Continuing on Magic and Race

So after I dropped the last idea into my online bucket, I went ahead and made a brief write-up for it:

"Certain types of magic are traditional to (and generally guarded by) certain races:

Dwarves are regarded as the masters of Gem Magic, while Elves have long been the keepers of Crystal Resonance.  This has lead to a feud between the two races, as the Dwarves begrudge the harvesting of quartz and other appropriate crystals for what they view as a "perversion" of Gem Magic, while the Elves say that Gem Magic was an attempt by the Dwarves to steal the knowledge of Crystal Resonance.

Halflings use Sorcery, though other races often refer to it derogatorily as Witchcraft.  It is a simplistic magic, but with no less potential to be powerful.

Gnomes, with their analytical minds and love for categorizing, developed Occultism, which relies upon hidden knowledge derived from both arcane formulas and religious texts and ceremonies (which are often formulas disguised as dogma and doctrine).

Humans, with their short lifespans and overwhelming drive for power and knowledge, have not developed their own form of magic, instead learning whatever form they prefer (or can get their hands on).

It is possible to learn more than one type of magic, though finding willing teachers may be difficult."

Magic and Race

So I'm puttering about, as usual, with my various spreadsheets and text files, trying to determine how many or which magic systems I want to keep, like I do.  I'm starting to separate things out by assigning which stat is used for casting, when suddenly a thought hits me: what if your character's race determined what sorts of magic you had access to?

So maybe humans have access to gem magic, which I figure is more or less universal, as well as some other type, probably based on the spell lists in various resource books.  And maybe elves can use gem magic, as well as the free-form d6 based magic system I came up with.  In the meanwhile, maybe dwarves can use gem magic, as well as something based on runes, and halflings get gem magic and... I don't know yet.  But the idea just hit me about five minutes ago.

Whaddaya want for nothin'?  A rubber biscuit?

Gem Magic

One of the several d20 books I have on my shelves is R.A. Salvatore's Demonwars Campaign Setting book. It's got a neat flavor to it, despite that I've never read the books its based on. Definitely a lower magic setting than traditional D&D, with most hybrid classes only being permitted if they drop their spellcasting abilities, and clerics/druids/wizards/sorcerers being replaced entirely with setting-appropriate casting types based on the indigenous magic system: specially imbued gemstones.

Woo, objectification.

Sexualized cover art aside, I really like the concept of gem magic and the way it has been implemented in this system.  Enough that I would use it, perhaps slightly modified, in my own games, except that as it is I'm already struggling with too many options and magic systems.  I had wanted to make this system less complicated, not more, and having multiple systems of magic and spellcasting does not fit with that goal.

Regarding the setting's system, essentially there are gemstones which are imbued with magic (as well as naturally occurring gemstones that are not imbued, and can't be used to cast spells).  The type of stone determines what type of magic or effects it can produce in the hands of a skilled wielder.  Certain feats permit wielding two or even three stones at once, combining them to produce new effects not possible with only one gemstone.

The setting uses a mana-type system instead of spells-per-day, since you invoke the power of a stone through channeling that mana into/through it, and gem-wielding classes get 1d8 mana per level, with a bonus from their Con modifier.  This still provides a limiter, which is what a spells/day system does, but there is also the secondary limiter of having any magic dependent upon having one of these special gemstones.  There's no learning new spells each level, or scroll scribing giving a wizard a utilitarian edge.  You either have the stone you need, or you don't - leveling just gives you more mana.  Multiple gem wielders, though, can potentially share stones with each other, and I don't think there's any mention of stones breaking or losing their magical properties with use.

Combining it with any other magic system has the potential to make gem magic significantly under-powered, which means if I do want to use it, it may have to be the only magic system available.  Alternatively, I could keep all these systems as options and leave it up to the players as to what gets used.

Mental Balancing Act

Last post got me thinking about how Psionics could be balanced so as not to be too overpowering in comparison with other magic types.

The first limiter, of course, is that the "casting stat" for Psionics is a derived stat, so to have a comparable amount of power to draw on you need to have multiple base stats which are high enough to average to another high or moderately-high stat.  With a system where there are only three base stats, admittedly, that is not necessarily as difficult as some, and yet it also means one low score can remove it as a viable option.

