Critical Hits and Fumbles for Spells

More on the magic system I am in the process of developing.  I am implementing a roll to activate the spell.  Meaning no more automatic successes for magic-users who want to whip out a spell.  Spells will have a difficulty level depending on their level and other circumstances will effect the roll.  A quick note before I go on, my system uses spell points to determine if a magic-user is able to cast a spell therefore if a 1st level mage has learned the spell and somehow acquired enough points to cast a 6th level spell he may do so.  Here is the run down of difficulty levels (DL) and what would enhance the outcome.

0-level - 8 D, 1st level - 10 DL, 2nd level - 11 DL, 3rd level - 12 DL,
4th level - 13 DL, 5th level - 14 DL, 6th level - 15 DL, 7th level - 16 DL, 8th level - 17 DL, 9th level - 18 DL

- For every level of the magic-user get +1 to the roll.
- Caster adds his intelligence bonus to the roll.
- Spell specialization bonus.
- The caster suffers -1 to the roll for every point of damage taken during the combat.
- The caster suffers -1 for every spell he is maintaining.

A 1 is always a failure and a 20 is always a success.  Each spell has a critical failure or success result.  In case of a regular failure the spell points are expended, but the spell does not discharge.  A success and the spell goes off as planned.

The other wrinkle I put in is that mage's need to hit with their spells.  Not automatic hits with missile weapon or even a placement of a fireball.  He must roll 'to hit'.  So a mage may have critically succeeded in casting a magic missile, so its charged up to do max damage, it still needs to hit its target.  When mage attacks with a spell he gains his level and intelligence bonus (like in the roll above) to hit.  But it is possible to critically succeed on casting the fireball and maxing out the damage, but if the mage fail's to target it correctly it could explode at the party's feet.  Magic is fickle what can I say.  And as for any roll, the 'to hit' roll can have a critical hit or miss.  A critical hit with a magic missile may cripple the limb it hits, knock a person prone if it hits the chest, or knock a person out if it hits the head.

Like I said, its a process and something I still need to playtest.

100 Followers and Oh God, Not Another Magic System

I finally crawled my way to 100 Brilliant People. I didn't realize they were so scarce. Thanks to Chris Kutalik for being the 100th.

Yes, I am working on a magic system. Don't throw things or groan or roll your eyes at me. Just pipe down and listen up. My two favorite systems are AD&D and GURPS. Two beasts with very little in common. Here are a few quick shots I like about both.

- I like the base level and experience that AD&D has compared to GURPS where it is a point based system that often result in very powerful characters in a short amount of time.

- GURPS has options out the wazoo. I like options, but I don't like getting my wazoo involved. The magic system can be manipulated in various ways that can make each culture have their own twist. AD&D, with the Vancian system is too cartoony for me. All of a sudden at 5th level you can learn a 3rd level fireball and blow up the world. It was fun when I was 14, but not as much now.

- I like the spell point system GURPS uses. You can be a starting character and cast potent spells from the get go, but it takes time to recover. AD&D the Vancian system you cast it and forget it. Never made sense to me. I like the idea a character can cast decent level spells from the beginning.

What my system for the game I plan to eventually run is a point based Vacian system. Ha, you thought I wasn't going to use the Vancian way since I talked smack about it. Let me rewind and go back to the beginning of character creation.

Oh and before I even start this section, players start at 0-level. Why not? A magic-use starts with a number of Spell Points (SP) equal to his intelligence. Intelligence also provides the base number of spells a magic-user can learn. These spells are memorized and can be used as long as the magic-user has available spell points. So say the mage has magic missile, hold portal and sleep in his arsenal he doesn't have to choose ahead of time which he uses he can use any of them because he knows the spell it's a matter of does he have enough spell points to cast it.

The base cost of spells is 10 spell point/level of the spell and 1 point for 0-level spells. When I say level of the spells it is for figuring point cost. If a 1st level magic-user learned a 6th level spell and managed to get the required spell points to cast it he may do so. In addition, certain properties of spells may be boosted by plowing more spell points into the casting. A magic-user may need to increase a spells range or make his light spell a bit more powerful. So this gives spells a flexibility that is not normally there.

Back to character creations and advancement. Magic-users gain a d10 in spell points at 1st level. This is done on odd level advancements. On even level advancements the magic-users may roll to learn a new spell or gain another d6 in spell points. It takes a number of weeks to learn the spell equal to the level of the spell. But there is always a chance the spell won't take. The chance of learning a spell is based on the player's intelligence. Spell points are gained automatically.

Available in the world are forms of raw and stored mana. There are raw forms of magic called viz. These form naturally in various magical places. A pond will form small pebbles of mana. Each of these pebbles may be used as 1spell point toward the casting of a spell. And of course larges stones may be worth more spell points. Once the viz is used it is gone. This idea I blatantly ripped off from Ars Magica.

Also there are power stones, and idea I blatantly ripped off from GURPS. I'm not proud. Anyway there are magic imbued stones, usually gems of some sort that absorb the magic out of the land. It does this passively and no effort is needed by the player. What it can do, depending on the size, is store a number of spell points to be used in casting. The charge time for these is slow usually one spell point/day, but they are reusable and helpful in a pinch.

So there is actually quick look at Oh god, not another magic system.

Cantrips Love'em or Leave'em?

I'm curious to see what others think about the no level spells or Cantrips, or sometimes called Apprentice level spells. I was working on my spell list/magic system and liked the addition of them...for now. I've never used them before and think they will add a nice dimension to the game.

My introduction to cantrips was Unearthed Arcana. For a short time our group used the hell out of them, but they were quickly forgotten. One of the things I am doing is getting rid of the redundancy where the spell creates some simple noise. I put them all under one spell, Create Sound which allows the player to create a tapping, creaking, moaning, or whistling sound. No words. I took out all the cantrips that made others do something, such as belch, giggle and sneeze as some examples. For a low level spell I don't think it is appropriate that it can control another person's action.

I did want to keep the spells useful though. Most are simple convenience of life spells, but some can really make a difference. Such as Find Water spell in the desert would come in real handy. Also Alarm will help with keeping the campsite safe on those long trips. There is also a couple of low level attack spells. Fire Finger does 1d3 damage so a magic-user won't have to waste a precious spell slot to get rid of a giant rat.

I've included a download link to the list I have right now. There are a few more cantrips I want to add, but still compiling the information. My system includes the usage of spell points (SPs) and the ability to increase a spell's potency by increasing the number of SPs.

I am curious how others have used cantrips in the past and if it worked out. Any suggestions would be helpful and if you like what I have so far that is helpful to know also.

It's Monday and I am on vacation. Don't hate me. Muhahahaha.

Forgot to add the link. 0 level Spell List