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                           SPELL WEAVING v1.5
                (An alternative to the AD&D spell system)

                            by Robert Winkel
                       willie@werple.apana.org.au


        I made this system, and have modified it  several  times  over,  from
various ideas I have seen around the internet. It combines much  of  (what  I
thought) the best points presented in the prior works of  Jim  Gitzlaff,  Jim
Sisolak, and Matthew Stanton. These people should take much of the credit for
this article. Anything in this article that isn't of their prior  works,  was
surely inspired by them.
        The system is designed with flexibility in mind. It is intended  that
it not be unbalancing; in fact it can be run in the same  campaign  with  the
normal AD&D Spell Casting system, so that two or more  styles  of  magic  are
possible in the one campaign. It is also possible to use  this  system  as  a
basis to almost any other magic  style  (eg.  Balgarion's  spell  casting  in
"Magician", or any other fantasy novel you may have read),  because  of  it's
flexibility.  The  system  tends  to  promote  individuality  amoungst  spell
casters. It makes high level magic something to take seriously,  and  at  the
same time it makes low level  magic  more  appealing.  Overall,  this  system
gives spell users more flexibility, while balancing out  their  power  curve.
Another plus for this system is  that  it  makes  full  usage  of  all  those
official (or unofficial) AD&D spells that you know and  love,  but  does  not
limit you to them.
        This system has been playtested in a campaign that  lasted  2  years.
Over this time, it has been modified so  as  to  make  things  more  fun  and
balancing without adding any complexity.


Here are the mechanics:

        As a general rule, do away with spell components. Spell components in
my view is just an alternative energy source, and need  not  be  used  unless
they are absolutely necessary for the spell eg. a  portal  for  Wizard  Lock.
Spell components still help in spell casting, but in  this  flexible  system,
they need not be the exact same spell components as in the spell descriptions
in the Players Handbook or any of the  other  AD&D  books.  (The  DM  decides
whether the spell component is appropriate or not, and what modifier  to  add
(See below) eg. for a Fireball spell, sulphur might give +1, a glow-worm  +2,
and a red dragon scale +3).

        Spell-points are used  in  this  system  to  make  spell  users  more
versatile and fun to play, and to combat the game balance and "utility  belt"
problems. It does not make the spell user  a  lot  more  powerful,  but  more
balanced. It gives the spell user a variety of spells to choose from,  but  a
lesser amount of spells to cast per day, compared to the standard AD&D  spell
system.

        Spell users receive a number of spell-points equal to one  per  level
number, cumulative, plus one. Thus, at specific levels, spell  users  possess
the following number of spell-points:

   Level:       Spell-points:    | Level:       Spell-points:
                                 |
     1          2 (1+1)          |   5        16 (1+1+2+3+4+5)
     2          4 (1+1+2)        |   6        22 (1+1+2+3+4+5+6)
     3          7 (1+1+2+3)      |   7        29 (1+1+2+3+4+5+6+7)
     4          11 (1+1+2+3+4)   |  etc.             etc.

[For mathematicians and high level spell user lovers the formula for this is:
                Spell-points = Level/2 * (Level + 1) + 1 ]


        Any spell costs double its level in spell-points  to  cast.  Thus,  a
first level spell costs two, a third level spell six, and a ninth level spell
eighteen. This does not leave a single spell-point behind if the  caster  has
an odd number of spell points, because a spell  user  can  opt  to  put  more
spell-points into a spell to make it succeed or for more results (See below).


        A spell caster can convert spell-points into spells freely, with only
two exceptions:

        First, the spells must be known and memorized by  the  spell  caster.
Knowing has its standard AD&D meaning.
        When a spell is first encountered by a wizard, he must  try  to  make
his % chance to learn new spell roll. If he fails  with  this  roll,  he  can
never learn or cast the spell. The DM might  rule,  however,  that  different
versions of this same spell exist in his world; and that if  the  mage  finds
one of these versions, he may try to learn it again.
        The wizard can memorize at one time a  number  of  spells  per  spell
level equal to the number in the "Maximum #  of  Spells/Lvl"  column  of  the
Intelligence chart in the Players  Handbook.  The  wizard  can  automatically
memorize a number of spells equal to the wizard's maximum  spell  level,  but
then must make his % chance to memorize more spells (roll for every spell  up
to his maximum capacity). If he fails in this roll for a  certain  spell,  it
does not mean that the wizard is forever unable  to  memorize  the  spell  in
question, but merely that he cannot understand the magical patterns that  day
and may try again after a sleep period. Note that this means  that  a  wizard
with 19 intelligence will be able  to  memorize  all  spells  that  he  comes
across, except those spells which he may never learn (see above).

