Open Workshop: Spellcasting Keywords

[Indigo Knight]

This is an ongoing project I'm still working on. It's far from finished. At it's current state it's more akin to thought bubbles.
I'll probably update this from time to time. Feel free to comment.

I'd also like to thank PairO'Dice and aimlessPolymath and Lacuna Caster and everyone else I haven't mentioned, for previous discussion on the topic.



Template:

abc
abc
abc



Every spell starts with the following root;

Use <Standard action> to cast mention <effect>, on up to <1> of <Self>, at casting range of <Melee>, which occurs <Instantaneously> || afflicts up to <1 round>



Destroy:

Deal 1d6 points of damage to target object.





Hurt:

Inflict 1d6 points of damage to target creature.





#####: (vs. Fortitude) opposite of ___

Target creature becomes Fatigued.
Instead of Fatigued, target creature becomes Exhausted.
Instead of Exhausted, target creature becomes Unconscious(Asleep).



#####: (vs. Intelligence) opposite of Clarity.

Target creature becomes Confused.
Instead of Confused, target creature becomes Dazed.
Instead of Dazed, target creature becomes Stunned.



Fright: (vs. Wisdom) opposite of ___

Target creature becomes Shaken.
Instead of Shaken, target creature becomes Terrified.
Instead of Terrified, target creature becomes Panicked.



Compel: (vs. Charisma) opposite of ___


Caster force target <Natural>or self? or hostile? to act a single <Minor> action.
Target save check by charisma.


Instead of a <Minor> action, force target creature to act a <Move> action.
Instead of a <Move> action, force target creature to act both <Minor & Move> actions.
Instead of <Minor & Move> actions, force target creature to act a <Standard> action.
Instead of a <Standard> action, force target creature to act both <Minor & Standard> actions.
Instead of <Minor & Standard> actions, force target creature to act both <Move & Standard> actions.
Instead of <Move & Standard> actions, force target creature to act <Minor, Move & Standard> actions.



Empower:

Target Object/Creature receive +1 bonus to it's main skill/attribute for it's next use within a round.





######: (vs. ______) opposite of Empower

Target Object/Creature receive -1 penalty to it's main skill/attribute for it's next use within a round.





Haste:


Caster grants target <Natural> an extra <Minor> action. Extra action gained will be taken at the target's next initiative.


Instead of <Minor> action, grant extra <Move> action.
Instead of <Move> action, grant extra <Minor & Move> action.
Instead of <Minor & Move> action, grant extra <Standard> action.
Instead of <Standard> action, grant extra <Minor & Standard> actions.
Instead of <Minor & Standard> actions, grant extra <Move & Standard> actions.
Instead of <Move & Standard> actions, grant extra <Minor, Move & Standard> actions.



Jaunt:


Caster can Teleport target <Self>, and equipped items, up to <5> feet from spell target, or up to <25> feet from spell target with danger for off point destination.
Caster must see chosen destination, which also must be on the same plane.
Target teleported could collide with solids at destination.

~Delta between target number and rolled number is off target teleport


Instead of spell target of Self - may target Natural Creature.
Instead of spell target of Natural Creature - may target Hostile Creature.
Double the distance limit for destination by 2.
Instead of having to see target destination, can target destination out of sight.
May teleport to a different plane.
======

Reduce distance of off-point teleportation from true destination.
If jaunt destination is occupied, may swap locations of creatures. Must be willing.
Instead of creature, teleport object – up to 10 pounds per caster level, not in possession. Target destination can be hand or possession of Natural.
Trap/trigger ((this is the 1step to using and creating Portals)) – create triggered effect on Void/Surface. When target steps on target, trigger the spell effect. Trigger exert itself after maximum targets were effected by spell or when 10 minutes per caster level passed. Is considered a magical trap. Up to 1 trap exists at any time.
Instead of destination in line of sight, no longer requires line of sight to spell effect destination. If destination is occupied by solid object – shunt to closest non-solid space, receive dmg differential/100 ft' (100,1d6;1000,2d6;10000,4d6;)
(beacon) cast on object to be teleported to it later.




maybe add function for off destination arrival, function based on distance traveled? Say, for every 200 squares, 5 squares at a random direction.




Anchor:

Reduce teleportation effect by 10 feet.





Summon:







Banish:

Teleport target creature away from current position.





