A Whole Bunch of Brainstorming

[beejazz]

I've just started on individual spell descriptions. I'm thinking really about the format I'm going to use now and making sure that all the information that needs to be there is there.

[spoiler=descriptions]
Bind Spirit
Ritual Time:
Duration: Permanent
Components: Incantation, Fetish (a gem, ring, trinket, or other vessel not previously used to bind a spirit)
Task: Bind a spirit to a fetish of some sort.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the spirit to be bound.
Success: The spirit is bound to the fetish used to cast the ritual. This means that the spirit is trapped within the item until called out with a summon bound spirit ritual.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Critical Failure: The caster's rituals are all dismissed. The spirit is allowed a new save against rituals affecting it. It is also granted temporary immunity against magic circles, lasting 1d10 minutes.

Detect Alien
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Gesture
Task: Detect the presence of alien creatures.
Difficulty:3 (rolled in secret)
Success: You can tell whether there are any aliens in the immediate vicinity.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.
[/spoiler]

[beejazz]

I'm working more on each spellcasting school. Hopefully, by the end of this, I will have at least 50 spells per school. It may sound like a lot, but the max level I'm writing this game for is probably going to be something like 25, and most casters will probably be opting for spells from their school all the way up and I don't want all casters of a given school to feel totally alike. That said, I've got 20ish spells outside of the last summoning-based post for each school. So at worst I'm about ten spells per school away from my goal taking into account the tennish summoning-based spells.

Anyway, here's the spell lists.

Black
Wither (withers limbs)
Bleed
Disease
Poison
Fatigue
Blind
Deafen
Death Knell
Kill
Animate Dead
Awaken Undead
False Life (black magic sustaining you past the point of hit points)
Speak With Dead
Command Undead
Clone
Darkness
Fear
Desecrate
Tentacles
Despair
Possession
Curse (like an easier to get rid of permanency tied to some other baleful spell)
Rage
Steal Soul

Blue
Detect Thoughts
Detect Magic
Mage Eye
True Seeing
Scrying
Detect Scrying
Legend Lore
Augury
Charm
Favor (basically suggestion... an "ask one favor" spell)
Sleep
Dream
Illusion (one for each sense*)
Hallucination (one for each sense*)
Invisibility (one for each sense*)
Darkness
Silence
False Text
Flight
Passwall
Teleport
Tongues
Message
Telepathy

*maybe just sight and sound, but olfactory effects seem like they might be fun too

Green
Grow
Shrink
Faces
Beast Form
Plant Form
Vermin Form
Swarm Form
Entangle
Charm Beast
Charm Plant Creature
Calm Vermin
Detect Beast
Detect Plant Creature
Detect Vermin
Vermin Favor
Plant Favor
Beast Favor
Grow Beast
Grow Plant Creature
Grow Vermin
Shrink Beast
Shrink Plant Creature
Shrink Vermin
Fertility
Blight
Swarm
Web
Tree Stride
Wall of Thorns
Walk on Water
Walk on Air
Hail
Rain
Wind
Mist
Earthquake
Tornado

Red
Shatter
Wind Wall
Fire Wall
Ice Wall
Soften Earth
Firm Earth
Shape Stone
Heat Metal
Chill Metal
Shrink Item
Grow Item
Earthen Wall
Creation
Animate Objects
Grease
Choking Smoke
Rust
Fire Spells
Ice Spells
Lightning Spells
Force Attacks
Disintegration
Telekinesis
Personal Force Shield
Force Wall
Reverse Gravity

White
Mend Wounds (hp healing and can counter limb wounds and bleeding)
Regeneration (hp healing over time)
Vigor (faster, easier, hp only)
Health (hp and disease/poison healing)
Restore Senses (counters blindness/deafness)
Preserve Flesh
Raise Dead
Death Ward
Detect Undead
Smite Undead
Halt Undead
Repel Undead
Hide from Undead
Light
Courage
Consecrate
Exorcism
Mark of Justice (specified causes linked spell until specified conditions are met)
Calm (negates rage and despair and such)

[beejazz]

Been working more on those spell descriptions.
[spoiler=Descriptions]
Bind Spirit
Ritual Time:
Duration: Permanent
Components: Incantation, Fetish (a gem, ring, trinket, or other vessel not previously used to bind a spirit)
Task: Bind a spirit to a fetish of some sort.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the spirit to be bound.
Success: The spirit is bound to the fetish used to cast the ritual. This means that the spirit is trapped within the item until called out with a summon bound spirit ritual. A summoned spirit or monster can not be bound.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Critical Failure: The caster's rituals are all dismissed. The spirit is allowed a new save against rituals affecting it. It is also granted temporary immunity against magic circles, lasting 1d10 minutes.

