Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
So, one of my friends has it in his head to play a wild magic-style sorcerer, with spell failures and backlash and all sorts of random effect tables. Since he's not a fan of the Wild Mage prestige class, I've agreed to revisit the world of D&D homebrew and write something up for him. Let me know how you like it.
Spell Flux and Greater Spell Flux are a pair of alternate class features for the Sorcerer class. Unlike other alternate class features, they do not replace existing features of the class, but are instead balanced by their own drawbacks and side-effects. Spell Flux is considered a prerequisite to the Great Spell Flux feature, although taking the latter feature is purely optional.
Spell Flux (Su)
At 4th level, you gain the ability to channel great arcane power through your sorcerer spells, adding +2 to your caster level for all calculations involving that spell. However, the magical energies you channel are unstable, and may have unpredictable results. Roll 1d20 on the Magical Mishap table after casting the spell to determine the effects of this. The DM may call for a reroll if the negative effects of the mishap are redundant with an effect you already suffer, or are somehow prevented.
In addition, the Dungeon Master may call for you to make a roll on the Magical Mishap table whenever you suffer great stress, as your own magical puissance goes out of control. Rolling a natural 1 on a Will save is always a valid reason for the DM to call for a roll, as is falling to 0 hp or less. He can also call for a roll in the case of events such as an ally's betrayal, being left by a romantic partner, or similar stresses. If the rolled effect uses spell level in a calculation, treat it as a spell of the second-highest level the sorcerer can cast.
Greater Spell Flux (Su)
At 10th level, you gain the power to unleash arcane power beyond all imagination or sanity, letting you add +4 to your caster level when using your Spell Flux class feature. However, doing so is never safe–instead of rolling on the Magical Mishap table, make a roll on the Arcana Disaster table.
Likewise, the Dungeon Master may choose for you to roll on the Arcane Disaster table instead of the Magical Mishap table when you suffer a stress that is permanently life-changing and more than you can bear, such as being tortured, watching a beloved companion die, or discovering that you (or your wife) is pregnant.
Magical Mishap Table
{table=head]Roll|Name|Effect
20|Aura of Power|An aura of arcane energy emanates harmlessly from you as you cast the spell, revealing your sorcerous power. You may dictate the exact appearance of this aura to match the spell you are casting, as long as it remains obviously supernatural.
19|Wondrous Transformations|You radiate transformative magical energies, causing supernatural but harmless transformations wherever you pass. The DM may choose to apply effects equivalent to a prestidigitation spell to any inanimate object, plant, or animal within one hundred feet of you for the next day. Characters attempting to track your movement during this time can follow this trail of wonders, gaining a +5 circumstance bonus on their roll.
18|Uncanny Weather|Small objects (or animals!) such as flowers, frogs, or tarot cards begin to rain from the sky around you. This improbable rain occurs within five hundred yards of you for the next five minutes. The falling objects are never harmful or valuable.
17|Warped Spells|Chaos permeates your magic, causing your spells to manifest in bizarre and unusual ways. Although their mechanical effects are unchanged, their appearance is altered in absurd or improbable ways–a fireball might conjure up purple flames, while a flight spell might be accompanied by a pair of large, feathery wings. All Spellcraft rolls made to identity your spells take a -2 penalty for the duration of this effect. This magical flux lasts for a single day.
16|Spellflare|Your spell is accompanied by a burst of light or similar manifestation, blinding you until the end of your next turn. Characters within five feet of you are dazzled for one round unless they make a Will save, DC (12 + Spell Level).
15|Arcane Backlash|The spell drains some of your vitality, dealing 3d6 nonlethal damage to you. Nothing can prevent this damage.
14|Power Lapse|Your arcane power flickers momentarily, reducing the duration of all your currently-active spells by a single round.
13|Spell Drain|Casting the spell takes more power than you expect, causing you to suddenly lose a single 1st-level spell slot (or a slot of the next-highest level, if none are available).
12|Solipsistic Genius|You are momentarily distracted by the sheer magnificence or your own power, causing you to lose your next action (mad laughter optional). Your immense ego causes you to gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Will saves during that time.
11|Spatial Warp|Your spell bends space around you, teleporting you and your equipment to a square within (Spell Level x 10) feet, at the DM's choice. He cannot choose a destination that would be harmful to you in any way.
10|Baleful Prestidigitation|Minor magical effects manifest around you, distracting you from the task at hand. For the rest of the encounter, you suffer a -1 penalty on all attack rolls and skill checks, and must make a DC 15 Concentration check to successfully cast a spell. On a failure, the spell slot and any components are still expended.
9|Arcane Delirium|Magical backlash on your mind causes you to suffer visual and auditory hallucinations for the rest of the encounter, with effects similar to a minor image spell (no save allowed). The Dungeon Master dictates the exact details of the illusion, but cannot create on that will have automatically lethal results for your character.
8|Material Consumption|Your spell consumes a single mundane object on your person as an additional material component, destroying it utterly. The Dungeon Master chooses which object is destroyed.
