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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other PEACH: Casting Checks



Altrunchen
2016-01-19, 01:59 PM
Introduction:
I've heard people complain that the magic in 3.5e is broken. So I came up with an idea to maybe help fix that. It's one where the mages have to roll checks to cast their spells.

Mechanics:
Every time a spell caster uses magic they must make a casting check. This consists of 1d20+Caster Level+Relevant Ability Modifier. Their target value is 10+Spell Level. If they exceed the DC of the spell, then the result of their roll is the new spell DC for the purposes of saving throws. If they fail the DC then the spell doesn't work and nothing happens.

Example:
If you are a level 5 wizard with an Intelligence of 18 and you want to cast fireball, then you roll 1d20+5+4 and must beat a 13. If he rolls a 1 then nothing happens and the turn is wasted and the caster DOES NOT deduct from their spells per day amount. If he rolls a 20, then the spell DC is 29 for that time only.

Consideration:
It may be better to have the target DC be 10+Spell Level+Ability Modifier so that it's not too easy. But this is the kind of thing I want to discuss here.

What do you all think?

Jormengand
2016-01-19, 02:10 PM
You're just making spellcasters worse in close combat and better everywhere else, which is essentially just enlarging both ends of the spellcaster's imbalance.

Kamai
2016-01-19, 08:49 PM
Making a caster do nothing thereabouts of half the time is not really a fun way of balancing casters, and as already mentioned, leaves at best no change outside of combat. I understand that you want the game ending spells to be harder to cast, but I don't think RNG is a way to do it. Assuming you want to try, though, maybe if you give the higher level caster an out, you could set the DC to 10 + 2* spell level, and have feats that boost the casting check for a small group of spells or maybe a single school, you might have something.

Second thought: The caster can still throw the spell if they fail the check, but the caster must make the spell personal range (for harmless spells), or anyone affected by the spell automatically saves against the spell. If the spell has neither a saving throw or a harmless tag, you cannot cast the spell. This still doesn't leave anything sensible for out of combat spells, though.