Something else to consider is what can affect, or is affected by, what.

Physical can affect physical things.  That's... pretty much it.

Magic can affect physical things, and it can affect magical things.  It can also bypass physical, depending on the spell.

Psionics can affect physical things (though this may or may not be more difficult), and it can affect mental/psionic things.  It can easily (depending on the setting, nearly by default) bypass physical.

But magic does not (at least typically) affect psionics, and likewise psionics do not affect magic.

So where's the problem?

Generally, magic does physical damage.  Even when it bypasses physical armor, it does physical damage or has some physical effect.  Psionics do mental damage, the grand majority of the time.  So a psionicist can easily bypass not only physical armor, but any form of resistance to physical damage, and is therefore even more effective against physical-based characters than a magically-trained character.  In addition, since magic doesn't affect psionics, a psion can bypass magical defenses as well, and is only slightly deterred by the better mental stats of a spellcaster vs. a fighter.

On the other hand, a psion can't block a non-physical magic attack, either.  Hmm.

Ok, so really, where's the problem?

Even if I permit a magic-user to affect psionics, and psions to affect magic (at an increased power cost for either) all I'm doing is making attack and defense types more accessible.  Which would mean mages and psions could actually have a chance of resisting each other rather than being glass cannons.

Maybe it isn't as intrinsically overpowered as I thought.

Free-Form Featherfall

So, I've scrapped the entirety of my magic system, including the compendium list of spells that I'd accumulated, and replaced it with a free-form system somewhat reminiscent of the casting system in Fabletop or the skill and magic system in Shadowrun.  For purposes of nostalgia (and because I'm not ready to scrap my list of weaponry and make all weapons of any given size equal), I still have physical combat within the d20 set-up.

So how does this make things simpler?

I have some basic rules for how spells work, and how adding on different effects increases the cost of any given spell on casting.  But by making the magic system entirely free-form I eliminate the need for resource books.  No more looking up spell descriptions.

It makes it potentially more powerful, sure.  High-powered mages have always been powerful.  And there's still the limiter of "I'm the DM," plus the added bonus that a player can't point to the rulebook and say "but, but, but!"  Plus, it gives the player an excuse to roll a whole bunch of six-siders, which is always fun.

My test subje-erm... game tester has brought up the concern that it can be easier on the player to have a list of spells to work from, the idea that you can look in your toolbox and see what you've got.  And while there is some truth there, if a player wanted to they could write down spells they've used or come up with to refer from later on as well.  I think the potential for versatility and accessibility outweighs that particular bonus.  Plus, I've already come up with a short list of example spells that simulate well-known effects, so if someone says "well what can I do?" I can hand them that list.

Another aspect of this free-form system is that it means any caster can cast any spell.  Healing, direct-damage, buffs/debuffs, whatever, is free game.  Because as I've discussed here before, the idea that any given person can't figure out how to make a spell work in their own tradition is a bit weak.  So I have two spellcasting traditions, Arcanist and Spiritualist.  You can claim the power comes from a potato on a string around your neck, if you like - the only mechanical difference is which of the two spellcasting stats you use for your primary.

This free-form system will also work for psionics, and I have the mechanics in place to support a psionic system, but psionics have always been a bit game-breaking as far as power goes, primarily due to the general non-existence of psionic-resistant monsters.  I'm thinking I may keep psionic ability as a rarity, rolled at character generation, as my mother does it.

Staring back at myself

Sometimes I just have to stare something in the face long enough before I can see it.

Sorcery is Arcane.  Ritualism is Divine.  The four schools that were under each are combined into one skill.

Is this a perfect balance?  Well, no.  Transmutation as a spell group has always dominated the list by the sheer number of spells it has.  As it is, I'll be going through the Arcana Unearthed spells and redistributing them as I feel appropriate.  Because I can do that.  And I'll probably add in a few here and there that I really liked the flavor of (probably a good deal from the Arcanis system).  And I'll remove the typical summoning spells, replacing them with my preferred one-shot summons, and that by itself should help balance between the two groupings.

