Augury

Augury allows the character to read omens in order to foretell future events. This can be tracking the stars (astronomy), examining the liver (hepatoscopy) and/or entrails (haruspicy) of a sacrificial animal, interpreting natural phenomena, or almost any other ritualistic form of telling the future or seeking guidance (prayer, tea leaves, tarot, etc.).

Power Requirements
Future time period	Power
Within the next minute	2
Within the next 10 minutes	3
Within the next hour	4
Within the next 24 hours	5
Within the next week	6
Within the next month	7
Within the next year	8
Within the next 10 years	9
Within the next 100 years	10
Any future	11

Prerequisites: Wisdom 12

Attribute: Wisdom

Base Power: 1 + Wisdom Modifier

Base Area/Range: Personal

Base Duration: Concentration

Enhancements: None

Power Effect: The character may attempt to seek an answer to a specific question about the future. The diviner must make a successful Knowledge (Augury) check in order to correctly interpret the omens. The base DC for any Augury is 5 times the Power rating of the effect. If the Augury check succeeds, you receive a short answer to your question. If the question is direct, you will likely receive a simple “yes,” “no,” or “neither” answer. If the question is complex, the answer will be cryptic. By succeeding by 10 or more, direct questions will be answered with additional information, and complex questions will be answered clearly. You can only ask a question once in a 24 hour period. Fail by 10 or more and you cannot ask the question again for a month. Interpreting the omens of another person is a -5 penalty to your check.

Snapback

I've figured out a simple system for snapback, something Brant has always liked about the magic. I won't go into too many details now (tweaking), but I like it a lot and it should add some flavor to the magic. It's very simple.

The game goes on

Session two of our game was last night - it brought us through Act 2 (of 3) of the first adventure. The group has done well and they all advanced to level 2 after resting at a safe house in the city (a temple). In the process of all of this I have made adjustments to the magical skills (combining the Scry and Divination skills into a Divine spell list; moving Dispel Magic to spellcraft). I'm also in the process of creating my first tradition.

In the adventure, the main NPC the party interacts with is a cleric/fighter called Torrent. I have made her a level 2 mageknight instead and I started creating a magical tradition to encompass her faith. This will be the first in, I hope, many of such traditions.

It's tentatively named the Order of the Blue Circle - a religious order devoted to a god/goddess protecting travelers. They will have certain restrictions on which spell lists they can take first and they will have some bonuses to certain types of magic. The faith began around water magic, so I think I'm going to require followers of the faith to make 3 of their first 6 spell lists water-based or air-based and give them a +1 MP limit on air/gen and water/gen spells.

Sympathy

Sympathy
You can use items of your foes to enhance your spells.

Benefit: When casting a spell that targets a single creature and grants a saving throw, the DC to resist is increased by +2 if you possess an effigy – an item of physical, emotional, or spiritual significance to your target. If you possess a body part of the target, the DC is increased by +5.

If part of a ritual, possessing an effigy will give the caster a +4 bonus to the caster level check. A body part will give a +10 bonus. If you use this ability, the target is always considered unwilling, so it must attempt a save to resist, even if the spell is normally harmless.

Any effect on the target will affect the effigy or body part. For many spells, this will do nothing; evocations will often destroy the focus.

Magic

Magic will be using a hybrid mana points system with Elements of Magic/Revised as a base. There will be no "cantrips per day" mechanic; casters can enter the mystic focus state and cast a cantrip whenever they like, so there is essentially no cost for this, only a concentration check.

Wizards have a small to moderate mana pool to draw spell power from. When that is exhausted, mana is drained from their vitality. The normal rules apply with this - half vitality is fatigue, no vitality is exhaustion.

Some types of magic will change to fit the rules as a whole.

