[3.5] Ritualist: the wizard remixed

[jiriku]

RITUALIST

"Eh? Oh. No, you would not part an old man from his walking stick?"
-Gandalf, The Two Towers

"Even when our eyes are closed, there's a whole world out there that lives outside ourselves and our dreams."
-Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

A recent collaboration on how to balance spellcasters led to some suggestions by sonofzeal, togath, and neoseraphi that inspired me to build this class. An alternative to the wizard, the ritualist presents a search for a balanced and enjoyable Tier 3 generalist caster, even if we had to slaughter some sacred cows of game mechanics to do it! The ritualist replaces the wizard in games that desire a balanced or low-magic approach to spellcasting.

Ritualist is designed to be compatible with the Philosopher's Stone magic remix.

Change Log:

Spoiler

1.0 Original version
1.1 Scribing a chalk circle with circle magic now explicitly requires a nearby surface, meaning it cannot be used while swimming or flying. Magic circles can be scribed without need for a surface. Ritual magic minimum casting time has been reduced from 1 minute to 1 full round, and circle rituals now require additional time to cast. Summon monster and similar spells are now rituals. Circle magic now allows you to increase the HD cap or dice cap of your spells. To get key class features into play more quickly, and allow the player to capture a slice of these class features before moving into a prestige class at level 6-8, circle magic and spontaneous conversion are now a little more front-loaded.
1.1 The circle magic option of adding +1 to save DC has been replaced with the option to set base save DC to 10 + 1/2 character level + Charisma bonus. Since the ritualist has fewer spells, the lower level spells need to pull their weight more, and this should help. Individual circle magic benefits may now only be selected once each.
1.11 Added quick-start rules for building a high-level ritualist in a jiffy.
1.2 Simplified bookkeeping by replacing the ritualist's six bonus feat with Flexible Magecraft, a feature granting a single floating bonus feat.
1.21 Replaced Flexible Magecraft with Magecraft, an even simpler feature which relieves the ritualist from needing to have item creation feats. Added Reserve Magic, which grants a single, enhanced reserve feat as a bonus feat and can be changed out daily.
1.3 Playtesting showed that it's difficult for a ritualist to be effective when limited to 2 general spells per level per day. Removed the ritual spell concept from the class and renamed Circle Magic to Circle Ritual. Circle ritual is usable on all spells, and requires additional chanters only when casting spells with a casting time of one minute or greater.
1.4 Replaced the craft reserve with a flat 50% discount on xp costs for crafting rings, rods, staves, and item familiars and a 50% reduction in the xp cost for power Circle Ritual with experience points. Converted all class-based insight bonuses into competence bonuses to minimize stacking potential.

CLASS DESCRIPTION

The archetypal spellcaster trained in a formal academy or secretive cabal, the ritualist is a proud practitioner of The Art, and learns to manipulate potent, dangerous magics with which wiser or more cautious mortals might fear to tamper. The ritualist practices complex, often-dangerous spells, crafts mighty magical items, and regards magic as a mark of his elite place in society. Often aloof and separate from the common folk, ritualists see themselves as concerned with weighty events and philosophies even when they possess little real power or influence. A ritualist might be an isolated mage living in a lonely tower, an accomplished artificer who forges the weapons of heroes, a mighty king’s personal wizard, or a bold planar traveler who crisscrosses the multiverse in search of eldritch lore.

Adventures: Because ritualists often seek lost knowledge or potent artifacts to further their goals, the adventurer’s path may prove expedient to them as a means to an end. If a ritualist is a court mage, he may adventure to fulfill a king’s quest. Still other ritualists may have been driven from their crumbling towers by mobs of suspicious citizens and see adventuring as a method of rebuilding their power base.

Characteristics: The ritualist is a character who regards reality as his plaything and the multiverse as his personal workshop. He is adept at bending and breaking the natural laws of the world, and brings powerful, flashy magics to his adventuring group, easily manipulating elemental energies, summoning outsiders, and reshaping battlefields. However, a ritualist often needs time to prepare and the assistance of others to work his magic, so he benefits strongly from the aid and support of a group.