Detect Alien
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Gesture
Task: Detect the presence of alien spirits.
Difficulty: 3 (rolled in secret)
Success: You can tell whether there are any aliens in the immediate vicinity.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.

Detect Celestial
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Gesture
Task: Detect the presence of celestial spirits.
Difficulty: 3 (rolled in secret)
Success: You can tell whether there are any celestials in the immediate vicinity.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.

Detect Elemental
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Gesture
Task: Detect the presence of elemental spirits.
Difficulty: 3 (rolled in secret)
Success: You can tell whether there are any elementals in the immediate vicinity.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.

Detect Fey
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Gesture
Task: Detect the presence of fey spirits.
Difficulty: 3 (rolled in secret)
Success: You can tell whether there are any fey in the immediate vicinity.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.

Detect Fiend
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Gesture
Task: Detect the presence of fiendish spirits.
Difficulty: 3 (rolled in secret)
Success: You can tell whether there are any fiends in the immediate vicinity.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.

Magic Circle Against Aliens
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Fetish (a magic circle drawn onto or carved into the floor, ground, or ceiling)
Task: Create a barrier impassible by aliens.
Difficulty: 1 per diameter
Success: Most aliens can neither cross the circle in or out, nor use magic across the barrier (for example, an alien inside the circle could not teleport out nor charm someone outside the circle). An alien may attempt to cross the circle. You must make a magic check with a difficulty equal to the alien's level to contain it. If the circle is crossed, the spell is broken. If the circle is made in salt or chalk, the circle is ruined and must be re-drawn.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.
Special: The ritual time given is the time it takes to draw the circle in chalk or salt. It can be activated later as a main action. The circle can also be carved into a surface, which will take twice as long or longer, depending on the surface.

Magic Circle Against Celestials
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Fetish (a magic circle drawn onto or carved into the floor, ground, or ceiling)
Task: Create a barrier impassible by celestials.
Difficulty: 1 per diameter
Success: Most celestials can neither cross the circle in or out, nor use magic across the barrier (for example, a celestial inside the circle could not teleport out nor charm someone outside the circle). A celestial may attempt to cross the circle. You must make a magic check with a difficulty equal to the celestial's level to contain it. If the circle is crossed, the spell is broken. If the circle is made in salt or chalk, the circle is ruined and must be re-drawn.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.
Special: The ritual time given is the time it takes to draw the circle in chalk or salt. It can be activated later as a main action. The circle can also be carved into a surface, which will take twice as long or longer, depending on the surface.

Magic Circle Against Elementals
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Fetish (a magic circle drawn onto or carved into the floor, ground, or ceiling)
Task: Create a barrier impassible by elementals.
Difficulty: 1 per diameter
Success: Most elementals can neither cross the circle in or out, nor use magic across the barrier (for example, an elemental inside the circle could not teleport out nor charm someone outside the circle). An elemental may attempt to cross the circle. You must make a magic check with a difficulty equal to the elemental's level to contain it. If the circle is crossed, the spell is broken. If the circle is made in salt or chalk, the circle is ruined and must be re-drawn.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.
Special: The ritual time given is the time it takes to draw the circle in chalk or salt. It can be activated later as a main action. The circle can also be carved into a surface, which will take twice as long or longer, depending on the surface.

Magic Circle Against Fey
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Fetish (a magic circle drawn onto or carved into the floor, ground, or ceiling)
Task: Create a barrier impassible by fey.
Difficulty: 1 per diameter
Success: Most fey can neither cross the circle in or out, nor use magic across the barrier (for example, a fey inside the circle could not teleport out nor charm someone outside the circle). A fey may attempt to cross the circle. You must make a magic check with a difficulty equal to the fey's level to contain it. If the circle is crossed, the spell is broken. If the circle is made in salt or chalk, the circle is ruined and must be re-drawn.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.
Special: The ritual time given is the time it takes to draw the circle in chalk or salt. It can be activated later as a main action. The circle can also be carved into a surface, which will take twice as long or longer, depending on the surface.

