New Wizard Spell - Ethereal Snatch

Ethereal Snatch
Spell Level: M1
Range: 100 feet
Duration: Instant

By casting this spell a wizard can open a tiny rift in space allowing him to grab something at a distance within the spells range.  The object grabbed must be small enough to be grabbed by 1 hand.  This spell good for snatching items off tables, or from hard to reach areas in dungeons.  However, the casters hand is exposed for a moment while snatching the item and can be struck by traps at the GM's discretion.  If a wizard tries snatching an item in control of another, that person/creature gets a saving throw to retain the item.  Any items grabbed must also be fully visible to the caster, not hidden in pockets, etc...

While this spell was developed with swords and wizardry whitebox in mind, it could be adapted to other editions.

B/X Wizard and Elf Spell Lists

As JB from BX BlackRazor has pointed out before:

Magic-users and elves are limited to the number of spells they may know, and their books will contain spells equal to the number and level of spells the caster can use in a single day (thus, the books of a 4th level elf will contain two first and two second level spells).

I have not been playing this way in my B/X games so far. I've been playing that characters can learn spells from spellbooks and scrolls that they find and scribe them into their spell books. I haven't really put a limit on the spells that a wizard/elf can have in their books. Each day they have to memorize spells from their spellbooks. This is pretty close to the way I played 1e and 2e AD&D. I hardly ever worried about how many spells a PC would learn.

However, I've been thinking of loosely following the rule from the expert book listed above. But I would like to alter it in an interesting way:

Wizards/Elves would only be able to "learn" the number of spells equal to the number that they can use in a single day.

However, they can keep spell books with any number of spells in them and they can learn spells from the spellbook of an enemy, but if they already have learned the maximum number of spells of that level they must trade one spell for one spell (essentially learning the new spell causes them to "forget" a spell that was already in their head). It takes them ~1 week of uninterrupted study to change a learned spell slot. Wizards could change spells on the road but only if they don't engage in combat, take damage, or face harsh weather conditions, etc... anything that could take a large portion of their concentration off imprinting the spell into their mind.

Wizards/Elves would not need to consult their books to memorize their spells each day, instead they can cast any of their learned spells up to the # of spells per level that they may cast per day. This would remove the need for wizards and elves to bring spellbooks along for the adventuring trip (unless they think they might want to change a learned slot on the road). If a 2nd level magic user has the ability to learn and cast 2 spells per day and has Magic Missile and Sleep learned he could cast one of those each in a day or cast two sleep spells in a row.

Using this method would improve magic user and elf versatility, trading it for an increased limitation on the amount of spells they can have access to at any given time. Also, having access to another wizards spell books would allow you to "learn" more spells and transcribe them into your books - so there would still be a good reason to have wizard mentors and guilds. I'm not 100% convinced I'd like to adopt it, but I may give it a trial run this fall if I can get together a skype game with the Castle Amber crew. I talked to them about continuing more of a campaign following up on the Castle Amber adventure with a couple of others that I have.

I think I'm going to run them through the Master of the Desert Nomads followed by the Temple of Death adventure. I think those two adventures should easily take 4-5 decent sessions each and would likely bring all of the party members up to 9-10th level if they can defeat the modules.

Aloof Gods and Vancian Clerics

My first high level character that survived past level 10 was a cleric. I realized early on that clerics were a very powerful class. They have the ability to manage their HP better than any other class. They can wear any armor, fight with decent weapons, turn undead, and cast spells! In fact, it is my personal belief that in most editions of the game the cleric is way overpowered relative to the other classes.

One thing that a lot of other GM's have done over the years is give their PC clerics the ability to cast spells without praying for them ahead of time. One excuse for this is that clerics should not have to pray for their spells - instead the diety will grant the magic as the player needs the spells. Another excuse is that if clerics are forces to prepare their spell list ahead of the game they will be forced to choose all healing spells and therefore robbing them of using "the fun spells" during the game. I say bull crap.

I think this viewpoint is tainted by the influence of Christianity on the game. I am a Christian gamer and believe in God. However, I think the typical views of Christianity - that we have a personal god who interacts and listens to us - has begun to seep into the DnD game. In the DnD world I like to think of the gods as being more aloof than our Christian god. This poly-theistic world forces the gods to look down at men as pawns in a battle as they vie with the other deities for the souls and prayers of humanity. They play by certain rules.

In order to perform miracles, clerics must recite ancient prayers and rituals instilled with power over the ages of mankind merely by belief and repitition. These prayers and rituals bind the magics of the fantastical realm and allow clerics to cast this "spell" or "miracle" at any later time by finishing the prayer. The gods are bound by these rules that have been created by the beliefs of humankind. It is this same belief that supports their very existence.