Alignment: Ritualists are a varied lot and may be of any alignment. Because they benefit from cooperating and collaborating with their peers, they are more inclined towards Law than Chaos.

Religion: Ritualists who see their magic as a source of spiritual inspiration may worship Boccob, Wee Jas, or Vecna. Those who meddle in the powers of life and death might worship Nerull, while those devoted to traveling the multiverse in search of advancement might take Fharlanghn as their patron. Other ritualists take their inspiration where they find it, and might worship any deity.

Background: Although some rare talents demonstrate the ability to learn High Magic quickly and easily, most ritualists learn through painstaking study and collaboration with others of greater experience. Ritualists generally are members of a league, college, or cabal of their peers, which may be a formal, tightly knit organization or a loose confederation of spellcasters who convene only infrequently. As fellow practitioners of The Art, ritualists see themselves as common members of an elite group even if they are members of different races or cultures. However, different groups of ritualists are often competitive or even hostile towards one another, as each group sees its practices as the “best” way to approach High Magic.

Races: All races boast ritualists among their numbers, half-orcs boast few ritualists, as members of that race have little interest in arcane magic. Elves, gnomes and humans make perhaps the best ritualists, since their natural talents make good use of the class’s strengths.

Other Classes: Ritualists tend to regard magicians with a sort of condescending pity, and there is little love lost between these practitioners of different forms of magic. Ritualists appreciate fighters, paladins, and rangers for the fighting strength they offer, but tend to view them more as pawns than as equals. They have little use for monks or rogues. Ritualists respect the prowess of clerics and druids, regarding members of these classes as worthy compatriots.

Role: A ritualist is typically the center of a party’s power, capable of powerful effects that other classes can’t duplicate but dependent on the protection and support of his team to succeed. A ritualist doesn’t have the spellcasting stamina to solve all the party’s problems, but when another team member can’t handle a problem unassisted, or when the party finds itself in a no-win situation and needs to redefine what’s possible, the ritualist can reshape reality to turn an impossible challenge into a clean victory.

Starting Wealth: 5d4 x 25 gp. Ritualists begin with more starting wealth than members of other classes.

Adaptations:

Spoiler

TONING DOWN THE RITUALIST

Spoiler

The ritualist is intended to offer a balanced spell-casting class that won't casually overshadow martial characters. Those desiring an even more toned-down ritualist could do one or more of the following to limit his power:

• Require the ritualist to make a Spellcraft check to use circle magic, with a DC of 12 + spell level + (3 *circle bonus points);
• limit circle magic to 3 + Cha uses per day;
• remove the item familiar's spell bond ability.

BEEFING UP THE RITUALIST

Spoiler

Those who wish to use the magician in a high-optimization game could do one or more of the following to increase his power:

• Add a medium base attack progression;
• Add a good Fort save;
• Add proficiency with all simple weapons;
• Allow the ritualist to learn new spells from spellbooks and take 10 on Spellcraft checks to learn such spells;
• Improve the item familiar's spell bond to grant one bonus spell slot at each level of spells the ritualist can cast;
• Remove the restriction against casting more than one ritualist spell per round;
• Reduce the number of spells per day at each level by 1 across the board, but allow the ritualist to gain bonus spells for a high Intelligence.

RITUALIST QUICK-START RULES

Spoiler

Sticklers for accuracy will notice that because a ritualist has some uncertainty over how many tries he'll need to learn a given spell, it's impossible to correctly build a high-level ritualist from scratch without laboriously modeling character growth one level at a time. Use the following quick-and-dirty method of generating a high-level ritualist quickly.

During character creation, the ritualist learns all spells automatically, but must pays 1.5x normal cost for all scrolls acquired and scribed into his spellbook. The extra cost is a fudge factor to cover the fact that the ritualist would have occasionally failed a Spellcraft check and wasted a scroll.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Ritualists have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Intelligence and Charisma are the most important abilities for a ritualist, as they determine how powerful a spell or ritual he can cast and how hard his spells are to resist. Intelligence is also useful for many of the ritualist's class skills. A ritualist benefits from high Dexterity and Constitution scores much as a sorcerer or wizard would.

