Alternative Magicks: Base for Exploration

Having already said that I intend to come up with a resource-based rule refinement for the core magic system in old-school D&D-style rule systems, there are several ways in which this could be done. There are also other ways the rules could be tweaked to introduce more power balance and flavor to magic use in these games.

Let's lay some of them out on the table.

Before doing that, however, we need to specify what is Baby, and what is Bathwater. What in the core rules are we going to keep?

Number one on the list is the requirement that for a spell to be cast, it must be known in advance. This is a requirement is particular to D&D, is a large part of the game's unique feel, and requires players to give a lot of forethought to choosing spells and managing their spell-casting during play. We're going to keep this.

Number two is the necessity for having access to the spell the player wants to use. Spells aren't innate superpowers. Magic Users have spellbooks. If the spell isn't in their spellbook or written down somewhere where they can learn it, they can't memorize it and can't use it. Clerics either have a spellbook equivalent (like a psalter or something), or receive spells direct from a divine source. Either way, the same limitations apply. We're going to keep this too.

Number three, the number of spells a caster can have available to cast is limited by ability to contain them (governed by experience level, memory via INT, and/or discipline via WIS). This, we also keep.

Number four, there is a limit on the number of spells that can be cast during one day. Magic is very powerful, so we don't want casters able to throw magic around at will with no limits. There should be a cost and hard limits on magic use.

Number five, it takes time to regain the power to cast a spell once it has been used. In the core rules, when a spell is used it literally vanishes from the mind of the caster and must be replaced.

For these last two, the intent is sound but the core mechanics are awkward and inflexible. We're going to keep the result, but modify the rules by which these two are accomplished.

In fact, the only part of the core spell casting system we're not going to keep the need to re-memorize a spell once it's been cast. Other than that, the rest stays.

We could just stop here and say that we're implementing only one house rule in modification of the core magic system: known spells can only be cast once per day, but don't need to be re-memorized unless the player wants to change what's in the spell slot. There are many gaming groups who have adopted a rule exactly like or similar to this. I'm not stopping here, though, since I can't leave well enough alone.

Next up, we'll look at a couple of different ways to treat magic in the D&D universe.