Quote Originally Posted by OldTrees View Post
I am also planing on having there to be an ability check to cast spells

So if I go with
a 10% failure to cast 4th
a 50% failure to cast 5th
a 90% failure to cast 6th
at 20th level that would sound balance?

(Fullcaster spell level -> unchanged) Ex. Magic Missile Wiz 1st -> 1st
(Halfcaster Pal/Rgr/Ass spell level -> +1) Ex. Holy Sword Pal 4th -> 5th

Thank you.


By the way what would be a good estimate of ability modifiers as a function of level for this DAD caster class?
Honestly, failure stinks. That's the reason casters don't wear armor (and the reason they need mage armor and such spells early on, as well as miss chances later on). A ten percent failure isn't so bad, but a ninety percent chance to do nothing for that round? I'd never use a 6th level spell. Or a 5th level spell, for that matter. There's no point, since you could get better effects from multiple lower-level spells. Sure, you have a chance to cast those buffs or effects faster, but you also have a chance of going slower or the same speed. Probability dictates that it will be the same speed or slower for 5th- and 6th-level spells.

Obviously, this is just a rough idea of the class, but seriously, don't do percent failures unless they're small--even then, I'm reluctant to say that's fun.

Ability check DC's should be determined by example and playtesting. The best examples would be favorable circumstances with 15 - 16 in the favorite attribute to start.

Example:
Level 11 human "x" wants to cast an empowered enervation. Example "x" started with 15 Intelligence, has raised it at the available levels (4, 8), and has bought an item raising Intelligence. Example "x" now has 21 Intelligence, effectively. This gives a +5 modifier.

DC's for the empowered enervation should be in the ballpark of DC 10 - 15, depending on how hard you want it to be for that caster to cast the spell, assuming failure means no cast spell. Of course, this would probably be based on spell level.

Actually, I would use a system where failure means a lesser effect, instead of outright failure. The example enervation would lose its metamagic and deal half the roll's negative levels. That means, at most, two negative levels. Using this system, you'd probably have to use a slightly higher DC than what you would use with the outright failure system.