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d6

TABLE 1: RITUALIST

Spells per Day

Level Base Attack Fort Ref Will Special 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Item familiar, magecraft, reserve magic 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3   3rd +1 +1 +1 +3   4th +2 +1 +1 +4 Spontaneous conversion 1/day 5th +2 +1 +1 +4 Circle ritual +1 6th +3 +2 +2 +5   7th +3 +2 +2 +5   8th +4 +2 +2 +6 Spontaneous conversion 2/day 9th +4 +3 +3 +6   10th +5 +3 +3 +7 Circle ritual +2 11th +5 +3 +3 +7   12th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 Spontaneous conversion 3/day 13th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8   14th +7/+2 +4 +4 +9   15th +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 Circle ritual +3 16th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 Spontaneous conversion 4/day 17th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10   18th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11   19th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11   20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Circle ritual +4, spontaneous conversion 5/day

-0- -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9- 3 1 – – – – – – – – 4 2 – – – – – – – – 4 2 1 – – – – – – – 4 3 2 – – – – – – – 4 3 2 1 – – – – – – 4 3 3 2 – – – – – – 4 4 3 2 1 – – – – – 4 4 3 3 2 – – – – – 4 4 4 3 2 1 – – – – 4 4 4 3 3 2 – – – – 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 – – – 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 – – – 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 – – 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 – – 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 – 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 – 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3

CLASS SKILLS (4 + Int mod per level, x4 at 1st level)
A ritualist's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), and Spellcraft (Int).

"I AM OZ.... the Great and Powerful! Who are you?"
-- The Wizard of Oz

Wizard: "See--I never had a family of my own--I was always travelin'.
So, I guess I just wanted to give the citizens of Oz everything."
Elphaba: "So you lied to them."
Wizard: "Only verbally...."
-- Wicked, the musical

CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The ritualist gains proficiency with the club, dagger, dart, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, light mace, and quarterstaff, but not with any armor or shield. He suffers a chance of arcane spell failure when attempting to cast spells while wearing armor or using a shield.

Spells: A ritualist casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell lists in the Player’s Handbook and Spell Compendium. Like a wizard, you must prepare your spells in advance.

To learn, prepare, or cast a ritualist spell, you must have an Intelligence score of 10 + the spell's level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a ritualist’s spell is 10 + the spell's level + the ritualist’s Cha mod. Like other spellcasters, you can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day, as shown on the table above. You can gain bonus spell slots from your item familiar (see sidebar). You can only learn and add to your spellbook a number of spells per spell level equal to 10 + your Intelligence modifier (including inherent bonuses but discounting other types of bonuses). If you attempt to cast spells while wearing armor, you suffer an arcane spell failure chance.

A ritualist’s spellcasting is more structured than that of a wizard. You do not gain bonus spells per day for having a high ability score. You may cast no more than one ritualist spell per round, even if you would otherwise have enough actions available to cast more than one. Casting a spell with a casting time of 1 immediate action counts as your use of a spell on your next turn. Like a wizard, you can learn additional spells during play, but unlike a wizard, you may only attempt to learn them from scrolls, not from spellbooks. Furthermore, deciphering a spell from a scroll is an unpredictable process, and you may not take 10 on Spellcraft checks made to learn a new spell in this fashion.

To ready his spells each day, the ritualist must have 8 hours of rest, and must spend 1 hour studying his spellbook. Spells used within the last 8 hours are not refreshed and count against your daily limit.

Spellbook: A ritualist must study his spellbook each day to prepare his spells. You cannot prepare any spell not recorded in your spellbook.

A ritualist begins play with a spellbook containing all 0-level spells on the sorcerer/wizard spell list located in the Player’s Handbook and Spell Compendium, plus six 1st-level ritualist spells of your choice. At each new ritualist level, you gain one new spell at any level you can cast for your spellbook. If you acquire a scroll of a new ritualist spell, you can add it to your spellbook by spending 8 hours and making a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level). However, you cannot take 10 on this check and the scroll is consumed regardless of whether the attempt is a success or a failure. Effects that improve your Spellcraft check will only benefit this roll if the effect is active for the entire 8-hour period. You can only learn and add to your spellbook a number of spells and rituals per spell level equal to 10 + your Intelligence modifier (including inherent bonuses but discounting other types of bonuses).

