User:Spazalicious Chaos/The Book of Channeled Wonders(3.5e Sourcebook)/Magic

Magic
This spell system is designed with two goals- to make spells more difficult to cast and less reliable than mundane options. It supplants any and all relevant existing magic systems.

Spell Casting
Casting a spell is a two step process. First, magic needs to be condensed and refined in a process known as Channeling. Then the magic is shaped and released in a process called Casting.

Channeling
Before channeling can begin, a magician needs to select what spell she intends to cast. The power of this spell set the DC for the channel roll. The channel roll is a Concentraition check with a DC equal to 10+ spell level x3. You cannot take 10 on a channeling check for spell with cast times of 1 round or less. Success on this roll indicates that you have attained enough raw magical energy to power one level of spell. For spells of a higher level than 1rst, multiple channel rolls are made, with successfully attained levels being cummulative.

0 level spells are special. For a zero level spell the channel roll and the casting roll (see below) are done at the same time as a single action. If both are successful the spell is cast.

Metamagic does not alter the DC of the spell cast, but does increase the number of channel levels needed. For example, a maximized fireball would have a channel DC of 19 and need six channel levels.

Failing a channel roll has effects dependant on the degree of failure. Failing by five or less is simply a wasted action. Failing by six or more indicates that raw energy is bleeding back into the source, and the caster loses accumulated channel levels equal the degree of failure -5. If this would take away all accumulated channel levels, the spell fails and the slot is lost. Otherwise channeling may continue. For example, if the above maximized fireball were being prepared and you have accumulated four channel levels, but rolled a total of 13, you had missed by 6 and would lose one channel level, reducing your accumulated total to three.

Channel Actions/Effects
Channel rolls take an action of the same type as that listed to cast the spell, as per below:
 * 1 Round- Channeling is a full round action that provokes and attack of opportunity. If you take damage at any time during channeling that round, you take a -2 circumstance penalty per hit, or -5 per critical hit. For this reason it is recommended that the roll be made at the end of the round instead of on the players turn.
 * Standard Action- Channeling takes a standard action and provokes an attack of opportunity, but the channel roll is only penalized for hits taken on the before and during the players turn.
 * Move Action- Channeling is a move action that provokes and attack of opportunity. The channel roll only takes penalties for attack made on the players turn unless the player uses a double move to channel twice, at which point it is resolved like 1 round channeling but with two channel rolls, both of which contribute channel levels.
 * Swift/Free Action- Channeling is a free action and does not provoke an attack of opportunity, but may only be done once per turn.
 * Immediate Action- This does not technically exist as a channel action, as immediate spells are cast as "interupt spells" (see below) but should such a spell be actively channeled treat it as a free action spell.

Channeling can be a very obvious action while it is being performed, depending on the components used in the spell:
 * Verbal- As the character calls up the energies needed her voice is as audiable as anyone speaking firmly and ennunciating, and adopts a special tone that can be heard echoing over other sounds, even explosions and hurricane winds.
 * Somatic- The character visably manipulates gathering energy-material of some sort that is readily indentifyible as magical, be it glowing light, phantasmal strands or particles, or even flowing mists of various colors, making it difficult to hide.
 * Material- The character destroys the material in some way, typically burning it but shreding or grinding it to dust can also work. Should the material be taken away the caster is forced to contain her magic until she can resume destroying the material. (see below)
 * Focus- The character concentrates on her focus and manipulates it in ritual motions, and quite often the focus pulses or glows with power. Should the focus leave her touch the caster does not contain her magic but rather the focus itself bleeds all accumulated channel levels at a rate of one per round, as per failing a channel roll above. If the focus is reclaimed before all channel levels are lost channeling can resume.

Spell Containment and Resorbtion
Once channeled, the caster must choose whether she wishes to cast, contain or resorb the spell. Casting is covered under spell casting below.

A spell can be contained and ready for later casting. Containing a spell is a swift action that requires a DC 15 Concentraition check per round, and may be done for up to (9- spell level) rounds. While containing a spell, further channeling is impossible. If the time limit is up or the roll is failed, the caster must either release the spell or resorb it.

Resorbing the spell is dangerous, difficult, and the mark of a poor caster, but necessary for reclaiming the magic stored in a spell for later use. The caster must repeat the entire channel process, using the same actions and roll the Concentraition check at double it's original DC. If all channel rolls succeed, the spell slot is not expended. If the roll should fail before all channel levels are reclaimed, the caster loses the spell slot and takes all remaining channel levels as 1d6s in force damage. For example, lets assume that the maximized fireball had been contained, but the combat ended before it was cast and needs to be resorbed. The DC is now 38 and neds to be passed 6 times over 6 standard actions. If the roll was passed once but failed on the second roll, the caster loses the 3rd level spell slot and takes 5d6 force damage.

