Sycarion Diversions

Home of the Odd Duk

Tag: Swords and Wixardry (Page 19 of 20)

Magic Monday: Using the Turn Undead Table

March 18, 2013 /

Below is the thinking behind creating this system and a class to go along with it. Here is the link to the OGL stuff featured the spell casting table based on the Turn Undead mechanic.

I've always been a sucker for alternate abilities for Turn Undead. I absolutely love the Priests of Different Mythoi in the 2e rules. So when I read this post from +Nathan Irving, I left behind yet another spell point system to study and opted for something different.

The main idea is: How can the Turning Undead mechanic be used for spellcasting?

Here's the mechanic for Banishing Undead as it appears in S&W Complete:

When a Cleric attempts to turn undead, the player should roll 2d10 and consult the following table for the result.

  • If the number on the dice is equal to or greater than the number shown on the table, 2d6 creatures of the targeted type are turned and will depart, not returning for 3d6 rounds.
  • If the table indicates “T,” 2d6 undead creatures of the targeted type are automatically turned and will depart for 3d6 rounds.
  • If the table indicates “D,” 2d6 of the undead creatures are automatically destroyed and will crumble to dust.

TurnUndead

 

Looking at the table to be able to hack the mechanic, I converted it into percentages. In other words, I wanted to see the percentage chance of success a Cleric has to turn undead. Knowing the odds helps to make the mechanic work for other things. So, here is exactly the same table redone as percentage chance of success:

TurnPercent

 

Rolling 2d10 for success, there is going to be a big, noticeable curve in success rates. See how the numbers go down quickly for a 4th level Cleric? 100 percent for Undead with a Challenge Level of 1 (Skeletons). 97 percent for Challenge Level 2, but the 85 percent for level 3, only 64 percent for Challenge Level 3, and then a dive to 36 percent for Challenge Level 4.

You get the sense that there's a definitely sweet spot for success, depending on the Cleric's Level.

One other thing to keep in mind is that there is no penalty for an unsuccessful attempt. Sure a 4th level Cleric has only a 1 percent chance to turn an undead creature with a Challenge Level of 8 (typically a Mummy), but you have nothing to lose for the attempt.

Spellcasting works the same way. In the rules as written, there's no chance to cast a spell incorrectly, so casting a spell, as long as you have it in your spell book, has no risk. Fire and forget, as many others have said.

So I took the Turn Undead table and I mapped out the level of the spell caster where the Cleric Level appears. I mapped out the level of the Spell being cast where the Challenge Level appears. The result was pretty shocking:

A 1st Level spellcaster could attempt a 4th level spell. Without a risk to attempt it, there's no reason any self-respecting player wouldn't attempt to hurl an Ice Storm or use Charm Monster. This works in certain campaigns and I'd have fun with it, but I want something closer to the standard Magic-User.

Turn Undead can be used as often as you like. When using it for spellcasting, that would mean at certain levels, a spellcaster could fire off spells at-will without limit, so I wanted to think of ways to limit the number of spell that could be cast. Using a spell point system felt like it was moving away from the original goal of just using the Turn Undead mechanic. I'd be using the Turn Undead mechanic to track whether or not a spell was successfully, but then adding a brand new mechanic to track the number of spells being cast. I determined that this was unacceptable.

I found that with a little tweak to the Turn Undead mechanic, there could be a simple way to accomplish this. First, I made the Turn Undead table into a Roll-Under mechanic. In others words, roll 2d10 and compare the result, rolling equal to or less than the number on the table would mean success. For the curious, here is the Turn Undead table restated with a Roll-Under mechanic. Yes, the math is exactly the same, check here:

TurnRollUnder

 

Why a roll-under? I could add a +1 to the roll after every attempt. After casting a few spells, it would become impossible to successfully cast a spell. I'll explain this more later.

After converting the Turn Undead mechanic to be a roll-under mechanism, I put the spellcaster level and Spell levels back in as I had before. I have a simple way to manage the number of spells cast, but there's still the problem of that 1st level character launching an Ice Storm. To mitigate that, I'll have to cut off the spell level that can be attempted. So, looking at the Magic-User tables, I cut off higher spell level that could be attempted. In other words, a 2nd level spell could not be attempted until the spellcaster reached 3rd level.

