Critique this Alternative Magic System (largely fluff at this point)

[Kalos Mer]

A Kindly Note:  This system is very sketchy at the moment, and not all my ideas are well-represented in writing, so if something is unclear, please point it out.  What you are about to read contains a curious blend of (mostly) fluff and (scattered, vague) actual mechanics.  Iâ,¬,,¢m sorry about that.
 
Gallants,

Some of the old-timers may remember me as the creator of the now largely orphaned Tasothilos setting.  Fear not, I am continuing work on that setting at the same time that I work on the project below.   I hope soon (within the next week or so) to post some large updates, both at Wizards and here, on my first and dearest love, the Salabrian Sea.

At the moment, however, I have come to you because I need the insight of other people on another project on which Iâ,¬,,¢ve been working these past few weeks.  Because of the number of fundamental modifications Iâ,¬,,¢ve been making, I believe it fair to call this a Fantasy d20 game Iâ,¬,,¢m creating, not a D&D setting.  

I come to you seeking your wisdom on one particular aspect OF the game at this time (future posts will ask for your input on other parts) â,¬' the magic system.  As you will soon find, the system lain out below consists of a fusion of Vancian spell memorization, Ars-Magica-esque freeform casting, and several other sources.

A second kindly note: I am well aware that the Vancian Magic System is at the top of many playersâ,¬,,¢ lists when asked to name â,¬Ësacred cows that should be made into sacred burgersâ,¬,,¢.  I am retaining it (in heavily modified form) in this game, but as you will see I am also retaining something that core D&D did not â,¬' the flavor that made Vancian Magic an interesting part of Vancian fiction.  Therefore, Iâ,¬,,¢d ask you to keep an open mind.

First, Some Delicious Fluff
The system for this game divides player-accessible magical power up into five categories.

Spells: Quick, Rigid & Strong
Rituals: Slow, Rigid & Very Strong
Channeling: Quick, Flexible, & Moderate  (Iâ,¬,,¢m not in love with the name â,¬Å"Channelingâ,¬Â â,¬' anyone have better ideas?)
Powers: Quick, Rigid & Weak
Enchantments:  Magic Items both permanent and temporary

Spells: Spells are very powerful, very precise, very short formulaic magical phrases.  When a caster utters a Spell, the words he utters invoke a specific, predetermined magical effect.  These effects are generally quite powerful â,¬' indeed, the mightiest Spells dwarf any other kind of magic except for rituals.
The words which make up Spells are not in any â,¬Ënatural languageâ,¬,,¢, but in the â,¬Å"Arcane Tongueâ,¬Â, a constructed language which is put together piece by piece by Spellmakers.  
A Spellcaster must prepare himself each day by studying his books of Spells.   Because of their highly alien nature, the words of Spells are a great strain on mortal minds.  There is thus a finite limit on the number of these words that a man can hold in his brain at one time without burning it out and leaving himself a mindless husk.  An average man can only retain, at best, a single spell of the weakest variety without hazarding his mind.  The greatest of mages have minds that, through a combination of brilliance and careful training, can retain over two dozen of these lesser magicks at one time, but even they are only able to retain perhaps four or five of the most powerful variety of spells safely.
When a caster invokes a spell, he speaks the words he memorized from his books, and the desired effect occurs.  At the moment of speaking, however, the knowledge of the words is erased from his brain, as well.  Thus, a given spell can only be cast once before it must be memorized again.
The only â,¬Ëcomponentâ,¬,,¢ of spells are the words themselves.  While some casters may make dramatic or intimidating gestures, grand flourishes, or delineate their targets by pointing their fingers, such gesticulations are purely for effect and a wizard whose hands are bound performs as ably as one who is free.  Similarly, while there are certain rare supernatural substances and magical devices which enhance Spellcasting by their presence, no Spell has a mandatory material component.