• Magical evocation as it functions in elements of magic is a base 1d6 damage with an additional 1d6 per MP. This works just like a weapon does. A 1MP evocation is a +3 attack (2d6), 2MP is +4, 3MP is +6, 4MP is +7, 5MP is +9, etc. The formula would be 1 + 1.5/MP (rounded up).For example, a Fireball (Evoke Fire 10, Gen 4) would be a +16 attack. A saving throw for half damage will keep a strong character from taking wound damage. This makes low-level attack spells not very powerful on their own without some cleverness. Note: DR does not affect magical evocation unless it is physical in nature; Only ER will help with that. Magic has AP value equal to 1 + Cha Mod?
• Magical healing only helps with wound damage. Vitality damage can be temporarily ignored with magic, but it fades. The only way to truly recover vitality is rest. Note: See Healing post about Magic adding to Recovery
• Spell lists have other requirements, such as abilities, magical traditions (like combat styles mentioned in a previous post), or even skill levels. Knowledge is power and the magic should reflect that fact. Many spells will key off a character's existing abilities, such as a magical skill bonus should have a relation to the number of ranks a character has in the skill.
• Magic items should not define characters nor should they be pervasive through the game. Most magic items help a character do something better rather than outright give them something they never had. Charms and trinkets are fine, but magic items should not be a requirement or crutch for heroes to succeed. Note: Spellcasters can make semi-permanent effects (longer durations without the MP cost) by an XP expenditure, like any magic item. The best example would be a healing rune. It is meant to assist healing on a person, so the spellcaster creates the healing effect with a 10 minute duration (like any magic item) and spends some XP to make it stick.

Update

I'm working on prestige classes and fleshing out the magical paths right now. When I get a few hours of free time in a row, I'll finish cleaning up the mechanics section and then talk to my layout girl about setting this up in a simple playtest format.

In the meantime, I'm doing what I can in what few scraps of time are available. This is usually an hour here, a half an hour there, etc. It's not the most productive time, but I get a few things done. I'll keep updating here regularly.

[Magic] Path of Dreams

Dream
Dream spells offer insight into the shroud and fate, both past and present. Dreams often deal with what faeries call the “between”, the points between “here” and “there”.

Affect ether (3 MP). Choose either material or ethereal. When combined with an evocation, this spell only harm creatures or objects on that plane of existence.
Prerequisites: Create Space, Dowse, Scry, Caster Level 6

Augury (5 MP). Augury allows the character to read omens in order to foretell future events. This can be tracking the stars (astronomy), examining the liver (hepatoscopy) and/or entrails (haruspicy) of a sacrificial animal, interpreting natural phenomena, or almost any other ritualistic form of telling the future or seeking guidance (prayer, tea leaves, tarot, etc.).

On any augury attempt, the diviner must make a successful Knowledge (Augury) check in order to correctly interpret the omens. The base DC for any Augury is determined by the distance in the future desired, listed on Augury Table. If the Augury check succeeds, you receive a short answer to your question. If the question is direct, you will likely receive a simple “yes,” “no,” or “neither” answer. If the question is complex, the answer will be cryptic. On a critical success, direct questions will be answered with additional information, and complex questions will be answered clearly. You can only ask a question once in a 24 hour period. On a critical failure, you cannot ask the question again for a month.
Prerequisites: Aura Reading
Enhancement:

• Clarity (+1 MP): Affected creatures gain a +5 enhancement bonus to Knowledge (Augury). This enhancement can be taken multiple times. The bonus is capped by the skill’s mastery. A Novice only gets a maximum +5 bonus, a Journeyman +10, an Expert +15, and a Master +20.

Table – Knowledge (Augury) DC
Future time period DC
Within the next hour 20
Within the next 24 hours 25
Within the next week 30
Within the next month 35
Within the next year 40

Aura Reading (1 MP). You learn the nature of a person or object in range by studying them for a full round. The reader may study the aura of anything within visual range with a successful Sense Motive check. The base DC to detect the presence of absence of magical auras is 10 or the target’s Will save, whichever is higher.