7|Vulnerability|You are momentarily weakened, taking a -2 penalty on all saving throws for the rest of the encounter.
6|Spasmodic Shapechange|You spontaneously change into a member of a different race chosen by the DM, with the same racial HD and level adjustment as your own race, with effects equivalent to the alter self spell. The transformation remains in place for a full day and cannot be reversed.
5|Arcane Recoil|The backlash of your spell flings you back up to (Spell Level x 5) feet in a direction of the DM's choice, and causes you to fall prone. If this recoil causes you to collide with an obstacle before completing this movement, you suffer 1d4 nonlethal damage for every five feet of movement remaining.
4|Mindfire|Your mind is scarred by the magical energies you channel, causing you to suffer a single point of both Intelligence damage and Charisma damage. This cannot reduce you below a score of 1 in either ability.
3|Spell Fatigue|The magic leaves you wearied, causing you to become exhausted. At the end of the encounter, this ends, but still leaves you fatigued until you have had eight hours of rest.
2|Sorcerous Impotence|Your magical energies are exhausted for the duration of the encounter, causing you to take a -1 penalty to your caster level for the purposes of any spells you cast. This does not affect your spells per day or your access to spells based on caster level.
1|Arcane Eruption|You lose a single spell slot of the highest level you can cast, which explodes in a blast of pure arcane power. This deals (Spell Level x 4) damage to you, which cannot be prevented by any means. The explosion extends fifteen feet from you, dealing (Spell Level x 2) damage to all characters caught within it. A Reflex save at DC (12 + Spell Level) halves the damage.
[/table]
Arcane Disaster Table
{table=head]Roll|Name|Effect
20|Minor Mishap|Everything goes better than expected–instead of suffering an Arcane Disaster, make another roll on the Magical Mishap table.
19|Memory Blank|Your spell consumes memories from you as part of its casting. Once the current encounter has ended, you completely lose all memories of it. No magic can restore them.
18|Moment of Weakness|Your sorcerous power falters when you need it. You take a -10 penalty on the next caster level check you make for any reason.
17|Bad Luck|Your spell warps fate itself, calling bad fortune down on your future. At any time when you make a roll, the DM may call for you to make a reroll after seeing the result, keeping the lower of the two rolls (or higher, if this would be worse). Once he has done so, this bad fortune ends.
16|Spellblind|Your eyes are seared blind by the radiance of your spell, blinding you for the rest of the encounter. Characters within fifteen feet of you are dazzled for the rest of the encounter unless they make a Will save, DC (12 + Spell Level).
15|Lethal Backlash|The arcane energies you channel are more than your body can take, dealing 5d6 damage to you. Nothing can prevent this damage.
14|Power Failure|You must drain the power of one of your spells to successfully channel the spell flux. The DM chooses one of your currently-active spells (other than the one you just cast), which ends immediately.
13|Mana Drain|Your sorcerous power bleeds out of you in a moment of lost control. You lose a single spell slot of each level.
12|Psychic Shock|Your mind is overwhelmed by the power you invoke, stunning you for the next 1d4 rounds.
11|Spatial Rift|Your magic tears open a rift in space, teleporting you and your equipment to a square within (Spell Level x 100) feet, at the DM's choice. He cannot choose a destination that would be immediately lethal to you, but may choose to leave you in a harmful or dangerous environment.
10|Intoxicating Spell|You become literally intoxicated your own mystical puissance, taking a -2 penalty to Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom for the rest of the encounter. In addition, make a Fortitude save at a DC of (12 + Spell Level). If you fail, you are nauseated for the next five rounds.
9|Arcane Dementia|You begin hallucinating for the duration of the encounter as magical power courses through your mind, with effects similar to a major image spell (no save allowed). The Dungeon Master dictates the exact details of the illusion, but cannot create on that will have automatically lethal results for your character.
8|Broken Attunement|Your spell interferes with a single magical item on your person, suppressing all of its magical properties for the rest of the encounter. The Dungeon Master chooses which magical item is affected (artifacts cannot be chosen).
7|Crucial Vulnerability|You are grievously weakened, taking a -10 penalty on all saving throws of a single type chosen by the Dungeon Master. This vulnerability lasts for the rest of the encounter.
6|Shapeflux|You are transformed into a creature of the Dungeon Master's choice, with effects equivalent to the polymorph spell. That creature's total Hit Dice cannot exceed your own. The transformation remains in place for a full day and cannot be reversed.
5|Aura of Animation|A number of mundane objects within one hundred yards of you come to life and begin attacking you and your allies, animated by your ambient magical power. The Dungeon Master may choose to animate 1d20 Small objects, 1d10 Medium objects, or 1d6 Large objects. After a minute, the animated objects revert to normal.