Magic Circle Against Fiends
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Fetish (a magic circle drawn onto or carved into the floor, ground, or ceiling)
Task: Create a barrier impassible by fiends.
Difficulty: 1 per diameter
Success: Most fiends can neither cross the circle in or out, nor use magic across the barrier (for example, a fiend inside the circle could not teleport out nor charm someone outside the circle). A fiend may attempt to cross the circle. You must make a magic check with a difficulty equal to the fiend's level to contain it. If the circle is crossed, the spell is broken. If the circle is made in salt or chalk, the circle is ruined and must be re-drawn.
Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You know the ritual has failed.
Critical Failure: The ritual doesn't function. You don't know the ritual has failed.
Special: The ritual time given is the time it takes to draw the circle in chalk or salt. It can be activated later as a main action. The circle can also be carved into a surface, which will take twice as long or longer, depending on the surface.

Summon Alien
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Incantation
Task: Summon an alien.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the creature to be summoned.
Success: You summon an alien. The alien is merely a projection of its home plane, having no secret or ritual knowledge to share. However, it will serve you loyally, in combat or in manual labor.
Failure: The creature is not summoned.
Critical Failure: The creature is summoned, with permanent duration, but does not serve you loyally. Usually it will go on a killing spree.

Summon Bound Spirit
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Incantation, Fetish (the item to which the spirit has been bound)
Task: Summon a bound spirit.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the spirit to be summoned.
Success: You summon a bound spirit. It may not take any action without your permission, but is not magically compelled to obey you. It is magically compelled to honor any agreements it makes, so you can usually strike up a bargain for its service in combat, its ritual knowledge, manual labor, or what have you. Usually such agreements are made separately and in exchange for the completion of a quest that suits the spirit's nature. Some spirits are so bloodthirsty that no agreements are necessary for combat service. Simply giving them permission to kill is enough. If a bound spirit dies, it is dead forever. It can no longer be summoned, and its fetish is useless.
Failure: The spirit is not summoned.
Critical Failure: The spirit is freed from its binding. Usually it will attempt to escape.

Summon Celestial
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Incantation
Task: Summon a celestial.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the creature to be summoned.
Success: You summon a celestial. The celestial is merely a projection of its home plane, having no secret or ritual knowledge to share. However, it will serve you loyally, in combat or in manual labor.
Failure: The creature is not summoned.
Critical Failure: The creature is summoned, with permanent duration, but does not serve you loyally. Usually it will go on a killing spree.

Summon Elemental
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Incantation
Task: Summon an elemental.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the creature to be summoned.
Success: You summon an elemental. The elemental is merely a projection of its home plane, having no secret or ritual knowledge to share. However, it will serve you loyally, in combat or in manual labor.
Failure: The creature is not summoned.
Critical Failure: The creature is summoned, with permanent duration, but does not serve you loyally. Usually it will go on a killing spree.

Summon Fey
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Incantation
Task: Summon a fey.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the creature to be summoned.
Success: You summon a fey. The fey is merely a projection of its home plane, having no secret or ritual knowledge to share. However, it will serve you loyally, in combat or in manual labor.
Failure: The creature is not summoned.
Critical Failure: The creature is summoned, with permanent duration, but does not serve you loyally. Usually it will go on a killing spree.

Summon Fiend
Ritual Time:
Duration: Continuous
Components: Incantation
Task: Summon a fiend.
Difficulty: The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the creature to be summoned.
Success: You summon an fiend. The fiend is merely a projection of its home plane, having no secret or ritual knowledge to share. However, it will serve you loyally, in combat or in manual labor.
Failure: The creature is not summoned.
Critical Failure: The creature is summoned, with permanent duration, but does not serve you loyally. Usually it will go on a killing spree.
[/spoiler]
Still all summoning related things. Still need to put in calling (summons a specific creature) and spells to banish summoned creatures, though I haven't fully decided whether banishing works on all things or a school's enemies or the same things they can detect and put circles around or what.

I still want there to be ten or twenty new spells for each school too. I need to think of good planar spells for each school.

EDIT: Of course I forget to include in magic circles that those who can cast magic circles as spells can instantly generate circles.

[beejazz]

I'm bored, and all I've been writing about has been magic so far, so I figure I'll type a little about how combat is supposed to play. I wrote the rules to encourage certain tactics, and I'm sure it will get more clear as things solidify, but I wanted to talk about movement and timing.

