Back to the traditional "Vancian" spellcasting issue...

Back to the traditional "Vancian" spellcasting issue...

As I noted in some previous, I have struggled with the traditional D&D magic system. On the one hand, it's a simple, elegant subsystem that's easy to teach a new player. On the other hand, aside from Vance and the second Amber series, the magic system doesn't really seem to reflect much in the source literature. No magical mishaps, no dark rituals for the heroes to disrupt, and no fear of corruption to the spellcaster. The only danger in magic is having the wrong spells memorized.

Option 1: A Variant Magic System.
In his comments on my last post, Matthew Slepin, the fiendish Dr. Samsara, pointed out that Spellcraft and Swordplay had used a system based on the old Chainmail spell-casting charts. As I posted a while back, I have already thought about those very charts and even come up with a nifty chart of my own:

To use a spell, roll a d20 against the target number listed below:

Spell   Spell               Caster Level
Level   Effect   1-2    3-4     5-6     7-8     9-10    11+
-----   ------   ---    ---     ---     ---     ----    ---
1       I        16+    14+     12+     10+     8+      6+
       D        12+    10+     8+      6+      4+      2+
       N        11-    9-      7-      5-      3-      1

2       I        18+    16+     14+     12+     10+     8+
       D        14+    12+     10+     8+      6+      4+
       N        13-    11-     9-      7-      5-      3-

3       I        20     18+     16+     14+     12+     10+
       D        16+    14+     12+     10+     8+      6+
       N        15-    13-     11-     9-      7-      5-

4       I        n/a    20+     18+     16+     14+     12+
       D        18+    16+     14+     12+     10+     8+
       N        17-    15-     13-     11-     9-      7-

5       I        n/a    n/a     20+     18+     16+     14+
       D        20     18+     16+     14+     12+     10+
       N        19-    17-     15-     13-     11-     9-

6       I        n/a    n/a     n/a     20+     18+     16+
       D        n/a    20      18+     16+     14+     12+
       N        n/a    19-     17-     15-     13-     11-


Spell Effect:
I = Immediate -- spell takes immediate effect.
D = Delayed -- spell delayed to next turn
N = Negated -- spell does not work. Prepared spell is lost.

Now, this chart needs some thought to work, particularly in terms of how I'm going to handle spell preparation. I'm likely to just use the standard magic-user charts and go from there. The down side of this rule is that magic-users will get off more spells per day, particularly utility spells where having a delayed effect will not be a problem. The plus side is that there is a good chance that combat spells will be delayed, which is a big issue to push flavor and the danger of spellcasting in combat. This also gives magic-users a little boost in power, with some danger to balance.

I would add the chance of a severe mishap any time a player rolls a 1, even if the spell would normally work automatically. Also, since delayed spellcasting will be common, I would add that anyone damaged while still spellcasting would need to roll a save with a penalty equal to the damage taken to avoid a mishap. A failure would result in a roll of 1d20 + spell level + damage taken on the Spell Mishap Table:

Spell Mishap Table:

Roll    Result
------  ------
1 -  3  Spell misfires. It takes effect as usual, but strikes a random target.
4 -  6  Spell backfires and strikes caster.
7 -  9  Spell backfires and has opposite normal effect.
10 - 12  Spell fizzles and is lost from memory
13 - 16  Spell fails as above. Caster cursed per Bless (Curse) spell description.
17 - 19  Spell fails as above. Caster disoriented, cannot cast spells 1d3 rounds.
20 - 22  Spell fails as above. Caster disoriented, cannot cast or attack 1d3 rounds.
23 - 25  Spell fails as above. Caster stunned 1d3 rounds.
26 - 27  Spell fails as above. Caster stunned as above, take 1d6+spell level damage.
    28  Spell fails as above. Caster struck by Hold Person spell.
    29  Spell fails as above. Caster struck by Confusion spell.
    30  Spell fails as above. Caster struck by Feeblemind spell.
    31  Spell fails as above. Caster struck by Death Spell.
    32  Spell fails as above.
        Opens dimensional gate 1d6 rounds, releases horrors chosen by GM.
    33+ Spell fails as above. Opens dimensional gate 1d6 rounds,
        caster is sucked in.

With this system, I would discard the idea of the rogue class, and keep just the fighter and the magic-user.

Option 2: It's all about flavor.
Another option is just to go with the flow and accept the weirdness of "Vancian" fire and forget spells as they are and add some flavor to the actual role-playing part of the game. That would take re-imagining what is going on in-game when describing actions, even if the rules don't change. Both Samsara and p_armstrong make strong points in their comments for the flavor aspect of the rules. For instance, abandoning the terminology of memorizing spells and describing the process as something like binding spirits or demons (as Samsara notes) or taking a cue from Zelazny and saying that spells are hung on a matrix in the caster's mind with a few "lynchpins" unspecified goes a long way to changing things. Adding some customized names for spells as they are learned is a nice touch, as is describing the danger of the process (stealing from Vance, as Anonymous laments about the use of "Vancian" as a term.)

