[Magic System Replacement] The Paradigm Project (VERY much in progress)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mind's Eye Theatre: Laws of the Night

An angry mage on the warpath can reverse gravity, warp time, reduce elder vampires to cinders and shred minds like confetti with nothing more than a dissapproving glare...

...Their method of power doesn't seem to matter so much as their belief in that method...

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mage: The Awakening

I'm a mage now.

I can do anything.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elminster: Making of a Mage

A falling star crashes upon the shore
But the first of many, many more
Stoke the fire and stout bar the door
For tonight's the night that mages go to war.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by My Hero

In a world where clerics can raise the dead with a wave of their hand, dervishes decimate entire armies single-handedly, halfing rangers hide in plain sight in the middle of a desert with no cover and hulking hurlers weild boulders the size of Pluto, are you really going to complain that a group has the ability to open a friggin' door?

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Everyone knows it. The current magic system is broken. And let's face it, by now, it's getting kind of boring. Vancian Magic is kinda lame. Sorcerers suck. So do Wu Jen, for that matter, but that's another story. You may have noticed that I quoted White Wolf up there twice. Well, while I don't want to copy their system, there's a lot of good things to say about it. It's inventive, it's inspired, and it lends of sense of, "Damn, that's awesome!" to your character.

Of course, there's no paradox in D&D. That's part of the wonderful world of fantasy.

So, I wanted to rework the arcane magic in D&D. But I cannot - and will not, and shall not, and have your families captive in case you try to make me - do this on my own. I'm a fair hand at statting things up to be balanced, and I can come up with ideas, but a lot of the time, I will need you, the community, to get my back.

Here's what I have - use one basic class "template" in a sense. At level one, you choose your Paradigm, the way that magic works for -you-. Each Paradigm approaches magic completely differently, in a (hopefully) new fashion. We may (or perhaps should) come up with new spells.

Paradigm ideas -

Bloodline - The spellcaster believes himself to be (or truly is) descended from some powerful magical being. Subparadigms include Draconic, Celestial, Infernal, Fey, and Magical.

Sacrifice - The spellcaster believes that all power comes from sacrifice and uses blood to fuel her spells. Subparadigms include Martyr, Daemon Magus, and Timebender.

Hermetic - The mage's mage - books, wands, staves, rings, glyphs, symbols, whatever. It's the classic Wizard with his fruity capes and prestidigitation. Subparadigms include Pyromancer, Abjurer, and Seer.

Channel - The spellcaster believes his or herself to be directly connected to some primal, powerful force or emotion, and draws upon its powers. Subparadigms include Elemental, Soulbender, Ethos (law/chaos/good/evil) and Ecstatic

Technomancer - Using tools to focus their magic (some might not even believe magic truly exists), technomancers take -forever- to get some spells off. However, their magics can sometimes be utilized by other people, and when it hits, it -hits-. Subparadigms include Ethernaut, Black Powder Master, Steampunk, and Madgirl/boy

More to come later - I've got some basic ideas!

From this quick overview...excellent.

Maaaaaaaan......a.......get it? Comedy aside, even more great work Gareth, i swear you never disappoint. I personally like the sacrifice, it reminds me of Black Mage...on a related note, in "Vampire: the Masquerade" there is a vampire family with the ability to use blood to cast spells....one of the other family's comments on them was "It's like someone took a bunch of D&D nerds and told them their spells were real."

Anyway, thumbs up Gareth, you've earned a fan in the Clan Bleak.

Those would be the Tremere, and they were once Mages :P

Right, sorry. I never played much but a friend of mine does and i got him the book for christmas.....first thing he said to me was "I got a mental picture of you standing in your front yard cutting yourself and wearing a cloak."

sounds cool there... like so many other things you do ;).

I have an idea to be put in somewhere apropriate, although making it balanced may be -very- hard.
These mages draw magic from the world around them, thus thinning the magic in the exact place that they draw from. This they release in various spells with a basic capability, the amount of effect depends on the amount of magic drawn to fuel it. They can also draw some magic and keep it within them for some time, in order to bring it somewhere where they can't access magic for some reason (like an anti-magic field perhaps?) or to be bale to unleash some spell quicker than they would normally have. There are of course limits to how much magic a mage can contain, and the magic deteriorates over time too.
Ongoing spells needs to be fed magic every round to remain in effect, but in return I guess long durations are a good way to balance this. The power (or level) of the mage should determine how much magic he/she can draw each turn (or maybe as actions, like bla magic as a free action, if you spend a move action powering you get this much more, and a full round will give you a real kick) as well as how much he/she can store.
When enough magic has been draw from a place, the magic there begins to wear thin meaning that mages draw less magic from the place. Drawing a place completely empty takes a wast amount of power (something akin to a lot and lots of pre-reqs epic feat or something) but in turn makes things hard for all kinds of spellcasters for a long time. The magic slowly seeps in to refill the gap though.

Alright, I'm going to take a stab at this ^_^ I don't have a firm grasp of what I'm doing with the Ritual system yet, but we'll figure something out ^_^

First, some definitions -

Fastcasters create their spells on the spot - that is, they bend their mind to create an effect within certain limits. They're very DM-Player intensive, but ultimately will end up more fun as you can bend the universe to your will.

Tool-Users channel their magic through something, such as a gun or a staff. Their belief in the item fuels the spells, meaning they have a limited number of spells per day (or even per encounter) and may have other limits. However, their spells hit a lot HARDER.

Scholars memorize spells, perform rituals, and make pacts with otherworldly powers, sacrificing speed for power. The represent the midpoint between Fastcasters and Tool-Users.

Sacrificial Paradigm

"Power is sacrifice."

Sacrificial Paradigm
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Rituals Known

1st|

+0

|

+2

|

+0

|

+0

|Subparadigm, Ritual Magic, Magical Aura, Minor Rituals|4|

2nd|

+1

|

+3

|

+0

|

+0

|Subparadigm ability|5|

3rd|

+1

|

+3

|

+1

|

+1

| |6|

4th|

+2

|

+4

|

+1

|

+1

|Subparadigm ability|7|

5th|

+2

|

+5

|

+2

|

+2

|Adept Rituals|8|

6th|

+3

|

+5

|

+2

|

+2

|Subparadigm ability|9|

7th|

+3

|

+6

|

+2

|

+2

||10|

8th|

+4

|

+6

|

+2

|

+2

|Subparadigm ability|11|

9th|

+4

|

+6

|

+3

|

+3

||12|

10th|

+5

|

+7

|

+3

|

+3

|Moderate Rituals|13|

11th|

+5

|

+7

|

+3

|

+3

||14|

12th|

+6/+1

|

+8

|

+4

|

+4

|Subparadigm Ability|15|

13th|

+6/+1

|

+8

|

+4

|

+4

||16|

14th|

+7/+2

|

+9

|

+4

|

+4

|Subparadigm Ability|17|

15th|

+7/+2

|

+9

|

+5

|

+5

|Major Rituals|18|

16th|

+8/+3

|

+10

|

+5

|

+5

|Subparadigm ability|19|

17th|

+8/+3

|

+10

|

+5

|

+5

||20|

18th|

+9/+4

|

+11

|

+6

|

+6

|Subparadigm ability|21|

19th|

+9/+4

|

+11

|

+6

|

+6

||22|

20th|

+10/+5

|

+12

|

+6

|

+6

|Supreme Ritual|23|[/table]

All power requires a sacrifice. This is the basic tenant that all Sacrificial Mages share, the belief that anything they gain must have something given up in return. No matter where they go, their magics leave behind an impression, an indelible mark in the hearts and minds - or burned onto the landscape.