You can prepare multiple spellbooks to guard against the risk that your primary spellbook might be destroyed, lost, or stolen, but owning multiple spellbooks does not enable you to learn or scribe any more spells. You do not need to have your primary spellbook at hand in order write spells that you know into a new spellbook.

Item Familiar: A ritualist can enchant a permanent item to serve as a magical fetish, enhancing his mastery of The Art. Any sort of item can serve as an item familiar, but it must meet at least one of the following requirements:

• be of at least masterwork quality;
• be a magical item;
• be worth at least 100 gp.

Bonding with an item familiar requires an 8-hour ritual of meditation and focusing. A ritualist may only ever be bonded with one item familiar at a time. See the item familiar sidebar for the benefits provided by an item familiar.

Sidebar: Item Familiar
Item familiars are magically linked to their masters, for a ritualist binds some of his own magical power into the familiar. This is why, for example, the ritualist gains additional spell slots from his familiar and can eventually empower the familiar to cast those spells itself. An item familiar is a normal item that gains new powers and becomes a magical item when bonded to a ritualist. It retains its appearance and original functions (including any magical powers).


Item Familiar Abilities

Spoiler

Bonded item: The potent arcane energies within an item familiar render it extremely resistant to harm and allow its owner to sense its nearness. An item familiar has +5 hardness and ten times the normal hit points for an item of its type. When unattended, it is treated as an attended item and uses the ritualist’s saving throw values if they are better than its own. The ritualist is always aware of the exact direction and distance to his item familiar and is automatically aware of any attempt to pickpocket the item from him through the Sleight of Hand skill, although effects that obscure divinations can disrupt this awareness.

Skill bond: At each level, the ritualist gains two +1 insight bonuses which he may apply to any skill, although he may not apply more +1 bonuses to a skill than he has ranks in that skill. The assignment of these bonuses is permanent, but the ritualist receives the bonuses only while wielding or carrying the item familiar. Furthermore, if he loses the item familiar, the ritualist only benefits from half his skill ranks in each of his class skills until he regains possession of it or binds a new one.

Spell bond: While wielding or carrying the item familiar, a ritualist gains two bonus spell slots: one slot of the highest level of spells he can cast, and one slot of the level immediately below it. If he loses the item familiar, the ritualist cannot prepare or cast spells from these bonus slots until he regains possession of it or binds a new one.

Upon reaching 16th level, the item familiar is able to cast the spells in the ritualist’s bonus slots automatically. On his turn, the ritualist can use a free action to mentally command the familiar to cast a spell, or he may set a prearranged condition under which the familiar will cast each spell (as with the contingency spell).

Call item: As a standard action, the ritualist can call his item familiar into his possession as long as it is within 30 feet, although if the item is in the possession of another creature, that creature may make a Will saving throw (DC 10 + ½ ritualist level + Cha modifier) to negate the effect. The item appears properly equipped on the ritualist if there is space for it, or on the ground in his square otherwise. When the ritualist reaches 8th level, he can call the item provided is it is anywhere within his line of sight. Upon reaching 12th level, he can call it from any distances so long as it is on the same plane. Upon reaching 16th level, he can call it even from other planes of existence. Upon reaching 20th level, the item reforms whole in his hands when called even if it has been destroyed or disjoined. Effects that ward against teleportation or planar travel may prevent call item from working.

Channeling bond: The ritualist can use his item familiar to channel his ray spells and touch spells, and gains a +1 insight bonus per four ritualist levels on attack rolls when doing so. If your item familiar is a weapon, you can channel a melee touch spell while making a normal attack. At the DM’s discretion, you may also be able to deliver a channeled touch spell through an unarmed strike with the appropriate part of your body if your item familiar is a worn item (such as a ring or a pair of boots or gloves).

Craft bond: The ritualist may bond an enchantment when enchanting his item familiar. A bonded enchantment costs 25% less gp and time to create, and 75% less xp (including the ritualist’s 50% discount for magecraft), and the ritualist never incurs the +50% cost increase for applying secondary enchantments to an existing magical item. However, a bonded enchantment functions only for the ritualist.

