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View Full Version : Some Infor on Ritual Casting in 4e



Tough_Tonka
2008-05-27, 01:03 PM
So I've been reading the PHB, don't ask me how I got it, and I'm pretty happy with this ritual casting they mentioned in the previews. Here's what I can say so far:

1. You don't need to be a wizard or cleric to cast ritual spells; you only need a ritual spell training feat. However, this feat requires training in the Arcana or Religion skill, which only clerics, paladins, warlocks and wizards have access to, but if you take certain multiclassing feats for these classes you can get access to one of these skills.

2. Rituals are level dependent and replace several spells that wouldn't fit into the the whole at will/encounter/daily spell power system. They include old favorites like Arcane Lock, Animal Messenger, Animate Dead as well as some new stuff.

3. Rituals also replace the item creation feats. There's a potion creation ritual, and a enchant item ritual.

Still reading so I'll post more later if you guys want to hear.

SamTheCleric
2008-05-27, 01:06 PM
You sir... will be bombarded with questions very soon.

Proceed to your bomb shelter.

(And post more!)

Trog
2008-05-27, 01:07 PM
Yay! Under the table previews! :smallbiggrin:

Tonkas ARE built for fun!

Keep em coming! :smallsmile:

kamikasei
2008-05-27, 01:08 PM
I thought you could take a feat to get training in any skill? Granted, spending that feat to multiclass is probably a better deal...

And and and: how are rituals limited? Once you have "learned" a ritual is there any limit on how often you can use it?

AKA_Bait
2008-05-27, 01:08 PM
Please oh please post more later. I'm very curious as to how they did the power/ritual division in the system and that sorts of things fell into each category.

Two specific questions if you would: Are there long duration buffs (like 3e overland flight) in rituals? Are spells like Teleport now ritiuals?

Tough_Tonka
2008-05-27, 01:13 PM
oh hears something interesting

It seems that each ritual has a key skill, either arcana, heal, nature, religion that determines the components you use to perform the ritual. Some some rituals even require a skill check to determine he effectiveness of the skill

For example the Tenser's floating Disk ritual requires an Arcana check to determine how much weight it can carry.

Also that disenchant ritual creates some sort of magical powder called Residuum that can be spell component for for any type of ritual. Normally you have to 100 gp worth of herbs to use certain rituals or 50 gp worth of incense for other rituals depending on the key skill of the ritual.

ShadowSiege
2008-05-27, 01:16 PM
OM NOM NOM NOM RITUAL INFORMATION!

*Puppy dog eyes and orphan facade* Please, sir, may I have some more?

I can't wait for tomorrow's (well, tonight at 9pm's :smalltongue:) preview of rituals. The only specific questions I have are that of what is the process for learning a new ritual, and are you limited to a certain number of known rituals?

Tough_Tonka
2008-05-27, 01:27 PM
Please oh please post more later. I'm very curious as to how they did the power/ritual division in the system and that sorts of things fell into each category.

Two specific questions if you would: Are there long duration buffs (like 3e overland flight) in rituals? Are spells like Teleport now ritiuals?

There doesn't seem to be a flying ritual or a teleportation ritual, but there are portal rituals.

There's an expensive 28 level ritual that lets you create a permanent portal and there's a lv 8 portal ritual that makes a temporary portal that lets you link to a permanent one you know about.

There a 16 level utility power call fly that can last till the end of the encounter or 5 minutes if you sustaining it by spending a minor action each turn.

There's a mass fly at level 22

Tough_Tonka
2008-05-27, 01:33 PM
OM NOM NOM NOM RITUAL INFORMATION!

*Puppy dog eyes and orphan facade* Please, sir, may I have some more?

I can't wait for tomorrow's (well, tonight at 9pm's :smalltongue:) preview of rituals. The only specific questions I have are that of what is the process for learning a new ritual, and are you limited to a certain number of known rituals?

It doesn't really seem so. You keep your rituals in a ritual book. You acquire knew rituals by wither buying them, making (copying) them or finding them as treasure. It does seem you can't make or copy a ritual that you can't preform. Besides the time and amount of money there don't seem to be any limits on how many you can learn.

Trog
2008-05-27, 01:39 PM
So in some preview I saw it showed a non-heroic priest that knew rituals. Once you know a ritual is it something you can cast over and over like a spell out of a spell book (as long as you have the components) or is it more like a scroll? Where once you cast it it's gone?

kamikasei
2008-05-27, 01:40 PM
There a 16 level utility power call fly that can last till the end of the encounter or 5 minutes if you sustaining it by spending a minor action each turn.

So, how do these utility powers fit in to the at-will/encounter/daily scheme? If you can use utility powers outside combat and cast an unlimited number per day they could do a decent job of filling the gap between powers and rituals.

Morty
2008-05-27, 01:43 PM
So, how do these utility powers fit in to the at-will/encounter/daily scheme? If you can use utility powers outside combat and cast an unlimited number per day they could do a decent job of filling the gap between powers and rituals.

I can't be sure of course, but it look like Utility powers are either daily or encounter(which means every 5 minutes) but they're "worth" the same.
In other news, casters will still lunge heavy books around. Yay!

Tough_Tonka
2008-05-27, 01:46 PM
So, how do these utility powers fit in to the at-will/encounter/daily scheme? If you can use utility powers outside combat and cast an unlimited number per day they could do a decent job of filling the gap between powers and rituals.

utility powers can be daily/encounter/at will powers. In this case flying is daily

Azerian Kelimon
2008-05-27, 01:48 PM
So in some preview I saw it showed a non-heroic priest that knew rituals. Once you know a ritual is it something you can cast over and over like a spell out of a spell book (as long as you have the components) or is it more like a scroll? Where once you cast it it's gone?

