Ds Flavor project on spellcasting - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Ds Flavor project on spellcasting

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Jul 15, 2003 17:10:29 In the midst of the desert, a man stood watching the soil beneath, surveying the surroundings. The man clad in simple sand coloured robes held in his suntanned hands a stone darker even than Obsidian, with shades the one darker than the other. In his reverie he started moving in a pattern, although chaotic, a pattern well practised. The chants, in a language not understood by most for it was one only the chosen could understand.

The sands around started to swirl around him, and although there were no winds, the sands picked up as in a sandstorm. The man was now wild in his chants and his arms were like a blur making intricate pattern in the air. The sands swirled and swirled all around as though it would consume him.

Then suddenly the man fell on his knees, panting heavily, his hands touched the ground and his lips touched the sands. The stormed calmed and the sand fell towards the dry desert. By miracle everywhere the sand touched the ground, grass and flowers began to sprout. The desert, which was before, turned into a fertile stretch.
[i]

Small preview on one of my projects I'm currently doing. I always thought it a pity that the flavor of spellcasting in Ad&d was weak, as in most spells only the material components are mentioned and the rituals are left out. So, i thought it was time to do something about it and started this project. I presume that for most of you it is out of date as I'm still stuck in the 2nd Edition. But I just wanted to know what you think of it or if someone of you already has done something like this.

BTW for those who didn't know yet the spell described was the 4th level Earth spell Rejuvenate.

Thanks for yer feedback
#2
Shei-Nad
Jul 15, 2003 22:11:52 I think, and always thought, this could be a good idea.

Note that it could very well apply to 3e as well. Many spells would have the same descriptions, even with different mechanics.

I really think a Spellcasting complement with flavor material could be nice. Those who prefer to describe spellcasting and spelleffects themselves have all the leisure to do so, but a project like this couldn't be bad.

Also, a section on material components, complete with availability and price, would be especially interesting and flavorable on Athas. I am utterly against the idea of a spell components pouch in Dark Sun. Searching, finding and buying material components had always been an interesting aspect of Athas, where arcane magic is illegal, and the idea of a complete (and infinite, mechanics-wise) supply of them easy to come by is oversimplifying and wasting to spirit of Dark Sun.

But what I would most like to see, and this applies to all D&D settings, would be a list (or several lists) of material components (ingredients) for the creation of magic items. This would really, really come in handy, and not to mention, would be a lot more flavorable and fun.

Simplification is key in D&D, that is obvious. But then, there's oversimplification. While I agree and like the basic system of cost for different magic items of different power, it would be nice to know what all this gold is spent on exactly. I assume you don't create cure potions by dropping 50gp into a water flask, nor do you create a magic sword by fusing 2000gp with a mw sword.

A sourcebook giving us several options for all magic items would be really nice. Gathering these items could prove to be adventures in themselves, and the cost of magic items would still be respected.

Anyways, we could have a really neat Internet Magic Sourcebook for Spellcasting, Material components and Magic Item ingredients and Creation Rituals.

What do you say KirNaNog? I'll be on vacation soon and I'd be willing to contribute.

Any others?
#3
Shei-Nad
Jul 15, 2003 22:14:17 Oh, and we could add an appendix with 83 athasian wizard variants too!!!

:D

Hi Jon!
#4
zombiegleemax
Jul 16, 2003 0:52:13 Thanks for the feedback; well I agree that spell components shouldn't be commonly available to players on Athas and that the quest for that should be hard. On the other hand it might just ruin your campaign if you make it to hard for the players to obtain them.

I like the idea of the magical item cost and the components for the different items.

And yes I would appreciate your help in this project so please contact me on [email=jan.gijsbrechts@pandora.be]Kirnanog[/email] .

Thanks in advance
#5
Kamelion
Jul 16, 2003 1:46:13 Heh heh - I was sure this was gonna be another "defiling and preserving" thread. Look before you leap, Kamelion ;)

IIRC, the 2.5 book "Spells and Magic" had a huge list of material components by price, type and availability. I'd recommend starting there as a point of reference...

Also, there is something (on Jon's site, I think) that has prices for unusual items - some of these would probably qualify as material components.

Am pretty busy getting DS game ready for Friday but I'll take a look and see if I can scan and ocr something by the weekend.
#6
star_gazer_02
Jul 16, 2003 21:27:57 In the vein of simplification, w/o oversimplifying, here's what I would do about spell components:

Any spell component over 10cp in price needs a supplier. Wizards will soon have a list of suppliers they need to contact to garner their spell components. In a given Geographical area, wizards will not need to keep track, I charge players 100cp/spell level/month to maintain standard components, which include anything less than 100cp in value, once they have found a supplier. Suppliers can be found w/ a Street Wise check at DC of 10, modified buy the following chart. Failed rolls can be retried in a week. Failure by +5 or more means that you (or your supplier) have attracted the attention of local law enforcement.

