm not yet quite satisfied with the "bookcraft" of, so I would love some extra help with getting everything to read well. (Thanks to PairO'DiceLost for the initial layout suggestion, without their help you probably wouldn't be seeing this for a couple weeks, and it would be an unreadable mess!)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OK1uL_asMHGOHKZ-VnNp83KVw38885R-nZ-cLYD17Rw/edit?usp=sharing

Some notes:
-Design goals here are to emphasize flexibility over codification, to put 5e mages more on par with their martial counterparts/cut down on LFQW, and to give the players maximal freedom in their spellcasting while maintaining or cutting down on complexity. What the design goals here explicitly AREN'T are to make a system that's on par with current 5e casters (if it works like it should, it boosts SWDM casters a bit in the early levels and caps them at upper levels) or to emphasize consistency and reliable mechanical effects.
-I would love helping make things more clear and concise in this document, and so if you have a wording rephrase, I would absolutely love to hear it! My ideas exist better in my head than on paper, and I struggled to describe things effectively.
-I want to know how I can make Repositories more significant in play, how to clarify how the modes (Memorized vs. Prepared) work and why (because I feel like that's not as clear as-is), if Sundry Lore is interesting/useful enough to give the pure casters when they run out of MP so that they're not stuck without cantrips, and/or if there are any glaring issues that I need to address.
-Warlocks are currently a big question mark in my system. Please give me some ideas on how to make them "fit" with the rest of it, as I'm too attached to the class to let it go! Another class that has a questionable mechanical conversion is the Sorcerer: take a look at that SP to MP conversion and see if that's too much?
-Disclosure, there are 2 versions of this doc: you're seeing the one that will get edited less frequently. I intend to make modifications o the working doc and then when I have enough to constitute a full reworking, republish with some patch notes in this post.
-Just a note, currently in the works is a called shot system that will give martials some more freedom and flexibility, so I'm not just ignoring those players who want to engage in this on-the-spot creativity while playing a simple martial character, they'll get something on down the line, but one hand-wavey subsystem at a time!

Thanks so much for your help! Can't wait to see what everyone thinks.

Version 0.5: First edition of full rules. Thanks to AimlessPolymath and PairO'DiceLost for helping with formative work!

[SunderedWorldDM]

Just a brief signal boost here, posting the basic mechanics and features here in case the google doc is intimidating.

The SWDM System

Welcome to a world in which magic is more mercurial, personal, and flexible. If you’re a player, get ready to enjoy generating unique Spells just for your caster. If you’re a DM, enjoy the new levels of creativity and customization a freeform spellcasting system will offer you and your players, and the freedom of improvising Spell effects instead of being shackled to a rulebook!

Instead of choosing spells and cantrips off of a list of pregenerated spells sorted by level, you work with your DM to generate capital S Spells. And you use Mana Points, or MP, to cast those Spells: any Spell can be cast with anywhere between 1 and 10 MP (but you can never spend more MP than your caster level). Each Spell has a name, an effect, and a boost, which is what happens when you spend more than 1 MP to cast it. You know/generate a number of Spells at 1st level equal to your Casting Stat (whichever state your class uses to cast Spells) plus your Proficiency Bonus (CS plus PB). The Spells you know are in one of two modes, depending on your class: Memorized, which means you can’t change them once you’ve learned them (save a drastic bout of amnesia!), and Prepared, which means that after a rest you can choose to switch one Spell out for another. (If you stick with one casting class through your adventuring career, all your class Spells will be in just the one one mode.)
But you can’t just generate your Spells willy-nilly. Your class (and possibly subclass) will give you Tags: these are short sentences that vaguely describe what your Spells should do. You’ll see some examples of Tags, and how to use them to generate appropriate Spells, below. Use common sense here, but feel free to stretch the definitions a bit for something cool, and be sure to check your Spells with the DM before play!
So at Level 1 you have a pool of MP and a list of Spells (but no cantrips!) you’ve generated, which are either Prepared or Memorized. Again, to cast a Spell, you use an action (or more, depending on the nature of the Spell) to spend 1 or more MP. The DM will then adjudicate what effect the Spell has- perhaps it’s an opponent making a save against damage, or a door unlocking, or a creature being summoned. Spells will have effects more or less similar to spells you’ve seen in the PHB and other DnD books. The key difference is that you get to make your Spells: there’s no list, no strict rules to follow, just you and your DM’s imagination!
As you level up, you’ll gain more Spells through advancement and more MP to use to cast those spells. You may also find extra Spells in dungeons and for sale in shops in the forms of holy books or arcane scrolls. In this way, Spells can become treasure for spellcasters like a magic sword is to a fighter.