1) Archers don't want to be engaged by melee characters. Melee characters don't want to be shot at while they close. Split defenses encourage this.
2) Characters can't defend themselves indefinitely. You don't want to get ganged up on, both because you can be overwhelmed and because defending yourself might mean giving up attacks and movement.
3) Characters forced onto the defense can't move or attack as well.
4) Full defense can be used to get AoOs.

Right off the bat there are several roles players can take on. An archer might try and perch on inaccessible high ground, making the most of his range. A harrier might try really hard to get to the archer and cut them down. A tank might park themselves on a chokepoint with a reach weapon, full armor, and a full defense to keep the harrier away from the archer (if anyone tries passing through, they get AoO'd to hell, losing move actions as a result). Throw in magic users, whose job might be crowd management (creating inaccessible terrain, helping the harrier move, handling large numbers of weak foes) and whose defensive weakness may be more pronounced, plus crowds/archer squads to overwhelm a tank and things get interesting. And of course, this is just one hypothetical situation.  Open fields, mounted combat, large groups of archers instead of infantry, and any number of things can change the appropriate tactics drastically.

Many of these tactics already work (using range to get an edge over melee fighters, for example). I just wanted to make the differences more pronounced.

[beejazz]

I need planar spells, but first I need to figure out what my planes will be. I'm thinking there should be about two planes for each spellcasting school. My cosmology's a little different in that there's no shadow/ethereal/astral and all planes are transitive planes at the low level. Without further ado...

Planar Terms
The shallows: The lowest level of any plane is coterminous (is that the right word?) with the material plane. That is to say that while it has the traits of the plane it belongs to, most things in the real world have corresponding objects or locations in the shallows. There are artificial structures in the shallows that do not exist in the material, however.

Layers: Layers are series of worlds within a plane. Lower levels are closer to normal. Higher levels get more and more intense. They aren't actually physically above or below each other. You can't fall from one plane to another except through a portal. But most planar magic once you're in the plane works to shift you higher or lower (deeper or shallower if you prefer).

Demiplanes: Some demiplanes are unique and not attached to an existing planar structure. Such demiplanes are harder to reach than the standard planes. Some demiplanes are merely offshoots of existing planes and their levels. The domain of an individual god, for example, is usually a demiplane.

Portals: I think we all know portals.

Projection: Sending an echo of yourself through the planes instead of your physical body. If your echo is killed, your body returns to consciousness. If your echo is severed from your body, your body dies and your echo is stranded. Your echo can not return physically to the material plane. Usually, unless you find a way to get your soul and body rejoined, your echo will simply forget itself and dissolve over time, like one of the dead.

Planar Bleeds: When a plane, layer, or demiplane's magical properties seep into the material world.

That's about all I can think of for now.

Planes
Dream (blue): Dream is an exception to most of the planar rules. Everyone can project there freely in sleep. Most of Dream is composed of demiplanes, some of which might theoretically be deeper or shallower than others. Most people have powers like gods over their own demiplanes (though because people aren't usually lucid in dreams, they don't exert their literal will). Demiplanes come into and out of existence as people sleep and wake up, though individual dreams last for minutes, hours, sometimes even days after waking. Theoretically there may be portions of Dream not generated by dreamers in its deepest parts, though these may simply be the dreams of immortal sleepers. These native portions of dreams/dreams of immortal sleepers have native, alien life that few would understand or wish to interact with. Dream has no shallows.

Void (blue): At its shallowest, Void is filled with simply nothing. Its shallows do not have echoes of physical objects, but you can see the material plane faintly through the shadows (shallow Void is the closest thing here to the ethereal). There is no ground, but one can will oneself to move on most layers and demiplanes. Deeper Void has a few connections with Sheol and Dream. Deeper void tends to take on strange traits: color shifts, series of milky intangible membranes, large rootlike structures, and eventually, native fauna that clearly does not belong in our universe (aliens and aberrations... Lovecraft stuff).

Tartarus (black): A plane of destruction, its shallows are filled with the wreckage of this world, plus darkness, dust, and ash. As one goes deeper, one finds tartarus the home plane of all fiends.