        Second, the spell user can convert spell-points  to  spells  only  in
such a way that he does not cast more spells of a given level than  he  would
have been able to memorize in the orininal AD&D system.
        For example, if a wizard is allowed by the original  AD&D  system  to
memorize 3 third level spells, he now possesses exactly 3 third-level "slots"
that may be converted  into  spells,  spell-points  permitting.  He  may,  of
course, cast less than this number if he desires.
        This restriction is imposed in order to maintain a  higher  level  of
realism. If a wizard were allowed to  freely  allocate  spell-points  to  any
spell level, it would be possible for wizards to  convert  an  overproportion
into high level spells. For example, without this restriction,  it  would  be
possible for (but not realistic to allow) a 12th level Mage to assign  72  of
his 79 spell-points to sixth level spells! It is because of  mental  fatigue,
that it would be unrealistic. Thus there should be a limit to the  number  of
high level spells a spell user can cast. This situation can be likened to  an
athlete that can only do so many long marathons in a certain period, but  can
still do short runs and sprints.
        Since it is also unrealistic for a 12th level Mage (for instance)  to
not be able to cast any 3rd level spells if he had already  cast  4  of  them
(thereby using up all his 3rd level slots), but still be able  to  cast  4th,
5th and 6th level spells; a Mage can opt to use a higher spell slot to cast a
lower level spell eg. in this case, the 12th level Mage  can  use  up  a  4th
level slot to cast a 3rd level spell (note that this still costs the basic  6
spell points, not 8).


        Wizards, then, do not need to relearn spells every  night.  They  can
continue to cast the same spells day after day without  problem  as  long  as
they have the spell-points  and  the  slots.  The  only  factors  that  might
motivate a wizard to spend time to relearn spells are...

   1.  Memory loss   -- Caused by illness, injury, or magic.
   2.  New spell     -- To memorize a totally new spell.
   3.  Change spells -- Exchange a memorized spell for an
                        unmemorized (but known) spell
                        because the intelligence ceiling was
                        reached.
       (Remember that when rememorizing, the % chance to learn it must be
        rolled in order to comprehend it.)
        This gives Spellweaving Wizards the added advantage of not having  to
carry those valuable spellbooks on adventures unless they  feel  it  probable
that they will need to relearn a spell, or if they want to study so as to get
their spells back as soon as possible without sleeping (see below).


        Spell-points are recovered by sleep or study (or meditation).
        A weary mind tends to forget things, and  a  sleep  can  refresh  the
memory and the powers of concentration. This  could  not  be  truer  for  the
Spellweaver.
        If instead, the Spellweaver doesn't have time for sleep, then a  cram
session may be in order to remind  the  weary  mind  of  what  it  should  be
focusing on. So study is also an option for Spellweavers.
        Study can not be attempted if distracted or fatigued (fatigued  means
gone without sleep for an extended period. Use  whatever  fatigue  rules  you
have). For a Wizard to study, he MUST have his spellbook handy. 

SPt Percentage Recovered:      Sleep:            Study or Meditation:
     (of maximum)

          0%                  <5 hrs                 <1.5 hrs
         25%                 5 - 6 hrs            1.5 - 2 hrs
         50%                 6 - 7 hrs            2   - 2.5 hrs
         75%                 7 - 8 hrs            2.5 - 3 hrs
        100%                  +8 hrs                 +3 hrs


        Thus, if a Wizard sleeps for only 4 hours, he will reap  no  benefit,
but the same Wizard would get back 50% of his total spell-points if he  slept
for 6.5 hours, or studied for 2 hours. In each case, the percentages  do  not
refer to the number of spell-points that the Wizard is down, but to the total
number of spell-points that the spell caster has when at full power.
        The Meditation periods are given for those  campaigns  where  the  DM
uses meditation as a non-weapon proficiency.


        Under the spell rules as  written,  what  happens  when  a  spell  is
miscast? Nothing -- it never  occurs.  Either  the  caster  knows  the  spell
perfectly, or else has no chance of casting it. Even worse, when a spell user
knows a spell, but wants a slight variation on it (eg.  a  light  spell  that
produces green light, or a glowing bird from a dancing lights spell), he must
spend time and money researching a whole new spell. This system  is  designed
to take account of both of these factors.
        In this system, the wizard concentrates on  magical  energy  patterns
until he is confident he has an exact 'picture' of the patterns in his  mind.
Therefore the wizard can spend extra time concentrating, or even take  a  big
risk and cut short the casting time of the spell thereby  getting  the  spell
off quickly, but risking letting loose non-exact magical patterns of  energy,
and maybe even having his spell backfire.
        Note that if the caster is distracted while  casting,  he  can  still
continue to try and cast the  spell,  with  penalties  for  distraction  (see
below), or he can cancel the spell. Cancelling of a spell can be done at  any
time, but it still takes a lot out of the wizard, and therefore he still uses
the spell points. If the wizard is injured while casting a  spell,  then  the
spell is wasted and the spell points are used.