A Martyr rides through the lands, healing the sick and hiding the burning pain in her limbs as her miracles consume her body. A Daemon Magus marches at the head of a zombie horde, leaving nothing but ash and sorrow in his wake as he searches for power enough to prevent an even greater disaster. A Sandman quietly goes from village to village, listening to their woes. When he leaves, he seems older than he was before, but the problems are gone as if they never were - the villagers don't even know they ever had them, because they did not.

More than even other Paradigm Mages, the Sacrificial Mage believes in something. With every grim toll extracted from them, they affirm that belief that what they are doing is right to them in some way. This iron self-assurance often leads to fanatics and zealots among their ranks, but it cannot ever be said that a Sacrificial Mage lacks for conviction.

Religion - Sacrificial Magi have no special draw to or from religion, and worship as typical members of their races do. When they do worship, they tend toward gods or goddesses of magic, or else gods or goddesses of the kind of magic they perform (such as necromancy, healing, destruction, and the like).

Other Classes - Martyrs get along well with all classes except Daemon Magi, necromancers, and evil clerics, whom they have a hard time tolerating. Conversely, Daemon Magi and Sandmen often have issues with "good" folk, even if good themselves, due to the nature of their being.

Role - Martyrs serve as healers, single-combat slayers, and limited utility casters. Daemon Magi are summoners and weilders of destruction and chaos. Sandmen make incredible detectives and assasins.

Background - All Sacrificial Magi learn their craft from someone - there is no exception. Developing the discipline on one's own takes a herculean mind, one that mortals cannot possess - they must learn it from a tome, a master, or preferably both.

Sacrifical Magi training is marked by pain, harsh lessons, and drills in ritualizing over and over again. A skilled Sacrificial Mage can draw his or her ritual circle completely blindfolded with one finger and still make it perfect. Very often, their masters' beliefs on magic become their own, making them a very rigid group with how magic is used. Sacrificial Magi have a hard time comprehending how Fastcasters operate - tool-users and Technomagi are, however, easier to understand.

Sacrificial Magi keep records of their work, painstakingly copied into books to aid in their research and development of new Rituals.

Starting Gold - Sacrificial Magi start with a spellbook, a masterwork alchemically silvered dagger, a bag of chalk (20 pieces) and 3d4x10 gold pieces at level 1.

Hit Dice: D6

Class Skills - Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (All skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points per Level - 2 + Intelligence Modifier

Proficiencies - Mages of the Sacrificial Paradigm are proficient with all simple weapons, plus longswords and shortswords. They do not take damage penalties when weilding silvered weapons. They are not proficient in any form of armor.

Subparadigm - At first level, the Sacrificial Mage must choose his subparadigm - Martyr, Daemon Magus, or Timebender. This choice cannot be changed once it is made and determines all other class features, including Rites, from this class.

Martyr - The Martyr uses her own life force to fuel her spells, gaining great power at great cost. Her spells heal her allies, weaken her enemies, inflict death with a touch and eventually may even create new life entirely. Martyrs add Heal and Handle Animal to their class skills list and gain a +2 inherant bonus to Constitution. Those wishing to become a Martyr cannot be evil in alignment.

Martyr Rituals - Martyrs use the Life, Death, Healing, and Creation seeds for their rituals. They pay their costs in ability score damage - usually one point for minor rituals, two for adept, three for moderate, four for major and five for supreme, to any physical ability score. A Martyr reduced to 0 in any physical ability score cannot continue to cast spells until they recover.

Daemon Magus - Even if they are not evil themselves, Daemon Magi dabble in some of the blackest arts to ever exist. Soaking themselves in blood to fuel their foul magics, Daemon Magi can sear souls, shred minds, call up hellfire and raise armies of the restless dead. Daemon Magi add Intimidate to their class skill list and gain 4 ranks in Knowledge (the Planes) at first level at no cost. Daemon Magi can be of any alignment, but may never take levels in Paladin or any prestige class that requires a good alignment to join. Their foul magics simply do not allow it.

Daemon Magus Rituals - Daemon Magus rituals use the Destruction, Forces, Necromancy, and Summoning seeds. They take damage as their cost, usually 1d4 per caster level of the ritual which cannot be prevented in any way.

Timebender - A dangerous and complicated lot, the Timebenders (also known as Sandmen) dabble in time itself, capable of aging a target with a touch, scrying into the past and future, and even traveling through time itself. Timebenders gain 4 free ranks in Knowledge (History) and Knowledge (Geography) at first level at no cost.

Timebender Rituals - Timebenders use the Time, Divination, Necromancy, and Travel seeds for their rituals. They take their damage as permanent magical aging - usually one week per caster level of the ritual. Additionally, the sudden aging causes them to take some penalties with each ritual cast (usually disorientation, penalties to physical ability scores, or temporary exodus from the timestream). Aging from minor, adept, or moderate rituals can be reversed with other Timebender powers or magical items, and even be negated by immunity to aging - major and supreme rituals, however, scar the Timebender forever and make even immortal beings feel age's touch (more on aging normally ageless beings later).

Ritual Magic (Sp) - Sacrificial Mages are scholars who cast their magic using rituals. Instead of learning spells or fastcasting, the Sacrificial Mage designs rituals according to their Subparadigm. Each ritual cast takes at least 1 round per caster level (at creation) to perform, and some may take longer due to improvement, or more powerful effects. A Sacrificial Mage may learn rituals created by other Sacrificial mages, provided these rituals use a seed to which they have access. To do so, the ritual must be recorded in some way, and the Sacrificial Mage must make a Spellcraft check (DC 10 + Caster level of the ritual maker at time of creation). Failure means that she cannot learn that particular ritual. Success allows her to add it to her list of known rituals. Rituals have Somatic and Verbal components and thus suffer from Arcane Spell Failure. Metamagic cannot be applied to rituals, though any other feat that would otherwise affect spells (such as Spell Penetration) can be. The Sacrificial Mage's caster level is equal to his levels in this class.

Rituals may be disrupted in any case where a spell may be disrupted. Look to the description of ritual creation to determine the level of the ritual in question.

Each ritual has the following components -

Ritual Name [Seed]
Ritual Strength (Minor, Adept, Moderate, Major, or Supreme)
Casting Time: At least 1 round per caster level the creator had upon making the ritual.
Cost: The cost, in damage to the caster, of the spell. Different Subparadigms have different costs.
Range: The range over which the ritual can work. Rituals tend to have very long ranges compared to fastcast spells or tool use.
Target: The being or object that benefits (or suffers) from the ritual.
Effect: What the ritual actually does
Duration: How long the effect lasts
Saving Throw: The type of save (if any) the ritual allows and what it does (partial, negates, special).
Spell Resistance: Whether or not the ritual allows spell resistance.

As long as he is willing to pay the costs, the Sacrificial Mage has no limit on the number of rituals he may perform.