A god can choose not to answer a ritual or prayer, but if his cleric fails to perform the ritual the god cannot just "give the magic" to his cleric. If you want to have "channeling clerics" than why don't you just adapt the rules of Rolemaster or some other channeling based clerical magic system to the DnD game or perhaps a spell point system? In addition, the DnD gods are not personal, they aren't right by your side as you are adventuring. Instead, I see the DnD gods as aloof, proud, and terrible! They watch your cleric and make sure his deeds, actions, and maybe sacrifices please him/her - if they do, then that cleric's prayers will be answered. As a cleric advances in levels he unlocks the secrets of more powerful prayers and rituals - calling on more fearsome miracles.

Anyway, even if you don't buy my fantasy world metaphysical argument about why clerics should use vancian type magic - I think vancian clerical magic in DnD just works better than spell point, channelling, or just letting clerics use their spell slots according to the chart on any spell of that level. I also think it improves player creativity and skill to have to choose out their spells ahead of time and also brings a measure of balance to what I think is already an overpowered class.

Related to this post, I've been thinking quite a bit about greatly altering the cosmology/planar system of Forgotten Realms (which used the standard multiverse system of AD&D). My next post will likely cover that.

Dark Acolytes of Elder Gods

I threw these little acolyte guys against my PBEM group - stats are based on Castles and Crusades but could easily be morphed into LL or S&W:

No Encountered: 2d6

Size: Medium

HD: 2+ (d8)

Move: 30ft

AC: 10

Attacks: by weapon

Special: (see below)

Saves: M

Int: Average to High

Alignment: LE

Type: Human

Treasure: 2

Exp: variable

Description: Acolytes serve the wishes of elder beings from the outer reaches of space and time. They frequently develop religious ceremonies, sacrifices, accouterments, and relics/objects that they feel connect them to their chosen "gods" but the beings that they worship think of them as lesser servants or sometimes as crunchy little snacks :) The acolytes are granted no spells from their worship of these gods, but over time the cult will develop methods of emulating true religions.

For example when encountered if there are over 4 acolytes present at least one of them will be have 3HD and will be carrying some kind of special object, examples include:

1. Lotus Dust(they will blow a pinch of this powder in the face of intended victims, enemies, and sacrifices) it will cause intense hallucinations for 2d6 turns during which time the victim cannot easily concentrate and receives a -4 penalty to all attacks and saving throws.

2. Healing Salve (they use this to simulate divine healing) it is a blend of herbs, fungi, oils and essences of strange plants and from the dark places of the earth. An application of this salve will cure 1d6 hp overnight.

3. Harmonizer - this device can create stunning audible noises when a master employs it by creating a very loud humming noise into one end of the device. If the correct pitch is hit, the device will amplify and harmonize the sound until all creatures with hearing with 60 ft of the device are beset by crippling headaches and stunned unless they pass a saving throw vs. paralyzation.

Other neat ideas are: greek fire, smoke bombs for evasion, strange mirrors with foul effects, etc...

Also, if the group of acolytes exceeds 8 members there will typically be 4HD+ acolyte who will also have access to at least one of the relics described and also will have 1d2 arcane spells. Typically these spells are not the standard spells from the players handbook but are devious black magics of the GM's imaginings. There is only a 50% chance that they will be carrying a spell book if encountered outside of their "church".

Example Spell:

Exquisite Horror - Level 1 Wizard Spell:

CT: 1, R: 100ft, D: 1 hour/level, SV: Intelligence Negates, SR: yes, Comp: V,S,M

Exquisite horror will imbue its victim with unshakable fear and horror. If approached the victim will try to run and hide from any moving creature they notice and if cornered will faint or freeze up with paralyzing fear or attack every being in sight. Victims already suffering from the effects of Lotus Dust will not be allowed a saving throw against this spell.

Ritual Magic Customization

I have been working more on this ritual magic idea for clerics (see older posts 1 and 2). I’ve been thinking about how by customizing the rituals you could adapt the cleric class to play the role of the druid, paladin, and others... instead of adding on brand new class kits for these roles.

If the cleric worships a nature god (or pantheon of nature spirits/gods) the DM could craft a series of rituals that would replicate traditional druidic abilities:

speak with animals

speak with plants

pass without trace

shapeshift

resist elements/energy (fire, water, cold, electricity)

control weather

accelerate growth

healing

For a cleric worship a good aligned martially bent god(s) the DM could provide abilities that replicate classic paladin abilities:

Healing Touch

cure disease

cure poisons

smite evil

holy shield (bonus to saves vs. evil magic)

holy blade (enchant weapon to smite evil - strike undead that need +1 to hit or better???)

detect ability (maybe come up with a cool name)

I think a neat idea about this ritual magic concept is that you could customize each cleric to match the ethos of the god he worships. And you could provide some variety of rituals so the cleric character can have some build options (or change daily if the rituals are short use or single use).