I was happy with the result. Here it is:

ImpromptuMagic

 

Again, why are there numbers larger than 20 for a roll-under system? Because after every attempt, the spell caster adds +1 to the roll. Here's an example:

Mert the Magnificent is a 7th level spell caster. He attempts to cast a 1st level spell. Rolling 2d10 is pointless as he has to roll under a 21. It is an automatic success. Later, however, he wants to cast Magic Missile, another 1st level spell. Since he has cast one spell before, he adds +1 to the roll. It is still automatic, but with the +1, it is possible to roll a 21. Each successive spell attempt adds +1 to the roll.

Now lets look at what happens when he wants to attempt to cast a spell one more time. Since he has already cast two spells, so +2 is added to the roll. Regardless of level, he no longer has automatic success. Here's another thing, the +2 applies to any spell attempted, regardless of level. Casting spells this way makes all attempts more difficult.

With tweaks applied, I was happy with the system. Lower level spellcasters using this system are more powerful early on, but they become much weaker at higher levels. For example, a 20th level Magic-User can hurl a total of 50 spells ranging in level from 1 to 9. At the absolute maximum and with some incredible dice rolling, a 20th level spellcaster using this system can throw 39 spells.

So, I wanted a spell failure table. There has to be a reason to prevent spell casters using this system to avoid hurling spells until the run out. After all, if a spell caster can throw up to eight spells at first level, it doesn't fit well with existing classes. I didn't have time to generate one. I'll add that in a later post.

With consequences for failure in place, the resulting spellcaster is now weaker on average after 4th level. At higher level, the difference is stark. A 20th level spell caster using this system may go quite a long time without casting a 9th level spell because if he cast a few 1st level spells earlier in the day, it becomes too risky to hurl an 8th or 9th level spell. As much as I love how that works, it makes the spell caster much weaker than a standard Magic-User.

So I decided to create a class that uses this system, but also has some "guaranteed spells" to use. I call this class a Sorcerer. Looking at the Magic-User spell table, I basically divided it in half, rounding down.

I'm out of time, but I will say that I am very happy with the result. At 1st level, a Sorcerer doesn't have a guaranteed spell, but he has a chance to cast a 1st level spell. At 3rd level, he doesn't have a guaranteed 2nd level spell he can cast, but he can attempt to cast it using the table above.

Let me know how it works for you.

Magic Monday: Psionic Combat

March 11, 2013 /

I spent quite a few days looking at the Divlantia system, but I couldn't write up something useful in a week. The system would require quite a bit of work, so it may appear later.

In its place is the completion of a psionic combat system to use with Swords & Wizardry. This system assumes that psionic characters and creatures have a pool of Power Points used to produce psionic powers. When the Power Points are reduced to zero, the psionic creature can no longer use psionic powers or initiate psionic combat. This system also assumes that all psionically aware creatures have a power level. For monsters, the power level is the same as their Challenge Level.

In short, Psionic Combat is resolved in five steps:

  1. Choose attack and defense options.
  2. Determine if the attack was successful.
  3. Determine the adjustment to the attacker's psionic combat roll.
  4. Each side rolls 2d6 and applies adjustments.
  5. The loser sheds a number of power points determined by the winner's level.

paper, rock, scissors...Psionic combat begins when a player or creature attempts to use a psionic power on another psionic. The one initiating combat is considered the attacker, while the other combatant is considered the defender.

When psionic combat begins, each combatant uses their own copy of the Psionic Combat Chart  simultaneously places one or more tokens on the Combat Chart shown on the left. (In testing, coins work best with the attacker marking his/her choices with the "heads" side of the coin and the defender using the "tales side of the coin.) When the choices are revealed, any tokens on the same choice are removed. If there are no tokens left, the psionic attack was successfully blocked and the attacker loses 1d6 points.

If tokens remain, use the chart to determine the adjustment to the attacker's combat roll. Arrows pointing from the attacker's token to the defender's token increase the attacker's roll, arrows pointing towards the attacker's token reduce the attacker's combat roll. White arrows are a +3/-3 adjustment while black arrows are a +1/-1 adjustment.

For example, if the attacker chooses Water and the defender chooses Fire, the attacker gains a +3 adjustment to his roll because a white arrow points toward the defender's token. If the attacker had chosen Wood and the defender chosen Metal, the attacker would have a -3 adjustment to their psionic combat roll.

Once the adjustment is determined, both sides roll and the lowest roll has points deducted from their power points. In other words, even if the attacker rolls the lowest result, the attacker will lose power points.

The amount of power points lost is determined by the power level of the creature with the highest combat roll. At level 1, 1d6 points of damage are done. This increases by 1d6 for every three level thereafter. (2d6 at 4th level, 3d6 at 7th level, etc.)

So let's have a couple of examples. I found that the system is pretty quick, but it takes a bit to get used to it. I found it similar to teaching someone a two player card game.