Spellcraft as a skill would allow access to more complex magics from the other magical discipline (skill in either discipline would give access to the simple spells from any school).  Exotic spells from your own discipline could be learned at ranks 3, 6, and 9, and more could be learned (from either discipline) through the use of Combat Proficiencies.

Unrelated quick thought: Base exotic weapon proficiency on a new Weaponmaster skill - each rank gives access to the exotic weapons of a different basic group (polearms, heavy blades, etc.), chosen by the player upon placing points in the skill.

Sorcery vs. Ritualism

In the interests of simplicity, then, I'm once again taking a look at the magic system.  Dividing things up into schools of magic, while it makes sense in some ways, has also imposed some limits that were not intended.  Not to mention that the sheer volume of spells I've accumulated from so many different sourcebooks in order to fill out the lists of some of the lesser endowed schools (such as Divination) makes sifting through them prohibitive.  Of course, the idea of rendering all that work invalid has only been more and more distasteful the more I've added to it, but I think something needs to give.

Part of this stems from reading through another sourcebook, Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed.  In this book, magic has been separated according to complexity.  Every level has simple spells, which any caster might access, complex spells which might require greater training or access, and exotic spells, spells that might become the signature ability of a character because of their rarity or difficulty.  And the book has its own magic spells, already separated into these categories.

Trying to just cram it into the full list would destroy the balance.  Trying to split the full list into simple, complex, and exotic is an ambitious and prohibitive project.  It would be easiest, if I want to use this method, to simply use only this one spell list, but it is tiny in comparison to what I have, and there are entire schools with less than ten spells total, and none in the first few levels.  Transmutation, as per the usual, has the most spells, including a few I disagree should be placed there, but others have also commented on the favoritism Cook shows for Transmuters.  Obviously, this wouldn't work for a system where schools of magic are learned individually.

And so I'm considering scrapping all of this subdivision, and offering simply two choices:  Sorcery, and Ritualism.

Sorcery, based on Mind stats, akin to Dragaeran sorcery, where the caster simply pulls energy (either to him or from within, I'll leave that to the player's flavor preference) and tosses it to achieve the desired effect.  This would apply also to any magic system where memorization is more important than intuition, though it could be argued that the use of magical formulae is ritualistic.

Ritualism, based on Soul stats, which might be Eastern witchcraft, or religion-based, or even bardic magic - any ritual-based magic.

I'm not sure if this will be the final iteration or not.  There are some discrepancies, I'm sure.  Discworld wizards, for example, might well be ritualists with such a system, especially when you consider some of the high-powered magic such as the Rite of AshkEnte.  But, considering how the Disc works, and what that Rite in particular does, that may not be inappropriate, especially if you go back to Pratchett's Sourcery.  More concerning might be that magic used by divine beings might be categorized as Sorcery, since they're simply lobbing energy.  Another explanation might be that they're imposing their will upon the cosmos, which would place their magic as being based on Willpower stats.

But all of this is simply a matter of semantics, a matter of the magic's origin, and not a matter of what you can do with it.  Arcana Unearthed uses the same spell list for all caster types, leaving it to the player (and a handful of various feats and methods of altering magical effects selected by the player) to determine the flavor.  This method would mean that the source of magic has no bearing on its limits - a Sorcerer might heal someone just as well or better than a Ritualist.  It does away entirely with the debate of cleric vs. mage, arcane vs. divine, and says instead, "This is what is possible.  How you get there is the fun part."

In some ways, though, it seems they should complement each other.  Let's use the Force as an example: most of the active abilities used in combat such as a Force Push or even the Jedi Mind Trick would be based in Sorcery, in the Mind.  The ability to use the Force as a means to predict the future, or to commune with deceased Masters, or to sense a great "disturbance" would be based in Ritualism, in the Soul.  So how do I account for this?

Maybe I should just forego Mind and Soul entirely, and create a Magic stat, then separate spells by casting time - anything longer than a standard action is based in Ritualism.

With Great Power Comes A Need For Control

I recently showed my static mana plan to my mother, the woman who raised me in modified AD&D. She liked the concept and implementation, up to a point - she raised concerns over it being too much power for a low-level character. My original thought was that, yeah, a 1st level mage might end up being able to cast 18 magic missiles, but magic is to a wizard what a sword is to a fighter, and the latter aren't restricted to how many swings in a day.