Rituals:  Rituals are complicated, lengthy and costly procedures.  They also produce the most powerful magic of any arcane process known to mortal men.  By the use of rituals, men may summon fantastical creatures, change the weather, bring bountiful harvests or doom cities to famine and even raise men from the dead.
Every ritual is different, but all of them involve the same sorts of component parts:  First, there are always at least two participants.  The more potent the ritual, the greater the number of persons involved.  Second, there is the chanting of magical phrases and the drawing of mystic symbols by the leader of the ritual.  Unlike the words of spells, which are highly condensed, inherently potent phrases, ritual incantations are lengthy, in themselves powerless, and written in natural languages.  The memorization of these rites, though far from easy, does not put supernatural pressure on the brain, nor do they vanish from the mind of the ritual leader at the conclusion of the casting.
The next component of rituals is the performance of elaborate, at times almost dance-like movements.  These movements are very precise and highly taxing for all persons involved in the rite. Finally, all rituals involve the sacrificial consumption (by persons, by fire, or by mystic destruction) of material ingredients.  In some of the more â,¬Ëbasicâ,¬,,¢ rituals, these materials are simply plant or animal matter, but in the most elaborate and powerful rites valuable gemstones, carefully crafted ritual artifacts, or even human souls are consumed.

Channeling:  The true function of Spells and Rituals both is to serve as a conduit and a focus for the will of the magician using them, allowing him to very precisely direct both his own mental energies and the magical forces he  is manipulating.  When a magician channels, however, he attempts to manipulate these forces without the aid of formalized direction.  The result is that channeling allows much greater flexibility than spells or rituals do, requires no words, no components and no preparations, but on the whole tends to be weaker in effectâ,¬' the human mind, when it is unaided by the precise rules of formal spellcasting, cannot manipulate the same amounts of magical energy safely.
Channeling cannot be attempted by those without any training.  Though all human minds (like everything in existance) are in tune with the forces of Magic, it takes instruction to learn how to identify and then manipulate these energies.  
Channeling has risks associated with it. Firstly, it is uncertain.  Unlike when he casts of a spell, sometimes, a magician who channels will fail to achieve his desired effect.  Sometimes, he might even create an effect which he did not desire at all!  Secondly, channeling is tiresome.  While a strong channeler could probably perform minor manipulations and tricks all day long without getting tired, every time he attempts something challenging, he grows fatigued â,¬' the fatigue is even worse should he attempt and fail.
While channeling is completely â,¬Ëfreeformâ,¬,,¢, and no two â,¬Ëcastingsâ,¬,,¢ are ever identical, most serious channelers build up a repetoire of â,¬Ëtricks.â,¬,,¢  Tricks are semi-specific manipulations which the channeler has performed countless times.  While these are still not â,¬Ësure thingsâ,¬,,¢, a channeler generally has a better chance to perform one of his tricks, and is less fatigued by failure.

Powers: Powers are magical abilities or constant effects which are bestowed by certain classes and feats.  Generally, they are invokable at will and are among the weakest of magical effects, though some of the mightier Powers are useable only a limited number of times per day and are comparable in force to some of the lesser Spells.

