Magical Instinct, new 3.5 skill for the sorcerer

[Bergor Terraf]

Magical instinct (Cha; Trained Only)

Sorcerers are naturally infused with magical energy and instinctively know how to manipulate it. By learning to trust that instinct, they can learn about magic around them or cast difficult magic faster.

Check

You can learn information about a spell being cast. The DC is equal to the level of the spell. The DC increases by 5 if the spell doesn't have a verbal or somatic component (+10 if it lacks both). This gives the level of the spell. Beat the DC by 5 and you learn if the spell seems beneficial or not. Beat the DC by 10 and you learn the spell's School, Subschool and Descriptor. Beat the DC by 15 and you learn the name of the spell, but only if you know and can cast that spell. If not, the DM can tell you if it's similar to one of the spells you know.

Metamagic : You can improve a spell with Metamagic without changing it's casting time by making a Magical instinct check with a DC equal to 10 + twice the new level of the spell. If it's successful, the casting time is not increased. If it's failed, the spell fizzles harmlessly. If the check is failed by more than 5, the sorcerer is dealt damage equal to twice the new level of the spell.

Action

None


Try again

No



Notes and comments

Spoiler

Show

While trying to find a way to make metamagic feats more useful to sorcerers, I had the idea of a skill. After some time, it evolved into this. Hope it's useful to someone!

[Clementx]

Rather than inflict another required skill on Sorcerers, half of which is already covered by Spellcraft, why not just make this a class feature of Sors? Spellcraft check against some DC based on modified level to avoid their metamagic penalty. It would be a gradual version of the four or so ways in 3.5 Sors can get around their bad metamagic times.

[Bergor Terraf]

Spellcraft is it-based, so wizards have advantage on it over the sorc. I wanted to do a cha-based version of spellcraft, but not a straight-up copy. I tried to change the abilities slightly to more easily fit with the flavor of the sorcerer.

[DracoDei]

Just make sure that you specify that if some specific check that is specific to a magic item or adventure requires a miscellaneous spellcraft check that this can do that at a penalty and give guild-lines for when it really is "miscellaneous" and that should make this an admirable substitute, rather than an "also needed".

[Eldrys]

Was this skill intended to replace spellcraft checks for sorcerers.

[Milskidasith]

Also, should the sorcerors get a bonus to the spell check if they know the spell already (besides knowing exactly what the spell is on a successful check?)