But then I thought about some of the other system changes I'd made from 1st and 3rd, and how weaponry and armor, as well as multiple attacks, have less to do with your class and more with your inherent stats. A mage might have stats optimized for casting, but if they'd taken fighter as a class instead they'd be no better off in physical combat. Any class can wear any armor, and my spell failure for arcane magic is based off of how much metal is in the armor rather than how much it inhibits arm movements for somatic components (something which seemed far too easily remedied with careful manufacture anyway).

So maybe I'm being too nice to casters.

Rather than come up with a system that limits how much mana is available until the maximum is reached, however, I thought about the possibility that spells might, at first, take more mana than would be indicated by their level. Say, for example, that at first level, a 1st level spell costs 5 mana instead of 1. You're just starting out in the world of magic, you haven't had a lot of practical experience, and you're still learning how to properly, and efficiently, wield the power you have. At second level, the cost goes down by 1 point. At third level, it now takes 3 mana for a 1st level spell, and so on until you reach the minimum of 1 point for a 1st level spell at 5th level.

Every time you gain access to a new level of spells, the cost of them is X higher than normal, let's say 4. That would mean that 4 levels after you start getting spells of that level, they would cost the normal minimum of 1 mana per spell level.

This could be a bit confusing for cantrips, since they normally take 1/4th of a mana. I could start them at 4, or I could be nice and start them at 1, dropping by 1/4 each level until the minimum.

Thoughts?

Delusions of Shakespeare

So why am I "The Bard?"

Contrary to the title above, I'm not trying to horn in on Will's racket. I've always been very musically inclined, and am an accomplished vocalist. I've been operatically trained, have been appearing in plays and musical theater productions since Elementary School with an actor's resume some 5 pages long. I've played trombone, piano, and guitar, but my primary instrument is my voice. As a young child, brought to events by my parents, my goal in the SCA was to join the musician's guild (and go fight in full armor, but what kid doesn't want to do that?). I am a Master Harper in one such SCA guild, modeled after Harper Hall in the Dragonriders of Pern series (and sanctioned by Anne McCaffrey).

I even bring my guitar, a Martin Backpacker, to gaming sessions. When I was a regular attendee at the Tuesday Games(tm), I would have it out nearly every session. Because of its small frame, it didn't interfere with most dice rolling, and it's easy to put to the side when the action gets heavy.

One particular Tuesday night, playing 3rd Ed. D&D, the party was trying to make their way down a corridor that was bottlenecked by a horde of goblins. As the rest of the group began discussing options, I started plucking out a tune I'd picked up at the St. Louis Renaissance Faire a year or two prior, modified for the current events:

"They're standing in line.
They're standing in line.
They want to get killed so
They're standing in line.
They're standing in line
For a very long time.
They want to get killed so
They're standing in line."

"Everybody sing!"

And everyone did. I led half a dozen people on an impromptu sing-along reprise, most of which had never even heard the tune before. There was no hesitation on anyone's part. No one missed a beat, and no one missed a word.

To make a group of full-grown men break into song without prior training or expectation of performance? That's a powerful feeling. If I'd needed any more convincing of real-world bardic magic by that point in my life, that event would have satisfied me.

So that's why I'm the Bard.

This is what happens when I have time to re-think...

So, I have the schools of magic separated into Arcane and Divine schools. Under the Divine heading, currently, I have Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, and Necromancy. Arcane has Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, and Transmutation.

Last night, I decided it made more sense to have Necromancy draw from Constitution for mana instead of Faith. I also began asking the question, again, of whether it should be an Arcane school instead. There are arguments both ways, since it was established pretty soundly that in order to be a "true" Necromancer, you'd have to take both Cleric and Wizard in 3rd Edition. Evil Clerics could Rebuke and Command undead, and got some undead creation and manipulation, including the Cause X Wounds spells, which heal their created and controlled minions. Wizards, despite being able to specialize in Necromancy and having access to various negative energy spells such as Vampiric Touch, didn't have much that would allow them to build and control an undead army. Since I've put everything together into the different schools, though, a Necromancer in my game would have (what I think) all the abilities a Necromancer should have access to.

