4E Ritual Rules

[Tvtyrant]

As an attempt to make rituals more accessible I was discussing the idea of replacing the gold costs of rituals (which are rarely worth it) with a set amount of "ritual energy" that each character has at each level. The ritual energy would be 1 for 1 with the gold cost normally applied to the ritual, and each character would have 1/2 their character level squared, times 100. So a level 30 character would have a reserve of 22,500 REs to spend ((15x15)x100), enough for two of them to pool their points together and cast the highest level ritual in existence.

At level 1 and 2 there would be 100 points available, while at level 3 there would be 225.

[Kane0]

Seems alright, though why not change the costings on rituals? Some could probably be free with little impact on the game.
Also, when one runs out would they still be able to use gp? If so, id say give level x100 and excess can cost gp (or residuum if you are inclined). Depends on how many free rituals you want your players to have i guess.

[SiuiS]

I found the solution to rituals was to make the ritual components much easier to acquire and off the WBL track. For every instNce where this breaks the game, you also get parties camping out in the enemy camp by using floating disks like hammocks near the ceiling.

Alternately, take the white wolf path; you can activate the ritual with a risky skill check (or skill challenge) and possibly suffer backlash, or just do it with the safety equipment and guarantee it (use material wealth).

[Tvtyrant]

@SiuiS We give 1 free ritual of the appropriate level or lower per level to individuals with ritual casting, and 1 additional ritual per level if they have the otherwise useless Expert Ritualist feat.

@Kane0 I always assumed you could use gold in addition, should have mentioned that.

The problem is that 3,000 points worth is nothing at level 30 (cost of 170,000 for a single imprisonment!, so 1/56 of a single use) while 200 at level 2 is okay (basically one use of a ritual.) I also considered level squared x 100, so you would have 90,000 at level 30 (which is still about half of a single use.)

The problem with the dramatic increase that makes upper level rituals useful is the increase at lower levels you effectively have free rituals. Maybe I could make it so each ritual costs 1 point per level of ritual, and you get your level in points each level? So you get 1 free use of level equivalent ritual each level, and at higher levels lots of lower level ones.

[Kane0]

That seems a more even way to do it. You get ritual points equal to your level at each level up and can spend them at a cost of 1 per level of the ritual you want to perform.

Sidethought: Why don't you let Expert Ritualist reduce the GP cost of rituals rather than grant more known?

[Tvtyrant]

That seems a more even way to do it. You get ritual points equal to your level at each level up and can spend them at a cost of 1 per level of the ritual you want to perform.

Sidethought: Why don't you let Expert Ritualist reduce the GP cost of rituals rather than grant more known?

I suppose that is a possibility, I was just thinking about how many rituals there are and how expensive they are to buy.

The other thing I have been thinking about is casting time. Bloom for instance would be an amazing ritual, except I cannot think of a single time we have had 10 minutes to set up an environment for it.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The other thing I have been thinking about is casting time. Bloom for instance would be an amazing ritual, except I cannot think of a single time we have had 10 minutes to set up an environment for it.

When I run 4e, I make rituals Vancian: you can pre-cast a ritual during downtime and cast it later by spending two full rounds and an action point (and a healing surge, for some of the more powerful ones); you can have 1 ritual per tier prepared at a time, +1 if you have Expert Ritualist.

[Tvtyrant]

When I run 4e, I make rituals Vancian: you can pre-cast a ritual during downtime and cast it later by spending two full rounds and an action point (and a healing surge, for some of the more powerful ones); you can have 1 ritual per tier prepared at a time, +1 if you have Expert Ritualist.

Sounds neat! It might be a little bit OP compared to powers though. Hallowed Temple makes in indestructible fortress around you with a single entrance and completely stops undead and demons.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Sounds neat! It might be a little bit OP compared to powers though. Hallowed Temple makes in indestructible fortress around you with a single entrance and completely stops undead and demons.

I've made some other alterations to the game that make it not so overwhelming an option (like letting bad guys prepare rituals too, for one :smallwink:), but the basic idea of "prepare rituals beforehand so you can actually use them in a reasonable time frame" can be adapted to a more standard game by varying the time and resource costs to taste.

[Cloud]

Hmm, the fact it scales with an exponential helps, but it might he easier to just have three sets of scaling, depending on the tier, not sure.

Have you considered allowing them to use healing surges, at least as a mean to shorten the casting time if not cheaper to cast? While cost in a major barrier to ritual use, the casting time isn't exactly helping.

For what it's worth I do all the following changes to rituals...and getting players to use them has still felt like pulling teeth. (You can ignore the Raise Dead thing, that was because someone complained death felt too cheap. Haven't heard that since.)

• Reduce the casting time of all rituals by half. If multiple rule elements half ritual casting time, apply them one at a time, rounding up to the nearest round each time, to a minimum of 2 rounds.
• You may spend a healing surge to cast any non-creation ritual that you’ve mastered and is 10 or more levels below your level without any GP components, except for Raise Dead.
• When casting a ritual you may make an optional skill check against the Hard DC of the Ritual’s associated skill and level (this is addition to any other skill checks the ritual may require). If the check succeeds, you can reduce the casting time of that Ritual by 20%. If you exceed the check by 5 points, reduce the casting time by 40%. If you exceed the check by 10 points, reduce the casting time by 60%, and if you exceed the check by 15 reduce the casting time by 80%. Apply this reduction after any half reductions, rounding up to the nearest round with a minimum of 2 rounds. Lorekeeper’s Cunning works on this roll.
• Reduce the Market Price of Rituals by 80%.
• Reduce the component cost of all non-creation rituals by half (except for Raise Dead, see below).
• Increase the death penalty associated with Raise Dead to -2 until the first milestone. The component cost is 100 gp * level for a heroic character, 500 gp * level for a paragon character, and a flat 125,000 gp for an epic character. No rules elements can reduce this price.

[Tvtyrant]

The cost in healing surges seems to increase the problem of ritual's strength if they do not take a lot of time. Now you have super-dailies that drain your health, so you need to win really fast.