Cheiromancer
2013-08-12, 09:06 PM
I'm having trouble getting the mechanics of this worked out. Maybe the playground can help.
My goal is to have a category of forbidden magic in an otherwise standard 3.5 setting. The magic would mostly be available to NPC's, but PC's might stumble across it and have to decide whether learning it is worth the cost.
My premise is that most people can't learn magic; the spells just don't stick in the mind. Wizards can do it with intense study; clerics do it with prayer and the help of the gods, but the spells need to be prepared over and over again; they are never learned once and for all. Sorcerers, on the other hand, have a natural aptitude; they pick up some spells with ease, but the problem is that they can't forget them; they stick in the mind and prevent other spells from being learned. This is why sorcerers know only a few spells, but don't have to study them every day.
My idea is that there is a kind of spell - an addictive spell - that is easy to learn. Too easy: it gives the wizard (or cleric, but let's stick with a wizard for now) a taste of what it is like to be a sorcerer. An addictive spell, once learned, can be prepared without a spell book, as if by spell mastery. However at least one copy of an addictive spell must be in a wizard's repertoire whenever spells are prepared. A wizard can't learn more addictive spells than he can prepare, but until that point the roll to learn a new addictive spell automatically succeeds; after that point, the roll automatically fails.
In order to scribe an addictive spell - on a scroll or in a spell book - a wizard must have the appropriate feat. Few wizards ever learn the feat, as it exists only to control access to rare and powerful magics. Maybe learning the feat bears its own heavy costs.
Now my difficulty; the stated drawback of an addictive spell (always having to prepare a copy) seems a little mild. The ability to learn it (and master it) automatically is not all that big, but I think the drawback should be a little bit bigger.
I'm also having trouble thinking of why someone would acquire the feat to scribe an addictive spell. Even if you are the guildmaster of a reclusive group of crazy wizards, why not just have your minions research the spell themselves? Researching an existing spell is pretty cheap and easy. I could just arbitrarily say that an addictive spell cannot be researched; you have to learn it from a spell book or scroll, which means that someone has to have the feat. Or maybe you have power over whoever learns a spell you scribe. I like this second idea better, but how exactly would it work?
So the execution is a little shaky. Anyone have some ideas on how to pull it all together?
My goal is to have a category of forbidden magic in an otherwise standard 3.5 setting. The magic would mostly be available to NPC's, but PC's might stumble across it and have to decide whether learning it is worth the cost.
My premise is that most people can't learn magic; the spells just don't stick in the mind. Wizards can do it with intense study; clerics do it with prayer and the help of the gods, but the spells need to be prepared over and over again; they are never learned once and for all. Sorcerers, on the other hand, have a natural aptitude; they pick up some spells with ease, but the problem is that they can't forget them; they stick in the mind and prevent other spells from being learned. This is why sorcerers know only a few spells, but don't have to study them every day.
My idea is that there is a kind of spell - an addictive spell - that is easy to learn. Too easy: it gives the wizard (or cleric, but let's stick with a wizard for now) a taste of what it is like to be a sorcerer. An addictive spell, once learned, can be prepared without a spell book, as if by spell mastery. However at least one copy of an addictive spell must be in a wizard's repertoire whenever spells are prepared. A wizard can't learn more addictive spells than he can prepare, but until that point the roll to learn a new addictive spell automatically succeeds; after that point, the roll automatically fails.
In order to scribe an addictive spell - on a scroll or in a spell book - a wizard must have the appropriate feat. Few wizards ever learn the feat, as it exists only to control access to rare and powerful magics. Maybe learning the feat bears its own heavy costs.
Now my difficulty; the stated drawback of an addictive spell (always having to prepare a copy) seems a little mild. The ability to learn it (and master it) automatically is not all that big, but I think the drawback should be a little bit bigger.
I'm also having trouble thinking of why someone would acquire the feat to scribe an addictive spell. Even if you are the guildmaster of a reclusive group of crazy wizards, why not just have your minions research the spell themselves? Researching an existing spell is pretty cheap and easy. I could just arbitrarily say that an addictive spell cannot be researched; you have to learn it from a spell book or scroll, which means that someone has to have the feat. Or maybe you have power over whoever learns a spell you scribe. I like this second idea better, but how exactly would it work?
So the execution is a little shaky. Anyone have some ideas on how to pull it all together?