Erin, a 1st level psionicist with 8 power points is attacking a Brain Mole with 6 power points. The brain mole has a Challenge Level of 1, so its power level is 1.

Erin attacks choosing Fire. The GM (playing the brain mole) also chooses Fire. Since that both chose the same option, Erin loses power points. He rolls a 2, so he now has 6 power points. The brain mole attacks choosing the Water option. Erin (unable to see the brain mole's choice) chooses Wood. Looking at the chart, a black arrow points from the brain mole to Erin, so the brain mole gets a +1 adjustment to its psionic combat roll. Each side rolls 2d6 and the brain mole rolls higher. Since it has a power level of 1, it does 1d6 power point damage. Rolling 1d6 to determine damage, it rolls a 5. Erin is now down to 1 power point.

Deciding not to push his luck, Erin attempts a physical attack with a sling and misses. The brain mole psionically attacks choosing Metal. Erin defends choosing Fire. Looking at the chart, a white arrow points towards the attacking brain mole. His psionic attack roll is adjusted by a -3 penalty. Each side rolls 2d6 with Erin rolling the highest score. Even though Erin did not initiate the psionic attack, he still rolls to do damage to the brain mole because he rolled the highest psionic combat attack roll. Erin rolls a 6 (lucky!) and reduced the brain mole's power points to zero. The brain mole cannot initiate psionic combat until it has 8 hours of rest.

At higher levels, psionic combatants can choose more than one option on the chart. At 7th level, a psionic creature can make two choices on either psionic attack or psionic defense, but not both. This choice is permanent and cannot be switched back and forth. At 13th level, a psionic creature can make two choices on both psionic attacks and psionic defense. At 19th level, a psionic creature can make three choices on either psionic attack or psionic defense. At 26th level, a psionic creature can make three choices on both.

Here's an example where one combatant uses only one token while the only uses two tokens on psionic attacks only.

Zoth, a 6th level psionicist with 48 power points is attacking a Phthisic with 56 power points. The phthisic has a Challenge Level of 7, so it will operate with a power level of 7. It has chosen to use two choices on psionic attacks and not psionic defenses.

Zoth imitates a psionic attack and chooses Wood. The phthsic chooses Fire. Since the phthsic did not initiate the attack, it only makes one choice. Looking at the chart, Zoth gains a +1 adjustment to his attack roll. Zoth rolls high and rolls 2d6 to determine damage. He rolls 8, taking the phthsic down to 48 power points. The phthsic fights back psionically, choosing Metal and Earth. Zoth chooses Water. Looking at the chart, there is a white arrow and a black arrow both pointing at Zoth. This gives the phthsic a +4 adjustment to its psionic combat roll. The phthsic rolls high and uses 3d6 to determine damage. It rolls 10, taking Zoth down to 38 power points.

Zoth attacks choosing Wood. The phthsic also chooses Wood, so the attack is blunted and Zoth rolls 1d6 to determine power point loss. The result is a 2, so he is now down to 36 points. The phthsic attacks choosing Fire and Earth. Zoth chooses Fire. Looking at the chart, the two Fires cancel each other out. With one token left, the phthsic gains no adjustment to its combat roll. Despite choosing Fire, Zoth only partially defends the attack. Psionic combat rolls are made and Zoth rolls higher. He does 6 point of damage to the phthsic, taking it down to 42 points. The battle continues.

If you look at the chart, it is possible for the phthsic to get a -4 penalty to its psionic combat roll, despite using two choices in psionic attacks.

Let me know what you think of the system. Discussion can be had here.

Magic Monday: Back in 79

March 4, 2013 /

If I had serious money to invest into the history of the hobby, I would buy as many copies of the Beholder 'zine as I could. There has always been something about the British take on D&D that appeals to me.

The first alternate magic system in this ongoing series will be a spell points system that first appeared in Beholder Issue 3. This was published in 1979, hence the title. Thanks to screen captures on the Mesmerized by sirens site, I was able to read about this fun system. For the purposes of giving credit where credit is due, I'm going to assume that Mike Stoner was the author of the system. To cover all bases, credit should go to all four authors of issue #3, Guy Duke, John Norris, John Stoner and Mike Stoner.

The system boils down to spellcasters gain a certain amount of spell points per level. Every spell that appears in the 1st Edition AD&D Player's Handbook was provided a point cost to cast. The rules for memorizing or praying for spells were altered a little. Instead of a large block of time required to gain spells, the level of a spell determined how long it took for a spellcaster to commit it to memory. As you would imagine, higher level spells required more memorization/prayer time.

