There are multiple streams of magic in play.  These are divine magic (clerical spells), wizard (standard mage), illusionist (illusionist spells, see below for illusionist class), and spell songs (bard magic—see below for the full write up on bards).

If you are going to play a cleric, consider carefully the deity that you select.  There are greater gods, lesser gods, and demi-gods, and each provides different accesses to the various spheres of spells.  The details will be laid out in the pantheon thread.

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Clerical weapons are not always restricted to the “blunt, bludgeoning” weapons, although these weapons will always be permitted along with any weapons specifically listed as preferred under a particular deity.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:30, Sun 04 Apr 2021.

Magic is highly regulated in Trozan, and in order to legally cast spells of this nature, the mage or illusionist must hold a green card.  This green card allows spell use within the capital city and most other locations under control of Trozan (a blind eye might be turned in more remote areas if the spell is helpful to the people although the caster will be told to go apply forthwith), otherwise the spell casting is illegal and subject to a fine, at minimum.  Applicants for a green card apply at the capital at Crandal's Keep, and the process normally takes 6-12 days to complete.   It will be presumed that at the start of the game, any spell-casting PC will have already received that card.  Normal apprenticeship begins with residence with a master mage and common use of some minor cantrips (particularly those used to clean and repair things around the house); by the time the apprentice is considered capable of more, the green card would be applied for and the apprentice will then be able to cast magic outside the home of the master mage.

Because the “find familiar” spell is so cost-prohibitive, but the addition of familiars is something that can enhance the game, at the time of creation, any mage may elect to have a familiar.  This familiar may be chosen by chance (roll as per the table in the PHB) or selected with my approval (either any variety in the PHB table or some other creature).  Note that cats do not have to be black, but can be any color/pattern of common feline.  Selected familiars may also be other non-magical animal.  This does not require inclusion of the spell in your spellbook.  While familiars may have an extended lifespan compared to other creatures of their type, many do not have a lifespan equal to that of the mage.  If a familiar dies from old age, there are no ill-effects on the mage—those ill-effects are only the result of death as a result of direct mistreatment, neglect, or recklessly placing the familiar into harm's way.

Surviving low levels is hard.  As the rules are written, it seems like there is little difference between the mage with the INT of 9 and the mage with an INT of 18—you memorize your one spell, cast it, and spend the rest of the day either throwing darts or using a sling while trying very hard to stay out of harm's way, but it's a lot of rinse-and-repeat and using the same spell (sleep or magic missile, depending on which one is in the spellbook) every time.  Therefore, I am providing the opportunity to use bonus spells based on INT and the ability to cast spells of the given level (this is in addition to the extra spell for specialists):




In other words, a 1st level mage or illusionist with an INT 13 will be able to cast two 1st level spells/day, and a 1st level mage or illusionist with an INT 14+ will be able to cast 3 1st level spells/day.

At 3rd level, a mage with INT 15 will be able to cast 4 1st level and 2 2nd level spells; the mage with INT 16+ will be able to cast 4 1st level and 3 2nd level spells.

Magic-users and Illusionists will each be granted a separate group which will be the spell book(s) for the character.  In this thread, the spells scribed in a spellbook will be listed, and you may make any additional notes regarding the casting (what phrase you want to use for a verbal component, the gestures for somatic components, etc.) as well as indicating which spells are memorized for a given in-game day.  A spellbook contains 200 pages, and a spell takes a number of pages determined as [level] + (1d6-1), so each first level spell could take between 1 and 6 pages to scribe into the book.  A cantrip is considered 0 level for this calculation but would take a minimum of 1 page.

Spell components are used, but it will be assumed that any material component with a PHB cost under 100gp can be obtained by the magic-user during “down time”.  More expensive or rare components will require intentional sourcing and must be recorded on the character sheet when obtained.

Starting spellbooks will contain read magic, detect magic, and three spells—one combat, one defensive, and one “miscellaneous”.

A specialist wizard may have a sixth spell in the starting spellbook, which must be from the school of that specialty.

For clarity's sake, use the following tables for spell selection (note Miscellaneous has been split into two columns only to make it not so much longer than the other two categories, the spell chosen may be from either column, not one from each).  While it is possible to use a spell in a different way (light can be used in combat; ventriloquism can be used for entertainment), categories are based on what seems most appropriate as a primary use.  The Cantrip spell would actually be comprised of a set of four cantrips chosen from a separate table.