Ritual bond: If wielded or worn while casting a circle ritual, the item familiar counts as a secondary caster participating in the circle ritual.

Destruction of an item familiar
If an item familiar is irretrievably destroyed, the ritualist may not bind a new item familiar for 30 days thereafter.

Replacing an item familiar
If a ritualist has his item familiar at hand and wishes to transfer his bond to a new item, he may do so by repeating the bonding ritual with both items present. Any bonded skills, spell slots, and enchantments (if applicable to the new item) are transferred to the new item familiar. If he does not have his item familiar at hand when he bonds, he may still bond a new item, but may not transfer bonded enchantments. Enchantments bonded to the old item are lost forever.

Magecraft: A ritualist learns to create all manner of magical tools and enchanted items. You may ignore Item Creation feat prerequisites when crafting magic items or qualifying for feats, prestige classes, or other special features. Additionally, you reduce the base xp cost by 50% when crafting a magic ring, rod, or staff, or when enchanting your item familiar.

Reserve Magic: A ritualist has a broad grounding in a variety of magical disciplines, and in most situations he can recall some relevant expertise with a good night's rest and some meditation to clear his mind. Select any reserve feat intended for arcane casters, ignoring prerequisites. You gain this feat, and may charge it with an appropriate spell of any level (ignoring the minimum spell level set by the feat). You may retrain this feat to a different qualifying reserve feat whenever you first ready your spells each day. The feat granted by reserve magic cannot be used to qualify for any other feat, prestige class, or special ability.

Spontaneous Conversion (Ex): A ritualist of 4th level or higher can restructure stored spell energy to cast a spell that he did not prepare ahead of time. You can “lose” any prepared spell in order to cast any other spell in your spellbook of the same level or lower. You can use this ability once per day per four levels you have.

Designer’s Note:

Spoiler

The DM should not allow a player to use Spontaneous Conversion to qualify for feats or prestige classes that require the ability to spontaneously cast spells. The ritualist is a prepared caster with a limited ability to exchange his prepared spells; he is not a spontaneous caster.

Circle Ritual (Su): Ritualists practice and understand a form of High Magic called circle rituals, a system of inscribed power circles used to augment a spell. Upon reaching 5th level, you can add a power circle to a ritualist spell. This grants you one circle bonus point, but increases its casting time and cost. For every five levels you have above 5th, you can choose to take more time and pay extra cost to gain another circle bonus point. Spells with a casting time of one swift or immediate action cannot be cast as circle magic.

For one point, you can double the spell’s range, increase its caster level by 2, set its base save DC to 10 + 1/2 character level + your Charisma bonus, or double the cap on the maximum number of HD affected or dice rolled by the spell. For 2 points, you may double the spell’s duration, and for 3 points, you can double its area. Each benefit can be purchased only once.

Inscribing a circle takes time; every circle bonus point increases the spell’s casting time by one step on the Circle Magic Casting Times table below.

Table 3: Circle Ritual Casting Times
Normal Casting Time Circle Ritual Casting Time standard action full-round action full-round action one full round one or more rounds +1 round

Drawing a circle requires special chalk costing (10 * circle bonus points * spell level) in gp, and a surface of several square feet upon which to draw (which means you cannot scribe a chalk circle in midair or underwater). Alternately, you can scribe a power circle in the air before you using pure magical energy, which costs (circle bonus points * spell level) in xp. Circle components are consumed when the spell is begun and are not refunded even if the casting is disrupted or abandoned.

If the spell to be cast has a casting time of one minute or longer, you also require a number of secondary casters to assist with the ritual equal to the number of circle bonus points to be obtained. Secondary casters need not be ritualists (or even spellcasters), but must stand adjacent to you and chant for the duration of the ritual’s casting (this requires a full-round action each round from each secondary caster). If a secondary caster drops out during the casting of the ritual, the ritual does not fail, but the number of circle bonus points you obtain is reduced accordingly.

A ritualist of 12th level or higher with an item familiar can use the item familiar as a secondary caster in a circle ritual he is casting.