A successful check allows the caster to sense any supernatural auras the target may have as well as the strength of those auras — dim, faint, moderate, strong, or overwhelming. A critical success allows the caster to sense the specific nature of those auras and learning what type of magic is prominent (highest magic skill). A critical failure stuns the reader for a round.
Prerequisite: None
Enhancements:

• Clarity (+1 MP): Affected creatures gain a +5 enhancement bonus to Sense Motive. This enhancement can be taken multiple times. The bonus is capped by the skill’s mastery. A Novice only gets a maximum +5 bonus, a Journeyman +10, an Expert +15, and a Master +20. Untrained Sense Motive does not receive any bonus.
• History Reading (5 MP): If you have a creature or object available, you can use this ability to see an overview of the history of the subject. When you make this check, choose a span of time in history you want to read through. The shorter the span of time, the more specific the details are, and the longer the span, the more general. If you do a reading for a sword’s history in the past week, you will see what battles it has been used in, and who it has killed, but if you try to read the past hundred years on it, you will likely just learn the vague identities of its owners. On a critical success, you get more specific information, but you never learn the full history. You cannot read the history of a creature or object more than once in a 24 hour period. On a critical failure, this ban is extended to a month.

Table – History Reading DC
Time in past DC
Past day 10
Past week 15
Past month 20
Past year 25
Past 10 years 30
Past 100 years 35
Past 1000 years 40
Anything 45

Create Space (6 MP). With Create Space you can create a pocket dimension, with an entrance big enough for you to walk through (though you may choose to make it smaller). You create the entrance anywhere within range. If you are inside, you can close or reopen the entrance as a full-round action. The area of effect you choose is the size of the pocket dimension. Anything in the area of effect is effectively removed from the rest of the world. The interior of the dimension is bare and ends without any apparent solid walls. Temperature and air within are the same as those without when the dimension is created. If the spell’s duration ends, anything in the area of effect is expelled.
Prerequisites: Dowse, Scry, Caster Level 6
Enhancements:

• Giant Area (Special): Create space effects get a 10 MP discount on area. Any other combined spell effect must buy area separately. This cannot be combined with any other effect unless it also benefits from this enhancement.

Dowse (Varies). You choose some type of object or substance, such as water, gold, or magic. If you succeed on a Search check (Awareness + Intelligence), you know the direction to the nearest significant quantity of that substance (what counts as ‘significant’ depends on the substance). If there are several different things of the chosen type within 60 ft., you are aware of roughly how many there are, and can concentrate on each one by one to determine its location. On a critical success, you learn the specific location of the target, including distance, depth, and local conditions, plus the approximate size or intensity of whatever it is you’re detecting. A critical failure will lead you in the wrong direction or give you dangerously false information. If you have knowledge of the substance or creature (Proper Elemental Path or Summoning Focus) you get a +5 bonus to this check.
Prerequisite: None
Enhancements:

• Dowse, Simple (1 MP): The base DC to find a general type of object or substance is 10.
• Dowse, Specific (+2 MP): To find a specific object, add +10 to the DC.
  
• Dowse, Creature (+2 MP): To find a creature, add +5 to the DC. You must have the Path of Life to find a living creature, or the appropriate Element for a more exotic type of creature. To find Undead, for instance, you must have Path of Death.
  
• Enhance Awareness (+1 MP): Affected creatures gain a +5 enhancement bonus to Awareness for purposes of Dowse. This enhancement can be taken multiple times. The bonus is capped by the skill’s mastery. A Novice only gets a maximum +5 bonus, a Journeyman +10, an Expert +15, and a Master +20.
  
• Area/Range (Varies): Dowse effects receive a 1 MP discount on area or range enhancements, but not both.

Incorporeal (11 MP). Any number of times during the spell’s duration, affected creatures are able to turn incorporeal or corporeal as a full round action.
Prerequisites: Create Space, Dowse, Scry, Caster Level 11
Enhancements:

• Affect Area (Varies): To use this effect over an area, double the base cost before adding general enhancements.

Scry (1 MP). You concentrate on a creature or location and can see and hear what is going on there. Many practitioners go into a dream-like trance when doing this. When scrying, the caster makes a Search check (Awareness + Intelligence), the difficulty depending on the target familiarity as listed in the Scrying Table.

