Mrowak said:
Thus, it can be said that if anything, Vencian system adds to gameplay by introducing variety and shoving the responsibility of choosing appropriate spells and items on the player.
To me it is like the payload hardpoints on a fighter-bomber.
You have to select your mission loadout.
Second, the Vencian system does make logical sense. It is simply that I think you should cease to see spells as just utilities (which they doubtlessly are! After all you cast a spell, you get a concrete effect which you can then
utilise) for a moment. It is easy to justify so called 'spell slots' (which is a metagaming term) by simply approaching magic from the perspective of lore (after all, that's what it is for - to support game-design). You can say that all spells are 'semi-living' entities. The moment you memorise a spell you invite this 'entity' to your mind. You do so while sleeping/meditating. However, for the process to be successful you must have all necessary rituals prepared in your brain - that would be a psychic eqivalent of drawing a summoning circle. As arcane energies enter your (sub-)consciousness to fit themselves into a fixed spell-pattern you know well (having learned it years ago) they render that pattern a semi-living being who is just waiting for a moment of laxity to fry your brain. Only the most talented can master techniques which can prevent the spells from doing so without needing to concentrate. Hence, even first level wizard is a truly experienced magic practicioner as he can cast up to 3 1st level spells (sleep, charm and shield are indeed very powerful) per day without sacrificing his sanity or blowing his head off.
Seems quite logical to me. Yes you can say it's LARPing but again - this is what lore is for - to justify the systems that is immensely fun, rich and has infinite potential.
This is similar to how it was described in the 1E DMG.
I don't remember the exact text, but what I derived from it was:
The spell is like a computer program that is woven into the brain as a cross between a spring and a capacitor (metaphysical "
Leyden Jar"?). Casting the spell opens a microscopic portal to the positive/negative material planes, and the power flows into the pattern, inflating it like an origami balloon.
It works a bit differently for Divine casters, etc.
Clerics would have prayer sequences like
catechisms that form the "program" that guides the behaviour of the power in the spell.
Also they get Divine Assistance instead of having to milk the multiverse for power all by themselves like a Wizard.
(This apparently is a scaled thing, with 1st and 2nd level Cleric spells being almost autonomous, and 3-4 th level spells being handled through intermediaries, dunno about 5th/6th level, but 7th level+ was supposed to be only granted directly by a Diety. I remember poorly, sorry.)
If it were up to me they would be able to force-cast stuff from their spheres, not just healing spells.
Sorcerors, Favored Souls, etc. have a more freestyle approach, having continously open circuits burned into them or something like that.
They should have lots more metamagic stunts, perhaps not as the regular feats, but starting out as mini-versions of Empower, Extend, Maximize, etc. and building up to full strength a few levels after learning the spell.
Plus they should be able to scale/trade power between different spell levels much more easily than Wizards/Clerics.
Damned Registrations said:
it smacks of absurdity that a mage capable of summoning an 8000 lb celestial bird to shatter a castle can't light a candle on a whim if he didn't memorize the proper spell that morning.
Different programs, launching Counterstrike doesn't let me do spreadsheets.
Still, cantrips could be available in profusion to do all sorts of little things.
As for splitting and combining spell slots: in 1E there was
Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer.
Much more should have been made of this.
The different spell levels always seemed to me to be similar to
Electron Shells.
This is why their energy is stuck within a narrow power range.
Some kind of "quantum bridging" or "Union Regs" would be needed to mix and match.
I would have that be implemented by a mixture of metamagic feats, spells like Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer (some might just think of that spell as being "Extra Fireball"), and focusing/etc. items.
(The Focusing Device was a suggested item from an ancient issue of Dragon that allows a force cast of a particular spell by draining another spell. I would have differing versions of them- weak ones may be one-shot disposable trinkets that can only translate 1 spell; awesome ones would be permanent and could convert multiple spells, perhaps of a related type.)
These spells, feats and devices could be combined to create complimentary, supplementary, and synergistic utility.
I would reform the "spell slot" system by mixing it with mana.
There would be Free Mana and Level Mana. Free mana can be freely applied, and level mana is stuck in it level unless diverted by various mechanisms.
Spells have a mana cost equal to their level. The available Level Mana is the number of spells the caster memorize for a level, times the level.
Spells would be broken in half- the amount necessary to "fix" the spell in memory is one half, and the energy to trigger the flow that actually powers the spell (like the primer on an ammunition cartridge- the actual power comes from an exterior source) is the other half.
So a 1st level spell costs .5 mana to memorize and .5 to cast.
If you can cast 4 1st level spells, then you have 4 points of Level Mana for Level 1. You could just memorize Magic Missile and have 3.5 points of Level Mana left to cast. Fire away!
Or you could memorize 7 spells and only be able to cast one of them once.
Cantrips would be .25 mana, plus 1 freely "fixed" per class level.
Free Mana would be what? 1 per level? Or 1 gained each time a new level of spell is gained?
I would go with the second- you get a point of Free Mana when you get 2nd level spells, 3rd lvl, etc.
Free mana can be spent any way you please.
Perhaps some of the mana shifting feats would be Favorite Spell (permanently fixed or fixed at half cost, etc.), Lingering Enhancer (which would give the caster more time to select spells to translate through different level versions of Rary's Enhancer/etc.), and so on.
Sorcerors would have all of their spells "fixed", so all of their power goes into casting. Still, this doesn't address their craptastic selection.
They would need to have more than just Extend/Maximize/Empower- they would need scaled versions of all spells they know to make them fit into any level. And they get those free.
Also, sorcs should be able to trade Level Mana into Free Mana at a 2:1 rate until Epic Level, at which point Sorcs have all mana in a single Free Mana pool.
Suck it Wizards.
Ah well, that's my rant.
Discuss!
p.s. Perhaps Specialists, ASoC, etc. may perhaps be able to have additional "Favorite Spells" that the can "fix" for free or at reduced cost, as long as they are from the specialty.