Soon I will be running the Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde campaign (of course with my own personal changes) for some friends. I think that all the background you need to understand this is presented under "new rule." If there are any further questions, ask them. Any input you can offer on these would be greatly appreciated.
New Rule
The obelisks of the Valley of the Obelisks were designed to drain magic from Slaughtergarde and it's armies. At that time, the effect was great and powerful. Over time, however, that effect has faded. Now all spells, invocations, and magic items have a 5% chance of failing. Also, all spells of the evil type (including those cast by magic items) are cast at -1 caster level.
Mage of the Valley of the Obelisks
People that practice magic regularly while living in the Valley of the Obelisks learn to compensate totally for the effects of the obelisks.
Prerequisites: Must have been a magic-using resident of the Valley of the Obelisks for a minimum of three months. (A shorter time period may be acceptable if magic use was unusually heavy and/or frequent. This is at the DM's discretion alone.)
Effect: All spells of the evil type are cast at +1 caster level. Also, all spell failure chances that are not caused by armor (or other physically restricting items) are reduced by 5%.
UPDATED 06/02/07
Honestly, my feeling is that a 5% spell failure chance is more annoying for having to constantly make a roll than for any likely chance of it occurring. I'd either up it, or else just go with the caster level penalty.
Do the feats function outside the valley? It seems like +1 caster level to all spells is more powerful than a feat would normally be, even without its nominal other benefit.
The purpose of it being only a 5% chance is that the effect is weak. Normally the spell will get off just fine. It's rare that one doesn't but it does happen.
Yes, the feats work outside of the valley. This is because the magic users there have learned to cast their spells more powerfully so as to achieve their desired effect. Some have done this without realizing it.
In a way, these are like regional feats. Do you know of a better way of getting a similar effect?
Races of Faerun, page 168: Southern Magician
Arcane spells may be cast as divine spells a certain number of times per day, (or divine spells may be cast as arcane spells, but I don't know why you'd want to.)
It's a crappy feat on it's own, but it's how a Dread Necromancer can become a Walker in the Waste.
I don't see how that is the same.
I'm curious beabout how weak you want the effect to be. If it is an occasional minor surprise and annoyance then fair enough as it is. If it is meant to be something noticeable then you might want some kind of stronger reaction from the area.
It's meant to be more of an occasional annoyance. When the obelisks were created, they helped in the destruction of a demonic fortress. That was thousands of years ago and now most of the obelisks are crumbling.
I'd say it's fine the way it is then. I kind of get what PhoenixKnight is saying but now and then having pcs roll the dice for almost no reason gets them worrying, wondering what is going on, but now and then it is nothing too serious. They don't know that of course and that is part of the fun of being a gm.
Out of curiousity does the effect surrounding these feats remain after leaving the area or is it only for those who remain?
I'm not sure I fully understand your question but I shall try to explain. People that use magic in the Valley of the Obelisks put more power into their spells. While they are in the valley, this simply makes the spells function normally. They may not even realize that they are doing this. Once those same magic users leave the valley, they are still casting more powerfully.
Quote from: Ninja D!I don't see how that is the same.
You have to look at while on a sugar high, and lacking a week's worth of cafein. And only then. Now that it's a new day, I don't even remember why I mentioned it.
Sugar high I can do. Lacking caffeine doesn't work for me when I have to get up for work at just after five almost every day.
I have edited my original posting. In doing so, I have changed the rule slightly and made it only one feat. I think this way of doing it is much more fair.
I don't think it's too big a deal to allow the 5% to apply to armor as well. +1 to caster level of evil spells can be pretty conditional, anyway.
The reasoning for not having it apply to armor is that the reason for the failure chance is different. The armor adds that failure chance because it makes it harder to make the gestures needed to cast the spell.
I'd suggest you make both the negative effect of the obelisks and the positive effect of the feat 10% instead of 5. This makes the effect more noticeable (players will actually notice something is different in this area) and the feat is actually useful.
Túrin
Normally, I might go with that. In this case, though, I think 5% is enough. Some of the players in this campaign are new to the game.