But that still doesn't tell me whether it should be Arcane or Divine in origin.

If I were to make it Arcane, that would mean I had 3 Divine and 5 Arcane schools, instead of 4 of each. I don't know if that would truly be an issue, for balance or other reasons. I had moved Abjuration to Divine only somewhat recently, in order to make the number even, since it made sense that the school dealing with shielding and protection would be more Divine-based (although I guess that depends both on your view of the gods and the views of your god). I could move it back, since the two groups would be asymmetrical anyway, which would give Mage Armor back to Arcane casters, or I could move another Arcane group to Divine instead.

The Arcane schools that I could most easily see becoming Divine (aside from Necromancy) are Enchantment and Transmutation. Enchantment holds most of the iconic benediction spells, such as Bless, but then every school has spells that were originally divine, including Evocation (Flame Strike). Transmutation, though it does have some very iconic Arcane/Wizard spells, is primarily based around enhancement spells at low levels.

Or, I could scrap this whole Divine/Arcane debate entirely. Several campaign settings have already decided that ALL magic comes from the gods, in one way or another. I could simply state that there is no appreciable difference between them.

Any input on this would be appreciated.

New Class: Wild Caster

Just designed the basic concept behind a new class I'm currently calling Wild Caster. The idea is that they do not learn or memorize spells. Instead, they can attempt to cast any arcane-based spell, with a percentage chance of it either working, casting a random spell from the same school of magic, casting a random spell from a random school, or the energy fizzling entirely.

Actually, now that I think of it, I could add a 5th option: the energy backfires and deals damage to the caster.

At any rate, if I remember correctly this is similar to a concept that I've heard previous gamers express a desire to see implemented. Initial reaction?

Arcane, Divine, or something else?

Having split all of the available magic into the different schools, regardless of originating class, I realize now that I've blurred the Arcane/Divine division regarding the origin of magic. Some of the schools, like Conjuration and Necromancy, have a very definite Divine feel to them, though most of the benedictions Clerics got are now in Enchantment, and almost all their attack spells got dropped into Evocation.

Transmutation, as a school, has the most spells of any of them, with Evocation in second place, but the most expensive schools (in terms of experience cost for leveling) are Conjuration (because it has both summoning and healing) and Necromancy (because it can allow the caster to build an army of undead). These mostly reflect my preferences, I guess, which I picked up from my mother: I don't like messing with temporary pets/creatures, especially ones that can be changed with every casting. This is why I've replaced pretty much all the Conjurer's Summon Monster/Nature's Ally/whatever spells with one-shot, full-round summoning spells, FFTactics style. The entity bamfs in, does its thing, and bamfs out, end of discussion. Since it's summoning, not creation, this works and allows a Conjurer to summon things that do stuff outside the Conjuration school. Necromancy has a couple of modified spells tossed in to make it more like what it should be, in my opinion, but it's creation and not summoning which means I still have the temporary pet issue.

Back on track: the splitting of the schools means that some of my previous information, such as Arcane Spell Failure, is now either defunct or applies to a lot more than it used to. How do I deal with this?

Next up: Armor deterioration - Is it worth the hassle in a pen & paper venue?

Freshman Year - Adventuring 101

via IMs

Alright, you're all students enrolled at Lorinel U. Courses are a thousand gold each for tuition and materials. Those of you with less than five thousand gold in starting money are able to get Financial Aid in the form of loans, which will need to be repaid after you are no longer a student. Here's the course catalog. Choose your classes.

Since you're all new students, you end up in the same required courses with each other. During Adventuring 101, the professor is droning on and on about the merits of having the proper tools, when you get an illusory note passed to you, asking if you're interested in some shiral hunting this weekend.

xD
nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

heh
wait is this a start of game or just how your opening it?

Good question.

After a moment, the illusory script swirls and reassembles: No? Good choice. Welcome to Lorinel. -PDL

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN

PDL?

That's what it said. I guess I could have you roll an Intelligence or Perception check... except you don't have character stats rolled yet.

lol no i dont

All of a sudden the professor's droning stops, and he looks up at the class and lets out a much more lively, animated 'Well, let's see who's left then.' Looking around, you notice there seem to be a number of students gone, though you don't remember anyone getting up to leave.

lol. The people who thought it was a good idea.
poof.

