Magic (D&D)

Unofficial rules compendium

Recharge Magic

I use a variant of the recharge magic rules from Unearthed Arcana page 157.

At its heart, the recharge magic variant is simple: A well rested spellcaster can cast any spell he knows or has prepared, but then loses access to that level of spells until they have been successfully recharged. Spell slots are never expended; they just become temporarily unavailable.

Spells are prepared in the ordinary fashion. In addition, any spell you can substitute into is automatically considered prepared each day. This includes cure/cause wounds spells for clerics and summon nature's ally spells for druids.

Recharging doesn't require any actions and doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. As long as a spellcaster is alive, he naturally recharges his energy. However, it can be prevented is certain ways.

• It is impossible to recharge magic in a null-magic area.
• There is a special substance, Alchemist's Lead, that prevents recharging of arcane spells if you are in contact with it. Likewise, being completely encased in ordinary lead, such as a cell lined with lead or a suit of lead armor, also prevents the recharge of arcane spells.
• A divine caster must have his divine focus in order to recharge spells.

Once a character has cast a spell, he can’'t cast another spell of that level until he has made a successful recharge test. At the end of each round, you are allowed one recharge roll for each level of spell that is presently not charged. You continue to roll for each uncharged level of spell each round until all your spells are recharged. Once recharged, any prepared spell of that level can be cast again.

Recharge roll

Condition	DC
Base DC	10
Level of spell	+Spell level
Sorcerer, beguiler, favored soul, suggenja, spirit shaman, warmage	-4

When not running round-by round initiative, a single die roll can be made to determine recharge time. Make a recharge roll as normal; if the roll succeeds, the spell is instantly recharged. If it fails, halve the result of the die roll, rounding down (to a minimum of one); the result is the number of rounds until the spell recharges. Using this system, it never takes more than eight rounds to recharge a spell.

Special Cases

Multiclass Spellcasters

A multiclass spellcaster with access to two different spell lists (for example, a cleric/wizard) applies the recharge magic rules separately to each class. Spellcasters with a fixed number of known spells such as bards or sorcerers get to add their usual spells/day bonus from attributes to their number of known spells instead. This is because spells per day is no longer relevant to them.

Multiple Instances

A specific spell cannot be cast again while the effect of a previous spellcast lasts. In most cases this applies until the spell's duration expires In the case of instantaneous spells that create or summon things, this applies as long as the effect lasts. In either case, preparing new spells the next day nulls this limitation. One way around this limitation is to learn/prepare the same spell several times; if you have prepared cat's grace twice, you can keep two instances of that spell running at once. Any spell can be renewed by casting it on the same target again before the duration runs out.

Drained Spell

A spellcaster that is drained of spells (such as by a spellthief) cannot recharge those spells. He must wait until he next prepares spells to recover them.

General Spellcasting

Caster Level

Caster level is always equal to your hit dice. This is a major change for multiclass spellcasters, paladins, and rangers.

Metamagic

Forget the original metamagic rules except when creating magic items.

Applying metamagic is a free action for all classes, and it is never prepared in advance. You can apply metamagic that brings the effective spell level of a spell up to the highest spell level you can cast, for free. You can apply the same metamagic feat several times to the same spell, with cumulative effects.

Immediate Counterspelling

All spellcasters can counterspell as an immediate action. Once per round, you can counterspell an opponent's spell even if you have not readied an action to do so. This counterspell action up an immediate action. You can't use this when flat-footed or otherwise denied your dexterity bonus to AC.

If using the Reactive Counterspell feat (Player's Guide to Faerün, p 42), characters with this feat can counterspell as a free action, but each individual counterspell still uses up a spell slot.

Balance: this weakens spellcasters, in that their spells can be countered. It also strengthens spellcasters, expanding their role into a defensive one, but more so for divine spellcasters.

Magical Buffing

Recharge magic has made buffs very powerful: here are some remedies.

Unofficial rules compendium

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Feat Skill Buffs

Feat bonuses to skills are increased by 50%, rounded up.

+2 becomes +3

+3 becomes +5

+4 becomes +6

Magic Skill Buffs

Magic skill bonuses are reduced to 50%, rounded up.