Resorbing can be done before channeling is complete for a spell. The process is the same, but the DC is not changed.

Casting
Casting is different in this system. Let us start with the skill-

Spellcraft (Int, Wis or Cha)
This skill represents training in the magical arts and the formulation of magical energies into condified and predictable outcomes.

Spellcraft uses the attribute linked to the casting class used. Thus, Arcane casters use Intelligence, Divine casters use Charisma, and Spiritual casters use Wisdom.

Casting a spell requires the caster to first channel energy into that spell. Once energy is collected, the caster can cast the spell. The DC to cast a spell is equal to 10+ the spells level x3. If metamagic was channeled the caster adds the listed added spell levels as an increase to the DC. For example, a maximized fireball would have a casting DC of 22.

If the casting roll succeeds, the spell is cast at it's intended targets. The roll result itself is used as the attack roll, and base DC (if applicable) is equal to 10+ spell level+ casters attribute modifier. Feats that increase DC also add a competance bonus to the casting roll.

If the spell casting roll exceeds the cast DC by five or more, the caster may choose additional effects:
 * +1 die to damage
 * +1 time interval to duration
 * +2 to DC
 * +1 ally/enemy affected

For every additional factor of five the cast roll exceeds the DC, one more efect may be chosen. The same effect may be chosen multiple times. For example, if the caster rolled a 34 on the roll to cast the maximized fireball, he may add either +1 die of damage and +2 DC, +2 dice of damage or +4 DC.

Failure of the casting roll has one of two effects. If the spell had a range of Personal or the cast roll fails by nine or less, the spell fails and the slot is expended. If the roll failed by 10 or more, the caster becomes the target with all effects as if the caster had successfully cast on her target. Conjured items or effects appear in the casters space and may crush or tear him apart, area affecting spells center on the caster, burst effects affect the caster as well, attempts to turn things into frogs or stone turn the caster into said material, etc. The GM is encouraged to be creative, like failed teleportation separating the party or sending the casters legs one place and the caster someplace else. As a default rule the caster should at minimum takespell level d6 damage for a failed spell.

Action: Depends on spell-
 * 1 Round- Casting is a full round action that provokes and attack of opportunity. It is recommended that the roll be made at the end of the round instead of on the players turn.
 * Standard Action- Casting takes a standard action and provokes an attack of opportunity.
 * Move Action- Casting is a move action that provokes and attack of opportunity.
 * Swift/Free Action- Casting is a free action and does not provoke an attack of opportunity, but may only be done once per turn.
 * Immediate Action- Spells that can be cast as immediate actions may be cast at any time so long as there is sufficient channel levels to power it from channeling a spell of equal or higher level. These spells interupt the channeling process and still use a spell slot. If there are remaining channel levels after casting, channeling may continue for the interupted spell as per normal.

Retry: No.

Special: Armor Check Penalty applies to casting unless the spell is cast as a ritual. The Armor Check Penalty is also four points worse for spell casting with the exception of padded armor, which has a spell ACP of -1.

Spell Preparation
Spell casting is difficult and easy to screw up, but fortunately preparation is easy. The number of spells per day listed for a caster is the number of "slots" a caster has access to. The spell slots have two purposes.

First, the spell slots listed determine the number of spells the caster can prepare per day. The caster may only prepare the listed number of spells for any given level; there is no exchange rate for preparing spells of different levels. Preparation is described in detail below, but after the spell is prepared it may be cast at almost any time.

The second use is what determines the almost. While any spell may be cast as many times as the character has spell slots, each spell cast uses a spell slot of that level. Once expended, it may not restored for 23 hours plus a one hour preparation ritual or until the caster rests for eight hours and prepares spells for one hour, which ever comes first. A caster may choose to "over cast" a spell, expending a spell slot of a higher level to cast a lower level spell more times, but this does not increase the spells power. Such over casting fatigues the caster for one minute per over casting, and this time is cumulative. If the accumulated time is greater than five minutes the caster is exhaused and unable to cast spells until the exhausted condition is removed. This fatigue and exhaustion bypasses all immunities to fatigue and exhaustion.

Preparation Ritual
Each caster has a ritual she performs for one hour each day that allows her to cast spells. If she is unable to perform this ritual for any reason, her spirit is not refreshed and she does not regain any expended spell slots. Fortunately, this ritual does not require much.