        Specifically, the casting success roll is structured as follows:


        (Caster level)/3  -  Spell Level  +  Special Modifiers  +  1d20


Caster Level: This modifier is just the level  of  experience  of  the  spell
caster. It is then divided by three and rounded up. Thus, a  5th  level  Mage
would add +2, a 9th level Mage would be +3.


Spell Level: Higher level spells call upon magical energies of  much  greater
power and upon magical patterns of much greater complexity than  lower  level
ones. It is only reasonable, therefore, for these spells to be more difficult
to cast.
The penalty is -1 for each level of the spell. Thus, a 4th level spell  would
be a -4 penalty.

Special Modifiers: These include all of  the  various  adjustments  to  spell
casting that are applied only under  certain  circumstances  or  in  specific
campaign situations. These are listed below.

 Wisdom

 Same as Magical Defense Adjustment. This represents the comprehension of the
 magical patterns and their weaving.


 Injury

 Caster has lost 25% of original hit points:          -1
 Caster has lost 50% of original hit points:          -2
 Caster has lost 75% of original hit points:          -4
      (not cumulative)
 Damage taken on round prior to start of casting:     -1/hp dam.
 Damage taken during casting:                          Spell cancelled.


 Specialization

 Wizard casting spell in specialized school:          +2
 Wizard casting spell in "opposition" school:         -2


 Fatigue, Hindrances, etc.

 Fatigued: (Caster has gone without sleep.)           -2/day without sleep
 Distracted:                                          -1 to -4
 Caster has cast spells consecutively:                -1/round
     (eg. A 5 round spell will not get -5 penalty, but any spell cast on  the
      round after, regardless of casting time, will  incur  the  -5  penalty.
      This penalty can be avoided by waiting at least a round before  casting
      another spell. This simulates the  difficulty  that  the  spell  weaver
      faces when attempting to  completely  wipe  his  mind  of  one  magical
      pattern and straight away concentrating on  a  new  pattern.  For  this
      reason the penalty does not apply if it is the same spell that is being
      recast, but only to different spells.)
 Caster is wearing illegal armour (or shield):        -10 + Armour's AC
     (eg. Leather gives a -2 penalty, Full Plate gives a  -10  penalty,  Full
      Plate +2 gives a -8 penalty. Note that if the spell caster has a shield
      while casting, the spell is not allowed  to  have  somatic  components,
      thus a further -4 penalty is applied  [see  below:  Leaving  Out  Spell
      Components].)


 Improvisation

 Attempting minor variation of known spell:           -2
     (eg. "green fireball" based on fireball)
 Attempting major variation of known spell:           -4 or more
     (eg. "snowball" based on fireball)
     (If there is too great a variation, the DM might rule that it  is  equal
      to a higher level spell, thus needing more spell points. eg. a fireball
      spell with double radius, or more damage per die. The DM must make sure
      that the improvised spell uses about the same  magical  energy  as  the
      base spell.)
 Casting an unmemorized spell (but known):            -5
 Spends extra time concentrating:                     +1/time unit   (Max 4)
     (A unit is a phase if the spell's casting time is in phases, a round  if
      the spell's casting time is in rounds. etc.)
 Spends less time concentrating:                      -2/phase    -5/round
     (Instantaneous casting is possible. For instantaneous casting, there  is
      a minimum of a -5 penalty.  This  applies  even  for  spells  that  are
      normally cast in one segment!)
 Spell  Trickery!:                                   -1/-1 on Spellcraft roll
     (This is a very tricky technique  that  is  used  in  order  to  make  a
      potential spell user, with the Spellcraft  proficiency,  think  that  a
      completely different spell is being cast than  the  actual  spell.  The
      spellweaver must have the spell component, if any, of the  spell  which
      is being faked, and cannot use any other spell component for  the  real
      spell. If the faked spell is of a different casting time than the  real
      spell, then the spellweaver must adjust to this  by  spending  more  or
      less time concentrating, and take the appropriate bonus or penalty.)