"Excuse me professor. Not to be rude.... but what just happened?"

"What's that?"

"I saw some note... asking me a question about shirals."

"Oh did you? Passing notes in class isn't the best way to get an education... most of the time. Those of you still here are here because you passed the Dean's pop quiz, intended to cut the wheat from the chaff as it were."

"OOOHHHhhhhhh....." thinks about it for a moment.... probably b/c we are in an adventure class... some probably thought it was part of that.

The rest of the class continues as normal, except now in a far more interesting, often hands-on fashion.

Class Building Blocks: Lego or Duplo?

Seeing 41 different options on my current character class list is a lot less impressive than it should be. First off, a character without any special starting abilities, like being an awakened psion or of a particular bloodline, only has access to 35 of those options. Further, a lot of the things listed on the "Class" list are more like Class fragments. Magic has been broken up into its various Schools, and each School is taken individually. Some of the iconic abilities of various classes have been stripped away from the class, and divided up into smaller packages.

For instance, the Paladin abilities such as Detect Evil and Lay on Hands are now distributed amongst Crusader, Temple Knight, and Faith Healer. These "fragments" have a lower experience cost if taken alone, obviously, but the idea is that you can build your own adventurer. One of the fragments is simply an extra starting combat proficiency, which could be anything from another weapon proficiency to metamagic. Some of the fragments are levelable, improvable crafting "classes" such as Bowyer, Armorer, and Alchemist.

And, one is simply a "Citizen" class: no abilities, no special stuff, you get the benefits inherent to your ability scores. That was mostly just to give me something I can use for NPCs, but it could be fun to start a group off as Citizens and have them progress to other classes and abilities through training.

The image I have in my head of how all this should work seems good: a mix between a class-based and a skill-based game with enough variance and limiters that not every character is going to be able to do everything, but will have more varied abilities than a typical character in a class-based system.

I still need to finish separating the magic into schools, to make it easier to roll them, and I still need to determine a setting, at least a small area to start in. Then comes the fun part.

Game Projects

Skill System...........................Done

Spell System..........................Done

Crafting System.....................Done

Class System..........................Done

Spell List...............................Done

Weapon List..........................Done

Armor List.............................Done

Other Equipment Lists...........Umm... no.

Combat System......................Done

Campaign Setting..................In Review

Campaign Ideas....................Way too many

Run Playtest.exe (y/N)? y

Starting Playtest.exe.........Error! Setting.ini not found! Abort, Retry, Fail?

*sigh*

Fail.

Typing to hear myself think

After discussing skill systems late last night with my conscripted playtester, it seems that a simple stat-based system which does not use skill points would be preferable over a stat-based system that uses minimal skill points or a percentage based, customizable improvement system. While this certainly makes things easier for me, it was a bit of a surprise since he had some time ago argued for the ability to improve skills through training. I should probably ask him again sometime when he isn't falling asleep at the computer.

I'm also considering an a la carte system for character creation, which would essentially allow players to create their own class. Magic is already divided into different schools, so that's easy enough. I can strip the special class-based abilities away from the classes, and either offer them as-is to be added on, or figure out a value for each ability to allow further customization. This could be an additional method on top of keeping the regular classes, maybe with the regular classes having a lesser experience cost to level than they would if broken into their individual abilities.

On the surface, this looks like it would make things more difficult or make creation take longer, but it would also allow me to take a new player, ask them what they want to be able to do, and put together a conglomeration of abilities that would approximate their desires.

I do have ideas for making individual schools of magic based on different stats for learning and casting. This would be a way for dedicated spellcasters to have more casting ability despite the static mana system, since different types of spells may draw from different resources.

I'm also considering the option of allowing some method of choosing spells, instead of having them random by default, since the sheer number of spells I have compiled makes it statistically daunting for a cleric to get any healing spells. This could change if schools of magic were taken a la carte, though. Something to keep in mind.

DDO: Monks and Bards

I discovered something the other night, logging in to DDO. Despite my love for bards and monks, I've actually found they're two of the most stressful/difficult classes to play. I think I've managed to narrow down why.

