spells Archives - Neitherworld Stories

March 12, 2010

Spells vs. Rituals

When 4e came around, one of my big criticisms was the ritual system. I mean, I liked the idea of rituals, but the way that they were implemented seemed driven wholly by game balance. It didn’t make any sense to me that the vast majority of utility magics cost time and money to use while combat spells were quick and...

January 21, 2010

Destined: Too Many Spells?

My working title for my FATE/d20 mashup ruleset is Destined. Why? Obviously because it’s derived from FATE and it has two Ds in it. My current game design conundrum, like my last one, focuses upon the nature of the magic system. I have a few options: A ton of spells of various power levels. This is the D&D option. A...

December 22, 2009

Limits on Magic Use

As I may have mentioned, I’ve been working on a FATE-inspired, d20-informed gaming system. I’m designing it with D&D-style fantasy (loosely speaking) in mind. One of the problems that I’m running up against is that spellcasting is open to abuse. In the system I’m designing, spellcasting is a skill. It effectively gives you the the ability to use rituals and...

January 5, 2009

Making Magic Mysterious

I finally began reading the Black Company novels recently. I’m still early in them, so – while I’ll say that I’m enjoying them so far – this isn’t a review. One minor thing I noticed is that the wizards of middling power who are part of the Black Company often use magic to produce horrors. These might be swarms of...

September 24, 2008

Superstitions in a magical world

A lot of the superstitions we have today are leftovers from earlier times. The meanings of many of them have changed over the years. Some of them are ritualistic behavior meant to bring good luck or protect against supernatural influences. Others are things to avoid for fear of acquiring bad luck. What would superstitions be like in a world where...

July 3, 2008

4e: Wizard

One of the things that bugs me about the wizard is how non-combat magic is an entirely separate system than combat magic. Here is a very quick draft of a possible ‘fix’ that I thought up about 10 minutes ago: Feat: Utility MageHeroic TierPrerequisite: Wis 13, wizardBenefit: When you take an extended rest and you have access to your ritual...

May 9, 2008

A spell! About food!

Shocking. I know. An early excerpt from Elmer’s spell book… The material enclosed in the box below is released via the Open Game License. Epicure Divination Level: Brd 1, Sor/Wiz 1Components: V, SCasting Time: 1 standard actionRange: PersonalTarget: YouDuration: 10 min./levelYou may glean a great deal of information from the food you eat. With a single bite of food, you...

April 22, 2008

Cooking With Magic II

Basic: Reduce PersonA small person needs half as much food and water to sustain himself as one of medium size. This has obvious benefits from a food-conservation standpoint. It also has benefits for the frugal arcane gourmet who has limited access to large quantities of high-quality ingredients. Intermediate: Gentle ReposeThe benefits of being able to perfectly preserve a creature’s corpse...

April 2, 2008

Cooking with Magic I

Basic: MendingThe kitchen uses of the Mending cantrip are innumerable. The spell does not have an effect upon creatures, but dead things are considered objects rather than creatures. Want to check the doneness of your meat? Slice it open as far as you want… and then cast this simple spell to mend the tear. Mending can also be used for...

February 29, 2008

Potion go boom

I just saw this thread over on EN World, and it got me thinking… The material enclosed in the box below is released via the Open Game License. New Feat: Create Spell Grenade [Item Creation] PrerequisiteBrew Potion BenefitYou can create potions from ray spells (spells in which the effect is a ray) of third level or lower using the normal...

Tag: spells