Animate:


Caster transform <???> amount of a single material. While the caster expend his concentration on this spell, he can control the animated. The awakened material is a construct with the following stats:still need to rephrase this

Size/Type: Medium Construct
Hit Dice: 10+1d10 /per level
Initiative: +2(from dex)
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: +2 dex + (dr' 4/-) touch 12, flat-footed 10
Attack: Hand +2 melee (1d6+2)
Special Qualities:
construct traits, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision + ability from menu (look at pyramid)
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 14, Con - , Int - , Wis - , Cha -


Double the number of animated creatures created. Double the amount of matter needed.
Instead of using a single matter type. Use two types to form a creature.phrasing is blaaa. also, is it understandable that this is recursive?
abc



Morph:

Gain 10(5?)(2?) on dusguise.
Decrease Target size by 1 category.
Instead of decreasing size by 1 category, decrease Target size by 2 categories or increase by 1 category.
Increase 1 of Target's physical abilities (Str, Dex, Con) by 2.
Target gains darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, or swim 30 feet.
abc
abc
abc



Augment:
Change the spell accordingly, from the following –

Instead of <Standard action>, use <Move action & Minor action> to cast chosen spell.
Instead of <Move action & Minor action>, use <Move action> to cast chosen spell.
Instead of <Move action>, use <Minor action> to cast chosen spell.
Instead of <Minor action>, use <Immediate action> to cast chosen spell.
Double the number of targets for chosen spell.
Instead of <Self> as target, cast chosen spell on <Natural> target.
Instead of <Natural> as target, cast chosen spell on <Hostile> target.
Instead of casting range of <Melee>, cast chosen spell at <Near> range.
Instead of casting range of <Near>, cast chosen spell at <Sight> range.
Instead of casting range of <Sight>, cast chosen spell at <Unrestricted> range.

[Indigo Knight]

< Reserved >

[Indigo Knight]

Key
Codified?
Calibrated?


Jaunt

i-p


missing addressing: PORTAL & EXTRADIMENSIONAL POCKET


Morph

i-p




Augment

i-p




Animate

i-p


missing addressing: using concentration to keep the animated up. also increasing the strength of animated.


Compel

i-p




Haste

i-p














Conditions:

###

Fatigued - Receive -1 on all physical (Str. Dex. or Con.) actions. Unable to Run or Charge.
Exhausted - Receive -3 on all physical (Str. Dex. or Con.) actions. Unable to Run or Charge. Halves movement Speed.
Asleep - Creature falls asleep, losing conscious, faint or similar; which renders him unable to act at all.


###

Confused - Receive -2 on the first roll for each round. In addition, receive -2 for any action that takes more then Standard action to complete.
Dazed - Unable to take all actions in a turn, choosing one to omit; Standard, Minor or Move. May not use React action.
Receive -2 on the first roll for each round. In addition, receive -2 for any action that takes more then Standard action to complete.
Stunned - Unable to take any action. Remains in place.


Fear

Shaken - Receive -2 on all actions towards and involving source of fear.
Terrified - Shaken penalties applies to all actions.
Receive -5 penalty to all actions against or involving source of fear. Afflicted creature must pass a Wisdom save to initiate an action towards and/or involving source of fear.
Panicked - Afflicted creature uses all available actions to flee away from, if unable to flee then create protection from, or otherwise increase safety from fear source.


###



Dominated - All actions are determined by source of ###.


###










:confused: Unresolved Questions :confused:

# Should Banish be used against both object (Conjure) and creature (Summon)? or only vs. one of them?
# Using the 'Teleport' word makes Banish and Summon susceptible to Anchor. Is this ok?
# How to actually word Summon?
# What is the numerical value of Summoning?
# What is the term for enchanting and disenchanting? Infuse?
# Not sure about Confusion-Dazed-Stunned ladder.
# The Augment key isn't buyable. Instead, the bulletin themselves are what isn't picked and then charged. (should all casters know all augments? should you have to pick the ones you know;and then be able to use only those? or you have to pick augments and then declare for which they apply before hand?).
# key's like Jaunt give a basic cast and then there's a list of ways to change it.



I'm missing a name for Enchantment done to items.
Ofcourse, without using the word enchantment.

[KyleG]

I'm missing a name for Enchantment done to items.
Ofcourse, without using the word enchantment.

Infuse could work.

[Indigo Knight]

Infuse could work.

True. And it's the best one for now. I'm not sure 100% on it, but I think that the more I flesh it out, the concept would be better presented for name choosing.
I'm now wondering if "Destroy" and "Hurt" should be joined together.