Designing a Spell
Spells are the lifeblood of the mage. To generate a Spell, you need three things only: an evocative name, a sentence-long (non-mechanical) description of the spell’s basic function, and a Boost (what happens when you use more MP on the spell, also non-mechanical). Everything else is handled in the moment, and every Spell is designed like that. Memorization casters can learn/acquire Spells over the course of an adventure, and it can even be the goal of an adventure to get a specific Spell. Even Prepared casters might need to hunt to find a Spell outside of their purview: a nature cleric would have to hunt, for example, to find the Spell Forge Kingkiller Blade. Keep your class/subclass Tags in mind; generating a spell that defies the Tags won’t be permitted!

Here is the format for a Spell:
Spell Name (Italicised, Capitalized): A one-sentence, non-mechanical descriptor of effect with things like range and duration implied. Boost: one or more boosted qualities.

For example:
Heat Metal: You heat a handprint-sized area of metal that you can see for a few seconds. Boost: intensity of heat.
[This spell could be used to damage enemies, mend a metal item, or fuse the hinges of a door! The possibilities are endless when you leave mechanics out of a Spell’s descriptor, and that’s a feature, not a bug.]
Enchant Blade: You touch a sword and endow it with some special damaging effect for a short while. Boost: duration, potency.
[This spell keeps your options open in terms of what you can enchant the blade with. Make it do extra fire damage? Allow the blade to shatter upon impact and reform? Just a good old fashioned +1? Whatever the situation calls for!]

EXAMPLE:
Sam is rolling up a 3rd level Druid, Maeros. They roll a +4 for Wisdom- jackpot! That means their SB (Spell Bonus) at Level 3 is going to be 6, and they’ll be able to generate 6 Spells to start out with. The Druid Tags are “Invoke Nature’s Wrath” and “Honor the Spirits”, so Maeros has to keep those in mind while generating his 6 Spells. He settles on:

Aura Vision: See magical auras for 1 minute. Boost: duration.
Unlock: Open locks and allow passage through doors. Boost: more complex/larger obstacle.
Earth Swim: Make your way through the earth like water for 1 minute. Boost: duration.
Poltergeist Throw: Move objects with your mind remotely. Boost: strength of telekinesis.
Enchant Necklace: Store a Spell in a necklace to be cast later. Boost: intensity of Spell stored.
Heat Metal: Heat up handprint-sized area of metal. Boost: heat (damage).

Sam looks at Maeros’s list. Pretty well rounded, lot of elemental spells, and each of them relate back to the Tags somehow, so that works very well. Being a full caste at Level 3, he has 7 MPs to cast those spells.

Maeros finds himself in combat with a few Gerblings. Thinking fast, Maeros uses 3 MP to cast Poltergeist Throw, flinging a bit of rusty metal on the floor of the room towards one of the half-wit greenies. Rolling an attack and adding his SB, the DM announces Maeros hits, skewering the Gerbling with 4d8 damage! After another turn passes, Maeros decides to play it safer and use only 1 MP to cast Heat Metal on the chunk already in the Gerbling. Since they don’t have the chance to dodge this damage, the DM rules that the damage is unavoidable, but it’ll be d4s instead of d8s for damage. 2d4, however, is enough to finish off the Gerbling, and another MP spent on Heat Metal for the last Gerbling’s blade is enough to clear them from the room. Now that he’s spent all but 2 of his MP, he’s not going to be able to do too much until he can get a rest… though when he rests, Sam will be able to switch out an old Spell for something new, maybe Summon Genie?

(Players: you may be wondering how the DM is deciding how to adjudicate the Spells and how much damage they deal. There’s a list of factors and formulas for a DM to use to determine Spell damage, duration and similar variables later in the doc, see that for reference.)

OTHER MECHANICS
There are some other special things that some casters have access to. One of these are Repositories. A spellcaster that uses a Repository must have it on hand whenever they take a rest, else they cannot prepare spells or regain MP. If your Repository is ever destroyed or lost, well, good luck- you’ll probably have to spend a bunch of time and gold to get it back, or go on some quest to find a suitable replacement.
In addition, since cantrips are no longer available, many full casters need an extra boost so that they have interesting and meaningful options in combat as their spells. These classes have a new trait called Sundry Lore. This trait is detailed later, after the list of classes. The description of your class will tell you whether you get this trait or not.

And that’s it! That’s the entirety of the SWDM system in a nutshell. Now go forth and enjoy the feeling of mages being unique, truly mystical and more on-par with the fighters of the party!