Magical Aura (Su) - Like all mages, the Sacrificial Mage has an aura of power about them - the force of their will exerting itself on the world around them. Mages from other paradigms near (within 30 feet of) a Sacrificial Mage take a -2 penalty to the save DCs of all their magical effects if they are four or more caster levels below the Sacrificial Mage due to the strength of the Sacrificial Mage's paradigm. As the Sacrificial Mage gains levels, he begins to subtly warp the enviroment around him - rocks bleed, flowers moan in pain, the air seems slightly darker or lighter, or time seems to slow to a crawl or speed up immensely. Players are encouraged to come up with their own effects based on subparadigm and should note that these have no game effect - they just look cool.

Subparadigm Abilities (Su) - Aside from his rituals, the Sacrificial Mage gains a number of supernatural benefits from his paradigm, based on his subparadigm.

Martyrs - At second level, the Martyr may take wounds from her allies with a touch, taking them upon herself. As a standard action, she may take any amount of damage from a wounded living creature and she takes an equivalent amount of damage. This damage cannot be prevented, though it can be healed normally.

At fourth level, the Martyr may cast a ritual without paying its cost if she has taken at least half her hit points in damage in a single attack within the last round.

At sixth level, the Martyr may, three times a day, convert a ritual she knows with a range of "touch" into a ranged touch attack with a range of thirty feet.

At eighth level, the Martyr gains the supernatural ability to lay on hands (see the paladin class feature).

At twelth level, the Martyr has a constant sort of "lifesense". By concentrating, she can sense the presence or absence of life within sixty feet of her. If she continues to concentrate for another round, she determines the amount and type of life near her (such as "three humanoids, four outsiders, and two animals"). By concentrating another round, she determines the exact location of the life near her. The same materials that stop a Detect Thoughts spell stop this ability.

At fourteenth level, the Martyr becomes immune to disease and poison, and gains a +4 supernatural bonus to saves vs. curses.

At sixteenth level, whenever a healing ritual the Martyr casts heals at least 40 points of damage, she may also remove a curse from the target.

At eighteenth level, the Martyr transcends her human state, becoming charged with the magic of her sacrifice. The Martyr gains the Angel subtype and sprouts a pair of radiant white feathered wings, granting her a fly speed of 30 feet with good maneuverability.

Daemon Magus - At second level, the Daemon Magus aquires a fiendish hawk, raven, or owl as a familiar (see the Sorcerer class feature).

At fourth level, the Daemon Magus gains Fire, Cold, and Electricity resistance 5 as he begins to become resistant to his own destructive powers.

At sixth level, the Daemon Magus gains the ability to enlarge any ritual with an area that they cast by 50% three times per day.

At eigth level, if the Daemon Magus has killed at least one creature per spell level of the ritual in question within the past round, he may cast a single ritual without paying its cost.

At twelth level, the Daemon Magus's familiar transforms into an imp. This transformation does not take place all at once - it has been happening gradually up to this point.

At fourteenth level, the Daemon Magus's resistances increase to 15 and he gains resistance to negative energy (such as inflict moderate wounds) 10.

At sixteenth level, the Daemon Magus can ready an action to intercept a damaging or otherwise debilitating spell that targets one or more beings (but not an area). If he intercepts the spell, he and the caster make caster level checks. If the Daemon Magus succeeds, he may change the target or targets of the spell - if he fails, the spell targets him in addition to any other targets (or, if the Daemon Magus is already a target, one of his allies).

At eighteenth level, the Daemon Magi's transformation is complete - his foul magics have finally warped him entirely. If he is lawful, he gains the Baatezu subtype (though he does not gain the spell-like ability to summon Baatezu). If he is chaotic, he gains the Tanar'ri subtype (though he does not gain the spell-like ability to summon Tanar'ri). Daemon Magi who are neither lawful nor chaotic may choose between the two - once they have chosen, they cannot change their minds. Furthermore, his familiar finishes its transformation - if its master is a Baatezu, it transforms into a Hellcat. If its master is a Tanar'ri, it transforms into a Succubus.

Timebender (Sandman) - Starting at level two, the Sandman has honed his time sense to an absolute science. He always knows what time it is, down to the last second, knows what day it is, in what month, and in what year. He can tell how old something is by simply looking at it, as well as what direction and at what rate his self or anything he is witnessing is flowing through time.

Starting at level four, whenever the Timebender casts a ritual to scry into the future or the past, he gets a vague sense of what would happen if events were changed. This is equivalent to an augury spell, asking if changing one particular event would be good, bad, or nuetral to the Sandman's goals and existence.

At level six, the Timebender develops a kind of psychometry. He can read powerful emotions and events that have been left upon an area by making a Concentration check with a DC equal to 10 + the number of weeks it has been since the event or events happened. If he succeeds, he witnesses brief flashes of all the events whose DCs he beat, dropping into a trance for one minute to do so.

At level eight, the Timebender can accelerate or decelerate the flow of time to a limited degree. For two rounds immediately following successfully casting a ritual, he may either treat himself as though hasted, or treat one opponent as if slowed. There is no save against this ability, but the Timebender must be able to see his foe in order to affect him.

At level twelve, three times per day, the Timebender may take up to two other beings with him when he uses a ritual to travel through time.

At level fourteen, by consuming the duration of a friendly spell or item affecting him (thus ending the spell or item effect), the Sandman may cast a single ritual without paying its cost. This cannot be used on spells or item effects that are already more than half finished with their durations.

At level sixteen, the Sandman can automaticall detect any items that have the ability to affect time or age on the same plane as he is. He knows their direction in a straight line and a rough estimation of their distance.

At level eighteen, the Timebender is both apart from and ingrained into time itself. When performing time rituals, he may choose to diffuse himself through time, creating several parallell Timebenders that occupy a similar area. With this ability, he may cast up to three rituals with the same casting time simoultaenously. He must still pay the costs for all three of these rituals.

Ritual Casting

This section deals with ritual creation and casting. Above is the components of a ritual. There are a few basic steps - choose a seed. The seed determines what the ritual -does-. After that, you fine-tune specifics - damage, range, targets, casting time - and once that's done, you show it to your DM. If s/he approves, ta-da! Ritual made!

When you create a ritual, its caster level is permanently set to your caster level at the time (unless you choose to lower it to gain something else). The spell level is determined by the grade of the ritual (Minor is 1, Adept is 3, Moderate is 5, Major is 7, and Supreme is 9) unless, again, you have raised or lowered it. You cannot create a ritual of lower grade than your highest grade - that is, if you have Major rituals available, you cannot make Moderate rituals.

Intelligence and Rituals - Intelligence is the main ability score for Ritual Casting. Intelligence modifier is added to the DCs of the rituals, and when learning a ritual, the caster must have an Intelligence of 10+the ritual's spell level. Intelligence also adds to the caster's Magical Aura class feature - the aura extends an addition 10ft times the caster's Intelligence modifier and the penalty to those from other Paradigms within the aura increases by the caster's Intelligence modifier.

Costs - Each Ritual has a cost. There are some basic guidelines under each Subparadigm, but remember that you must work out your final Cost for each ritual with your Dungeon Master. Trying to pull a fast one on your DM will result in them hitting the Smite button upon thee, heretic.