+1 becomes +1

+2 becomes +1

+3 becomes +2

+5 becomes +3

+10 becomes +5

Magic Buff Benchmarks

A benchmark for skill buffs from magic has been requested. Examining existing spells, it seems the limit on skill enhancement is +10 regardless of spell level, and that one skill per spell level can be so enhanced. The selection of which skills can be enhanced is very limited. Druids and Rangers are the best at skill enhancement. Other classes seem fairly restricted in what skills they can buff. No existing spell affects the meta-magic skills, like Concentration or Spellcraft.

Polymorphism

Transformation spells that change form and the new polymorph subschool are a headache that is not well resolved in 3.5. My solution is a Polymorph subschool and a Battleform type.

Polymorph Subschool

Polymorph is a new subschool of the Transmutation school based on the polymorph spell.

• The following spells fall in this category: alter other, alter self, alter, mass, amorphous form, animal growth, animal shapes, animal shapes, lesser, aquatic escape, aspect of the earth hunter, aspect of the wolf, baleful polymorph, bite of the werebear, bite of the wereboar, bite of the wererat, bite of the weretiger, bite of the werewolf, body of war, celestial aspect, displacer form, dragonshape, elemental body, enlarge person, extract water elemental, fiendform, ghostform, holy transformation, holy transformation, lesser, immortal shape, infernal transformation, infernal transformation, lesser, legendary shape, liveoak, megalodon empowerment, nature's forms, plant body, polymorph, polymorph any object, primal form, reduce animal, reduce person, reduce person, greater, reduce person, mass, shapechange, spider curse, spider shapes, spiderform, trollshape, wild runner, and winged watcher, as well as abilities based on any of these spells like the druids Wild Shape. There are most likely more polymoprh spells that remain to be classified as such.
• Note that the spells in the battleform subschool are also considered polymorph spells, but the battleform subschool is more closely defined.

These rules apply to the polymorph subschool.

• Spells from the polymorph subschool are incompatible with each other, with the higher-level spell taking precedence and countering any lower-level spells in the group.
• If a polymorph spell is lasts more than 24 hours, the target must make a Will save each day or become a creature of that type, assuming all abilities of that form as well as it's ECL modifier. If the effect is somehow negated, the creature returns to normal.

Battleform Type

Battleform is a spell type that only applies to spells of the Polymorph sunschool.

The spells from the battleform type changes the target into a typical example of the creature in question, including hit points and abilities. They have a short duration and end prematurely if the creature is killed, restoring the caster to normal form and health. Example spells include Aquatic Escape, Displacer Form, Dragonshape, Trollshape, and Winged Watcher.

• All battleform subschool spells are also polymorph spells.
• All gear you wear is absorbed by the new form.
• All spells and effects on the target are suppressed except the last school spell cast.
• Any damage the target has taken is temporarily supressed.
• All gear carried is absorbed into the new form.
• Any gear worn or carried by a typical creature of the type appears with the new form.
• All the target normal abilities are suppressed, including class and racial abilities and hit points. This includes skills and languages.
• The target keeps its own personality, motivation and alignment, tough outlook and mannerisms are often colored by the new form.

A battleform spell ends when the duration is up, the assumed form is killed, or the target is otherwise transformed, such as if the target is polymorphed again (see the Polymorph subschool above). When the spell ends, the target instantly reverts to its own form, including all equipment, any damage taken in the original form, and any spells whose duration is still running.

• Any damage the target had taken in its own form returns.
• All spells or conditions applied to the new form disappear, including death, level drain, disintegration, entangled, grappled, or pinned. The one exception is polymorph subschool spells, spell-like and supernatural abilities, whose effects remain.
• If the target is standing in an effect that affects an area, any continuing area effect will continue to affect you. Examples include entangle and incendiary cloud.
• Any parts of the assumed form or gear that appeared along with the new form disappears, including lost items and separated body parts.
• Any items or objects picked up in the new form falls to the ground in the target's space.
• If the target returns to its own form in a space that cannot accommodate its body, such as inside a solid stone, it is violently expelled into the nearest suitable space, taking 1d6 damage per 5 ft.

Magical Projects

Magic and Time

This rule is to balance the fact that the only thing that needs time in a campaign is magic.

Time consuming magical tasks, like spell-learning and magic item creation, takes one week to perform. For any number of tasks. The DM is free to throw in extra requirements in time and/or materials, but the general rule is that all it takes is one week.

Magic Item Costs

The XP cost of magic item creation is waived.