In DDO, monks get a lot of nifty, customized abilities that weren't part of 3rd edition. It adds some flavor and flash, and there's some talk about them being overpowered, which of course makes them desired by anyone who wants to be unbeatable. I have to admit that they can be very lethal in dealing out massive amounts of damage, and pretty quickly. In that regard, they're on par with a dual-wielding rogue with sneak attack. Yet fighters and rogues both have ways of dealing with the aggro that comes from dealing massive damage: fighters have more HP, and can wear shields to increase damage reduction, while rogues have an enhancement ability that decreases the aggro (or "hate" as it's called in-game) that their sneak attacks produce. Perhaps a Constitution-heavy monk would be better at taking the hits, but they'd also be less adept at giving them. Some of the monk abilities can reproduce a few beneficial (but at low to mid-level relatively unused) clerical spells, like removing blindness or curing diseases, but overall I end up feeling like I should multiclass into rogue or cleric so I can be more useful.

Bards are another issue, one that extends beyond just DDO. Jack-of-all-trades, master of none, yes, I get it. They're supposed to be able to make up for an existing lack in party balance, tossing in whatever low to mid-level magic is necessary that the cleric and wizard are too busy to cast. Plus they get the bard songs. But the bonus the party gets from the songs is minimal, and in many cases is easily replaced by spells from other classes, and you'd be hard pressed to find a party that wouldn't rather have a second cleric than a bard. Because the bard's role is so varied, you either end up wasting time trying to figure out what your role in this party needs to be, or you end up being told what you should be doing which may or may not correlate with the skills and spells you've taken as a bard. Regardless, more often than not you end up feeling superfluous or just plain weak.

More than clerics, I think bards have a significant in-game and balance reason for needing the ability to switch spells on a daily (or in DDO, per-rest) basis. It wouldn't really help their survivability, but it would let them tailor their abilities to each party a bit better, much like a wizard or cleric can. As it is, in DDO they can change one spell every 3 real-life days, and pay in-game currency for the privilege.

The rules for bard and sorcerer spells were based on a system in which the character would be played with (generally speaking) a single group. It didn't account for having five different parties in a single day, and having to re-figure your character's role in each of them.

New Source Material

My friend Jonathan just recently visited again (yay!) and brought with him some books he picked up really cheap from his local gaming store. Three were from the same setting, called Arcanis, which is apparently now out-of-print but had been a 3rd Edition compatible campaign world. Not nearly as publicized as Forgotten Realms or Eberron, Arcanis has actually struck me as more interesting, and definitely more varied in its magic.

I've been reading through the material as I can, between doing reading and other assignments for college. Though online, they are accelerated courses, so it can still be a struggle to keep on top of things. I've pondered the option of cross-posting my written assignments here, so others can see what I'm working on, but I'd hate to have a professor do an internet search and believe I had plagiarized. It would be easy enough to prove that I hadn't, I guess, but I'm not sure I want to take the chance even so.

Inspiration Gathering

My wife and I took our son to the library last week, and while we were there I did a bit of hunting through their shelves, trying to find some inspiration for settings and such. I discovered a few books by Margaret Weis of Dragonlance fame, though not a full set of anything. They didn't have any of Salvatore's work, either, which surprised me a bit considering his popularity.

We had arrived late, and the library was closing soon, so I didn't get a lot of time to look through things. I more or less picked this up at random:



It looked to be a blend of science fiction and fantasy, incorporating both magic and space travel. It seems to be the second in a set, possibly a trilogy, so I was a little disappointed that I hadn't been able to borrow the first, but it was easy enough to follow regardless.

Having read it, I've now settled on using Perception for Mage mana. I also have a rather nifty reason for why someone can't just take a firearm from Earth and go on a planet-hopping rampage with it. Essentially, the universe is separated into different zones, each with a different reality. Each reality has its own rules regarding physics and magic. Spaceships are built with the ability to reconfigure the way they work, in order to align themselves with the laws of each reality they pass through. If they didn't reconfigure, they would be incapable of moving past the boundary.

In the book, the closer you get to the center of the universe, the less distance there is between realities. Ships that travel near the center have to be extremely flexible to change their configurations quickly. Their crews carry swords, rather than energy weapons, guns, etc., because a sharp blade is always a sharp blade, regardless of reality.