First, she must center with a DC 15 Concentraition check, with which she may take 10, or 20 if she is alone with no chance of interuption. Then, she organizes her mind and soul while in her trance, selecting which spells she wishes to be able to cast. During this time she is inattentive, and suffers a -10 penalty to all Spot and Listen checks and is considered Helpless rather than Flat Footed is caught by surprise. After this hour of preparation is over, her spell slots are restored and she is able to cast her choosen spells.

Players are recommended to describe their own personal preparation rituals for their caster, which are indeed individual and unique to each caster. While one wizard may beome absorbed in his spellbook, another may draw a sigil in the ground and recite the Draconic alphabet, and yet another may use his staff to prcatice katas for an hour.

Learning Spells
Before one can cast a spell, one must learn a spell.

All spell casters know all of the zero levels spells for their class and number of first level spells equal to three plus their casting attribute modifier at first level. Each level past first they learn another two spells automatically. These spells must be recorded in notation form and able to be referenced in order to prepare them.

Learning additional spells is encouraged but mildly difficult. First, the caster must locate either an individual who already knows the spell or a tome that contains the spell in notation form.

Learning a spell from a living teacher is the easiest method. The character negotiates a deal for training with the instructor, which can be resolved via role play or simple social interaction rolls if your GM is lazy. Training takes one week per level of spell, at the end of which the player makes a Knowledge (Arcana) roll at DC 10+ spell levelx2. The instructor automatically uses the Aid Another action on this roll. Success indicates that progress was made this week. Failure indicates that week was ultimately a waste of time. Once training is over, the caster learns the spell and can finalize it in her spell book. If the player was dumb and did not provide scrap paper or something to scribble waste material on, assume that one page per week during training is unusable garbage.

Learning a spell from a book is quicker but much more difficult. First the player must acquire access to the reference material, via borrowing from a friend, the library, or else stealing the material. Then, the caster must study the material one day per level for at least one hour per level each day. At the end of each day the caster must make a casting roll as if actually casting the spell, using all the normal rules thereof but with no effect. Each successful days casting indicates progress has been made. Once all the days casting is complete, the spell is learned and officially noted in the casters reference material. If scrap material for erronious notes in not provided, assume that one page per spell level is used up as incomprehensible garbage.

Spell Books
This is a misnomer as not all spell notations are books, as they can be done on metal plates, stone carvings, runes on animal teeth or even tattoos. However, the following remains consistent.

Each spell takes one eleven inch by eight inch space to allow for comprehensible notation. Only one such space is used for any given spell in notation format, though that does not imply that all pages or tattoos will be spell notation. Indeed, this space need not even be continuous and may be spread out over various fragements, but the notation must be studied in its entirety with no less than a round-long interuption between fragments to prepare or learn the spell. To write up a spell takes ten minutes per level. While astheitically pleasing, special inks or materials are not necessary.

Spells can be crammed to conserve space, but to do so takes a DC 20 Forgery or Profession (scribe) check to use only half the space, with a +10 to the DC for each halving of the space used. This also bears a cost in preparation- for each spell that uses cramped space being prepared increase the spell preparation time needed by ten minutes for each halving of the space.

Casters may attempt to cast directly from another casters notes, a practice common among spell book thieves or invasive druids. The spell takes up a slot as per usual, but does not need to be prepared. All DCs for channeling and casting are increased by five. Non-casters or casters of an inappropriate type may also do this to cast a spell, but take a -10 penalty in addition to the DC increases.

Casters may also cast directly from their own books, using the same process described above but with only a +2 to the DCs.

Junctioned Casting
Spell casting by one's self is fraught with danger and failure, especially in threatening situations. Thus, casters in ancient times have learned to combine their efforts via Junctioning, wherein two or more casters work in concert to cast a spell.

To junction a spell, both casters must have the same spell prepared and both know any metamagic feats applied to the spell. Then, both act on the same action, which can be accomplished via delaying or readying actions. The casters must also be physically joined somehow. Holding hands is the simplest, but other means of physical contact also work, as does binding the two casters via fetters, such as ropes or chains. For binding to work the binding material must become a focus for the spell, adding an additional component and something new or foes to target or destroy. The fetters must also be binding, be it via knots or manicles or some other means.

Once joined, the casters both channel for the same spell, combining their accumulated channel levels. This includes both failures and gains. Once channel levels have been gathered, one caster tkes the role of lead caster, making the spell casting roll. The other supporting casters use the Aid Another action, granting a +2 to the casting roll per successful casting check of DC 10. The sepll uses the lead caster base stats to determine base spell power.

