Passion
This variant rule has the DM keep track of the passion of the characters, enabling the DM to introduce quests of passion into the campaign. From these characters earn passion points which can then be used to modify rolls and to improve the likelihood of successful negotiations in certain contexts, for instance when seducing lovers, sweet-talking captors, or rallying troops.
Try passion out in your games, along with fame, infamy, fear, and other traits, and see how it livens up the experience, providing role-playing prompts and entry points when players feel somewhat distanced from their characters, or too wrapped up in the standard rules.
Posted in Variant Rules and tagged fun by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Plague
Plague is a new supernatural disease type, with symptoms resembling the black plague.
Gamemasters will likely want to limit the amount of plague in their games, as it tends to drag the players down, but in certain tainted planes, over-populated cities, and bogs, plague might creep its way into the game.
Plague infects its victims on contact with an infected creature, requiring a DC 22 Fortitude save to avoid. The incubation period is 1d12 days since there are so many ways in which it can spread. Plague causes 1d4 Con damage per day afflicted with the disease on a failed save, and once they feel symptoms of the disease, can easily spread it to those they touch. Unlike normal diseases, the victim must make 3 days worth of successful saves to begin recovering from the plague.
Plague is immune to remove disease, though heal and other higher-level spells will remove plague from a victim.
Posted in Variant Rules and tagged Disease by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Variant Rules for Spellcasters: Mana
This variant rule changes the way spellcasters prepare and cast spells. Overall, it increases spellcaster’s versatility and power. The main reason I came up with this system is to make it more fun for my spellcasting players, and to help keep the game going. Under these rules, they are less likely to end up out of useful spells, bored, firing crossbow bolts, and wanting to stop adventuring to rest.
Under these variant rules, instead of memorizing and casting a set number of spells each day, spellcasters have a new attribute called mana, a pool of magical power that they use to cast spells. See the charts below for available mana at each level, the highest level spell available, and bonus mana for high ability scores.
Mana is used to spontaneously cast spells from the spellcaster’s list of known spells. The number of points of mana expended in the casting of a spell cast is equal to the spell level (0th level spells cost no mana points). Metamagic spells are all now cast spontaneously, including the quickened spells, and raise the mana spent according to their level adjustment. This adjusted level cannot exceed the Highest Level Spell for that character’s level (see chart below). For example, a 10th level wizard could cast a quickened shield spell, and it would cost her 5 mana points to do so. They could not, however cast a quickened dimension door until they reached 15th level.
Mana is regained daily differently for each class, in the same way that they previously refreshed their daily spells: clerics pray to their deity at a certain time of day, wizards consult their spellbooks, and other spellcasters merely rest.
Game Balance Issues: at high levels, spellcasters can cast their most powerful (and often, very deadly) spells over and over again.
Re-Balancing Ideas:
“You took too much”: if a character casts high level spells for three rounds in a row, they have to make a will save (or an ability level check, like an intelligence check for wizards) equal to how many points of mana they spent in the last three rounds. If they fail the check they lose the spell and become dazed for 1 round.
“less magic”: cut mana gain 1/2 or 2/3 for levels above 7th or 10th. Dosen’t really solve the problem though.
“change defensive casting” so that a successful concentration check means you only get a +8 (or +4) AC vs attacks of opportunity.
Mana By Character Level (high magic)
|
Character Level |
Wizard or Druid Mana |
Wizard Highest Level Spell |
Cleric Mana |
Cleric Highest Level Spell |
Bard Mana |
Bard Highest Level Spell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
1** |
||
|
3 |
6 |
2 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
4 |
9 |
12 |
3 |
2** |
||
|
5 |
12 |
3 |
18 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
|
6 |
17 |
23 |
8 |
|||
|
7 |
22 |
4 |
32 |
4 |
8 |
3** |
|
8 |
29 |
39 |
13 |
3 |
||
|
9 |
36 |
5 |
41 |
5 |
16 |
|
|
10 |
45 |
60 |
16 |
4** |
||
|
11 |
54 |
6 |
75 |
6 |
23 |
4 |
|
12 |
65 |
86 |
26 |
|||
|
13 |
76 |
7 |
104 |
7 |
26 |
5** |
|
14 |
89 |
117 |
36 |
5 |
||
|
15 |
102 |
8 |
138 |
8 |
42 |
|
|
16 |
117 |
153 |
44 |
6** |
||
|
17 |
132 |
9 |
177 |
9 |
58 |
6 |
|
18 |
149 |
194 |
68 |
|||
|
19 |
165 |
10* |
210 |
10* |
79 |
7* |
|
20 |
182 |
227 |
85 |
* for metamagic purposes only
** assumes the bard has a high enough Charisma score to have a bonus spell of this level
Bonus Mana by Ability Score
|
Score |
Highest Level Spell at which bonus mana is Received |
||||||||
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
|
|
1-9 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
|
10-11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
12-13 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
14-15 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
16-17 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
18-19 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
20-21 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
22-23 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
24-25 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
26-27 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
0 |
|
28-29 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
|
30-31 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
|
32-33 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
14 |
8 |
9 |
|
34-35 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
10 |
12 |
14 |
16 |
9 |
|
36-37 |
4 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
14 |
16 |
18 |
|
38-39 |
4 |
8 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
18 |
14 |
16 |
18 |
|
40-41 |
4 |
8 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
18 |
21 |
16 |
18 |
|
42-43 |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
15 |
18 |
21 |
24 |
18 |
|
44-45 |
5 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
18 |
21 |
24 |
27 |
|
Etc… |
Posted in Variant Rules and tagged Spellcasting by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.