Enchantments:  Magical treasures in the game Iâ,¬,,¢m designing tend to be a bit rarer than in core D&D.  To compensate for this, there will be abundant technically-non-magical â,¬Ëusefulâ,¬,,¢ treasure (as opposed to â,¬Ëvalueâ,¬,,¢ treasure like gold, gems and art, that is) for them to pick up.  Masterwork will be expanded to include multiple degrees of excellence, alchemical â,¬Ëtreasuresâ,¬,,¢ will be more abundant, and so on.  Also, classes will in general be completely rewritten in such a way that high-level fighter types, for instance, are less dependent on having a complete set of level-appropriate magical â,¬Ëlootâ,¬,,¢ in order to compete with high-level magic types.  The magical items that DO exist, however, break down into three categories: Consumables, Charms, and Artifacts.  
Despite everything I just said about magic items being rare, Consumables will still be fairly common, beginning their appearance in treasure hordes and as rewards in the low levels.   As their name suggests, Consumables are consumed by their use, and so they have a finite number of â,¬Ëchargesâ,¬,,¢ (in most cases, a single charge).  Another common (though not universal) feature of Consumables (and in particular of Potions and Dusts, the two most common sorts of Consumables), is that they require no actual knowledge of â,¬Ëmagicâ,¬,,¢ per se to create.  Anyone with the proper ingredients, recipies, equipment and training can attempt to brew a potion or to blend magic dust.  (Despite the lack of arcane knowledge required, I still classify these kinds of Consumables as magic items, as opposed to alchemical wonders, because they have effects which can be dispelled.)  Some other Consumables, such as spellstones, are instead magical items that are naturally occuring.
Unlike most Consumables, Charms require magical knowledge and training to create.  However, they do not require the casting of spells or any rites in order to create.  Usually, they are formed by the use of proper runes and other magical symbols in combination with the right rare magical ingredients.  Charms are frequently created as a convenience for the maker â,¬' the broom which sweeps by itself and the bottle that never empties of wine are examples of Charms â,¬' but not all charms are of such pedestrian nature.  Weapons may be charmed to become ensheathed with flame, boots may be charmed to cause the wearer to walk much faster, and nearly anything may be charmed so that it does not inflict any encumberance upon the carrier.  Any given item may only carry a single Charm on it, however.
Artifacts are the most powerful of magical items.  They are distinct from Charms for three reasons. Firstly, each one is unique and must, as part of its enchantment, be given a unique name.  Secondly, they can have many more than one magical effect placed within them.  Lastly, they can only be created by the performance of magical rituals as outlined above.  The difficulty and expense of the ritual depends on the power of the item â,¬' the ritual to create truly potent Artifacts might require an enchanter to give up a part of himself as a component.  Artifacts are not as rare as their D&D equivalents, and may well appear in treasure hordes from time to time, but it must be always remembered that they are unique items.

[Epic Meepo]

I see lots of mentions of arcane power. Where does divine magic fit in this scheme?

[Kalos Mer]

Thanks, Meepo, for your question.

I see lots of mentions of arcane power. Where does divine magic fit in this scheme?

Briefly, it doesn't.

More elaborately...
I'm rewriting the rules for this system of mine.  While I'm not going so far as it seems the people over at "A New Way" are - my game remains a classes & levels based d20 game with MOST (if I had to guess, I'd say 80%) of the core mechanics easily recognizeable by D&D 3.5 players - I am completely overhauling the magic system, completely redesigning and rebalancing classes, changing race mechanics a little, and expanding skills.

Among the D&D concepts that is getting the axe in the process is the separation of magic out into divine and arcane flavors.  There will be nothing inherently different about healing spells as compared with fireball spells that says they can't be written down into spellbooks and learned the same way.

Are there still gods?  Yes.  In fact, in a change from previous settings of mine, the gods will occasionally contact mortals and might rarely manifest themselves.  Are there still priests?  Absolutely.  Do some priests cast spells?  Yes.  But they acquire and work their spells in the same way that their secular spellcasting brethren do.  Being religiously minded, they might view their abilities with spellcasting as a 'gift from the gods', but it isn't literally true.

All that being said, however, it IS true that certain deities may have a prestige class of some kind devoted to them.  Some of these classes may grant magical powers (ie, "Powers" as I define the term above).  I haven't made any specific plans about this, but it could happen - this would then be as close to exclusively divine magic as this system of mine will come.

[Numinous]

I like the system, and it sounds quite interesting.  If you could perhaps post some summary of the changes as an attached file when it's done, I'd like to give it a look-over.  Seeing as I, unfortunately, will eventually rewrite the magic system, a head start would be helpful.

[Kalos Mer]

The statistical parts of the magic system are under development, and I will post them bit by bit as they are achieve 'second draft' form.  Tomorrow I should have the basics of Spells up.

