Wild Magic -- Take III

As a DM I am renowned for my love of randomness and for my love of tables, so it's no surprise that I'm very much enamoured with the idea of a class of magic-user whose enchantments lack the technical reliability of the standard D&D spells.

The topic of wild magic is something I've mused on several times before, but which I've never really reached a very satisfying conclusion with.

I started work a while back on a new concept for a wild magic-user class, but forgot to post it. So here we go.

The basic concept I had in mind is that wild magic would, purely from a game rules point of view, work identically to the normal, time-honoured magic-user class. A set list of spells, of which a fixed number may be memorized by a wizard, the quantity depending on his level. No random tables of spell effects, no wild surges, etc. The standard D&D rules for Vancian magic are simple, elegant and (relatively) fast in-play, all features which wild magic systems, with their frequent profusion of random tables, often threaten to quash.

So without random tables or wild surges where then does the wildness come into play? My idea was that the nature of the spells themselves would provoke wildness and chaos. So these spells often wouldn't be valued  for their practical application, but rather for their ability to alter existing situations by introducing a random or unexpected element.

My guideline is that the randomness of these spells should not be purely of the "it might be good or bad" variety -- for example a spell which deals damage to a random target within range (caster or allies included). Spells like that aren't fun to cast. It's just Russian roulette, and if the "bad" result comes up the caster feels like he's wasted one of his precious spell slots.

Instead, wild spells should focus on effects which throw unpredictable curve balls into the game.

Here are a few ideas along these kind of lines.

I'm very interested to hear anyone's thoughts on this idea, and if you think it sounds like a feasible and fun approach.

Existential Instability
Level: 2
Duration: 1d6 rounds, +1 per level
Range: 60'

A targeted object begins to randomly fluctuate in and out of existence. The affected object must be within range, visible to the caster, and have no dimension larger than 1' per caster level. If the target is in the possession of another creature, the owner may make a save versus spells to resist the instability.
At the beginning of each combat round, the Labyrinth Lord should roll a die. If the die comes up odd, the target disappears; if the die comes up even, the target exists as normal.
Doors, walls, weapons, suits of armour, magic items, etc are all viable targets for this spell.

Juggling
Level: 1
Duration: Instant
Range: 30'

This spell causes the objects held in the hands of all creatures within range to take on a life of their own, leap into the air, and fly into the hands of someone else in the affected area.
For each held item, the target may make a saving throw versus spells to keep hold of it. If the save fails, the Labyrinth Lord should randomly determine to whom the objects flies. The receiver automatically catches the item.
Wise casters make sure to stow away any important items before casting this spell.

Mood Modifier
Level: 1
Duration: Instant
Range: 30'

All intelligent creatures within range are affected by a sudden change of mood. The following chart can be used to determine what mood strikes. If the randomly selected mood is too close in character to the prevailing mood before the spell was cast, the Labyrinth Lord may allow a re-roll.
Creatures of higher than 4HD (or 4th level) are allowed a saving throw to resist the spell's effects.

Mood modifier, result
1d10 Mood
1 Anger
2 Conviviality
3 Fear
4 Boredom
5 Lust
6 Earnestness
7 Whimsy
8 Ecstasy
9 Aggression
10 Capriciousness

Wild Magic: Light!

I surmised a possible system for wild magic recently, and made up a table for odd results of casting hold portal. I've been thinking along these lines a bit more, and decided, following smiler's suggestion, to tackle light, one of the least "sexy" spells of all time.

I'm quite pleased with the resulting table.

(See the previous post on wild magic for an explanation of the rough system I have in mind.)