Each Seed has a few basic effects it can accomplish. They will be written out thusly -

Name of the Effect
Seed/Grade (Minor, Adept, Moderate, Major, Supreme)
Base Range:
Base Target:
Base Effect:
Base Duration:
Saving Throw:
Spell Resistance:

The caster constructing the ritual may change anything with the word "base" in its name. The grade mentioned is the minimum ritual grade needed to use the effect. The creator can combine effects in a ritual (such as a ritual that deals damage and debilitates a physical ability), but doing so increases the ritual's cost by one-half. If you choose to do so, you use the base information for the first effect and simply add the second effect onto it.

To modify the base statistics of a ritual, you may make the following exchanges -

Increase Range by One Step (Touch to Close, Close to Medium, and so forth) - Decrease damage/healing by one step (from D6 to D4, for example), increase casting time by one half of base, decrease bonuses/penalties by one half, or decrease duration by one half.

Increase Damage/Healing by One Step or Bonuses/Penalties by one-half of Base - Decrease range by one step (minimum Touch), decrease amount of targets by one half of base (minimum 1), increase casting time by one half of base, or decrease duration by one half (minimum one round or instant).

Decrease Casting Time by One Half - Decrease duration by one half (minimum one round or instant), decrease damage/healing by one step, decrease bonuses/penalties by one half, or decrease range by one step (minimum Touch)

Change to Area Spell (40ft Cone, 100 ft. Line, or 30 foot Ball, spell must already be an area spell or first have a range of Close or higher) - Decrease damage/healing by one step, decrease duration by one half (minimum one round or instant), decrease bonuses/penalties by one-half, or increase casting time by one-half of base

Increase Number of Targets by One (ranged spells only) - Decrease damage/healing by one step, decrease duration by one-quarter (minimum one round or instant), decrease bonuses/penalties by one-quarter, or increase casting time by one-quarter of base.

Increase Difficulty Class by One - Increase casting time by one-half, decrease range by one step, decrease damage/healing by one step, or decrease bonuses/penalties by one-half

Enhance Physical Ability
Life, Minor
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Living or undead creature touched
Base Effect: One physical statistic (set at time of creation) gains a +4 enhancement bonus (Minor). One physical statistic (set at time of creation) gains a +8 enhancement bonus OR two physical statistics (set at time of creation) gain a +4 enhancement bonus (Adept). One physical statistic (set at time of creation) gains a +12 enhancement bonus OR two physical statistics (set at time of creation) gain a +6 enhancement bonus OR all three physical statistics gain a +4 enhancement bonus (Moderate). One physical statistic (set at time of creation) gains a +16 enhancement bonus OR two physical statistics (set at character creation) gain a +8 enhancement bonus OR all three physical statistics gain a +6 enhancement bonus (Major).
Base Duration: One hour per caster level.
Saving Throw: Will negates (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (Harmless)

Debilitate Physical Ability Score
Death/Grade (Adept)
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Creature touched
Base Effect: One physical ability score (set at creation) gains a -4 penalty (Adept). One physical ability score (set at creation) gains a -6 penalty (Moderate). One physical ability score (set at creation) gains a -8 penalty OR two physical ability scores (set at creation) gain a -4 penalty (Major).
Base Duration: One minute per caster level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Cause Disease
Life, Adept
Base Range: Close
Base Target: One Living Creature
Base Effect: Target contracts a nonmagical disease from the Dungeon Master's Guide (Adept). Target contracts two nonmagical diseases from the Dungeon Master's Guide and recieves a -2 penalty to his saving throw (Moderate). Target contracts a magical disease, such as one of the diseases from the Book of Vile Darkness (Major).
Base Duration: Normal length of the disease
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: None

Slay
Death, Moderate
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Living Creature Touched
Base Effect: The victim dies. If s/he makes his/her save, s/he instead takes 1d8 points of damage per caster level of the ritual (Moderate and all other levels)
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Heal
Healing, Minor
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Creature Touched
Base Effect: Target is healed for 1d10 points of damage per caster level of the ritual or, if undead, is damaged for that much (Minor). The target is healed for 1d12 points of damage per caster level of the ritual or, if undead, is damaged for that much (Adept). The target is healed for 2d10 points of damage per caster level or, if undead, is damaged for that much (Moderate). The target is healed for 2d12 points of damage per caster level of the ritual, plus one per caster level of the ritual, or, if undead, damaged for that much (Major).
Base Duration: Instant.
Saving Throw: Fortitude Negates (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes

Lift Affliction
Healing, Adept
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Creature touched
Base Effect: You cure the target of all poisons or a diseases (chosen upon creation) (Adept). You cure the target of all poisons and diseases afflicting them (Moderate). You cure the target of all poisons, diseases, and one curse per caster level of the ritual (Major).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Will negates (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes

Ressurection
Healing, Major
Casting Time: Ressurection does not have the normal ritual casting time, and instead takes 20 minutes to perform (ten minutes if crafted as a Supreme ritual).
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Dead Body Touched
Base Effect: The body, which must be a souled creature that has been dead (or in the case of unded, destroyed) within one month per caster level of the ritual, is returned to true life with one hit point (Major). The body, which may be any creature with an intelligence, wisdom, and charisma score, is returned to true life (or, in the case of constructs, whatever animation it was previously at) with full hit points (Supreme). In either case, the target may choose not to come back from the dead if they so wish.
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Will negates (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: No

Repair Damage
Creation, Minor
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Construct or object touched
Base Effect: Target is healed for 1d10 points of damage per caster level of the ritual (Minor). The target is healed for 1d12 points of damage per caster level of the ritual (Adept). The target is healed for 2d10 points of damage per caster level (Moderate). The target is healed for 2d12 points of damage per caster level of the ritual, plus one per caster level of the ritual (Major).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

Create Object
Creation, Adept
Base Range: Close
Base Target: One created object
Base Effect: You create a volume of raw material (either stone, cloth, or metal of nonprecious variety) in the space you designate. This volume of raw material is 5 lbs per caster level. The material appears on the ground - if the ground is not within range, the ritual fails (Adept). As previous grade, but you may also make semiprecious gems or rare cloth such as silk (Moderate).
Base Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Genesis
Creation, Major
Cost: Genesis has double the normal ritual cost.
Base Range: Close
Base Target: One entrance, such as a doorway or window
Base Effect: You create a demiplane with an area of 100 square miles per caster level, initially accessible through the targeted entrance. This demiplane is identical to a Prime Material plane, though it has no life on it, and has all the traits of one. Plants will grow, there is water, the like (Major). As previous grade, but you may create the plane however you wish - you determine planar traits such as alignment, magic, and may sculpt the landscape to your wishes (Supreme). Regardless of grade, if the demiplane is destroyed, dispelled, dismissed, or otherwise rendered incapable of supporting life, all living things within it are ejected to an empty space within a mile of its entrance.
Base Duration: Permanent (Dismissable)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Obliterate
Destruction, Minor
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Creature touched
Base Effect: The creature takes 1d10 negative energy damage per caster level of the ritual (Minor). The creature takes 1d12 points of negative energy damage per caster level of the ritual (Adept). The creature takes 2d10 points of negative energy damage per caster level of the ritual (Moderate). The creature must make a fortitude save or die (success indicates that they merely take 2d10 points of negative damage per caster level of the ritual) (Major).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Fortitude half
Spell Resistance: Yes