The other parts of the systems (skills, etc) I will post as they come up... or perhaps I'll post it all in one thread in the campaign board.

[Kalos Mer]

Some Basic Rules (for context)

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Races:
Axis Mundi is going to have a completely redesigned set of races.  Iâ,¬,,¢m not yet sure whether the pseudo-Tolkienate ones in the PHB will survive, but even if they do I will be adding at least 3 additional races with less â,¬Ëarchetypical fantasyâ,¬,,¢ feel.

Leveling
Axis Mundi leveling follows standard d20 â,¬' Abilitiy increases every 4th level, Feats every third level, Skills cap at level +3, etc.  Levels cost the same amount of XP as in core D&D.
Unlike D&D, there are no XP penalties for multiclassing â,¬' in fact, multiclassing novice and initiate classes is highly encouraged.  This means there is also no favored class mechanic in Axis Mundi.
Axis Mundi side-steps some of the problems of 3.x Dungeons and Dragons by incorporating â,¬Ëepicâ,¬,,¢ progression of a sort directly into the core game.  The rules will be written from the outset to assume a cap not at 20, but at 40 levels.  While a shift of power of sorts does occur at level 20, it wonâ,¬,,¢t be as drastic as the one that happens according to the 3E ELH.  The main â,¬Ëbonusesâ,¬,,¢ for reaching such high levels are that a few additional feats will become available, and the character can choose High-Level Abilities (HLAs) every 5 levels (at 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40).  HLAs are more potent than feats, but not as powerful as some of the monstrosities in epic D&D.

Class Structure
Axis Mundi uses a class set-up loosely derived from the d20 Modern roleplaying game. There are threeâ,¬Ëtiersâ,¬,,¢ of classes.
Novice Classes are the classes in which first level characters begin.  Like d20 Modern classes, they are thematically tied to the 6 ability scores, though their names, flavors and abilities have been changed to reflect the setting.  They have no pre-requisites and are highly customizeable (designed to represent a number of concepts in one class.)  All novice classes have a 10-level progression, though few stick with novice classes that long.
Initiate Classes are roughly parallel to â,¬Å"Advanced Classesâ,¬Â in d20 Modern.  Initiate Classes have more specific focus than Novice classes, but are still rather customizeable.  They have prerequisites, but these are generally vague (a specific feat or two and a handful of skill ranks.)  Except in very unusual circumstances, it is generally assumed that characters â,¬Ëjumpâ,¬,,¢ from Novice to Initiate classes sometime between levels 4 and 6 and never look back.  Initiate Classes have 30-level progressions.
Master Classes are highly specialized elite classes, akin to Prestige Classes in d20 Urban Arcana.  Levels in Master Classes are generally a little more powerful than levels in Initiate Classes, but they are balanced by strict prerequisites and by a lack of customizability.  Not all characters are expected to take Master Classes at all.  Master classes generally have 10-level progressions, though a few 5-level and (still-fewer) 15-level progressions also might pop up.  It is recommended that characters be restricted to one Master Class.

Skills
Charcters in general will have a lot more skillpoints going around.  All classes will have at least 4 (+ Intelligence modifier) skill points per level.  This will be balanced out because the skill list will be larger.

Feats
As mentioned above, their progression will be the same as in standard.  However, all novice and most initiate classes will also provide bonus feats somewhere between once every two levels and once every five levels.  The general goal is to encourage players to use their non-bonus feats to acquire skills unrelated to their class (the wizard who learns a thing or two about armor, the warrior who picks up some stealth, or the rogue who dabbles in some spellcasting), while bonus feats are used to customize and improve class-related features.  (They neednâ,¬,,¢t do this if they prefer to spend ALL feats on specialization, of course.)
It should also be noted that Axis Mundi characters start with two feats, not one.  (Humans get three).

