Adding a cost/risk to magic

[Angelalex242]

Paladins in general would seem to be safest.

Presuming they prioritize Charisma, Divine Grace doubles their charisma bonus, plus proficiency.

That might be a point of pride for them from level 6 on.

[Kane0]

Paladins in general would seem to be safest.

Presuming they prioritize Charisma, Divine Grace doubles their charisma bonus, plus proficiency.

That might be a point of pride for them from level 6 on.

Yes their aura of protection also applies to death saves too, so it would apply to the ferality save too.

Edit: and on that note some other things that would apply:
Bless, lucky, flash of genius, bardic inspiration, diamond soul, favored of the gods, bend luck, dark ones own luck, protection of the talisman, portent, resistance (ive got a homebrew version actually worth using), ring/cloak of protection, luckstone

[Arkhios]

No, artifices and sorcerers use their casting stat as they both are spellcasters.
Fighter and barbarian dont have proficiency in a mental Saving throw, thats why they are different. And I support con because it make more sense then strength
Rogues for example would roll Int, rangers and monks wisdow and paladins charisma, because it is the mental (and spellcasting) stat they have proficiency

Granted, I jumped back into discussion without having reading all thread up to this point, so maybe I missed something that was discussed about this up-thread. Rules As Written though, on the other hand...

[Bane's Wolf]

To refine the rule then:

Spellcasting: When you cast a spell or use a spell slot, roll a saving throw (no stat), the DC equals the level of the spell cast or slot expended. If you fail this saving throw, you do not expend the spell slot or casting but instead gain 1 ferality point. Casting a spell as a Ritual grants you advantage on this saving throw.
Magical Abilities: When you use a magical ability (that would be affected by an anti-magic field) that does not function by the use of spell slots, you roll a saving throw (no stat) against DC equal to your proficiency bonus. If you fail this saving throw, you do not expend a use of that ability but instead gain 1 ferality point.

Being in a wild magic zone imposes disadvantage on ferality saving throws.
Attuning to a magic item gives you one ferality point that cannot be recovered (see below) until that attunement is lost.

If you reach 10 ferality points a creature goes feral. Feral PCs are rendered unplayable and handed over to the DM to control as NPCs.

Recovery: As part of a long rest, a creature may attempt a Charisma saving throw, the DC equals 10 + the number of ferality points the creature has. If successful, the creature removes one ferality point.


Optional: The DM may allow some means of restoring a feral creature, such as via a Heal spell or the use of powerful magic items.
Optional: Creatures that fail their ferality save when using magic also contaminates it, forcing any other creature affected by the spell or magical affect to also make a ferality roll against the same DC.

This looks very good

I'd like to steal parts of this for my own setting, but very modified (homebrewing the homebrew )

I want my arcane magic to be risky, specifically "Dark Magics" like demonic magic or necromancy. These might give a character Corruption Points (ferality points lite )

I'd like to make this a great temptation to players, so perhaps have the corruption points a character has add to their spell power in some way, making them significantly more powerful, but at the risk of going too far and losing control of their character.

I'll definitely consider a lot of the discussion here. Thank you for all the insights

[Grim Portent]

Jumping over a lot of the thread, but I'd be inclined to go as mechanically simple as possible for such a thing.

When you cast a spell you get Ferality/Corruption/Madness/Whatever points equal to the spell slot level, 0 for cantrips. Hit 100 points and you go insane or mutate into a monster, you lose points equal to half your level every day. Points can be transferred to a willing or incapacitated target at a rate of 1:3, each point the caster is reduced for applies 3 points to the target.

The only ways to maintain sanity are to periodically abstain from the use of eldritch powers or to offload the burden onto those weaker than yourself, or volunteers if you're lucky enough to have people willing to shoulder the arcane burden. Means spellcasters are discouraged from going whole hog every day, instead having rest days where they try to cast few if any spells to keep their points low, such as regular downtime between adventures.

It's also more dangerous the higher your level, as the points you can gain scale faster than the rate at which you can ethically dispense them, encouraging more powerful casters to bend or break previous moral limits in their pursuit of power. Want to throw all your spell slots around at level 5? You can do it for days with no problem. Do it at level 20? You'd better have someone to offload ferality onto or you're turning before day 2 is over as the greater energies you channel overwhelm and drown your sense of self.

NPCs can only sustain points equal to their hit dice before transforming. So offloading any energy into a commoner or basic goblin turns them into some sort of wretched humanoid, while a knight or similar can withstand more eldritch corruption before falling. The 'monsters' are not necessarily evil or irrational, but a less pleasant form of existence than they started as with a corresponding rise in cruelty and cowardice.


Half-casters and monks and the like gain and lose points at the same rate as full casters, which means they have to really go ham for an extended period to risk turning, to reflect their lesser magical power being less corrupting. Ferality gain rate for some magic adjacent non-caster classes would be low enough to not be worth tracking.

[noob]

Jumping over a lot of the thread, but I'd be inclined to go as mechanically simple as possible for such a thing.

When you cast a spell you get Ferality/Corruption/Madness/Whatever points equal to the spell slot level, 0 for cantrips. Hit 100 points and you go insane or mutate into a monster, you lose points equal to half your level every day. Points can be transferred to a willing or incapacitated target at a rate of 1:3, each point the caster is reduced for applies 3 points to the target.

The only ways to maintain sanity are to periodically abstain from the use of eldritch powers or to offload the burden onto those weaker than yourself, or volunteers if you're lucky enough to have people willing to shoulder the arcane burden. Means spellcasters are discouraged from going whole hog every day, instead having rest days where they try to cast few if any spells to keep their points low, such as regular downtime between adventures.

It's also more dangerous the higher your level, as the points you can gain scale faster than the rate at which you can ethically dispense them, encouraging more powerful casters to bend or break previous moral limits in their pursuit of power. Want to throw all your spell slots around at level 5? You can do it for days with no problem. Do it at level 20? You'd better have someone to offload ferality onto or you're turning before day 2 is over as the greater energies you channel overwhelm and drown your sense of self.

NPCs can only sustain points equal to their hit dice before transforming. So offloading any energy into a commoner or basic goblin turns them into some sort of wretched humanoid, while a knight or similar can withstand more eldritch corruption before falling. The 'monsters' are not necessarily evil or irrational, but a less pleasant form of existence than they started as with a corresponding rise in cruelty and cowardice.


Half-casters and monks and the like gain and lose points at the same rate as full casters, which means they have to really go ham for an extended period to risk turning, to reflect their lesser magical power being less corrupting. Ferality gain rate for some magic adjacent non-caster classes would be low enough to not be worth tracking.

Seeing how many foes adventurers beats up, I feel it will somehow encourage adventurers to be more merciful and spare foes in exchange for them to accept some corruption.

[Unoriginal]

Idea: what if you could cast the spell (or some spells, at least) as a group, and share the cost between all participants?

[Grim Portent]

Seeing how many foes adventurers beats up, I feel it will somehow encourage adventurers to be more merciful and spare foes in exchange for them to accept some corruption.

In the context of the set up I proposed, many enemies would turn into monsters should they agree to that, which may or may not be worse than death. Of course someone like a bandit doesn't really have rights in a medieval legal system, so you can do whatever you want with them when you capture them alive, and my proposal does allow for forcing corruption into an unwilling but helpless victim.

Depending on what counts as a monster for the purposes of corruption, as in what is already corrupt and cannot be used to offload corruption, it might be the case that very few regular enemies are even valid targets.