Those who use magic must learn to manipulate the mana according to the rules of the reality they are in. They need to be able to sense the flow of mana, so that they can figure out how it is used in their current location.

While I may not be ready for an interplanetary campaign, I at least have some ideas for how I might do it, as well as some additional things to keep in mind when I come up with new worlds to explore.

Intelligence, Classes, and Experience

Multiclassing has faced as well as posed a number of difficulties in D&D. Back in AD&D, the Player's Handbook gave very specific multiclassing options, based upon race. 3rd Edition removed both racial level caps as well as race-based multiclassing, but limited multiclassing through Alignment requirements, as well as arbitrary limitations (Monk and Paladin, I'm looking at you).

After reading through my previous postings, I'm certain most can figure out my thoughts regarding Alignment restrictions on classes. And trying to convince me that you can never gain another level in a certain class because you took one level of something else? No thanks.

The system I grew up on, which had been based out of AD&D, had no multiclassing or alignment restrictions. This worked out just fine for many years, until we ended up with players who started taking four or more classes in order to gain various 1st level benefits and abilities.



Yeah, like that. Only not 1/11th of a class each level, but 11 first level classes all at once.

Our DM decided this was just silly, and so it was ruled that the total number of classes you could have was limited by your character's intelligence. This made sense. Certain classes were considered to be "worth more" than others, like Paladin (because it combined both Fighter and Cleric) and Ranger (Fighter, Druid, and Mage - AD&D, remember). Overall, the system seemed logical and also helped prevent any more Multiclassing Minmaxing. The biggest problem I had with it was the feeling of obligation to "fill up" with the maximum number of classes that the character's Intelligence could support, so as not to waste it.

So over the past few days, I've put together a ruleset on multiclassing for my own system. In this system, your total number of "effective classes" is what determines your experience needed per level. No more taking a class just for one level.

Taking more classes than your Intelligence would allow can be done. Doing so, however, increases the experience needed for each level based upon how many beyond the "maximum" you took, even above what would normally be required just by having the additional classes. As any college student knows, it's much harder to remember everything when you're taking too many classes.

On the other side of the coin, if you take fewer classes than your Intelligence can support, you gain a discount on the experience needed each level, based upon the difference between the number you were allowed and how many you took. You can learn faster, because you're capable of learning more than what is being presented.

On a previous topic, I asked my wife how she viewed magic users in D&D - whether the power was coming from within, being channeled, or simply using ambient energy, or even something completely different. She reminded me of how Steven Brust has things set up in his Jhereg series: Dragaeran sorcery is more or less grabbing available energy and tossing it, while Eastern witchcraft is mentally and physically taxing on the practitioner. And then there's Pre-Empire sorcery. Let's not get into that.

Taking that into consideration, I see a correlation between Brust's witchcraft and Druids, so I would most likely leave Constitution as the power source for them. Equating Dragaeran sorcerers with Mages, however, still doesn't give me a well-defined source of power. The Dragaerans pull energy through their link with an artifact-level magic item, which basically gives them an inexhaustible supply of mana. I can't really have that.

I've tinkered with a number of options: Base mana off of Cunning, to represent craftiness through the handling and redistribution of ambient mana. Base it off of Perception, to represent the ability to see or notice the surrounding power in order to use it. Base it off of Luck, to represent the idea that ambient power levels can vary from location to location. I've even considered the option of reworking Shadowrun's system of magic, where spells don't take mana, but instead have a chance of draining you when you cast one. Fail too many "Drain" checks, and you're unconscious. Trying to balance that in a d20 system, though, would take a great deal more work than I'm willing to expend on just this one aspect right now, and still leaves Mages with a potentially inexhaustible supply of power.

I briefly considered making each Mage subclass (Illusionist, Transmuter, Evoker, etc.) have a different stat that it uses for power, but I think that would just make things far too complicated and confusing. And it still wouldn't answer what stat to have Mages use. At this point, I'm tempted to either stick with Constitution, or assign it to Perception, the latter mainly because I don't have a lot tied to that stat yet.

Suggestions?