[khadgar567]

infused could work but we have a bit of problem in the shape of the artificer and its infusions but it's good for me.

[Indigo Knight]

infused could work but we have a bit of problem in the shape of the artificer and its infusions but it's good for me.


So long as one won't be both an artificer and a wizard then there's almost no chance for them to interact.
But yeah, it is a concern when a word is used for multiple definitions (cue in level use).
What's the opposite of infuse?

[noob]

So long as one won't be both an artificer and a wizard then there's almost no chance for them to interact.
But yeah, it is a concern when a word is used for multiple definitions (cue in level use).
What's the opposite of infuse?

Would it be extract?

[Indigo Knight]

Would it be extract?

I'm assuming this is a serious answer.
So, let's say I have two new spell schools:
One that is all about applying magical traits and bonuses for items, weapons and armor. We're calling that one - Infuse.
The other school is all about debilitating same arms and armor, stripping them of bonuses and magical properties. That one will be called - Extract.

?

I dunno. Something doesn't click for me.

[DracoDei]

Disenchant?

[ShiningStarling]

Disjoin? Dispel? Break, Ruin, Dissipate? Ruin is probably my favorite of those.

[noob]

I was thinking that infusing was placing stuff within the item and so extracting which is getting what is in an object seems to be the opposite with that vision of infusing.

[Indigo Knight]

Disenchant?
Well, yeah... But maybe I could have a different word?



Disjoin? Dispel? Break, Ruin, Dissipate? Ruin is probably my favorite of those.


Yes. Ruin is a good choice. I like.




I was thinking that infusing was placing stuff within the item and so extracting which is getting what is in an object seems to be the opposite with that vision of infusing.


That's true. Still, extracting suggest that what was in the item is still intact. While the spells that exist in the books are mostly simply the cancellation of bonuses regardless of what happens to the magic afterwords.



I'm also deliberating about simply lumping Extract[PH] with the normal anti-spell group; Counterspell or Dispel magics.


Edit
I think I know what;

The one I'll call Empower. And the opposite is either Refute or Revoke.
I think.

[Indigo Knight]

I've added parts about fear & fatigue. Those are easier to parse.

[noob]

I never had the feeling extracting involved the item staying intact.
I mostly think of stuff like extracting oil from an olive which ruins the olive in the process.
So if you plan to include dispel magic and the like in the extracting school it contradicts my vision while stuff like crushing the target does not contradicts my vision.

Can you tell me an extraction process that leaves the thing intact?

[Indigo Knight]

Can you tell me an extraction process that leaves the thing intact?


I'll try and line out what I was thinking about to be used under the 'extract' title.
Some spells, like Blades of Fire or Greater Magic Weapon, are about increasing the stats of weapons (there are other spells that do the same for armor or the individual themselves). Then, there are other spells, such as Blunt Weapon, that deal with removing bonuses from items or inhibiting their effectiveness. That second group is what I'm referring to as (for now) Extract.


Consider the following chart:






add bonus
to weapon
Strip weapon of
magical properties
Inflict penalty
for wepaon


Weapon with
magical bonus
??
??
??


Regular weapon
Enchant
N/A
Disenchant


Weapon with
magical penalty
??
??
??



Keep in mind that "weapon" could also be, or not be, armor piece as well as the creature itself etc. And that one definition could, possibly, probably, tick more then one cell in the Table.
Since no one ever tried to reorganize these spells to ordered boxes, definitions aren't as clear cut as they could be.

[Climowitz]

Deplete - vigor
Madness - clarity
Fright - courage / bravery
Compel - willpower
Weaken - empower

[Indigo Knight]

Deplete - vigor
Madness - clarity
Fright - courage / bravery
Compel - willpower
Weaken - empower


All great suggestions. Thank you.

A few things to note:
I tend to use verbs rather then nouns. Take for example Compel; It's counterpart could be Willpower, but wouldn't it suit better to use Release or Liberate?
Madness usually denotes someone with unknown behavior, while I'm looking for Clarity related spells that cause foes to become "Dazed", "Dazzled" and "Stunned".
Weaken is usually used in relation to Str. modifier. I think that using that for a second meaning would only confuse players.


What about the actions themselves? Have you read what I split from spells up to now?

[Indigo Knight]

I think I got most of Jaunt (meaning Teleportation-nu-jitsu) indexed.
(There's the omission, for now, of Opening Portal as well as Extradimensional Space. I'm undecided whether to open a new Key for each, or... but they will be added. There's also the beacon effect and the teleport-away effect. But those can be replicated without too much effort.)