Sidebar: School Specialization
A ritualist may specialize in a school of magic just as a wizard can and gains the usual benefits for doing so (see PH 57 for details). However, a ritualist who specializes in a school of magic must select three prohibited schools, and must select a key skill. The ritualist gains a +2 bonus on skill checks with his key skill, and it becomes a ritualist class skill for him if it is not one already. Key skills for each school are:

LIST OF RITUALIST SPELLS

All sorcerer/wizard spells in the Player’s Handbook and Spell Compendium are included in the ritualist spell list. Alternately, the DM may allow you to select any two sourcebooks and claim all sorcerer/wizard spells from those two sourcebooks as your ritualist’s core spell list. Spells from other sourcebooks may be available as well, at the DM's discretion, but such spells can only be added to a ritualist's spellbook if copied from scrolls during play (and cannot be selected as the free spells learned every level).

[Maquise]

I like the idea, but don't possess the system mastery to critique your crunch.

[Drachasor]

This is T2, still, at first pass. Quite possibly still T1, since they can learn a LARGE variety of spells.

I really don't think you can get a T3 casters that has 9 spell levels and access to all sorcerer/wizard spells. All the problematic spells are still there and can still be cast.

I am a bit concerned this class might not be very fun to play too (as odd as that sounds). They don't have much they can do each day. Maybe magical items would make up for that though -- I am not sure. Seems to encourage a short workday.

Beyond that, my only gripe is that I think the Ritual casting needs a little bit more work. I for one don't think gold is a very good balancing factor. You might want to consider dropping it. If it isn't balanced ignoring the gold cost, then imho, it isn't balanced.

I do like the concept, don't get me wrong. I just think it needs a bit of work. Let me think on this and I'll offer up some advice.

PS. You seem to be implying that Al doesn't have a soul!

[jiriku]

Originally Posted by Drachasor

This is T2, still, at first pass. Quite possibly still T1, since they can learn a LARGE variety of spells.

I really don't think you can get a T3 casters that has 9 spell levels and access to all sorcerer/wizard spells. All the problematic spells are still there and can still be cast.

Bear in mind that this class gets automatic access to 25 free spells in its career, compared to 42+ Int for the wizard. That's 20+ options that it loses. Additional spells have to be acquired from scrolls, so every spell beyond those 25 exists because the DM said "yes, I'll make this option available." I'd think we could assume that a DM who didn't want problematic spells available could simply not provide scrolls of those spells?

Do you think there's a meaningful reduction in power if the 25 free spells have to come from the Player's Handbook only, and not Spell Compendium? I considered that originally but discarded the idea because there's already tons of broken stuff in the PH and there's a lot of good, nonbroken stuff in Spell Compendium that I wanted to make available.

Originally Posted by Drachasor

I am a bit concerned this class might not be very fun to play too (as odd as that sounds). They don't have much they can do each day. Maybe magical items would make up for that though -- I am not sure. Seems to encourage a short workday.

Why to you say? The ritualist casts as many spells per day as a wizard of 18 Int up through 4th level, and by the time he falls significantly behind, he has enough to cast several spells per encounter and can supplement his spellcasting with scrolls or a staff. At every level, he has more spells available than did a 1e magic-user. I risk making a total geek out of myself here, but I'm gonna throw in an Excel chart to illustrate the progression.

For this chart, I assumed the 3e wizard started with an 18 Int and progressed up to 30 Int, acquiring Int-boosting items as soon as they were reasonably affordable. I didn't give the wizard the benefit of being a specialist or focused specialist, but those options are just as available to the ritualist if we were to include them.

Originally Posted by Drachasor

Beyond that, my only gripe is that I think the Ritual casting needs a little bit more work. I for one don't think gold is a very good balancing factor. You might want to consider dropping it. If it isn't balanced ignoring the gold cost, then imho, it isn't balanced.

What's your specific concern about using gold as a balancing factor?

Originally Posted by Drachasor

PS. You seem to be implying that Al doesn't have a soul!

Al is an armor puppet!