Sheol (black): The plane of the dead. In the shallows are the recently dead, still hanging around where they did in life, watching their loved ones on this transparent plane (like the shallow Void, the shallow Sheol shows some things from the material... mostly the shadows of the living). As one goes deeper, one finds fewer and fewer dead, who tend to remember less and less of their true selves, until finally they simply vanish. Going deeper and deeper, one finds less and less, but may be more and more affected by the same danger. Deep sheol will make you forget yourself and eventually vanish. Sheol is not the home of celestials, but it is guarded by them, to the ire of necromancers who would tamper with the place.

Heaven (white): The plane of celestials charged with protecting the proper order of the universe at all costs. The deeper one goes, the bigger and badder they get. The bigger and badder they get, the more annoyed they tend to be with you. Both for your intrusion and because they tend to know more about your private life (the near omniscient top dogs are really creepy, really angry, and almost wish they weren't required to protect such a rotten imperfect world).

Source (white): The plane from which life flows. It's effectively the positive energy plane, except that overdosing on life energy doesn't make you explode. The plane does have unfortunate addictive qualities though. People who go here to heal up may find it hard to leave after a while. Also if you hang out here too long it will grow you. There are twitching continents of meat that used to be people deep in this world.

Faery (or whatever I call it) (green): The world of fey, not yet fleshed out fully.

Elemental Chaos (red): The elemental planes / D&D Limbo. Again not terribly fleshed out.



I was gonna do some stuff on "outsiders" but I'll save that for later. For now, I need to flesh out those last two and think of two new planes. Maybe an acheron? I don't know.

[beejazz]

So nobody has any comments on the elemental plane of crack? :p

Anyway, I suppose it's time I talked a little about "outsiders" the different kinds of monsters one can summon.

Aliens are 3.x abberations. Typically they come from Void or Dream. Aliens are characterized by their unfathomable motives, cruel intellect, and bizarre anatomy. As with most outsiders, the deeper you go in the planes, the nastier and less like anything you've seen so far they get. Their nature is tied to blue magic mostly. Like other outsiders, they can use a few spells of other schools as well.

Celestials are 3.x outider (good) creatures. Typically they come from heaven (need a better name for that plane), though they also preserve Sheol against those that would interfere. Their purpose is to preserve the cosmic order. While they prevent gross violations against the universe, note that God is not on your side in this game. Celestials seek perfection, and reality falls far short for them. They are prevented by their own rules from breaking the universe to make a newer better one, but visit them on their home plane at your own risk. The deeper you go, the more they know about you personally, and the more likely they are to kill you as punishment for little white lies you told and impure thoughts you've had. Celestials also aren't just dudes with wings, they can take the form of masses of wings, pillars of fire, blinding light, or chariot wheels. Celestials are strongly tied to white magic, but may know some other spells.

Fiends are outsider (evil) creatures. Typically they are limited to Tartarus, though they find their way into wherever they can. Their purpose is destruction, pain, and ignorance, and they do not derive any pleasure from anything that doesn't involve one of the three. To put this in perspective, a fiend of gluttony only gets anything out of eating if it eats enough to cause a local famine. Fiends take their usual shapes: animal/human hybrids, features of the dead, burning, oozing, etc. Fiends are strongly tied to black magic, but may know some other spells.

Fey are fey. They roam the fairy world (another plane I need a good name for) and are probably the most involved in the material plane. Their purpose is mostly just having fun, but they are also tasked with the preservation of the natural world (plus some traditional rural settings... some fey take care of households). Note that their idea of fun might occasionally include cruelty like kidnapping children. Also note that failing to leave some milk out for the guy that's looked after your house for generations might have bigger than expected consequences. Fey take their typical shapes as little people, spirits tied to natural features, animal-form guardians of the woods, etc. Fey are strongly tied to green magic, but may know this and that from other schools.

Elementals are elementals, plus genies and a few others. They are native to the elemental planes/ elemental chaos (haven't decided what I'm doing there yet). True elementals don't really have motives. In fact, true elementals don't exist on their home plane. They only exist as summoned monsters. These summoned monsters know no spells, and have no intelligence, purpose, motive, or anything. Generally, giving them permission to kill is enough. Genies on the other hand, have the most human motives of all outsiders, being out for themselves. Their appearance is usually humanoid, though they can take elemental shapes, and they are strongly tied to red magic, though they can learn spells from other schools.

...aaand that's what I've got for the summonable monster types so far.