Class- STAT, full/half/third, Mem/Prep (Rep, SunLor)
Tags: “Tag 1”, “Tag 2”, “Subclass Tag formula (if applicable)”
Special Rules: if they exist, they’re here

Artificer- INT, half, Memorized (Repository: blueprints)
Tags: “Create Unstable Masterworks”, “Concoct Alchemical Aids”
Special Rules: +2 MP at Level 1
Bard- CHA, full, Memorized (Sundry Lore)
Tags: “Weave Power into Music”, “Subtly Inspire and Enchant”
Cleric- WIS, full, Prepared (Repository: scripture)
Tags: “Beseech the Gods”, “Dispense Exaltation and Damnation”, “Pray for (Domain)”
Druid- WIS, full, Prepared (Sundry Lore)
Tags: “Invoke Nature’s Wrath”, “Honor the Spirits”
Eldritch Knight- INT, third, Memorized
Tags: “Hone your Body for Battle”, “War Arcana”
Paladin- CHA, half, Prepared
Tags: “Hunt Enemies of Order”, “Stay Stalwart”, “Foster (Oath)”
Special Rules: Use MP for Smite (max 5 MP or half level, whichever is lower)
Ranger- WIS, half, Prepared
Tags: “Emulate the Beast”, “Exemplify the Hunter”
Arcane Trickster- INT, third, Memorized
Tags: “Mold Shadow”, “Whisper their Epitaph”
Sorcerer- CHA, full, Memorized (Sundry Lore)
Tags: “Unleash Primordial Power”, “Tap Into your Bloodline”
Special Rules: No Sorcery Points. Instead, gain extra MP equal to half the number of SP you would have, and use Metamagic as additional Boost options for Spells (you can stack Boosts!)
Warlock- CHA, full/half/third, Memorized (Sundry Lore)
Tags: “Commune with the Occult”, “Manipulate and Extort”, “Channel (Patron) Power”
Special Rules: strange system
Wizard- INT, full, Memorized (Repository: spellbook, Sundry Lore)
Tags: “Manipulate Preternatural Forces”, “Study the Beyond”
Special Rules: +2 Spells at Level 1

Sundry Lore
You can examine a non-humanoid creature and ascertain its weak points from your studies in magizoological anatomy. If you use an action inspecting an individual creature, you gain a bonus to weapon damage against it equal to your Proficiency Bonus for the rest of the combat. However, if the creature’s nature/species identity is being masked by an illusion spell or shapeshifted in some way, you will not gain the bonus, but you will learn of the creature’s disguise.

DM SECTION: Quick and cheap rules for adjudicating Spells (feel free to not follow these!):
-Damage/healing from a Spell should be about (1+MP spent)d8 (or d4 for undodgeable damage). Generally, each damaging Spell can have a “rider effect” (“you’re on fire! Take a d4 damage each round until you put it out” or something) without being unbalanced, and it goes a long way towards making a particular Spell “feel” unique.
-Generally, the more MP spent, the higher utility/more out-of-the box usage possible (sure, you can melt the prison bars with Hands of Fire. It’ll cost you a whopping 4 MP, though.)
-MP spent approximately equals the level of slot used: if you ever need a quick reference, relate the effect back to the PHB spells and make a choice as to what “level” it is.
-If the spell is a passive, out-of-combat spell (Aura Vision, Charming Presence), duration is about 1 MP per minute.
-If the spell is a long-duration in-combat spell (Fly, Invisibility), duration is about 1 MP per round.
-Save-or-suck spells that would instantly kill or remove an enemy from combat (like Forcible Polymorph or Arcane Cage) generally have a -5 to Save DC, and 1 MP equals a boost to the DC. Also, generally the duration of these effects are measured in minutes, or d4 minutes, MP to boost.
-If summoning, you should be able to summon a creature with a CR equal to MP spent for short-term summons (1 minute per MP), and half MP spent for long term summons. Use more MP to summon more creatures or replace/revive dead ones.
-Divine intervention and divination should have a 10% per MP spent success rate. Keep in mind, also, who and what the player is asking for guidance- a druid’s Commune with Nature Spirits Spell would have a very different answer given than a wizard’s Astrological Vision. (Perhaps the nature spirits would be unaware of the presence of a metal trap in the party’s path, or the stars do not give names of the person who killed the Queen.)
-A general rule of thumb is that 1 MP is mundane, 5 MP is remarkable (someone sees you cast a 5 MP spell will think of you as a skilled mage), 10 MP is legendary (there’s probably a bardic song about you somewhere now).
-When in doubt, ask the player what they want the Spell to do or achieve, and work from there. If they have an idea of a mechanical effect, too, run with it!
-It may be wise to take unofficial notes on the effects of Spells, particularly when you make a ruling about a major function (6 MP to Teleport across the world, 7 to go to an interstitial plane, 8 to go to an inner/outer plane!), but if that’s too much bookkeeping for you or your spellcaster player, mutability is built into the system, and there’s no harm done in just going with the flow of your game in the moment!

(Included in the doc but not here are multiclassing rules/examples, the MP per level table, and some other bits and bobs.)