Now That Thatâ,¬,,¢s Over Withâ,¬Â¦

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Rules for Spells
The Fluff
Spells are short phrases of great might, formed from the combinations of Words of Power.  These words serve as a sort of arcane lightning rod by which the Spellcaster focuses both his own mind and raw magical energies much more precisely than he could un-aided.
Spells lie recorded (in a roundabout way, see below) in weighty tomes.  By reading over these recorded forms and scrutinizing them carefully, a trained spellcaster can internalize the words of power necessary to invoke the spells.  This process is called memorization.  These words, however, because they are of no mortal tongue, press very hard upon the mind of the would-be spellcaster.  Once he has memorized them, they thrash about vigorously in his brain, seeking an outlet.  Only very great minds have enough space within them to house many of these words comfortably.
When a spellcaster utters the words to one of his spells, he unleashes a great power from his brain and the spellâ,¬,,¢s magical effects immediately ensue.  However, by the very act of pronouncing a spell, the caster liberates those words of power from his mind, and they vanish with the casting.  As such, before he can cast that spell again, he must re-memorize it.

The Basics
An individualâ,¬,,¢s capacity for retaining spells in memory is measured by his Spell Pool.  Every character and creature with an intelligence score has a base Spell Pool rating of 2 + his intelligence modifier.  (Thus, characters with an Intelligence Score of 7 or lower cannot cast spells.)  There are three ways to increase this rating:
Feats:  The 1st-level-only feat Magical Training improves the characterâ,¬,,¢s Spell Pool by 1, and lets him start with 2 1st degree spells already known.  More generally, the feat Improved Spellcasting allows +2 to be added to the Spell Pool, and it can be taken multiple times.  Improved Spellcasting is a prerequisite for (most) magic-using Initiate Classes.
Classes:  Certain Initiate and Master classes increase a characterâ,¬,,¢s Spell Pool by 1 every level, every other level, or every third level.
Mageâ,¬,,¢s Salt: Although very rare, this naturally-occuring magical mineral, when consumed, increases a mageâ,¬,,¢s Spell Pool for one day.  (The degree of increase depends on the purity of the sample, and may range from 2 to 10)

Ex: Matthias is a  Sage 5 / Mage 7 with an Intelligence of 19.  He took Magical Training at first level, and has since taken Improved Spellcasting once.  His Spell Pool rating is therefore 16 [Base 2 + 4 (Intelligence) + 1 (Magical Training) + 2 (Improved Spellcasting) + 7 (Mage levels).

Spells, meanwhile, are ranked in terms of power by â,¬Å"degreesâ,¬Â, given in the form of a number from 1 to 8 -   1st degree spells are the weakest, and 8th degree spells are the strongest.  The degree of a spell also indicates the amount of space it takes up in the Spell Pool when memorized (1st Degree spells take up one point of Spell Pool space, 2nd Degree spells take up 2, etc).
[note=Spell Degrees and Character Level]By the rules as written, a first level character could conceivably cast 4th degree spells.  Obviously this would be unbalancing. Fortunately, the remedy is simple. Since the only way to gain new spells is to find them in books, the DM should make sure he doesnâ,¬,,¢t drop spells of an inappropriate level into any treasure hordes.  (After playtesting, I will create a recommended level minimum for each degree of spells.)[/note]
All characters with a Spellpool of at least 1 (IE, an Intelligence score of over 7) can memorize and cast 1st Degree spells.  To cast spells of higher degrees, one must have an intelligence modifier equal to the degree of the spell: it takes an Intelligence of 14 to be able to handle second degree spells, 16 for 3rd degree spells, and so on up to the 8th degree spells, which require an intelligence score of 26 to cast.  To reach this highest degree of spells therefore requires a highly dedicated magician with a great deal of focus and an intellect of legendary proportions.  (To ease the progression a little, there does exist a feat, namely Advanced Spellcasting, which gives one an effective +2 to Intelligence for the purposes of determining Spellpool AND what degrees of spells one can cast.  This feat cannot be taken more than once, however, so a character's Intelligence must still be pretty high to reach the pinnacle of spells.)
 