You see an approximately 20-ft. radius, and creatures in your line of sight can make a Sense Motive check with a difficulty of the caster’s Search result to notice, although those unfamiliar with scrying (Spellcraft DC 25, +10 if the target can has the ability to scry) will most likely only have a sense they are being watched. Those familiar with divination will recognize the sensation. The difficulty depends on how familiar you are with the target. If you have a clear, reflective surface you may share the vision with others by projecting it there. The cost of scrying depends on whether the caster knows where the target is located. Scrying a static location is relatively cheap when compared to searching for a specific person anywhere in the world. A basic scrying effect covers only a 5 ft. area up to 30 feet away from the caster, so range and area enhancements are vital to making this effective.
Prerequisites: Dowse
Enhancements:

• Dimensional Sight (2 MP): The caster can extend his senses through the Shroud.
• Enhance Senses (+1 MP): Affected creatures gain a +5 enhancement bonus to Awareness for scrying. This enhancement can be taken multiple times. The bonus is capped by the skill’s mastery. A Novice only gets a maximum +5 bonus, a Journeyman +10, an Expert +15, and a Master +20. Untrained Awareness does not receive any bonus.
  
• Extended Range (Varies): Scrying effects receive a 1 MP discount on range enhancements.
  
• Giant Area (Varies): Scry effects get a 10 MP discount on area. Any other combined spell effect must buy area separately. This cannot be combined with any other effect unless it also benefits from this enhancement.

Table – Scrying Familiarity DC
Target within sight: You can see the target. Effective visual range usually ends at 800 feet, barring obstruction or concealment. (DC 0)
Target familiar: The target is out of sight and you know the target well - a close friend or relative; a familiar haunt. (DC 15)
Firsthand knowledge: The target is out of sight and you have met the target or been to the location. (DC 20)
Secondhand knowledge: The target is out of sight and you have heard of the target or have an object belonging to the target. (DC 35)
No knowledge: The target is out of sight and you have a hunch, rumor, or vague description of the target. (DC 45)

Teleport (Varies). Once during the spell as a move action, affected creatures can teleport (instantaneously travel) to another place within line of sight. You can simply teleport willing creatures with you, so that everyone ends up in the same place. The base cost of teleporting is 3 MP + the range enhancement for distance. If you teleport to somewhere out of your line of sight (maximum visibility under normal circumstances is 800 feet, or Long Range), you must make a Search check (Awareness + Intelligence) against the difficulty as if you were scrying it.

If you fail the Search check, you veer off course by 10% per point of failure of the total distance intended. Failing the roll by three on a 100 ft. teleport would place the caster 30 ft. away, whereas failing by three on a 100 mile teleport would place the caster 30 miles away. Usually the location is visually or thematically similar to the intended target.

On a critical failure, the caster is scrambled. The caster is off target, as above, and takes 1 point of vitality damage per point of failure. This damage cannot be soaked and normal trauma rules apply. The caster re-rolls each round with the same result until he no longer gets a critical failure or he dies. Knowingly teleporting into a solid object will treat the caster as if he has critically failed the check, doing a minimum of 10 points of vitality damage per round.
Prerequisites: Create Space, Dowse, Scry, Caster Level 6
Enhancements:

• Affect Area (Varies): To use this effect over an area, double the base cost (3 MP + range) before adding general enhancements.
• Doorway (3 MP): Opening a portal through the Shroud requires this enhancement in addition to normal teleport costs.

Alpha Game 4

We were missing two participants on Monday - Brian (Isaac the fighter) and Rich (Demetrius the Hunter) which was good and bad. The three spellcasters were in attendance, so we used the time to come up with tradition feats for each - one wizard, one sorcerer, one spellsword. After that was done, we had a side-plot that happened sometime in the night.

Jess, the Wizard, was on watch when he noticed a fog roll in and the strange sound of bells. He tried to wake everyone up, but only the sorcerer, Aren, and the spellsword, Capernius, would wake. They encountered a young girl singing to herself while sitting on a rock, brushing her hair. They approached and were immediately caught in the snare of a charm spell, making them feel happy and friendly towards this strange girl.