But I think there might still be a need for a mishap table. When is there a magical mishap? When a target saves with a natural 20 or when a character is damaged while casting a spell or otherwise disrupted. Those both seem like good reasons to make the danger of magic seem more real. And that takes less rules-mucking-about.

I'll have to cogitate on this, though I often tend to reduced rules-muckery.

My struggles with Vancian magic and S&W

Traditional D&D style "Vancian" fire-and-forget magic is useful because it's easy to master mechanically, but difficult to master in play. You don't really need to learn a significant new mechanic to use magic, and though there is a high level of learning for spellcasters, it is a manageable sort of just-in-time learning as the magic-user player doesn't need to master all spells, just the ones in his or her character's spell book.

However, the drawbacks to me are a sense of danger and risk in using spells that seems to match the Sword and Sorcery genre (after all, spells incur no inherent risk to the caster such as failure or magical mishap), and a need for different types of characters to use very different mechanics in play, making it harder to teach new players how to play since learning to play one kind of character does not necessarily teach transferable skills to learn how to play another.

I have certainly thought about some tinkering with the standard Swords and Wizardry magic system. But at this point, I'm leaving the rules be since I think too much fiddling with the magic rules can upset the applecart, and at that point I might as well be re-tooling the system from scratch. In the end, I don't love Vancian spellcasting, but I think it's a tool that does get the job done with a minimum of new design and without needing to worry about the difficulty of teaching the system to new players.

So what is my problem? Fluff. Vibe. Feel. Mojo. The sense that this doesn't feel right. The solution? I have to be better as a DM of talking about the fluff side of magic, making it feel more dangerous, powerful, and eerie. Then get over the tinkering desire to make it "just right" for my tastes rather than workable for the game and the players.

An alternate spellcasting system (inspired by Chainmail), Draft 1

While thinking about Athanor, I found myself looking at the old Chainmail magic rules and thinking about using the Chainmail magic difficulty rules in Athanor in combination with modified spell lists. Using the Chainmail rules as a basis, I came up with the following table:

To use a spell, roll a d20 against the target number listed below:

Spell   Spell               Caster Level
Level   Effect   1-2    3-4     5-6     7-8     9-10    11+
-----   ------   ---    ---     ---     ---     ----    ---
1       I        16+    14+     12+     10+     8+      6+
       D        12+    10+     8+      6+      4+      2+
       N        11-    9-      7-      5-      3-      1
    
2       I        18+    16+     14+     12+     10+     8+
       D        14+    12+     10+     8+      6+      4+
       N        13-    11-     9-      7-      5-      3-
    
3       I        20     18+     16+     14+     12+     10+
       D        16+    14+     12+     10+     8+      6+
       N        15-    13-     11-     9-      7-      5-
    
4       I        n/a    20+     18+     16+     14+     12+
       D        18+    16+     14+     12+     10+     8+
       N        17-    15-     13-     11-     9-      7-
    
5       I        n/a    n/a     20+     18+     16+     14+
       D        20     18+     16+     14+     12+     10+
       N        19-    17-     15-     13-     11-     9-

6       I        n/a    n/a     n/a     20+     18+     16+
       D        n/a    20      18+     16+     14+     12+
       N        n/a    19-     17-     15-     13-     11-
    
    
Spell Effect:
I = Immediate -- spell takes immediate effect.
D = Delayed -- spell delayed to next turn
N = Negated -- spell does not work.

My thoughts on making this work:

• I think there needs to be some risk to failure, and thus some penalty for N results.
• I need to rethink spell lists and what level each spell is, since the removal of Vancian casting may change the balance of spells at each level.
• I also need to rethink the mountebank/rogue spell casting rules (or eliminate them and live with just fighters and magic-users, which is fine, too.)
  

Summoning Servants for Sorcerers

One of the things that I think is missing from Athanor is the ability for magic-users to call on the services of otherworldly beings with real regularity. Sure there are summon elemental spells and the like, but there's nothing like Melnibonéan sorcerers summoning demons or Vancian archwizards having sandestins at their beck and call. However, I don't think that this works as a sort of spell-based ability. I'm wondering if gaining the services of a powerful entity works better as a sort of magic item, that magic-users must find rituals in a magical book/scroll/tapestry/etc. and bind a specific demon that serves as a powerful magic "item" they can use. Such servants can be destroyed, lost, stolen, bound, or otherwise affected like magic items, and would have unique powers and drawbacks. At this point, it's a loose idea rattling around in my head, but I think this could be fleshed out....