Elemental Blast
Elemental/Destruction, Adept
Base Area: 40 ft. Cone, 30 ft. Ball, or 100 ft. Line (chosen on creation)
Base Effect: Creatures within the area of the spell take 1d10 points of either fire, cold, acid, or elecricity damage (set upon creation) per caster level of the ritual, with a Reflex save for half damage (Adept). Creatures within the area take 1d12 points of either fire, cold, acid, or elecrricity damage (set upon creation) per caster level of the ritual, with a Reflex save for half damage (Moderate). Creatures within the area take 2d10 points of eitehr fire, cold, acid, or electricity damage (set upon creation) per caster level of the ritual with a Reflex save for half damage (Major).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Reflex Half
Spell Resistance: Yes

Scream
Destruction, Moderate
Base Area: 30 ft. burst, centered on but not including the caster
Base Effect: Those within the area take 2d8 points of damage per caster level of the ritual and are struck deaf for 4 rounds. A successful Fortitude save halves the damage and eliminates the deafness (Moderate). Those within the area take 2d10 points of damage per caster level of the ritual and are struck deaf for 4 rounds. A successful Fortitude save halves the damage and eliminates the deafness (Major). Unattended objects take double damage from this spell.
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Fortitude Partial
Spell Resistance: Yes

Crumble
Destruction, Adept
Base Range: Medium
Base Target: One object
Base Effect: The caster reduces 10 cubic feet per caster level of the ritual of an object into dust. If the object is attended, it gets a Fortitude save using its possesser's save score. If not, it simply falls to ash. If the object is larger than the ritual has area to work with, the caster may shape how he wants the object to disintegrate (Adept).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Fortitude Negates (see text)
Spell Resistance: No

Rend Soul
Destruction, Major
Base Range: Medium
Base Target: One creature that has died within the past day
Base Effect: Your magics trace the threads of the soul of one creature as it departs to the afterlife and annihilate it. The soul gets a Will save (equal to its save if it were alive) to avoid destruction. If it fails, you shred it into bits, rendering it incapable of ressurection by anything less than direct divine intervention. This spell can also destroy ghosts and other incorporeal undead. (Major)
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: No

Shred Mind
Destruction, Moderate
Base Range: Close
Base Target: One living creature
Base Effect: Your victim is assaulted by viscious nightmares and horrible psychic attacks, dealing them 2d4 points of damage in all mental ability scores and stunning them for one round. A successful Will save halves the damage and eliminates the stunning (Moderate). As above, but the damage is 2d6 (Major).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Will partial
Spell Resistance: Yes

Annihilate
Destruction, Supreme
Cost: Annhilate costs double the normal cost for a ritual it is in.
Casting Time: Annihilate's casting time is triple the normal time for a ritual it is in.
Base Area: A one mile per caster level burst, centered on but not including the caster.
Base Effect: This awe-inspiring effect unleashes raw destruction on an unimaginable scale. All beings and unattended objects within the area take 2d10 points of damage per caster level of the ritual. A Reflex save halves the damage taken, but Evasion is useless - you cannot negate taking damage entirely. The devastation left in the wake of Annihilate renders the area infertile and unable to sustain life for a year.
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Reflex Half
Spell Resistance: Yes

Shove/Yank
Forces, Minor
Base Range: Close
Base Target: One creature no more than two size categories larger than the caster
Base Effect: The caster sends a bolt of force at the creature, either thrusting it backwards or pulling it forwards (set upon creation). The two make opposed Strength checks - the caster gets a +4 bonus on this check. If the caster succeeds, the target is moved ten feet in the appropriate direction (this movement provokes attacks of opportunity) (Minor). As the previous grade, but the target is moved 20 feet if the caster succeeds (Adept). As the previous grade, but the target is moved 40 feet and knocked prone. If they fail a Fortitude save afterwards, they are dazed for 2 rounds (Moderate). As the previous grade, but the target is moved 80 feet and also takes 8d8 points of damage from sheer force.
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Special
Spell Resistance: Yes

Alter Gravity
Forces, Moderate
Base Area: A 30ft emanation centered on the caster
Base Effect: All creatures within the emanation (including the caster) are subject to either the increase, decrease, or negation of gravity for as long as the ritual lasts (the effect is set on ritual creation). Increased gravity causes all beings within the emanation to be slowed. Decreased gravity causes all beings within the emanation to be hasted. Zero gravity causes them to float, ten feet off the ground, and bob helplessly unless they have some means of flight available (Moderate).
Base Duration: One round per caster level of the ritual
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Protection from Arrows
Forces, Minor
Base Range: Personal
Base Target: You
Base Effect: You gain DR 15/+1 vs. ranged attacks (Minor). You gain DR 20/+2 vs. ranged attacks (Adept). You gain DR 25/+3 vs. ranged attacks (Moderate). You gain DR 30/+4 vs. ranged attacks (Major).
Base Duration: One hour per caster level
Saving Throw: None (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: No.

Deflection
Force, Minor
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Creature touched
Base Effect: An invisible shield of force wraps around the target, granting them a +6 deflection bonus to armor class (Minor). As above, but +8 to armor class (Adept).
Base Duration: Ten minutes per caster level of the ritual.
Saving Throw: Will negates (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes.

Reverse Gravity
Forces, Major
Base Area: A 30 ft. emanation centered on the caster
Base Effect: Within the emanation, gravity is reversed, causing all beings to "fall" upwards at the normal falling rate. If there is an obstacle, such as a cieling, they slam into it, taking appropriate damage. If not, they will continue to fall upward (drawn with the emanation) until the ritual runs out, unable to move unless they have some method of flight available to them. At the end of the ritual, all beings affected by it fall, taking appropriate damage unless they have some way of negating it.
Base Duration: One round per caster level of the ritual
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Telekenisis
Forces, Adept
Base Range: See Effect
Base Target: See Effect
Base Effect: This ritual is identical to the sorcerer/wizard spell telekinesis (Adept).
Base Duration: See Effect
Saving Throw: See Effect
Spell Resistance: See Effect

Flight
Forces/Travel, Adept
Base Range: Close
Base Target: You and up to two other creatures
Base Effect: The targets gain a fly speed of 60 with good manueverability (Adept)
Base Duration: One hour per caster level of the ritual
Saving Throw: Will negates (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes.