Meanwhile, her friend was looking through the camp until he found an old curved blade made of strange metal. The three spellcasters noticed this and started to move his way when the girl, bored with her song, threw a knife at Aren. The three spellcasters got into a solid fight with the Elves. Capernius was gutted pretty well by one of them while Jess the wizard got into an extended grapple with the girl. Aren managed to barely take care of the elf who nearly killed Capernius before Jess was finally able to overpower the girl and stab her to death.

The grapple test went really well and it was a nice magic test too.

Magic Preview: Cure

CURE

The Cure magical skill can cure afflictions, heal wounds, and even bring back the dead. Unwilling creatures are allowed a Will save to negate.

CURE AFFLICTION (VARIES). The following conditions can be cured. Casters may not spend more MP on a Cure Affliction effect than their ranks in the Healing skill.
• Blindness (2 MP): This spell allows a target to get a Fortitude saving throw in order to cure blindness. If the effect is magical in nature, the original DC is used. Naturally occurring blindness is a DC 30. If the target’s eyes are missing, they must be regenerated first.
• Deafness (2 MP): This spell allows a target to get a Fortitude saving throw in order to cure deafness. If the effect is magical in nature, the original DC is used. Naturally occurring deafness is a DC 30. If the target’s ears are missing, they must be regenerated first.
• Disease (2 MP): This spell allows a target to get a Fortitude saving throw in order to cure disease. If the effect is magical in nature, the original DC is used. Naturally occurring disease is a DC 30.
• Fatigue (2 MP): The spell suppresses fatigue for the duration of the spell. At the end of the spell’s duration, the target must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 20) or become exhausted. Fatigue can only be eliminated through rest. The duration of the spell does not count as rest.
• No Pain (5 MP): If there are any magical effects reducing one of the subject’s ability scores, the effect is suppressed. This does not cure ability damage or permanent ability drain, but it can sober a drunk without giving them a hangover. While under the effect of this enhancement, creatures have a -2 penalty to Dexterity, Vitality damage does not cause wounds and the affected creature does not suffer the affects of any trauma failure except death. At the end of duration, the affected creature must immediately make a trauma save with all applicable penalties and wound carryover.
• Paralysis (3 MP): This spell allows a target to get a Fortitude saving throw in order to cure paralysis. If the effect is magical in nature, the original DC is used. Naturally occurring paralysis is a DC 30. If the creature’s Strength or Dexterity had been drained, they are restored to at least 1.
• Poison, Negate (3 MP): This spell allows targets to get a Fortitude saving throw in order to negate poison. The original DC of the poison is used. Creatures with natural poison abilities that succeed their saving throw can keep their poison stores and use their poison to harm creatures outside the area of effect.
• Poison, Slow (3 MP): For the spell’s duration, poison in the area of effect has no effect. Once the spell elapses, poison takes its usual course. The caster must be able to use Time effects in order to use this enhancement.

HEAL (VARIES). These spells help the healing of wounds. Casters may not spend more MP on a Heal effect than their ranks in the Healing skill.
• Enhance Healing (+1 MP): Affected creatures gain a +2 bonus to Fortitude saves for purposes of healing only.
• Endurance (4 MP): Affected creatures gain a +4 bonus on the following checks and saves for the spell’s duration: Swim checks made to resist vitality damage, Constitution checks made to continue running, Constitution checks made to avoid vitality damage from a forced march, Constitution checks made to hold your breath, Constitution checks made to avoid vitality damage from starvation or thirst, Fortitude saves made to avoid vitality damage from hot or cold environments, and Fortitude saves made to resist damage from suffocation. Also, you may sleep in light or medium armor without becoming fatigued.
• True Healing (+3 MP): Affected creatures heal 1 wound and take 1 point of vitality damage. Creatures with no vitality get no benefit from this. This damage cannot be soaked.

