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View Full Version : [3.5] Opinions on Recharge Magic With Book of Nine Swords



Eclipse
2008-10-24, 06:00 PM
So I got it in my head awhile ago that it might be fun to run a game using the Recharge Magic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/rechargeMagic.htm) variant rules for casters and Book of Nine Swords for melee classes.

Now, I know a lot of people might ask, "why not just play 4th edition?" The truth is, most of my friends aren't interested in 4th, though I do intend to try it out at some point. Aside from that, looking over 4th edition, I feel as though they left out some of the cooler, though admittedly unnecessary, spells that helped flesh magic out and show you just how much can be done with magic. Check out Binding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/binding.htm) for a sample of the stuff I think is missing in 4e... though to be fair, I could have overlooked these kinds of things.

The goal of putting the recharge magic variant for spellcasters with the Book of Nine Swords for everyone else is two-fold: allow spellcasters to remain at close to full power all day long in a high magic campaign setting, and to balance this, make sure anyone not playing a caster is encouraged to play a class that can keep up with casters using this high-powered variant.

I'd be open to reflavoring the non-supernatural maneuvers to seem less magical in nature (because even they seem to be fairly magically inclined to me) for those who feel the descriptions should be put more in line with what a non-magical warrior does.

Now, obviously this is likely to be unbalanced, given the variant rules, but I also feel as though it will make magic feel more like it does in fantasy novels, at the fingertips of those who know it's secrets. Since everyone will have powers of some kind that can be essentially used all day long, I don't think the balance issues will be horrible, but I could be wrong.

So now I ask, does this sound like the kind of game you might be interested in playing? Or even better, have you tried it before and did it work out well or horribly? Any other opinions on this?

NephandiMan
2008-10-24, 08:04 PM
Sounds like a pretty good idea, as long as you don't mind teh n00bz joking about charging their lasers. I don't have the strong animosity against Vancian casting that some have, but as someone who enjoys both tabletop and video RPGs, I am sometimes frustrated by running out of spells (especially at low levels). And hey, if it turns out that the disparity between casters and non-casters is still too great, you can always give the spells longer recharge times.

JaxGaret
2008-10-24, 08:36 PM
Keep in mind that Recharge Magic only works if you don't allow non-core spells.

That is, unless you're willing to either a) throw caution/balance to the wind and make casting time rulings on the fly or b) make a ruling on every single non-core spell that you're allowing in your game before the sessions even start.

Eclipse
2008-10-24, 10:08 PM
Keep in mind that Recharge Magic only works if you don't allow non-core spells.

That is, unless you're willing to either a) throw caution/balance to the wind and make casting time rulings on the fly or b) make a ruling on every single non-core spell that you're allowing in your game before the sessions even start.

While that's something I didn't actually think about, I typically only allow non-core spells (or non-core anything, for that matter) on a case-by-case basis unless it's a sourcebook that has a special place in the game. So, one more requirement for allowing any given non-core spell would be whether or not it's easy to apply the right recharge time based on the existence of spells that fill a similar niche. So it shouldn't be a big problem, but definitely good to be prepared for when someone wants approval on a new spell.