4|Planar Nemesis|You attract the malevolent attention of an outsider or similar extraplanar being whose alignment is opposed to yours, with a Challenge Rating no higher than 9. It may choose to instantly appear at any point within one hundred feet of you and begin attacking, or may choose to remain in its native plane, to begin plotting against you Regardless, the outsider's enmity cannot be ended except by killing it (although the DM may choose to make provisions for negotiating with it). Although the outsider's wrath is directed towards you alone, it will attack your allies if they attempt to defend you.
3|Arcane Betrayal|Your own magic turns against you. The Dungeon Master chooses a single one of your spells known, and forces you to cast it as free action. Although you cast the spell, its targets, effects, and other details are chosen by the DM, turning them you or your own allies. Spells that have expensive material components or experience point costs cannot be chosen, nor can spells of the highest level you are capable of casting.
2|Uncontrollable Magic|Your magic becomes unstable and fickle, refusing to obey your commands. For the rest of the encounter, all sorcerer spells you cast have a 20% chance of having no effect whatsoever. Spell slots and components are still consumed normally.
1|Soulfire Conflagration|A conflagration of arcane energy erupts within you, burning your flesh and scarring your soul. You immediately fall to -1 hp and gain two negative levels. The negative levels disappear after a day, carrying no risk of permanent level loss, but cannot be removed by any means.
[/table]
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
YES. I support this whole-heatedly. This looks very, very interesting.
Though I'm curious, how often can you use these? Or is there not a limitation, given the mishaps caused?
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Welknair
Though I'm curious, how often can you use these? Or is there not a limitation, given the mishaps caused?
No limit except your own good sense.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Do multiple of the same mishap stack? What if one were to roll Sorcerous Impotence twice? Would that just be a -2? Or what would happen if you got two Arcane Deliriums, given that they couldn't stack? Roll again? I realize that the chances of these circumstances coming up are very minute, but someone's bound to run into.
And nice job making such that the higher your roll the better the result.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Welknair
Do multiple of the same mishap stack? What if one were to roll Sorcerous Impotence twice? Would that just be a -2? Or what would happen if you got two Arcane Deliriums, given that they couldn't stack? Roll again? I realize that the chances of these circumstances coming up are very minute, but someone's bound to run into.
If it makes sense for them to stack, they stack. If it doesn't, reroll. Penalties probably shouldn't ever get to stack, but I'm hazy on the rules for handling them.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
M-master? MASTER?! You came back! I knew that air conditioner was full of crap!
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
The Old one returns! The Old one returns!
And in a game I am DMing, the main spellcaster in the group was asking me about some odd way to do more-chaotic Sorcerer casting. Yoinking this. Really like this a lot.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
This... Is awesome.
Anyway, to the important thing: TDO, are you planning to continue with your Epic martial disciplines idea?
Please?
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The-Mage-King
Nooooo ssshhhhh you gotta let him get back into the flow of doing homebrew, or you might scare him! Wild TD1's are a crafty bunch!
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cardea
Nooooo ssshhhhh you gotta let him get back into the flow of doing homebrew, or you might scare him! Wild TD1's are a crafty bunch!
Carp. You're right. I should delete that part.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The-Mage-King
To be honest, I'm not really planning to do anything with D&D. I've gotten very rusty with it, and most of my creative energies are being devoted to Exalted freelancing.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The-Mage-King
When I followed that link, I thought it would be something like epic spells, such as 10th level iron heart maneuvers. Instead, it was something different in all but name and the fact that it requires you to be able to use 9th level maneuvers.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Demented One
To be honest, I'm not really planning to do anything with D&D. I've gotten very rusty with it, and most of my creative energies are being devoted to Exalted freelancing.
Aw... A shame. It was promising.
And would make epic levels for Warblades more fun.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The-Mage-King
Aw... A shame. It was promising.
And would make epic levels for Warblades more fun.
I wonder if he'd be opposed to someone else taking up the project? I too want to see more Epic Disciplines.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Welknair
I wonder if he'd be opposed to someone else taking up the project? I too want to see more Epic Disciplines.
Not at all, although I increasingly think anything having to do with epic levels is a lost cause.
Re: Sorcerer Class Feature: Spell Flux
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Welknair
I wonder if he'd be opposed to someone else taking up the project? I too want to see more Epic Disciplines.
I want to see epic maneuvers for the current disciplines. Though it would be hard to come up with a diamond mind maneuver that's better then time stands still.
Complete Sublime, a ToB Sourcebook
TDO, hopefully this gets to you.
Your PM inbox was full, so I fired off an email through the forum. If that inbox doesn't go anywhere, I guess there's no harm in asking you here aside from it being way off topic.
Anyways, I'm representing a group of authors compiling a Tome of Battle eBook of sorts called Complete Sublime.
We would like to include your Martial disciplines in the work, giving you full credit for your work, however we need your permission to do so.
We will handle all transcription and formatting work for inclusion into the book so you don't even have to lift a finger other than to reply.
Either respond here in this thread, or alternatively respond on this Talk page.
Anyone else who is interested is encouraged to check the book out and even contribute if you want.