REGENERATION (VARIES). These spells restore atrophied or missing body parts. These effects must be used in conjunction with Craft Permanent Spell. Casters may not spend more MP on a Regenerate effect than their ranks in the Healing skill.
• Regenerate, Lesser (12 MP): Regenerates lost body parts no larger than an eye or finger. The target takes 12 points of vitality damage. This damage cannot be soaked.
• Regenerate, Moderate (15 MP): Regenerates lost body parts no larger than a hand or foot. The target takes 15 points of vitality damage. This damage cannot be soaked.
• Regenerate, Greater (18 MP): Regenerates lost body parts no larger than an arm or leg. The target takes 18 points of vitality damage. This damage cannot be soaked.

REVIVE (VARIES). These spells restore the dead to life. The body must be complete in order to be revived. No being can be revived after 1 week. Reviving a body causes the target to permanently lose a point of Constitution. A body with a 0 constitution cannot be revived and this loss may not be restored by magic. These effects must be used in conjunction with Craft Permanent Spell. This often does not work without a No Pain or Slow Poison effect on the corpse allowing the caster to heal any lingering wounds and maladies. Casters may not spend more MP on a Revive effect than their ranks in the Healing skill. A revive enhancement may not be used more than once on the same corpse, meaning a caster who fails a Lesser Revive must use a Moderate or Greater Revive on his next attempt. A corpse failing a Greater Revive cannot be raised at all. Revived creatures are exhausted, have 0 vitality, and whatever unhealed wounds remaining from their death.
• Revive, Lesser (10 MP): This spell attempts to revive someone who has died within 10 minutes. The target gets must make a successful Fortitude saving throw (DC 25) to be revived.
• Revive, Moderate (15 MP): This spell attempts to revive someone who has died within a day. The target gets must make a successful Fortitude saving throw (DC 35) to be revived.
• Revive, Greater (20 MP): This spell attempts to revive someone who has died within 1 week. The target gets must make a successful Fortitude saving throw (DC 45) to be revived.

Magic Magic Everywhere

This continues to be the main source of concern for me so far. I do need to enforce Brian using signature spells, because he has a tendency to try and magic anything that pops into his head. Still, it needs work. I've been brainstorming this evening trying to come up with some alternate strategies to deal with it and make it interesting. If anyone has suggestions, feel free.

Magic

I'm sticking to a blend of Elements of Magic (Revised) for the magic system. I've made a few changes, but overall I think it will work well. If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it. It's published by ENPublishing (of Enworld) and is a nice alternative magic system.

Thinking outside the box

Too many magic systems are outside of the normal rules. That is to say you have a base mechanic that works a certain way (attack/skill system for D20 for instance) and your magic system works differently (spell slot with saving throws). Some systems are a bit more unified, but most have magic as being completely separate from the rest of the character.

Why?

I've seen some systems use a skill or pseudo-skill system for magic, which is not a bad idea but still seems a little off. I was brainstorming the other day and came up with an interesting idea.

What if a character's magic abilities were feats that allowed him to modify his base abilities. Specifically, say your magic allows you to modify your bluff skill outside of "normal" boundaries.

With bluff, you can convince someone of a lie or trick them. With bluff backed by magic, you can convince them of things they would never believe normally, fascinate them into a stupor, or any number of things. Magic-backed intimidate could cause fear and panic, decipher script could allow you to read dead or alien languages, Gather Information could allow you to commune with spirits for ancient lore, etc.

The point is that magic becomes a seamless part of the skill system. The mechanic from that point could be similar to the base - d20+modifier (even a skill) vs. DC.

This puts a premium on skills, which is what wizards were supposed to be about. They were wise men who valued knowledge. If someone wants to turn lead into gold, instead of learning a transmutation spell, they take ranks in Craft (Alchemy). The magic allows them to increase their skill bonus to perform things that would otherwise be improbable.

Therefore, if a wizard needs to perform a dangerous spell on a demon, he would either need to know about demons already or go research it.

There would be higher magics as well - basically new feats that allow him to modify skills in new ways and ones that allow him basic powers that he could use with effort.

I really loathe spell memorization and want to get away from that. Wizards should be powerful because of their knowledge and skill, not because they have two wish spells memorized, or they have a ring that gives them three extra fireballs per day.