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View Full Version : Martial Vs. Magic balancing system [PEACH]



Nonanonymous
2007-12-15, 08:25 PM
This probably isn't really all that balanced, but nonetheless I wanted to create a balancing system that allowed for martial classes to be on an even playing field with the casters, while at the same time allowing for the existence of the sort of wizards, clerics, etc. that would have towers and the like. I had an idea for six templates applicable to the martial classes as well, but it didn't seem to make as much sense and I couldn't decide which abilities would be the most useful in the application of killing mages.

The system: While magic is one of the most potent forces known to the world, the bodies of living creatures are not properly designed to handle these energies, forcing those who wish to pursue greater magical powers to seek undeath or transformation into a non-native outsider.

Thaumaturgical decay
The term used to describe the physical weakening and eventual death of mortals who attempt to channel too much of the raw power which becomes magic.
Thaumaturgical decay is a template that is added to any non-outsider, or native outsider which has tapped into 5th level spells or higher through class level advancement. (Liches and evolved undead are also exempt from the negative effects of progressing further into magic however, except as noted here, they cannot gain any special abilities if they gain the evolved undead template multiple times if their spell casting abilities are higher than 5th level.)
A thaumaturgically decaying creature uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Speed: For every spell level past 5th each of the base creature's speeds decreases by 3 feet, but never falls below 10 feet.
Abilities: Decrease from the base creature as follows: With 5th level spells--Str -2, Dex -2, Con -1, 6th level--(Do not stack) Str -4, Dex -3, Con -3, 7th level--Str -6, Dex -6, Con-4, 8th level--Str -7, Dex -6, Con -5, 9th level--Str -6, Dex -6, Con-6

Thaumaturgical madness
More often than not, the power of magic is too much for the mind to bear, and drives them completely mad, causing them to attack everything around them with whatever weapons and spells they possess. Thaumaturgical madness may inflict any creature which attempts to learn 7th level or higher spells, be it a wizard studying a new spell, or any spellcaster gaining a new level with 7th level or higher spells. It requires a will save with a DC of 30 to avoid, and if the save is failed, the affected character's eyes begin to glow with an unnatural light, and they begin to speak in nothing but the verbal components of spells, casting them wildly and attempting to annihilate everything surrounding them. If the caster is still alive within 3d4 hours following the time he was afflicted with madness, they erupt into a fountain of magical, unquenchable flames that do not burn anything but flesh, leaving nothing more than a pile of ashes amidst their clothing and equipment on the ground.

Embrace of Otherworldliness(This name just strikes me as terrible in so many ways, but I can't think of anything that would work any better.)
The Embrace of Otherworldliness is a ritual of sorts that applies the non-native outsider type to a mortal denizen of the material plane. It does not grant any special abilities, but it does offer a way to learn spells higher than 5th level. The ritual varies from outsider to outsider, but it almost always requires a steep price, generally unquestioning loyalty should the recipient be called upon for some task. The recipient generally looks like a planetouched most appropriately related to the race which changed them into an outsider, but gains no bonuses aside from those that are given by the addition of the outsider type to the recipient.
The ritual requires an enchanted stone to be created, which costs 90,000 GP (Or the gathering of specific materials on the appropriate plane, decided on the DM's discretion), 4,800 XP, and the Craft Wondrous Item feat. Once the stone is crafted, the ritual begins, which involves the stone channeling the energies that make up the plane the mortal wishes to become a part of into their ordinarily material body. The ritual lasts for a full 24 hours, and if it is interrupted for any reason, it fails.

The Ritual of Crucimigration, described in the Libris Mortis, applied to an existing undead may potentially apply the Evolved Undead template, also described in Libris Mortis. The undead petitioner must pay 90,000 GP for the ritual, and must succeed on a DC 30 Will save or their essence will be unbound from their body, and they will die. An undead petitioner of the ritual does not lose a level as a living petitioner would, however they do lose the 1,000 Xp.