I’ve got ideas for a couple of additional builds - holy cleric of a good aligned diety, unholy cleric of a diety of madness and destruction, cleric of a demon prince of lies, cleric of a diety of love/lust/beaty

I’m thinking I might compile these clerical builds into a document and posting it up on the blog.

Ritual Magic Part 2

Here are some early ideas for the way the ritual system might be set up along with some example rituals... Obviously I would have to tinker with the exact numbers for all of this. It would be easiest to adapt to a specific world where the desires of the pantheons are known. If anybody has some input about how this might be done, or knows any other systems that have been created for another game that are like this - let me know. It seems like somebody has probably done something like this before.

# of Ritual Power Slots Active at a Time: 1/level

Rituals of higher power may take up 2 or more slots. Extremely powerful ritual spells may take up 5 or more slots.

Once a ritual power is expended or elapsed and is no longer active a cleric character may immediately arm himself with a new ability if the proper ritual casting demands can be met.

Example Rituals:

Healing Touch: Cost = 1 slot, Duration = 1 week, Ritual = cleric washes hands in a preparation of exotic oils (GM determination) for 1 hour in a copper pot over a candle prepared from bee wax while chanting prayers for healing power from diety (pick appropriate God). Component cost approximately 10 gp. Effect/Power = while active the character can heal 1d6/lvl HP (max of 3d6) three times per day

Healing Hands: as healing touch but Cost = 2, The oils must be suffused with vital herbal spices increasing the component cost to 200gp/use. The Effect is the same but the the caster can heal 1d6/lvl HP (max 6d6) three times per day. Caster must be 5th level to use this effect.

Wracking Curse (non lawful or good alignments): cost = 2 ,Duration = Permanent until fetish destroyed or spell countered, Ritual = the caster of this spell must acquire a piece of the intended victim’s body. A single hair, nail clipping, or eye lash would be enough. They create a doll made of sticks bound with rope and cloth with the piece of the victims body sown into the doll. Once the doll is finished, the arms and legs are broken one at a time. They can be broken quickly or spread out - one broken at a time over years. Effect = the victim feels stabbing ghostly pains emanating from the broken doll limb. For each limb broken temporarily subtract -1DEX, -1CON, -1INT (for humans -4 to each of these stats is the highest level of this curse). Saving throws made that involve these aspects of the character (GM determination depending on gaming system used) should have a -1 / broken limb. The effect can be stopped immediately if the doll is destroyed by tearing it apart or burning it over a fire. Other clerics should be able to develop a counter blessing that will prevent this spell from working (DM determines the required components and costs to work this magic).

Ritual Magic

I've been thinking quite a bit about ritual magic systems for DnD style gaming. I think it could be something that could be tacked on to the magic systems that are currently in use.

First the player would have to learn a ritual. This could be via training, ancient texts, or even god given (a DM could "give" a ritualistic caster one free ritual per level - automatically learned, or let the player develop them with DM approval).

After learning the ritual - the spell caster would have to perform the ritual. This could involve special components, a lengthy invocation with lots of chanting and such, and it could employ sacrifices (gold, oils, food, living creatures, etc...) to the Gods, demons, spirits, etc... Certain rituals may only be valid if performed on a certain day, or time of day, or during one season only, etc.. You may also have to perform the ritual at a certain spot, or in a holy church or location, etc...

The ritual would create a magical effect that lasts for a specified amount of time. It could be permanent, or it could last for a specific amount of time. Or it could end upon a specific circumstance being achieved. For example if the character is seen, or is touched by light, or by moonlight, or if the character eats or drinks anything, etc... the effect is gone.

I've heard about ritual magic systems being used for the Carcosa game. I didn't order a copy of this game though because none of my players are into the sword and planet thing. I wonder if they are similar to this idea or completely different.

Although I really like clerics in ODD and 2nd edition. I've always thought that the vancian magic system for clerics is a bit strange - considering you are petitioning the god for very defined effects that you can then cast later just like a wizard. Maybe an alternate cleric class could be developed that utilizes rituals along side traditional cleric type abilities. I guess this style of cleric could pray to one god only or to a host of gods. I think each setting would have to adapt the system around their cosmology.

Cleric (alt)

HD, experience progression, and attack table identical to your favorite ruleset.

Turn Undead (unchanged)

Ritual Magic

Next up: a list of possible rituals and ideas on how many rituals you could have "active" at a time. Maybe some thoughts on whether there would be Levels of rituals or if they would all be the same level.