01 The caster's eyes are targeted by the spell.
03 - Darkness manifests instead.
05 - The caster's hair or clothing sets on fire.
07 - A raging 8HD fire elemental is summoned.
09 + Spooky shadows of hooks, clawed hands and sinister spirits flit around the edge of the light's extent. One of them is a shadow (the monster) and will attack at an inopportune moment.
11 The light produced can be perceived by everyone except the caster.
13 - The caster is affected by faerie fire.
15 A sickening strobe light manifests, causing a -1 penalty to hit within its radius.
17 - The caster's eyes emit beams with equivalent intensity to the normal result, but highly directional.
19 - The light produced by the spell's whole normal duration is gathered and emitted instantaneously. All within 60' must save versus spells or be blinded for 1d6 turns. If the save fails by more than 4 the blindness is permanent.
21 + Spooky shadows of hooks, clawed hands and sinister spirits flit around the edge of the light's extent.
23 - A floating silver lantern appears, burning with an ethereal light. The caster can move the lantern telekinetically.
25 - The caster is covered with a thin film of luminescent ectoplasm. Everything he touches gains a glowing residue. This includes his footprints as he walks around.
27 - No light is produced, but objects and creatures in shadows within 60' of the caster are annotated with neon signs denoting their identities. This effect moves with the caster.
29 - A hundred candles appear at the specified location. They burn for the normal duration, but can be blown out.
31 + The created light has an unusual additional property – it absorbs other nearby light sources. Any light source within 30' is extinguished. Each time this happens the radius of the magical light increases by 5'.
33 - The caster is transformed into a globe of light, having the normal effects of the spell.
35 + The light sends off small sparks which gradually form streams leading towards the centre. This attracts wandering monsters (chances double).
37 - A defective light manifests, which is “on” every two rounds, and produces darkness instead every other round.
39 - A brief flash is emitted and a photograph of the scene drops at the caster's feet.
41 - Sound within 60' of the caster is silenced and instead manifests as glowing shapes, colours and images. This includes the caster's own voice. Spell casting is still possible, but speech must be interpreted visually.
43 - A backwards light is produced, which reverses the apparent location of objects. Things which are behind the caster appear to be in front of him, and vice versa.
45 + The light produced is completely invisible from outside its radius.
47 - All living creatures within 60' of the caster are illuminated as if by a spotlight. The effect follows them as they move.
49 - A color spray shoots in all directions from the caster.
51 The light only illuminates the edges of things, revealing outlines without colour or texture.
53 - If underground, the caster and companions are teleported to the surface. If above ground, a meteorite (as per meteor swarm) plummets from the sky and hits a random target within 60'.
55 - The light forms a wide beam 60' long, which rotates around the subject like a lighthouse beacon.
57 The light produced is of an unusual colour such as sickly violet, gloomy red, electric blue, etc.
58 - A torch-bearer (1HD, AC9, unarmed) is summoned, complete with torch which burns magically for the normal duration.
61 + A switch appears floating in front of the caster, and following him as he moves. The switch can be used to instantaneously switch the light effect on and off.
63 The light produced can only be perceived by the caster.
65 - A swarm of fireflies is summoned. A reaction roll determines if they fly off in random direction, swarm around the caster, or obey the caster's commands. The swarm sheds light as the normal spell effect.
67 - The caster is transformed into a holographic being made of pure light. He can no longer directly interact with the physical world, and is unable to speak, but can only be harmed by magic, and can pass through tiny cracks and holes.
69 - An odd light is produced which only illuminates certain things: 1. living beings, 2. invisible things, 3. magic and enchanted items, 4. evil intent, 5. treasure, 6. undead.
71 + The light is augmented by flashing neon-style arrows and slogans of an encouraging, whimsical or helpful nature. (“This way!”, “You're doing great!”, “Look out!”, etc.)
73 - A will-o'-wisp appears.
75 + The light is centred on the caster, who is also affected by invisibility. The caster thus becomes a walking light source.
77 - The spell conjures an elegant standard lamp, with electric cable plugged in in another dimension. The caster can carry the lamp around.
79 - All creatures within range are affected by faerie fire.
81 + The light flashes briefly whenever a creature crosses its boundary.
83 Ultraviolet light only, just like at a rave. Anyone staying in the area of effect for more than an hour will get a tan.
85 + The light is also very hot, causing anyone in its area of effect to start sweating within 1 turn. Heavily armoured characters suffer -1 to hit, due to the heat.
87 - The caster gains the ability to see in darkness.
89 + The light produced has the unusual property of exerting a physical force which can push away objects and creatures. A save vs paralysis is required per round to remain within the illuminated area.
91 + Twisted images of the caster's face dance at the edge of the light's extent.
93 - All creatures within 30' gain the ability to see in darkness.
95 - A scintillating array of blue laser beams emanates from the target, illuminating the normal area. If the target is an object which the caster holds, he can command it to fire intensified beams of laser energy, causing 1d8 damage on a successful hit roll.
97 - Spell's effect replaced by continual light.
99 - The eyes of all beings within range are targeted by a normal light spell.

Wild Magic and the Humble Hold Portal

For a long time now I've been thinking about wild magic (as introduced in the Tome of Magic for AD&D 2nd Edition). I've always found the idea of it super appealing -- I love random tables and elements in RPGs, so a whole class which centres around randomness sounds like a winning idea! However I wasn't that impressed with how the concept was implemented in the Tome of Magic. Two flaws with it which stand out to me are:

1. There's not enough randomness. When a wild mage casts a spell there's only a 5% chance of getting to roll on that awesome table of random magical happenings (which is what it's all about, as far as I'm concerned, for a player who's chosen to play a wild mage). Otherwise the only "wild" element is that the spell might manifest as if it was cast by a magic-user of a level or two higher or lower. For a lot of spells this makes no difference.
2. It's too complicated and not fun. Who wants to spend time working out fiddly things which change due to a spell being cast as if by a 3rd level instead of a 2nd level magic-user?