Junctioned casting requires all casters involved to pay the cost, both in the spell slot used and also any components used. Experience costs are also paid by each caster, though casters may elect to take on another casters experience cost. They must take the cost in its totality, otherwise taking on the burdons of other casters is not allowed. Both casters must be willing for the experience cost transfer to be made.

Ritual Casting
Ritual casting works like standard spell casting in most regards, but spread out over a longer period of time. From here on in there will be references to time intervals, ie the periods of time needed to channel or cast a spell. These are determined by the casting time listed for the spell. If the period of time is greater than 1 round, the spell is a ritual.

Ritual Channeling
Channeling works exactly like regular channeling for a non-ritual spell in regards to the number of channel levels needed and the Concentraition DC. What changes is the actions and the time intervals. Firstly, a trained caster can take 10 on channeling rolls during a ritual.

Second, ritual time intervals are divided into the following:
 * Short (one minute) Short rituals are simple affairs that require little in terms of preparation, as channeling itself can be done nearly anywhere.
 * Medium (10 minute) Medium rituals are involved affairs that require a special ritual space. Granted, this space can be prepared as part of the channeling itself, but this imposes a -5 penalty to the channel roll if the ritual space must be prepared while channeling.
 * Long (one hour) Long rituals require upmost preparation, including a specifically created ritual space for the spell in question. This space may be created via normal routines for contruction, but the architect must use Knowledge (Arcana) to design the space, with a DC equal to 10+ spell levelx3. Failure on this roll by 10 or more means the ritual space causes automatic failure of the spell in question, but failure by 9 or less just imposes a penalty equal to the degree of failure to the channel and casting rolls. One prepared ritual space may only be designed for one spell at a time, though for additional cost it can be arranged so that the space may be changed to use for different long rituals. A space designed for a long ritual is automatically designated a prepared space for medium rituals of the same school of magic.

Finally, the ritual itself has identifiable traits depending on the casting components used:
 * Verbal- Chanting and words of power are uttered in the same "magic voice" as per normal spells, but are spoken as benedictions into the space to encourage the flow of magic in the area.
 * Somatic- Unlike spell casting, ritual somatic components are not so much gestures of power as much as systematic and controlled movements within the ritual space, usually along the "lines of power" that are being drawn in the space. If the ritual performer is unable to move from place to place in a controlled manner, they can not enact the somatic components.
 * Material- These are destroyed as in standard spell casting, but in rituals they are first prepared and cleansed or purified, then used to trace out sigils or placed in specific locations within a ritual space before they are destroyed. If the materials can not be cleansed or are removed from their place during the ritual, the ritual can not be enacted until they are recovered or cleansed.
 * Focus- These are no different in use or purpose in rituals from standard spell casting.

One thing worth noting in rituals is their simulatneously increased and decreased ability to hold their channel levels. That is covered in Ritual Junctioning below.

Ritual Casting
Casting a spell in a ritual is no diferent than in casting a normal spell, with all the same DCs and rolls. What changes in a ritual is the level of involvement.

Casting is a series of full round actions that in total add up to the ritual time increment, either one minute, 10 minutes or an hour. Treat this as regular casting as a full round action. If the casting is junctioned, than only one caster actually "needs" to spend the action casting, which is a single casting roll per action. However, each round only the highest cast roll is counted for that round. Casters may take 10 on the roll except for the final casting roll.

The final casting is also the only time the subject of the spell needs to be present. If able the subject may move or be moved around during the final set of casting rolls, but must be in range of the spell for the duration, or else the spell chooses a new target that is within range.

Ritual Junctioning
Like junctioning a normal spell, multiple characters can aid eachother in casting a ritual spell. There are significant differences, however.

First, one does not need to be a caster to junction the spell. Non-caster characters instead choose a caster they want to support in channeling and use the Aid Another action. While they can not aid in actual casting, they can still help in ritual motions and preparations used for channeling. Spell casters who do not know the spell in question are counted as non-casters, but if they are using the same type of magic (Arcane, Divine or Spiritual) the Aid Another action provides a +4 bonus instead of +2.

Second, the channel roll is only rolled at the end of the interval, but before then different character may take various actions in that interval so long as one caster is working on the ritual. However, this comes at cost: rituals can not be contained nor resorbed. If no one caster is working on the ritual at any time, the ritual fails and all casters involved lose the spell slot.

This rule also applies to the casting roll itself. So long as one caster is casting the spell, the ritual can continue. Non-casters may not contribute to the final casting rolls, however.