What I'm scratching my head right now is how to numerate them.
The idea being that adding multiple bullets together - raises the "spell level" and replicate the Vancian Slots.
Even more important are the scales of casting range, teleport destination range, number of creatues and objects teleported, etc. Yet, those reappear for a vast majority of spells. So it needs to be accounted for as well.

======================


Probably a good starting point would be to look at anecdotal test cases.

Dimension Door - (4th) :

Standard action + Instantaneous + Self + 500 ft. (or Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)) + additional willing creature, by touch + collide into solid, hazard. But no off point arrival chance.

Knight's Move - (3th) :

Swift action + Instantaneous + Self + 5ft. + restriction of destination must flank enemy.

Benign Transposition - (1st) :

Standard action + Instantaneous + 2 willing creatures (or you and another) + Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) + swap between them.
This is an interesting question of whether you double cast teleport (Jaunt) at the same time, or it is a specific clause for Swapping.

Baleful Transposition - (2nd) :

Standard action + Instantaneous + 1 willing creature (or self) & 1 hostile creature (incurs Save check for hostile) + Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) + swap between them.

Teleport - (5th) :

Standard action + Instantaneous + Self & up to 1(and 2/3 - bc. 1 for every 3 levels) willing creature by touch + up to 100 miles per caster level, same plane, must know location but doesn't have to see it + collide into solid, hazard. Also, off point arrival chance, hazard

Teleport, Greater - (7th) :

Standard action + Instantaneous + Self & up to 1(and 2/3 - bc. 1 for every 3 levels) willing creature by touch + no max range for destination, same plane, must know location but doesn't have to see it + no collide into solid hazard. no off point arrival , hazard

Nybor's Joyful Voyage - (7th) :

Standard action + Instantaneous + Any one creature, Hostile gets Save check. + up to 100mile + intending on harming with solid collide, or otherwise hazardous destination

Evacuation Rune - (5th) :

Standard action + Instantaneous + Target Rune on touched Surface + no max range for teleport, same plane + either Beacon as destination for Self teleport || or Conjuring Self to target Rune + by trigger, up to 24 hours, as swift action. + Solid collide hazard.


Input all of this to a table:
LevelNameCasting timeTime to effectCasting targetDestination rangeEffectRestriction
1Benign TranspositionStandardInstantaneous2 willing creatures (or you and another)Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)swap between targets. This is an interesting question of whether you double cast teleport (Jaunt) at the same time, or it is a specific clause for Swapping.Must see destination. Same plane.
2Baleful TranspositionStandardInstantaneous1 willing creature (or self) & 1 hostile creature (incurs Save check for hostile)Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)swap between targetsMust see destination. Same plane.
3Knight's MoveSwiftInstantaneousSelf5ftrestriction of destination - must flank enemyMust see destination. Can't collide with solid. Same plane.
4Dimension DoorStandardInstantaneousSelf + additional willing creature, by touch500 ft. (or Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level))Must see destination. Can collide with solid (hazard). Same plane.
5Evacuation RuneStandardInstantaneous|| triggerTarget Rune on touched Surfaceno max range for teleporteither Beacon as destination for Self teleport || or Conjuring Self to target Rune + by trigger, up to 24 hours, as swift action.Can collide with solid. Same plane.
5TeleportStandardInstantaneousSelf & up to 1(and 2/3 - bc. 1 for every 3 levels) willing creature by touchup to 100 miles per caster level, must know location but doesn't have to see itChance to arrive off point. Can collide with solid (hazard). S ame plane.
7Teleport, GreaterStandardInstantaneousSelf & up to 1(and 2/3 - bc. 1 for every 3 levels) willing creature by touchno max range for destination, must know location but doesn't have to see itCant collide with solid. Same plane.
7Nybor's Joyful VoyageStandardInstantaneousAny one creature, Hostile gets Save checkup to 100 mileintending on harming with solid collide, or otherwise hazardous destinationCan collide with solid. Same plane.



Findings?:
On the base level -
must see destination, improve version does not.
can collide into solid, improve version does not.
Must be on the same plane, improve version does not.
with spell level increase so does the destination range.
there's a question there about the implication of swapping - is it a deductible for the spell cost? an augment which reduce the price? - or maybe it's actually a different spell that is merged with the Jaunt key?
there's also a thing about recalling yourself to previous point (the beacon spell effect).
and mostly, how to numerate this? what are the rates?