7RED7
2011-12-18, 12:20 PM
Hello all. I'm writing up a homebrew class for my players to use (well, more like revising one that I never finished), and it revolves around physical control of magic as opposed to memorization or natural talent (the character has somehow become a fracture in the continuum of magic, and is cursed to endure the ripples of magical glitches as they emanate out of disruptions in the continuum while acting as a lightning rod between magic and reality, or as a surge protector for stray spikes of magic). He performs feats of endurance to survive this, but with effort can actually shape the magic to his own ends.
The mechanics for his spellcasting that I'm considering are as such...
The Arcane Conduit, may attempt to cast any existing arcane spell up to and including his Caster Level by passing a concentration check to allow him to cast a spell in the round, a spellcraft check to determine the maximum level of the spell (as long as his caster level allows it), and then may choose the spell to cast.
Caster Level equal to Hit Die
Concentration Check with DC equal to spell level + distraction modifier + X(placeholder-variable)
Spellcraft Check with DC equal to metamagic modifier + Y(placeholder-variable)
Metamagic (assuming the player has relevant MM feats) is implemented by an additional DC penalty to the spellcraft check.
I'm trying to figure out how to determine good values for X and Y, as I'm sadly lacking in knowledge of statistics. I'm thinking the concentration should be passed around 3/4 of the time unless there are mitigating circumstances. The Spellcraft check should provide around a 50% probability of being able to cast the highest level spell that the player's caster level allows, but the probability of being able to cast a certain spell should be increased to around 90-100% for the lowest level spells. Being in a position to take-20 on the check should allow the maximum level level to be cast. Does anyone know how I can set up those variables to achieve something close to those design goals?
Would it be too much to allow feats to be taken that could allow the spells to be cast at +1 caster level (with regard to effects, not level of spell available) with each taking of the feat, at the expense of taking 1 of your own hit die in damage for each +1 as you try and channel more energy than what your body would normally be able to conduct?
The mechanics for his spellcasting that I'm considering are as such...
The Arcane Conduit, may attempt to cast any existing arcane spell up to and including his Caster Level by passing a concentration check to allow him to cast a spell in the round, a spellcraft check to determine the maximum level of the spell (as long as his caster level allows it), and then may choose the spell to cast.
Caster Level equal to Hit Die
Concentration Check with DC equal to spell level + distraction modifier + X(placeholder-variable)
Spellcraft Check with DC equal to metamagic modifier + Y(placeholder-variable)
Metamagic (assuming the player has relevant MM feats) is implemented by an additional DC penalty to the spellcraft check.
I'm trying to figure out how to determine good values for X and Y, as I'm sadly lacking in knowledge of statistics. I'm thinking the concentration should be passed around 3/4 of the time unless there are mitigating circumstances. The Spellcraft check should provide around a 50% probability of being able to cast the highest level spell that the player's caster level allows, but the probability of being able to cast a certain spell should be increased to around 90-100% for the lowest level spells. Being in a position to take-20 on the check should allow the maximum level level to be cast. Does anyone know how I can set up those variables to achieve something close to those design goals?
Would it be too much to allow feats to be taken that could allow the spells to be cast at +1 caster level (with regard to effects, not level of spell available) with each taking of the feat, at the expense of taking 1 of your own hit die in damage for each +1 as you try and channel more energy than what your body would normally be able to conduct?