Puppeteer
Forces, Major
Base Range: Close
Base Target: Up to five objects of up to gargantuan size
Base Effect: You animate the targeted objects, capable of controlling them all at once. While you are rendered immobile, you may take move and attack actions with the objects in question (the objects fly at a rate of thirty feet with good manueverability). Attacks made with the objects use your attack bonus. If you have animated a dead body in this fashion, you may use any weapons it is holding. Otherwise, medium objects deal 1d8 bludgeoning damage, large objects do 2d6, huge objects deal 2d8, and gargantuan objects deal 3d6.
Base Duration: One round per caster level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Energy Drain
Necromancy, Adept
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Living creature touched
Base Effect: You sap the target's energy. If they fail a Fortitude save, they gain 2d4 negative levels (Adept). As above, but they gain 2d6 negative levels (Moderate). As above, but they gain 2d8 negative levels (Major).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Reanimate
Necromancy, Minor
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Dead body touched
Base Effect: You reanimate the body, which can have no more hit dice than the ritual has caster levels, as a zombie or skeleton (your choice) (Minor). You reanimate the body, which can have no more hit dice than the ritual has caster levels, as any corporeal undead with equal or lesser hit dice. This undead cannot have any subtypes aside from Augumented (Adept). As above, but you may also create incorporeal undead (Moderate). As above, but you may create any undead whose Challenge Rating does not exceed the ritual's caster level (Major). You may only control a number of undead equal to four times your caster level.
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Command Undead
Necromancy, Minor
Base Range: Long
Base Target: One undead creature
Base Effect: You gain control of the undead creature if it fails a Will save (remember that you can only control up to four times your caster level worth of undead in hit dice) (Minor)
Base Duration: One hour per caster level of the ritual
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Create Soul
Necromancy, Major
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Mindless being touched
Base Effect: You touch a mostly-intact dead body or an undead being and infuse it with a brand-new soul forged from magical energy. If the body was dead, it returns to life with one hit point and a single class level (this class level must be a class you have at least one level in). If it was a mindless undead being, it gains your mental ability scores and a single class level (this class level must be a class that you have at least one level in). The soul has basic memories needed to survive, such as the ability to eat, drink, and speak, but otherwise has no memories (it still gets skill points and feats). Though otherwise free-willed, the souled creature is compelled to obey you until or unless you free it from service (souls created this way count against your hit dice of controllable undead) (Major).
Base Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Life to Undeath
Necromancy, Supreme
Base Area: A 30ft. burst, centered on but not including the caster
Base Target: All living creatures within the burst.
Base Effect: By means of this dread magic, you unleash a wave of negative energy, snuffing out all life within the area. Anything living within the area must make a Fortitude save or die and be reanimated as an undead of equal hit dice of the DMs choice under your control (remember that you can only control 4 times your caster level in hit dice of undead).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Summon
Summoning, Minor
Base Range: Close
Base Target: Creature summoned
Base Effect: Identical to the sorcerer/wizard spell Summon Monster II (Minor). Identical to the sorcerer/wizard spell Summon Monster IV (Adept). Identical to the sorcerer/wizard spell Summon Monster VI (Moderate). Identical to the sorcerer/wizard spell Summon Monster IX (Major). You call a single being that would have the extraplanar subtype on the plane you are currently on to your side to serve you. This being cannot have more hit dice than the ritual has caster levels. If it fails a Will save, it is compelled to your service for one day per caster level of the ritual - otherwise, it stays for one minute per caster level (Supreme).
Base Duration: One minute per caster level
Saving Throw: None (or Will partial, see text)
Spell Resistance: No

Past/Future Sense
Time, Minor
Cost: You may combine Past/Future sense with effects from the Divanation seed at no extra cost.
Base Area: A 30ft emanation centered on the caster
Base Target: One time period within one month per caster level of the ritual, either in the past or future (set upon creation)
Base Effect: You throw your senses into the past or future, determining if something has happened (past) of if there is a strong probability that something might happen (future). The events you sense are either dangerous, momentous, or emotional, but there is no way to tell between the three - you simply know that something happens. When combined with an effect from the Divanation seed, use the second effect's Duration, Range, and Saving Throw (Minor)
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Age/Youthen
Time, Adept
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Creature or object touched
Base Effect: The sands of time affect your target, aging them 1d4 years per caster level of the ritual or youthening them by an equal amount (set on creation). The target takes full adjustments for aging should they youthen or age by a full age category (Adept). As above, but the victim ages (or youthens) by 1d6 years per caster level of the ritual (Moderate). As above, but the victim ages (or youthens) 1d8 years per caster level of the ritual (Major). The Timebender cannot benefit from his own Age/Youthen ritual, though he may from others.
Base Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Accelerando/Ritardando
Time, Minor
Base Area: A 10ft. emanation centered on the caster
Base Target: All creatures within the emanation
Base Effect: All creatures within the emanation either speed up or slow down (set at creation), gaining or losing 30ft to their base land speed (minimum 5ft) (Minor). As above, but those within also either gain or lose an extra partial action and gain either a +4 dodge bonus to A.C. or a -4 penalty to the same (Adept). As above, but the bonus/penalty to armor class increases to +/- 6 and they gain or lose an extra move action instead of a partial (Moderate). As above, but the bonus/penalty to armor class increases to +/- 8 and they gain or lose an extra standard action instead of a move (Major)
Base Duration: One round per caster level of the ritual
Saving Throw: Will negates (per individual)
Spell Resistance: No

Quantum Leap
Time, Major
Base Range: Personal, one year per caster level of the ritual
Base Target: You
Base Effect: You hurtle back or forward (set on creation) through time to some point in the past or future. You and any items carried on your person arrive at the location you are standing in at the time period you designated upon casting (such as "four years ago" or "three days from now"). If the caster would create a paradox that results in a time loop, the caster simply ceases to exist and the timestream corrects itself. If the caster travels to the future, they are effectively invulnerable to all means short of the intervention of a greater diety - they are suspended in the time stream (Major).
Base Duration: One hour per caster level of the ritual.
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Clockspinning
Time, Supreme
Base Range: Close (and ten years per caster level)
Base Target: One being or object
Base Effect: You hurl the victim through the timestream violently, banishing them to either the past or the future. If they fail their Will save, they are cast into either the past or future (set upon character creation), to a maximum range of ten years per caster level. When they finally arrive, the violent wrench of being banished through time ages them by two age categories (no save, full aging penaltis) (Supreme).
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Farsight
Divination, Minor
Base Range: One mile per caster level
Base Target: An area up to ten square feet per caster level
Base Effect: You throw your senses, percieving in the area you designate with sight and hearing. As long as you continue to concentrate, you can only percieve in that area, not the area around you (Minor).
Base Duration: Up to one minute per caster level of the ritual
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Enhance Perceptions
Divination, Minor
Base Range: Personal
Base Target: You
Base Effect: You gain the benefits of a see invisibility spell and a +4 enhancement bonus on Spot checks (Minor). As above, but you also gain a +4 enhancement bonus on Listen checks and can detect lies as the spell (Adept). As above, but you exude a zone of truth (Moderate). As above, but you also gain the benefits of a true seeing (Major).
Base Duration: One minute per caster level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Observe
Divination, Minor
Base Range: Unlimited
Base Target: One creature
Base Effect: This Effect is identical to Farsight, but you observe one being which you can clearly name and picture in your mind. You may choose to stop observing them at any given time, but you only percive them and any other being within ten feet of them that you have previously met (thus, you may see the being you are observing having a conversation with "no one") (Minor).
Base Duration: Up to one minute per caster level of the ritual
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Detect
Divination, Minor
Base Area: A 30ft emanation centered on the caster
Base Target: All creatures other than the caster within the emanation
Base Effect: The caster knows the alignment of all creatures within the emanation and has a vague understanding of their general location (Minor). As above, but the caster can also read surface thoughts (as though with a detect thoughts spell) and has effective Blindsense within the emanation (Adept). As above, but the caster has full Blindsight within the emanation (Moderate)
Base Duration: One minute per caster level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: No

Ride Senses
Divination, Adept
Base Range: Long
Base Target: One creature with intelligence, wisdom, and charisma of at least 2 or more.
Base Effect: Your senses leave your body and you percieve through your target, recieving full sensory input and hearing all of the target's surface thoughts. You may switch between your senses and the target's at any time, but may only percieve through one at once (Adept)
Base Duration: Up to one minute per caster level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes.