Admittedly, both those complaints are from the perspective of someone who's never seen a wild mage in play. Perhaps it works out great, but I doubt it somehow. (If anyone reading has actually played a wild mage, I'd be very interested to hear how it was!)

Another aspect to consider is that if one wanted more random results more often (as I do), then a single d100 table is going to wear thin pretty soon. Of course there are huge d10,000 (I think?) tables of random magical happenings out there on the internet, which could be used instead. I've been thinking of something else, however.

What about if (a bit like in DCC RPG I suppose) each spell had its own table of results? A table with a few dozen random results for each spell would probably be enough.

So here's how I thought it could work:

1. Wild mages can memorize twice the number of spells normally allowed. (Crazy optimisational techniques allow them to stuff extra spells into their brains, at the expense of accuracy.)
2. Each spell has a 49% chance of working "as written", and a 50% chance of coming out warped in some way.
3. There's also a 1% chance of something just totally weird and unrelated happening (see your handy d100 / d10,000 / whatever table of random magical happenings).
4. So, when a wild mage casts a spell the player rolls d100. If it comes up 00 then something weird happens. All other even results mean the spell works as normal. All odd results mean that something, well, odd happens.

 Sounds like a pretty simple, fun system. (Albeit very table heavy!)

To test out this idea, to see if it feels even feasible, I thought I'd have a go at writing a table of random results for a single spell. To that end I chose one of the least "sexy" spells on the 1st level list: the humble hold portal.

(Entries marked with a - mean that the spell's normal effect does not occur, and is completely replaced by the described effect. Entries marked with a + mean that the listed effect occurs in addition to the spell's normal effect. Unless otherwise specified, the normal duration of the spell applies.)

1    - The caster's mouth is magically held shut.
3    - The caster's eyes are magically held shut.
5    - The portal is blasted by magic and destroyed.
7    - The portal is magically held open.
9    - The portal momentarily becomes a dimensional gate and releases a hostile monster of 1d8 HD.
11    - The portal is covered in cobwebs.
13    - The portal transmutes into a gelatinous cube.
15    - All portals within 30' fly open and a blasting wind and insane cackling laughter fill the area for the duration.
17    + A tiny golden key appears in a random location within 20'. It can open the portal.
19    - A wooden bar appears, nailed across the portal. It is painted with red and yellow stripes, and the phrase “ACCESS DENIED”.
21    - A face manifests on the portal and will attempt to discourage anyone from passing through.
23    + Each creature attempting to open the portal may make a save vs spells to be successful.
25    + The portal is affected by a probabilistic instability – its existence varies for each creature viewing it (50% chance of either existing or not existing). Creatures for which the portal does not exist can pass through it freely. Those for whom it exists are barred, as per the normal effects of the spell.
27    + A letterbox (marked “MAIL”) appears in the portal. It can be opened normally.
29    + Glowing writing appears on the portal, stating that only a certain type of creature may enter (1. elves, 2. goblins, 3. undead, 4. dwarves, 5. wizards, 6. lizards). This is true.
31    - The portal is locked by a mechanical lock, which appears in its construction for the duration. It can be picked normally by a thief.
33    - The portal is overgrown with thorny plants. Can be cleared in 1 turn.
35    + A face manifests on the portal and will grant access to anyone who can solve a riddle it poses.
37    + The portal belches forth a vomit of slime and debris, covering all within 20'. It then closes and is held as normal.
39    - The portal is concealed by a phantasm which makes all who see it ignore it. Any creatures which already knew of the portal's existence may save vs spells.
41    - A phantasmal door appears next to the targeted portal.
43    + A skull appears, chained onto the portal. It pronounces the doom of any who approach the portal.
45    - Two guards (1HD, AC 5, long sword) are summoned for the duration. They will attempt to prevent anyone from passing through the portal.
47    - Anyone passing through the portal is overcome with: 1. cosmic ecstasy, 2. terror, 3. sorrow, 4. existential angst, 5. carnal lust, 6. blood lust.
49    - The portal leads into an illusionary meadow.
51    + For the duration, the portal's surface changes into a mirror which reveals invisible or ethereal objects/creatures.
53    - The portal acts as a dimension door to a random location within 360'.
55    - The portal screams when opened or closed.
57    - The portal is held open, but a sheet of magical flame appears, filling its aperture. Passing through causes 1d6 damage.
58    + The portal flickers with (harmless) arcane fire of odd colours.
61    + The portal shudders and vibrates.
63    - The portal vanishes entirely and permanently. It is replaced by a section of blank wall.
65    + When the duration ends the portal acts as a dimension door to a random location within 360'. This effect lasts for 6 turns.
67    - The portal becomes a gateway to another world.
69    - The portal is concealed by an illusionary wall.
71    + The portal flickers with arcane fire of odd colours. The fire causes 1d3 damage to anyone touching it.
73    - The portal is blasted by magic and destroyed. In its place appears a wall of force.
75    + The words “TRY YOUR LUCK” appear on the portal. Anyone attempting to open it must roll 1d6: 1. the portal opens, 2. affected by sleep, 3. affected by cure light wounds, 4. affected by confusion, 5. teleport to the other side of the portal (which remains held), 6. blinded for 1d6 turns.
77    - A dimensional loop manifests, causing anything which moves through the portal to end up where it came from.
79    - The portal is consumed by a howling dimensional void, which remains for the duration. Anything put into it is irrevocably destroyed.
81    + Anyone touching the portal is electrocuted for 1d4 damage.
83    - The portal metamorphoses into a mimic.
85    - The portal is covered in sticky strands, as per the web spell.
87    + Sturdy iron bars manifest to augment the spell. The bars are permanent.
89    - The words “DEATH TO ALL WHO PASS” hang above the portal in sinister glowing script. Any who pass through must save vs death or die.
91    + All portals within 30' are held.
93    + A symbol of fear manifests on the warded portal.
95    + A monster of 1d8 HD is summoned and guards the portal.
97    - The targeted portal is affected by arcane lock.
99    - All portals within 30' vanish entirely and permanently. They are replaced by blank walls.