The original article featured four types of spellcasters, Clerics, Druids, Illusionists and Magic-Users. For the sake of this post, I'm only going to look at Clerics and Magic-Users.

Important note about Clerics, in this system, they can spells at 1st level. Depending on the spell they prayed for and the Wisdom score of the character, they could potentially cast as many as six spells. For example, a Cleric with 18 Wisdom would have 6 spell points available to use per day. Detect Evil, Light and Remove Fear spells each cost one point. So in an extreme case, the Cleric could keep casting Light and Detect Evil all day.

How it tends to work out, though, is that a 1st level Cleric starts with 4 or 5 points a day. Since a Cleric has only has a 4 or 5 point capacity, it is likely that at least one spell will be Cure Light Wounds, which costs 2 points. Another useful spell is Bless or Sanctuary, each of which costs 3 points. The 1st level Cleric is still a lot more powerful than a standard Cleric of the same level. However, this changes as both types of Clerics gain levels. A 5th Level Cleric under this system is about equal to a standard 5th level Cleric. By sixth level, the standard Cleric is a much more potent spellcaster.

The reason for this shift is that in this spell point system, a Cleric gains only about a few points per level. Higher level spells can cost 15 - 20 points per spell. Whereas a standard 6th level Cleric gains the ability to cast 1 4th level spell, 1 3rd level spell and two spells each of 1st and 2nd level, the 6th level Cleric in the spell point system has barely enough to cast a 4th level spell and other spells. If the 6th level Cleric in the spell point system memorizes the Exorcise spell, that would likely be the only spell he or she cast that day. With some creative wrangling, a 6th level spell point Cleric, as written in the article, could pull off the same number of spells the traditional Cleric has. By 8th level, though, it is mathematically impossible. The traditional spellcaster will have more and better spells available to cast, no matter what.

Instead of seeing this as some kind of flaw, however, let's look at this as a feature. One thing that this magic system implies is the Law of Diminishing Returns. Sure, an 11th level Cleric can cast a 6th level spell, but if that same Cleric casts a Heal spell, he or she will only be able to cast a Cure Serious Wounds before running dangerously low on spell points. This makes Clerics less of a medic at higher levels because they will be limited to only a few healing type spells per day. The system, as written in the article, makes healing spells much more expensive than utility spells. This makes a Cleric much more likely to use the cheaper Divination type spells. This makes them more "cleric-y" to me as they focus more on contacting their respective gods instead of replenishing everyone's hit point batteries.

Looking at Magic-Users, something similar happens. It takes 6 levels for the spell point Magic-User and the traditional Magic-User to be equal, but at 8th level, the traditional Magic-User will always be able to cast more spells and more powerful spells than the spell point Magic-User. Again, this system promotes the Law of Diminishing Returns, you will have to be a very powerful Magic-User to be able to hurl multiple Fireballs around. In this system, a 12th level Magic-User could hurl three fireballs in a day, but only if the spell caster has an INT of 16 or more. Unless the Magic-User had an INT score of 17 or 18, those three fireballs would be the only spells cast that day. Talk about the five minute work day...

So this system works in two different ways. For one, it works great as a Hedge Wizard/Shaman type of system. The number of spell points available is determined by WIS or INT scores. Even a creature with animal level intelligence could possibly gain 1 spell point to use per day. Imagine a wizard's familiar with the ability to cast Mending once per day. Maybe a canine familiar could cast Burning Paws once a day. My favorite, however, would be an animal companion that could cast Message once a day. A character with those kinds of familiars are quite interesting.

Beyond familiars, though, a GM can create all sorts of spell casting creatures. Hobgoblins could have a handful of points (maybe up to 12) to spare. They certainly won't be throwing any Fireballs, but a Hobgoblin Hedge Wizard could sling a Magic Missile or two, creatively use Message, Magic Mouth or Mirror Image. It could also Enlarge an ally and create even more havoc.

Since the system focuses on spellcasters employing many lower level spells and very few higher level spells, it also works well in more Swords and Sorcery type campaigns. I could see a lone adventurer coming to rely more on his or her ability to trick rather than magical firepower. At first, sure, using a bunch of Magic Missiles and Burning Hands to walk through a couple goblins may seem easy, but they can cast similar spells.

I'm over 1100 words at this point, so I'll stop. Hope this provides you with some ideas to use this system in your own game. Feel free to use the linked document that adapts this system for use in the retroclone of your choice.

The Mana Point System

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Sycarion Diversions

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