You do not have to check the chance to learn for any of the spells in the starting spell-book


This message was last edited by the GM at 13:54, Fri 14 May 2021.

Starting spellbooks will contain:  read illusionist magic, detect illusion, and four additional spells:  one offensive, one defensive, one miscellaneous, and one player's choice from any category.

If you chose to have cantrip in your starting spellbook, any four of these may be chosen by Magic-Users or Illusionists, except the last category is restricted to only illusionists.

The province of bards—a spell song may be sung, with the determination whether to release the magic or not to be made at the time of singing.  Spell songs may also be used as performance without releasing the magic.  A bard will start by knowing five songs which can release magical effects (along with any number of other works suitable to entertaining crowds).  A bard may also compose additional songs starting at 9th level, which provide for other magical effects—this is something we will have to work out together as to song level and effects.  There may also be works of music that are additional spell songs which may be found in treasure troves or forgotten libraries, so it would be entirely legitimate to suggest that you'd really like to find a song that has a particular effect—even though your character isn't yet 9th level, it is entirely plausible that someone in the world had the same thought and the song may exist to be discovered.  You are free to create a lyric appropriate to the effect of a spell or simply state that your bard is going to sing the specific song.

Each song may be sung once per day with its magical effect.  For example, a second level bard may sing two songs a day for magical effects, but can sing the lullaby only once in that day with magical effect.  At this time, there are five known spell songs per spellsong level; however as from 9th level onward, a bard may compose his/her own songs, there may be others that can be discovered.

The first level spell songs in the repertoire are:

Eternal Wanderer
Range: 10' + 2'/level of bard
Duration: 4 hours + 1 hr/level of bard

When performed, this spellsong allows the bard and anyone within the spell range to move at triple normal movement rates without tiring for the duration of the spell. However, travelers will need to spend an equal amount of time resting as had been spent traveling after the spellsong duration has expired.

Faerie Lights
Range: 10' + 10'/level of bard
Duration: 6 turns
This spell song creates a series of shimmering lights that dance around any target, organic or not. This provides the same amount of light as a conventional wizard light spell. The dancing and flickering of lights may also dazzle creatures with animal or lower intelligence.

Lullaby
Range: 40'
Duration: 1d4 hours

When sung, this spellsong puts a number of monsters, up to 2d4 hit dice, to sleep. Creatures with hit dice less than half of the bard's level receive no saving throw; others may make a saving throw to avoid the effect. The bard may choose which creatures are to be affected, as long as the total number of hit dice hasn't been exceeded and the target stays in range. The bard may sing as many rounds as equal to the CON score, and saving throws for targets must be made each round (so a monster may suceed on round 1 but succumb on a subsequent round, needing to save vs spell each round until either falling asleep or the bard has to quit singing the song, or total HD affected has been reached). Those affected may be roused by shaking/poking for 1d4 rounds or will remain asleep for 1d4 hours. Only man-size or smaller creatures can be affected.

Moonlight Shadow
Range: 50'
Duration: 1d4 turns

This spellsong may be cast only on a moonlit night or in a daytime area with considerable shadow. The bard calls to the shadows by singing or quietly playing this spellsong, causing them to appear to deepen or thicken over a period of 1d6 rounds. The spell song affects an area roughly 30 feet diameter, with an increase in 5 feet diameter/3 levels of the bard to a max of 60' diameter. Rogues get a 25% bonus (+5% for every three levels of the bard, to a max of 55% bonus on top of existing skill) to Hide in Shadows. Non-rogues get a flat 25% chance to hide in the shadows.

Seeker of Magic
Range: 0 (bard only)
Duration: 6 turns
When sung, this song reveals the magical nature of all magical items in the area of effect. All magical items, including those worn, will have a soft blue halo around them for the duration of the spell. There is a 3% chance per level that the bard can identify correctly the exact nature of the magical item(s) examined but cannot get a read on the number of charges that an item might hold.

While this does not matter much for a general mage, I have made a slight change to the oppositions, as shown above.

"General" as a category includes only Read Magic, Detect Magic and all cantrips except for the illusion cantrips.

Illusion might seem as not really force, but look at it from the perspective of the illusionist is forcing the caster's will on reality.