D&D Magic alterations
Magic in the D&D system is IMO broken as hell. Besides that, it lacks a form of flexibility that I long for. Especially stupid is IMO the" learn and forget" idea.
I go from a couple of facts and assumptions.
- I do not like the spell slot system D&D has, it is unreasonable to think a learned spell will be forgotten after use.
- Spell usage is a skill and as such should be subject to a skill check.
- I want to make as few and as minor changes as possible to get what I want.
TDE as a system does have many but not all the things I expect from a magic system and D&D has much less. Thus I will first focus on adjusting D&D with "new" ideas and leave TDE for later, in another article.
The first thing to address is the inflexibility of magic users due to the learn-prepare-forget system. The solution is simple: Drop that completely make it learn and use. But then the magic users become extremely powerful with that one decision. So we need a break on magic in some form, we need a limiter to the use of magic.
The limiter is, in quite many systems, a kind of cost added to the magic, whether by costing in-game money, rare items etc. or it is a game mechanic like magical power points and a cost associated with each spell. D&D uses the spell slots in addition to limit the number of powerful spells a user can cast. But on the other hand, D&D has many cantrips which, in other systems would be full spells. So, because of the powerful nature of D&D magic, we need a rather hard limiter. Any "conversion" or "unification of systems needs to address that.
Solution 1, the most simple way, but VERY powerful magic: Keep the spell slots and the rules about them with the exception of having to learn the spell before. Just take any spell you know and cast it from an appropriate slot. The slot then becomes inactive until after rest, as described in the rules
Solution 2, slightly more complex but much better at limiting the power of magic: Use solution 1 but add a skill check for each spell slot used. I suggest you use the following ideas:
- A cantrip is a level 0 spell and uses DC 10
- A level 1 spell slot has a DC of 14.
- A level 2 slots increase to DC 15.
- A level 3 to DC 16
- A level 4 to DC 17 and so forth
All spells (and cantrips) are learned at proficiency 0, spell proficiency can be increased in downtime by using XP, time and money or by DMs decision at any time. The proficiency in a spell can at no time be higher than the characters current class proficiency.
Class proficiency applies but so does the proficiency in the spell. So a level one spell slot will require, from a 3rd level Wizard a successful role against DC 14 with his +2 class proficiency bonus and all bonuses from spell proficiency. (Which means he has to roll at least a 12. If he had increased his spell proficiency to +1 it would go down to a needed 11.)
A level 5 Wizard would cast a level 3 spell slot at DC 16 and add his class proficiency of +3 resulting in a minimum roll of 13. He could cast a level 1 spell (spell proficiency +2) from a 3rd level slot for DC 16. All D&D rules apply. (Thus he would need a minimum roll of 11.)
This encourages getting more proficient at certain spells, it gives a chance of critical success and fumbles. And adds massively to the flexibility of magic users. The more spells they know the more flexible they become.
Comments