[Drachasor]

Originally Posted by jiriku

Bear in mind that this class gets automatic access to 25 free spells in its career, compared to 42+ Int for the wizard. That's 20+ options that it loses. Additional spells have to be acquired from scrolls, so every spell beyond those 25 exists because the DM said "yes, I'll make this option available." I'd think we could assume that a DM who didn't want problematic spells available could simply not provide scrolls of those spells?

Well, first, that's enough to get the necessary broken spells. Second, you could say the same thing about the Wizard. If the GM restricts the spells available, then the wizard is T3 too.

Originally Posted by jiriku

Do you think there's a meaningful reduction in power if the 25 free spells have to come from the Player's Handbook only, and not Spell Compendium? I considered that originally but discarded the idea because there's already tons of broken stuff in the PH and there's a lot of good, nonbroken stuff in Spell Compendium that I wanted to make available.

Agreed, though there is broken stuff in both.

Originally Posted by jiriku

Why to you say? The ritualist casts as many spells per day as a wizard of 18 Int up through 4th level, and by the time he falls significantly behind, he has enough to cast several spells per encounter and can supplement his spellcasting with scrolls or a staff. At every level, he has more spells available than did a 1e magic-user. I risk making a total geek out of myself here, but I'm gonna throw in an Excel chart to illustrate the progression.

Low level wizards have a pretty crappy number of spells per day -- they are "balanced" because they can cast some OP spells like Color Spray. 1E casters didn't have scaling limits on their spells (e.g. 19th level Magic Missile had 9 missiles, their fireball had 19 dice, etc).

There are frankly a LOT of spells that are balanced even if this guy could cast them at will, and others that are balanced if he could cast them as much as a wizard. Just eliminating...say, all the Save Or Lose spells from being cast without a ritual and then a smattering of others (from being cast at all) pretty much fixes the wizard (and makes him T3).

You could then have a list of quick ritual spells that can be setup as a full round action and cast the next round (and don't need to be prepared). And allow these guys to have some Spell-like Ability slots where they basically make a magical item only they can use (some perhaps an unlimited number of times per day). Well, if you want it to look a bit more like a certain anime, that is. Or you could just give them as many spells per day as a sorc or something.

Originally Posted by jiriku

What's your specific concern about using gold as a balancing factor?

You can't reliable count on how much or how little will be available to a given adventurer. Despite the guidelines, in my experience it varies a lot depending on the GM and the campaign.

Originally Posted by jiriku

Al is an armor puppet!

Noooooooo!

[jiriku]

Huhrr, I had forgotten about dice caps. So, what if...

• The maximum number of spells known was reduced to 1/2 Int, instead of 10 + Int mod (this lowers the max spells known per level by 5).
• The automatic free spells can be taken only from the PHB. Spell Compendium spells are in-list, but available only through scrolls.
• The dice cap on all spells was removed (actually rather fitting for a class whose members consider themselves the creme de la creme of spellcasting)
• Rituals have a minimum casting time of 1 full round, instead of 1 minute.
• Some additional spells are moved under the ritual heading, including summon monster and a set of SoL spells (can you give me some examples of what you're thinking of here?)

[Drachasor]

Sure...going from the SRD, let's remove the following spells from their cast list:

1st: Grease, Hypnotism, Sleep, Color Spray, Enlarge Person.

2nd: Glitterdust, Web, Hideous Laughter, Hypnotic Pattern, Blindness, Ghoul Touch, Alter Self

3rd: Explosive Runes*, Stinking Cloud, Deep Slumber, Hold Person, Halt Undead

4th: Black Tentacles, Confusion, Resilient Sphere, Phantasmal Killer, Rainbow Pattern, Fear, Polymorph, Bestow Curse

5th: Lesser Planar Binding*, Contact Other Plane*, Dominate Person, Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Magic Jar, Baleful Polymorph

Well, I'll stop there. Stuff with a * means it can be fine with a little rework (so hundreds of explosive runes can't be stored, sensible limits to the binding spells and what they can grant, and reasonable limits on divination). The other stuff is largely "I win against one/many monsters with this ONE action". Well, and polymorph has the standard problems...though polymorph is perhaps ok (alter self really does a lot for its level...too much).

