HOUSE RULES: MAGIC

SECTIONS
INTRO
COMBAT
NEW FEATS
MONSTERS
MAGIC (current page)
ARADIA (setting)

OVERVIEW

• Spell lists are not used, you can make up any spell effect you want (within the guidelines of your schools of magic)
  You can cast spells as many times per day as you want
• Anyone with the Spellcraft skill can work magic

(But certain classes, like Adepts, Wizards and Clerics, have a special advantage called a "Sigil")
If you have a SIGIL, you get to add your character level to any Spell Check when that Sigil is used
Certain classes may also, at the GM's discretion, get free magic feats
• Each "School of Magic" lets you cast a certain type of spell

Each School uses only one kind of Save
• In order to cast a magic spell, roll 1d20+Spellcraft (this is resisted by 1d20+the save for that School)
• Some magic is "Holy"
  You must have a patron god (or saint or whatever) to use holy magic (all spells must "honor" that diety)
  All combat magic is Holy, ironically enough
  In order to keep Holy powers, your character must make a daily devotion to the patron god that granted them

Magic is a very personal force in this world, responding to individual enchanters more than any natural laws.  In fact, magic is sort of against nature, a variety of methods for exploiting loopholes and catching the forces of the universe off guard.

In practical terms, anyone with the Spellcraft Skill has the ability to work magic, but certain classes have extra advantages.

In my campaign setting, the kingdom of Aradia, for instance, only the so-called “NPC classes” are available.  That doesn’t mean Adepts are the only enchanters, it just means they get a special advantage which you may wish to incorporate in your games as well.  (Specifically, Wizards, Clerics, Druids and Sorcerors ought to have something like this.)

In this system, casting a magic spell is like any other skill roll.  You roll 1d20 and add your Spellcraft, then you compare your results to the Gm-determined DC.  If you’re trying to cast a spell on someone who’s resisting, you have to beat a spell defense of 1d20 plus the most appropriate SAVE.

As explained later, each Adept has a Sigil, some trademark element which makes their magic stronger.  Whenever an Adept works his Sigil into a the description of the spell he’s casting, he gets to add his level to the results of his Spellcraft roll.  In my campaigns, only Adepts have this priveledge.  (You may want to provide the four “serious spell-casting” classes listed above with the same thing.)

Clerical Magic is another matter in this system.  It is granted by Feats rather than Class.  There is no “preist” class.  Holy Feats are granted by patron dieties (as explained later.)  You can, thus, turn a Warrior in this world into a Paladin by picking a few Holy Feats instead of Combat ones, or make either an Expert or an Adept into a Cleric, depending on your views.  Commoners and Aristocrats can also have sacred powers in this way.

Note also that having a Familiar is a Holy Feat, because, in this world, Familiars are actually spirits in animal form. This makes them both more powerful and more troublesome than the strain found in normal D&D games.

Holy Feats are not, of course, against nature (unless they come from some sort of diabolical entity.)

MAGIC FEATS
You need to assign your character at least one of the following Schools of magic before you can do any Magic Feats at all. This is in addition to taking the Spellcraft skill (pg, 74-75 of the players manual) as a base for the Spell Check.  Once you’ve assigned yourself a school of magic, you can make up any spell “on-the-fly” as it were that fits within the broad definition just by making a Spell Check.

ENCHANTMENT
(SCHOOL of EVOCATION) - Your magic invokes unseen help, sometimes telekinetic and sometimes spiritual in nature, to manipulate inanimate objects as if a live being were handling them (or as if they had a life of their own.)  This kind of magic is resisted with REF saves and is quite handy for doing chores and “putting things right” after a big fight.
GLAMOUR
(SCHOOL of ILLUSION) - Your magic changes the appearance, but not innate qualities of its target.  It is resisted with WILL saves.  You can use this magic for indirect tricks like becoming invisible, making people confused and planting false feelings or suggestions in others as well.
MORPHING
(SCHOOL of TRANSMUTATION) - Your magic changes the very nature of its targets.  You may add your character Level worth of bonuses to your target and/or subtract the same amount worth of penalties from anyone or anything your spells transform.  This kind of magic is resisted with FORT saves.
SCRYING
(SCHOOL of DIVINATION) - You can also use your magic to get information, hints and clues from GM or spy on people you otherwise simply could not see.  You may ask one yes/no question per 1d20+Caster Level.  If you are spying on someone else, they resist this with the save of their choice.

COMBAT MAGIC
The only way to directly harm someone with a spell (other than psychologically), is by taking the Holy Feat Righteous Wrath (below).  You may wish to modify your campaign world so this is not so.

COUNTERSPELL - Spend some of your MPs for +1 to saving throws (yours or anyone in sight) instead of attacks.  You can do this as a Passive Action (meaning you can spend these MPs out of turn.)  You don't need to belong to a magical class in order to take this Feat.  You don't even need to know how to perform magic at all.
SYMPATHY & CONTAIGON - You get +1 to Spell Checks for every personal item of the victim you sacrifice (by burning or otherwise destroying.)  Get an additional +3 if the personal item is a body part or fluid.
SILENT SPELL 
(SUBTLE FORCE) - You may use special effects (like glows, lightning bolts and sounds) to describe casting spells rather than words and chants.
STILL SPELL 
(PSYCHIC FORCE) - You may use special effects (like glows, lightning bolts and sounds) to describe casting spells rather than gestures and components.

HOLY FEATS
In order to take any Holy Feat, you must choose (or invent) a patron god (or goddess) who granted you this power.  You must fufill your daily devotions to this diety (again, these are yours to invent, but they should require the sacrifice of either an hour of time or something fairly valuable once a day.)  You must also honor this diety every time you use the Holy feat, which means incorporating some aspect of the godling’s presence into your descriptions (this can be as simple as using the diety’s favorite color in a spell or leaving the dieties’ holy symbol as a mark of healing or injury.)

RIGHTEOUS WRATH - You may use any School of Magic you know as a weapon.  Your base magical attack is your Spellcraft and the magic is still resisted (dodged) by the appropriate save for that school (FORT for Polymorphing, REF for Enchantment, WILL for Glamour, etc.)  Damage done by  magic equals your WIS modifier plus your Caster Level.
NECROMANCY - Your Patron God has given you special permission to defile (or lay to rest) the dead.  You can use your magics to animate corpses (enchantment), to create undead (polymorphing) and to control or scare away undead (glamour) without becoming undead yourself or suffering some other hideous and ironic curse as a direct result.
PROPHECY - Your patron diety has allowed you, to some degree, to dictate future events using metaphor or other vague terms (even gods need some room to breathe.)  Anything that you claim shall come to pass will, more-or-less, come to pass as long as you keep the description vague or chock full of symbolism. The DM interprets when and how.
HEALING TOUCH - You may spend some of your MPs to return +1hp to anyone you touch (including yourself) instead of for a +1 attack that turn.
SYNCRETIC DIETY - Your diety has many faces and aspects.  You may have, in essence, have more than one Patron God and choose which one to honor with any Holy Feat (and daily devotion) without offending the others.
FAMILIAR - Your diety has sent you a special helper in the form of an animal or relatively harmless creature.  Familiars work pretty much as described on page 50 of the D&D Player’s Handbook.