I conclude that it does feel like a feasible system, though would be very time-consuming to write the required tables for all 105 basic Labyrinth Lord spells! Who knows, maybe something I'll work on slowly.

Thoughts on wild magic

Though it's not a class I've ever seen used in practice, I've always been smitten with the idea of the wild mage -- a magic-user who lives on the dangerous and unpredictable side of the arcane. The only place I've actually seen a wild mage class presented was in the AD&D 2nd edition Tome of Magic. The class didn't appear in AD&D 1e (as far as I know) and also seems to have never made it into the later versions of the game (again, as far as I know -- please correct me if I'm wrong here).

This lack is something I hope to remedy by including guidelines for wild magic in my work-in-progress book.

My initial thoughts are going along a different track to the ToM wild mage, which presented a d100 table of (fairly extreme) wild surge effects, with a 1 in 20 chance of a wild surge occurring each time the wizard casts a spell. Personally, I'd like a system where wild surges are more common but less extreme. And instead of the fixed table of effects, I'd like to design a system which taps the endless (d∞!) creative potential of the DM & players. So here are the beginnings of my thoughts on how this might work.

The basics

• Any magic-user can choose to be a wild mage. Usually this choice would be made at character creation, and could never be altered, but existing MUs may be allowed to opt to be wild mages if the DM introduces the option in the middle of a campaign.
• Magic-user sub-classes like illusionists can also opt to be wild mages (or wild illusionists, in this case).
• Whenever a wild mage casts a spell, the player must roll 1d6 & 1d12. The d6 determines whether a wild surge occurs, which is indicated by an odd number. If a wild surge does occur, then the d12 indicates what happens.

Table 1, 1d6

1. Wild surge, consult table 2.
2. Spell works as intended.
3. Wild surge, consult table 2.
4. Spell works as intended.
5. Wild surge, consult table 2. Spell remains in memory (can be cast again).
6. Spell works as intended plus stays in memory (can be cast again).

Table 2, 1d12

1. Spell functions as if the caster were 1d4 levels higher than normal.
2. Spell functions as if the caster were 1d4 levels lower than normal. (If effective caster level ends up less than one then the spell has no effect.)
3. Spell has normal effect plus the effect of a randomly chosen spell of the same level.
4. Spell has normal effect plus another randomly chosen memorized spell is activated unwillingly.
5. Spell manifests as intended and a randomly chosen spell of the same level appears in the caster's mind in its place. (The caster is able to cast this spell, even if it is not one that he usually could.)
6. Spell fizzles with no effect.
7. The spell's target or area of effect (where applicable) changes.
8. Randomly chosen spell of same level activates instead.
9. Randomly chosen spell of one level higher activates instead.
10. A randomly chosen spell of level d8 manifests instead of the intended effect.
11. Cast another memorized spell instead. (If the caster has no other spells memorized, then nothing happens and the spell remains in memory.)
12. The caster loses the ability to cast spells for 1d4 rounds or 1d4 turns (whichever the Labyrinth Lord deems appropriate).

So the main creativity of the system comes when the intended effect is replaced by a randomly chosen spell. This would require a lot of quick creative thinking on the part of the DM, which I reckon would be a lot of fun! For example, what happens when a sleep spell surges and is replaced by hold portal?. The intention is that the DM wouldn't have to follow the random spell's description to the letter, but could simply use it as a creative kick-start. In the example of sleep transmuting into hold portal, perhaps there are no doors close by, and the DM could interpret it as locking shut the mouths or eyes of all creatures in range.

As I say, this is all just a beginning, so I'd be very interested to hear anyone's thoughts on what I've described or on wild magic in general.