Acceleration
Travel, Minor
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: One creature per caster level of the ritual touched
Base Effect: The affected creatures' land speeds increase by 30 feet (Minor). The affected creatures' base land speeds increase by 60 feet and they gain a +2 dodge bonus to armor class (Adept). The affected creatures' base land speeds increase by 80 feet and they gain a +3 dodge bonus to armor class and a +1 speed bonus to attack rolls (Moderate). The affected creatures' base lands speeds increase by 100 feet and they gain a +4 dodge bonus to armor class and a +2 speed bonus to attack rolls (Major).
Base Duration: One minute per caster level of the ritual
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (Harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes.

Traveler's Gift
Travel, Adept
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: Creature touched
Base Effect: The creature touched gains a burrow speed, swim speed, or climb speed equal to their base land speed (set on creation), as well as a +6 enhancement bonus on Jump, Tumble, and Climb checks (Adept).
Base Duration: One hour per caster level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes

Teleportation
Travel, Adept
Base Range: One mile per caster level
Base Target: You plus 100 pounds of nonliving material per caster level (this includes undead and constructs).
Base Effect: With the exception of the range and target, this effect is identical to a teleport spell (Adept). As above, but the effect is identical to a greater teleport spell.
Base Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

Plane Shift
Travel, Moderate
Casting Time: Rituals that incorporate Plane Shift have their casting times increased by one-half.
Base Range: Touch
Base Target: You Creature touched (up to one per caster level of the ritual)
Base Effect: You charge the power to hurl beings through the planes into your hands. For one touch per caster level, you may send a being to another plane, but all beings must go to the same destination. Unwilling beings are entitiled to a Will save to resist the effect. If you choose to end the spell early, or run out of touches, you are hurled to the same plane (no save) (Moderate).
Base Duration: One round per caster level/instant
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

CAn't wait for more rituels and/or Pardigims

I'm working on it ^_^ I've got some friends behind the scenes that are helping me balance what I have before I move on.

Alright, I'm taking a break - I've got everything up through Destruction finished. I'll continue when I get back with Forces...geez...

Replacing a whole magic system is haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard! T_T

Dominian [Evil]
Trickery, Supreme
Cost: Dominian costs double the normal cost for a ritual it is in.
Casting Time: Dominian's casting time is triple the normal time for a ritual it is in.
Base Area: A one mile per caster level burst, centered on but not including the caster.
Base Effect: This black ritual causes every living creature within one mile per caster level to become subserviant to you. If they fail a DC 10 willsave they will follow any orders you give them to the death but will otherwise continue going about their daily business. Protection from Evil and similar spells negates the effect. It can also be negated by a Dispel or remove curse effect. A DC 20 sense motive check reveals they are under outside influence if the creatures are currently doing something they wouldn't normaly do as a result of your orders reveals.
Base Duration: Instantaneous and Permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

I appreciate and am flattered by your interest, but I'm also not done designing yet. Give me some time, and there will be plenty of Seeds designed. Just keep in mind, not everything casts with Rituals - there's also the Fastcasters and the Tool-Users. Trickery? Probably a Fastcast thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lord_Gareth

I'm working on it ^_^ I've got some friends behind the scenes that are helping me balance what I have before I move on.

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Hey, I'm behind the scenes! :smallcool:

Anyways, I've caught a small problem (or maybe not a problem, depending on how you want this system to work out, what I wrote below may have been deliberate on your part)

Think about this: a ritual takes one round per caster level to perform, aye? For a decent ritual, you'll be spending about anywhere between 4 to 14 rounds casting, for rituals of levels two and seven, is that correct? A lot can change in 4 to 14 (give or take a few, of course) rounds - characters you needed to heal might be dead, monsters you needed to reduce to ashes might *also* be dead.

Now, I realize the time is supposed to make up for exceptional power - but between the time you start a ritual and the time it is completed, the conditions that you would have wanted to use it under will have changed, either for better or worse - to make effective use of these, you need very good foresight. Maybe that was your goal, I'm not sure.

Also take into account the wait - X amount of rounds that a player is sitting around waiting (thus not doing much while their character starts conjuring demons), and X amount of rounds for the ritual to be disrupted, which is my next point: your Daemon Magus spends around 10 rounds on Slay (since it's first available at level 10), and she's open for 10 rounds of being smacked to disrupt the ritual. Also, the Magus (and to a lesser extent, Martyr) take damage by using their spells - third point. A Daemon Magus has to pick a physical ability.

Let's say he picks Strength. With each ritual he manages to execute, she takes (caster level)d4 damage. Since a fair number of these rituals start out as touch attacks, she'll be less and less accurate with them,though that can be changed by altering the seed so that it's ranged touch instead.

What if it's Dexterity, then? Every ritual she manages to fire off makes her slower, and will start to eat away at her AC, making her easier and easier to hit and distract.

Constitution would mean that her Concentration modifier will decrease, again making it easier to disrupt the spellcasting.

Also, I'm worried about the Martyr. He'll also be waiting around to finish his spells, during which time characters could die or be finished off.

The problem with disruption also occurs here. He'll be taking damage whether or not he makes his Concentration check. And since the Martyr has a d6 hit die and is all about taking damage for others, he'll be running out of HP pretty fast, no?


Now, I'm not sure if you intended for these sort of obstacles to arise to counter the power of rituals, but I think something may need to be addressed here.

Martyr is the one who sacs ability scores ^_^

Let me clear some things up -

If Conditions Change - targeting, damage, and the like is done at the END of the ritual, not the beginning. Costs are paid at the beggining.

These obstacles ARE supposed to arise to help counter rituals. However, I will be coming up with some feats later (among one of them, Quick Ritualist) to help with certain obstacles and also enhance rituals. That sound good to you? Hell, I encourage people to come up with feats!

Oh, crap. That would clear a lot up then - no wonder I was confused about their roles. Ability score damage makes much more sense on the martyr.

Also, for rituals, I know you pick the target and such when you're ready to fire, but my point is what you intended to do with the ritual when you started it may be a moot point. But that's the sort of thing that needs testing in play, I think.

Feats?

Well, a big weakness I'm seeing is the time - even though the cost for both subparadigms makes more sense (Martyr = ablility; Magus = HP) they'll still be open to repeated attempts at disrupting their spells - Sandmen, too.

A feat to allow them to salvage rituals would be ideal, perhaps...

Mind over Matter
General feat

You have learned to still your mind and work your magics with such great focus that you trancend your current surroundings.

Effect: When you begin a ritual, you may increase its casting time by one extra round, in which you clear your mind. You may reduce your Armor Class by any number (so long as it does not go below one) and add that to your Concentration modifier.

Prerequisite: Ritual Casting

^_^ Nice idea. Allow me to change it (especially since that name deserves a much cooler feat than one to prevent casting disruption).

Focused Ritualist [General]
Your concentration in performing rituals is superb - even in the heat of battle, you can defend yourself while casting.
Prerequisites: Ritual Magic class feature
Benefit: You gain a +4 competance bonus to armor class vs. attacks of opportunity provoked by ritual casting and a +4 bonus on concentration checks made to avoid rituals being disrupted.