 Energy Sources

 Per extra spell-point used in spell:                  +1  (Max = spell level)
     (ie. The wizard is straining immensely to concentrate on spell patterns.)
 Per two hit points sacrificed during casting:         +1       (Max 10)
     (ie. The wizard uses his physical energy as  well  as  mental.  The  hit
      points are healed normally. Nose  bleeds,  immense  sweating  etc.  are
      common during using this method.)
 Per STR or CON point sacrificed during casting:       +4
     (They are recovered slowly -- days, weeks, or  years  may  be  required.
      This is similar to sacrificing hit points, but to a greater extent.)
 Spell components used:                                +1 to +3
     (DM decides if appropriate. eg. typical material components used  for  a
      Lightning Bolt spell might be: a crystal, glass or iron rod, for a  +1;
      the holy symbol of the god of weather, for a +2; or a live eel,  for  a
      +3. The spell component is used  as  an  alternate  source  of  magical
      energy, or is used as a focus of magical energy taken from  the  cosmic
      pool or the spellweavers own mental energy.)
 Leaving out spell components (verbal or somatic):     -4/component
     (This is based on the theory that verbal and somatic components are just
      a way of making it easier for the  spell  user  to  comprehend  magical
      patterns. [Sort of like how children count aloud on their  fingers]  It
      is up to the DM to determine whether or not it is reasonable to discard
      any spell component. eg. you can't discard verbal components in  spells
      like Command, Power Word Kill  etc.,  and  you  can't  discard  somatic
      components in spells like Finger Of Death, Shocking Grasp etc.)



        After all of the modifiers are  totalled  (plus  any  others  the  DM
wishes to add that are not covered here), the player should roll a  20  sided
die, add the modifiers, and determine whether or not he  is  successful.  The
table below shows all of the possible outcomes:

|==========================================================|
|                                                          |
|  Modified Roll:        Result: (see below)               |
|----------------------------------------------------------|
|       25+         Wow!                                   |
|      22-24        Spell works a bit better than normal.  |
|       6-21        Spell works as normal.                 |
|       3-5         Spell partially works.                 |
|       0-2         Spell fizzles, no effect.              |
|       <0          Spell backfires.                       |
|==========================================================|
Exceptions are: A natural 1 is "Spell partially works", or  if  the  modifier
                before rolling the 1d20 is 20 or greater,  then  "Spell works
                as normal".
                A natural 20 is "Spell works a bit better than normal", or if
                the modifier before rolling the 1d20 is  -14  or  less,  then
                "Spell works as normal".
                (Use the better result if natural 20 was rolled, or the worst
                 if a natural 1 was rolled. eg. if  I  had  +7  modifier  and
                 rolled a natural 20, I could pick either "Spell works a  bit
                 better than normal" because I rolled a natural 20, or "Wow!"
                 because I rolled a total of 27. "Wow!" is the better of  the
                 two results, so I take that.)


Wow: If the spell caster gets 25 or  higher  on  his  roll,  something  great
happens. Some suggestions are: the spell  is  doubled  in  effect  for  every
statistic, double damage done, more info gained, permanent (rare!). etc.

Spell works a bit better than normal: The cast spell functions perfectly; and
does a little bit more than expected. Some suggestions are: any extra  energy
source was not used, +2 damage per die, 25% more creatures affected. etc.

Spell works as normal: The spell works as it was intended to.

Spell partially works: The  spell  doesn't  live  up  to  expectations.  Some
suggestions are: every statistic of  the  spell  including  damage  done  (if
applicable) is  halved,  spell  affects  some  others  (detrimental),  caster
faints. etc.

Spell backfires: This means that some part of the spell energy backfires upon
the caster. Many different things might happen, but they are always of  equal
force to the level of spell. Thus a backfired Detect Magic will not do  much,
but watch out if it was a Time Stop or Wish. Typical effects are:  damage  is
done to the caster, false information, lose spell-points of equal to level of
spell. etc.



        It is important to remember that these tables are  only  suggestions,
and that the DM and players  must  get  together  to  interpret  the  results
creatively. Magic is a horribly dangerous thing -- both for  the  caster  and
the target -- and these results should  stimulate  an  appreciation  of  this
risk, not ruin the game. It is also advisable to try to  make  the  accidents
appropriate to the spell which failed. For instance, a fire based spell would
not likely make the caster into a pseudo-werewolf, but might well  accidently
summon  up  a  fire  elemental,  or  engulf  the  caster   in   flames.   The
responsibility to make these decisions is left to the DM because they  cannot
easily be tabulated.


        Basically this system balances out the Wizard levels so that there is
no sudden jump in power at high levels. It also encourages a little bit lower
level spell usage, making higher level spells,  things  to  be  handled  with
care. It also introduces  unpredictability  in  types  of  spells  and  their
outcome, making magic even more a thing of mystery and fear.
        Lower level Wizards will tend to risk leaving  out  spell  components
now and then, and not really worry  too  much  about  penalties.  High  level
Wizards casting high level spells will tend to put as much into the spell  as
possible, so that there is as little a chance as possible that the spell will
backfire for disastrous results.


                            Robert Winkel willie@werple.apana.org.au