Some of the "I win" stuff could just be turned into rituals. At that point you've defeated the bad guy to use them...or are very clever (ideally). That's a great way to keep some of the permanent stuff in...change an villain into a rabbit and let him go is kinda neat.

In my experience the Summon Monster spells were never that bad...and the duration is crappy for a ritual. They are fine as-is, imho. Summon Nature's Ally is strong, but the Summon Monster line always struck me as a weaker cousin....the guys there just generally aren't nearly as good. Part of this might be because the Druid can use SNA whenever it is most appropriate, since he does so spontaneously.

Once you do that, a ton of spells could be potentially castable at will without being broken. Spells known isn't really a problem without such spells. Magic Missile at will, for instance, doesn't hurt anything. You have a number of ways to go with these remain spells:

You could give the Ritualist the ability to craft a special magic item only he can use, which lets him use a given spell at will. This is selected from a slightly smaller list of spells than his spells known list. He could get one such item at first level for a first level spell, and slowly acquire more (maybe capping out at 6th level spells using a bard-like progression).

You could do something similar with a limited number of uses. Perhaps a number of times per day, once per encounter, or whatever. You don't have to have a special truncated list this way.

You could just expand the daily spells the Ritualist can use. He could easily have the caster of a sorcerer or more without a problem.

As for ritual spells, I'd just say he can cast a number of ritual spell levels per day equal to two or three times his level (so at first level he can do 2 or 3 first level rituals, at 5th level he can do 5 third level rituals, etc). He doesn't have to prepare them ahead of time, nor pay any gold cost to cast them. Well, he does need to provide any material component the spell needs. Perhaps up the minimum casting time to 10 minutes, just to make it a little more cumbersome (that's all that's really needed to balance most of it out). Oh, and he can only have one ritual of a given spell active at a time (that holds back the power of massed summons).

Now, there are some higher level spells beyond 5th that would need to be outright banned from the list. Certain divinations, wish, etc. Easiest way to get a good list of spells is going to a character optimization board, imho.

[jiriku]

I did some comparisons of XP versus gp gained at each level, and I find that they track pretty evenly with one another until around 10th level, at which point WBL gained per level starts growing quadratically while XP continues to grow linearly. This suggests the need for a similar increase in the gp cost for rituals and circles, but for the moment I'm going to try a different approach.

1. Scribing a chalk circle with circle magic now explicitly requires a nearby surface, meaning it cannot be used while swimming or flying. Magic circles (those made with xp rather than gp) can be scribed without need for a surface. This creates a tactical limitation to gp-based circle magic, encouraging the high-level caster (who is usually airborne) to make himself vulnerable to attack by casting his spells from the ground. I'll give it some playtest and see how it rolls.
2. Ritual magic minimum casting time has been reduced from 1 minute to 1 full round, and circle rituals now require additional time to cast. Summon monster and similar spells are now rituals. Circle magic now allows you to increase the HD cap or dice cap of your spells. The net effect is to make the ritualist a more flexible caster. It's now practical to cast a ritual during combat, although they're still a bit slow and clumsy. The ability to break level-based caps on spells makes a ritualist's low-level spells more useful at higher levels, so he can get more mileage out of his limited spells per day.

Edit: I'm seeing that circle magic and spontaneous conversion, which really define the unique capabilities of the class, come online too late for a lot of games or for builds that intend to prestige out of the class. To compensate, circle magic is now acquired at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, while spontaneous conversion is moved to levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20, with an extra total use per day.

Edit: Added some quick-start rules to simplify the process of building a high-level ritualist from scratch. Also replaced the ritualist's six bonus feats with Magecraft and Reserve Magic, which serve the same purpose with less bookkeeping. Simplify, simplify, simplify!

Edit: Further playtesting has shown that it's too difficult for a ritualist to contribute effectively when his prepared spells must be divided between general spells and rituals. Accordingly, the ritual concept has been scrapped. Circle magic has been renamed to Circle ritual and slightly modified to accommodate the change in how spells are cast.

Edit: Replaced the craft reserve with a flat 50% discount on xp cost for some types of crafting. Changed some bonus types.