Yeah, by all means. That should help the ritualist a bit.

Quick Ritualist
You are exceptionally good at performing your rituals with haste.
Prerequisites: Ritual Magic class feature, access to Adept rituals
Benefit: You cast all your rituals in only 75% of the time it would normally take (round down in case of fractions).

Weeeeeeee Update!!!!

Martyr and Daemon Magus are now theoretically playable. Sandmen are up next, and after that I move on to some feats and then Bloodlines ^_^

Even with the Quick Ritualist feat, I seriously doubt that a ritualist will be able to get off any more than, at most, one ritual per battle. In my experience as a player and DM, few battles last more than five or six rounds. That means by seventh level, even with the Quick Ritualist feat, a ritualist will be able to get off one ritual per battle if they're lucky.

By 20th level, it will take 15 rounds to cast a single ritual, meaning that this system of ritual magic will be completely useless to a person in anything other than a fairly epic sized battle in which they can get far enough away from where the ACTUAL action is taking place to not be killed over the course of those 15 rounds.

As much as I like the concept, and don't get me wrong, once this is refined (I trust in your ability to do it) I think this system will be brilliant, it currently has some fairly enormous flaws to rectify. As it stands right now, though, it's unplayable. Just thought that I should point that out.

This is amazing! I really like how this system is shaping up. IF you don't mind, I'd like to start toying around with ideas for Hermetics. They are primarily in that tool-users category, correct?

Also, any ideas about incorporating thaumaturgy in the common fantasy sense? Sympathetic magic and such?

may I suggest another alteration trick for these things:

double Area of Effect: the normal lessenings in return

and vica versa.

Then you could actually get a quite decent combat ritual out of Annihilate

So...rituals? Are they only being used by the Sacrificial Paradigms? Just my 2 cents, but it would really help make magic seem arcane and varied if the other paradigms had (almost, at least) entirely different casting methods. A bunch of extra work? Maybe. But when one caster is preparing these complex arcane rituals to finish off the ancient lich and the other caster is channeling the demon who is his father and blasting various arcane bolts and commanding a horde of his father's minions in the hopes of holding off the undead scourge, it'll be priceless.

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Originally Posted by munchlord

may I suggest another alteration trick for these things:

double Area of Effect: the normal lessenings in return

and vica versa.

Then you could actually get a quite decent combat ritual out of Annihilate

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Wait, because killing everything within twenty miles practically by default isn't decent enough for combat, but killing everything within forty miles is!?
Or did I miss the intended point of the addition and its application to the annihilate base.

On the subject of Hermetic magic, I'm trying to design a paradigm around using various foci for the construction of spells. Using something approximating the existing Incarnum system, with investing energy into various arcance foci, through which the Hermetic's natural power is enhanced to applicable/lethal levels. Is that what you had envisioned, or was that more of the technomancy's realm? And how does/should technomancy tie into the traditional high fantasy world of DnD?

The application was vica versa (or how ever it is spelled)...

Lower AoE in return for, say reduced casting time... suddenly we have a high damage in a short emanation with a 3 round casting time or something... maybe less.

Remember folks - the Effects there are a BASE template. You can cut down on casting time by altering them - with Quick Ritualist, you can cut down even further. Yes, rituals will take a little while, but they can also back it up with bamf. That said, more feats will also be made for ritualists, including some ritual augumentation feats.

Who's Using What Magic, Again? - Sacrificial is the primary user of Ritual magic, with the possibility of SOME Channlers using it.

Hermetics are tool-users. They believe that they can invest items with energy and use them, but that they cannot call directly on arcane might. Tool-users take for god damn ever to "create" their spells, which end up being consumable items only they can use. The items only have so many uses before they disintegrate and the Hermetic starts the whole process over again. Or, at least, that's the idea.

Bloodlines and some Channlers use Fastcasting, creating their spells on the fly. In terms of power-per-spell, they are the weakest group, but without many of the limitations of the other groups, they make fierce opponents.

Technomancers are similar to Hermetics, but to an extreme degree. Their "spells" take even longer, but when they hit, they HIT.

Technomancy? In D&D? WTF? NOOB! - *SMACK* Anyway. Remember that it's the DMs world. Just because I spend a ton of time writing up Technomancy doesn't mean you have to use it. That said, there's nothing more advanced than what one might see in the Girl Genius webcomic. Which is to say, psychotically advanced, but still fantasy-compatible.

If anyone has ideas they want to present, DO IT! It's a TON of work doing this - I haven't even STARTED on Time yet! I welcome and appreciate community input!

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Originally Posted by Lord_Gareth

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Hermetics are tool-users. They believe that they can invest items with energy and use them, but that they cannot call directly on arcane might. Tool-users take for god damn ever to "create" their spells, which end up being consumable items only they can use. The items only have so many uses before they disintegrate and the Hermetic starts the whole process over again. Or, at least, that's the idea.

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Hmm... Okay, I'll see what I can do with that. The idea that I was seeing had more of a person with an internal wellspring of energy that, unless focused properly, is fairly useless. The Hermetic mages learn one of three specialties in focusing their magic (Annuling, Sensory, and Dynamic), and construct a focus, into which they imbue their power. Once properly invested, the Hermetic can channel his innate power through the focus, and achieve magic. The type of focus chosen influences what effect comes out of pushing power through the focus, and things like rings, staves, wands, and books, having an innate relationship to magic in the minds of most living beings, channel magical force well.

Could that fit in anywhere? Or should I just scrap it and do something else?

Mind if I take swing at a bit of Fastcasting?

I'm going to work under the assumption that these casters have a small store of points I'll call Energy, and they regenerate this similar to ToB maneuvers, performing actions that restore a certain amount of points. They spend this Energy to increase the power of various effects, deciding how to improve these effects as they cast them. A very simple one:

Bolt, 0 Energy
Delivery: Attack

+1 Energy-Touch Attack, Ranged Attack
+2 Energy-Deliver through weapon, Ranged Touch Attack

Range: Touch or 30 ft.+5 ft/2 levels

+1 Energy- Double Range

Area: Target

+1 Energy- 5 ft. Burst
+2 Energy- 10 ft. Burst, Affect All In Line, Cone

Damage: 1D4 Energy type

+1 Energy- Add +1D4 Damage, Increase dice by one step (D4>D6>D8>D10)
+2 Energy- Half of damage is not subject to Resistances, Exotic Damage (Force, Positive Energy, Negative Energy)

Effect: +1 Energy, Special (Depends on Energy Type)

Fire: Subject must make Reflex save or catch on fire
Cold: Subject is slowed for 1d4 rounds on failed Fort. save
Acid: Subject takes half as much damage again on next turn on failed Ref. save
Electricity: Subject takes -1d6 penalty on next save on failed Will save
Positive/Negative: Add caster level to damage
Force: Subject loses any SR for 1d4 rounds on failed Will save

Similar but unrelated, an example of how these casters might recharge Energy: spend a full round action making a single bolt attack against a foe or performing a harmless display of arcane might to regain your Recharge Bonus to Energy.

Your Recharge Bonus is equal to 1/4 your level rounded down, minimum 1. Your maximum Energy is equal to your level. In addition, you gain 1/2 your Recharge Bonus to Energy every turn beginning at level 8.