Ex: Matthias, from the previous example, has an intelligence modifier of 4 (Int 19) and therefore can cast spells of up to the 4th degree.  With a Spell Pool of 16, he can have in his mind 16 first degree spells, or 4 fourth degree spells, or 1 fourth degree spells, 2 third degree spells, and 2 second degree spells, or any other combination of spells whose degrees add up to 16.

It is not possible to have one spell â,¬Ëmultiple-memorizedâ,¬,,¢, as it is in D&D.

[Kalos Mer]

I updated the previous post massively, with some rule corrections and also a basic outline of where I'm going with this setting as a whole.

Spellbooks and Memorization
Spells are stored in written form in spellbooks.  As mentioned above, however, they are stored in a roundabout fashion.  The words of spells are far too difficult to represent on paper directly, using mortal alphabets.  Instead, the written form of a spell takes the form of a poem, or an anecdotal story, or a brief philosophical dialogue, or (in vogue these days) an occultic treatise covered in threatening looking diagrams and obscure mystical references.  By reading over this â,¬Ëwritten formâ,¬,,¢ of the spell, a caster with sufficient intelligence enters a state of mystic understanding, from which he acquires the necessary magic words.  A single spell may have a number of possible written forms that produce the proper mystical awareness, but each one is exactingly precise â,¬' the improper copying of a single word will ruin it.
When a caster encounters the written form of a spell for the first time in (for instance) the spellbook of a slain rival, the first thing to check is whether the caster can read the language the book is written in.  If it is a language with which he is unfamiliar, then he can make no headway until he rectifies the situation, whether by study or by magic.  (Since the written forms of spells are not in themselves magical, they may be recorded in whatever language the author wishes).  If he does possess the necessary language skills, he then makes a Spellcraft check with a DC of 20 + (2 times the degree of the spell).  If this check succeeds, then he is able to glean what the spell in question does, approximately.  (If it is one of the Canonical Incantations, which see below, it might be titled, in which case a Knowledge (Arcana) check with a flat DC of 20 may be substituted for the Spellcraft Check.)
When the caster thereafter wishes to memorize a spell out of his enemyâ,¬,,¢s book, he may do so by studying the spellâ,¬,,¢s written form carefully and reflecting on itâ,¬,,¢s meaning.  The reader then must make another Spellcraft check, with a DC of 15 + (2 times the spell degree).  If this succeeds, he may memorize the spell.
Per fifteen minutes of study and reflection out of â,¬Ëforeignâ,¬,,¢ books like this, a spellcaster may memorize total degrees of spells equal to his intelligence modifier.
Such use of â,¬Ëborrowedâ,¬,,¢ books may content the amateur spellcaster or the grand magus still out on a mission who does not have access to his personal library, but in general most wizards of worth will eventually want to copy captured spells over into books of his own.  This process is called transcribing spells, and all spells to which a wizard has applied this process are said to be his Known Spells. The act of transcribing a spell has three stages.  First, the wizard must memorize the spell out of the borrowed text, making the necessary check and taking the necessary amount of time for this act.  Second, he must reflect quietly on the spell while it is in his mind, for a period of one hour per degree of the spell.  Thirdly, he must write down his new version of the spell (he need not remain true to the form of the original written version â,¬' he can change it into any language and any style of writing that he desires.)  This writing down expunges the spell from the casterâ,¬,,¢s memory just as if it had been cast, and he must now rememorize it before it can be cast again.
When memorizing spells from his own transcriptions, a spellcaster need not make the Spellcraft check to confirm successful memorization â,¬'he is automatically successful - and he can internalize his Intelligence modifier worth of degrees of spells per 10 minutes, instead of per 15 as with â,¬Ëcapturedâ,¬,,¢ spells.

The Rules for precisely how many spells a given spellbook may hold will come later.