You mean, the Fallcrest preview? Nope, we can't gleam anything from it, 'cause see, the priest had those rituals as scrolls. Presumably, scrolls are one shot, but rituals are permanently in your head.

Trog
2008-05-27, 01:50 PM
You mean, the Fallcrest preview? Nope, we can't gleam anything from it, 'cause see, the priest had those rituals as scrolls. Presumably, scrolls are one shot, but rituals are permanently in your head.

Ah. I missed that. Must have been skimming too eagerly. :smalltongue:

Draz74
2008-05-27, 02:21 PM
I thought you could take a feat to get training in any skill? Granted, spending that feat to multiclass is probably a better deal...

It's probably -- as I already suspected -- like Star Wars Saga Edition. The feat lets you train any skill that is already a class skill for you.


Are spells like Teleport now ritiuals?

For what it's worth, some WotC employee mentioned in an article (a loooong time ago -- it might have been the first article that ever mentioned the existence of Rituals) that Teleport would be a great example of a Ritual.

AKA_Bait
2008-05-27, 02:55 PM
For what it's worth, some WotC employee mentioned in an article (a loooong time ago -- it might have been the first article that ever mentioned the existence of Rituals) that Teleport would be a great example of a Ritual.

Oh I know. I just wanted to know if WotC had followed up on that little scrap of commentary. Looks like they didn't and made a greater and lesser kind of Gate instead. They might be equivalent or not.

Also, flying for only 5 mins a day... humm...

Morty
2008-05-27, 03:01 PM
Also, flying for only 5 mins a day... humm...

It means that the days of flying, untouchable wizards raining death upon their enemies are over. I won't miss them.

AKA_Bait
2008-05-27, 03:30 PM
It means that the days of flying, untouchable wizards raining death upon their enemies are over. I won't miss them.

I just hope it doesn't also mean the days of a fighter actually being able to do something about a dragon strafing the party with it's breath weapon aren't also over.

mostlyharmful
2008-05-27, 04:18 PM
It means that the days of flying, untouchable wizards raining death upon their enemies are over. I won't miss them.

Taking the option of flight out of the hands of the PCs doesn't help with this, making it a rarer/more-powerful ability just means DnD-3D is shifted up a couple of levels (not such a problem because we're now working to a 30 level calander), makes it even more effective against low level and mook opponents (since they can't get it at 5th anymore), makes it in all likelyhood harder to get in item form or whatever to spread it beyound the casters and finally it means the enemies that can fly become far more powerful (no more laughing at gargoyles)

Chronicled
2008-05-27, 05:08 PM
Taking the option of flight out of the hands of the PCs doesn't help with this, making it a rarer/more-powerful ability just means DnD-3D is shifted up a couple of levels (not such a problem because we're now working to a 30 level calander), makes it even more effective against low level and mook opponents (since they can't get it at 5th anymore), makes it in all likelyhood harder to get in item form or whatever to spread it beyound the casters and finally it means the enemies that can fly become far more powerful (no more laughing at gargoyles)

It means that unless Flight is more widespread than just that Wizard Utility power (and I'm assuming it is), everyone will want to multiclass Wizard.

Not that they wouldn't anyways... :smallwink:

Edea
2008-05-27, 05:22 PM
Like I was saying, man: Carpet Wizard. EPIC. DESTINY.

Aquillion
2008-05-27, 05:52 PM
It doesn't really seem so. You keep your rituals in a ritual book. You acquire knew rituals by wither buying them, making (copying) them or finding them as treasure. It does seem you can't make or copy a ritual that you can't preform. Besides the time and amount of money there don't seem to be any limits on how many you can learn.
I like this. Collecting spells endlessly has always been my favorite part of playing a wizard... not as a matter of power level, I just like collecting spells, even ones I know I'm unlikely to ever use.

Rituals seem even more interesting that way. You can't really use them in combat and any class can get access to them eventually, so they're not as unbalancing... plus you don't want to use them constantly 'cause they waste money. But on the other hand, I gather from what you're saying that I can use any ritual in my ritual book at any time, and don't have to prepare them or anything or use up any resources aside from gold? That could be interesting...

I like the fact that a caster no longer has to give up feats to learn item creation. Especially given that it no longer costs XP, it basically means you're likely to be producing XP for your entire party... acting as a mini-Wal-Mart, almost.

Tough_Tonka
2008-05-27, 10:30 PM
It means that unless Flight is more widespread than just that Wizard Utility power (and I'm assuming it is), everyone will want to multiclass Wizard.

Not that they wouldn't anyways... :smallwink:

There are some warlock powers that let you fly as well. There's a lv 10 daily power that lets you fly and turn insubstantial for up to five minutes but you can't attack, cast spells or do pretty much anything else besides move in this form. There's a lv 22 daily power that lets you grow wings for an encounter or up to five minutes as well.

Tough_Tonka
2008-05-27, 10:50 PM
Its kind of sad, but the only item that lets you fly at will is the magic carpet, a lv 2o item. There are a few items that let items that give you permanent feather fall effect and let you fly for one round per day, but thats about it.

Edea
2008-05-27, 11:20 PM
Its kind of sad, but the only item that lets you fly at will is the magic carpet, a lv 20 item.

I am so homebrewing this epic destiny for wizard characters :smallbiggrin:.