Situation DC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
per level of spell +2 (0th level spells are +0)

per component already +1
supplied by that supplier

per 10cp of component +1
price after the first 10cp

membership in Veiled Alliance -5

spell component is clerical only -15

This has several interesting effects:
1) It encourages roleplaying
2) It creates interesting NPCs
3) It's a great way to generate sub-plots (my bat guano dealer is missing!)
4) It effectively models both the difficulty and danger of being a wizard, or worse, mistaken for one, he he he.
5) It doesn't bog you down with keeping track of individual spell components

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jul 15, 2003 17:10:29	In the midst of the desert, a man stood watching the soil beneath, surveying the surroundings. The man clad in simple sand coloured robes held in his suntanned hands a stone darker even than Obsidian, with shades the one darker than the other. In his reverie he started moving in a pattern, although chaotic, a pattern well practised. The chants, in a language not understood by most for it was one only the chosen could understand. The sands around started to swirl around him, and although there were no winds, the sands picked up as in a sandstorm. The man was now wild in his chants and his arms were like a blur making intricate pattern in the air. The sands swirled and swirled all around as though it would consume him. Then suddenly the man fell on his knees, panting heavily, his hands touched the ground and his lips touched the sands. The stormed calmed and the sand fell towards the dry desert. By miracle everywhere the sand touched the ground, grass and flowers began to sprout. The desert, which was before, turned into a fertile stretch. [i] Small preview on one of my projects I'm currently doing. I always thought it a pity that the flavor of spellcasting in Ad&d was weak, as in most spells only the material components are mentioned and the rituals are left out. So, i thought it was time to do something about it and started this project. I presume that for most of you it is out of date as I'm still stuck in the 2nd Edition. But I just wanted to know what you think of it or if someone of you already has done something like this. BTW for those who didn't know yet the spell described was the 4th level Earth spell Rejuvenate. Thanks for yer feedback
#2 Shei-Nad Jul 15, 2003 22:11:52	I think, and always thought, this could be a good idea. Note that it could very well apply to 3e as well. Many spells would have the same descriptions, even with different mechanics. I really think a Spellcasting complement with flavor material could be nice. Those who prefer to describe spellcasting and spelleffects themselves have all the leisure to do so, but a project like this couldn't be bad. Also, a section on material components, complete with availability and price, would be especially interesting and flavorable on Athas. I am utterly against the idea of a spell components pouch in Dark Sun. Searching, finding and buying material components had always been an interesting aspect of Athas, where arcane magic is illegal, and the idea of a complete (and infinite, mechanics-wise) supply of them easy to come by is oversimplifying and wasting to spirit of Dark Sun. But what I would most like to see, and this applies to all D&D settings, would be a list (or several lists) of material components (ingredients) for the creation of magic items. This would really, really come in handy, and not to mention, would be a lot more flavorable and fun. Simplification is key in D&D, that is obvious. But then, there's oversimplification. While I agree and like the basic system of cost for different magic items of different power, it would be nice to know what all this gold is spent on exactly. I assume you don't create cure potions by dropping 50gp into a water flask, nor do you create a magic sword by fusing 2000gp with a mw sword. A sourcebook giving us several options for all magic items would be really nice. Gathering these items could prove to be adventures in themselves, and the cost of magic items would still be respected. Anyways, we could have a really neat Internet Magic Sourcebook for Spellcasting, Material components and Magic Item ingredients and Creation Rituals. What do you say KirNaNog? I'll be on vacation soon and I'd be willing to contribute. Any others?
#3 Shei-Nad Jul 15, 2003 22:14:17	Oh, and we could add an appendix with 83 athasian wizard variants too!!! :D Hi Jon!
#4 zombiegleemax Jul 16, 2003 0:52:13	Thanks for the feedback; well I agree that spell components shouldn't be commonly available to players on Athas and that the quest for that should be hard. On the other hand it might just ruin your campaign if you make it to hard for the players to obtain them. I like the idea of the magical item cost and the components for the different items. And yes I would appreciate your help in this project so please contact me on [email=jan.gijsbrechts@pandora.be]Kirnanog[/email] . Thanks in advance
#5 Kamelion Jul 16, 2003 1:46:13	Heh heh - I was sure this was gonna be another "defiling and preserving" thread. Look before you leap, Kamelion ;) IIRC, the 2.5 book "Spells and Magic" had a huge list of material components by price, type and availability. I'd recommend starting there as a point of reference... Also, there is something (on Jon's site, I think) that has prices for unusual items - some of these would probably qualify as material components. Am pretty busy getting DS game ready for Friday but I'll take a look and see if I can scan and ocr something by the weekend.
#6 star_gazer_02 Jul 16, 2003 21:27:57	In the vein of simplification, w/o oversimplifying, here's what I would do about spell components: Any spell component over 10cp in price needs a supplier. Wizards will soon have a list of suppliers they need to contact to garner their spell components. In a given Geographical area, wizards will not need to keep track, I charge players 100cp/spell level/month to maintain standard components, which include anything less than 100cp in value, once they have found a supplier. Suppliers can be found w/ a Street Wise check at DC of 10, modified buy the following chart. Failed rolls can be retried in a week. Failure by +5 or more means that you (or your supplier) have attracted the attention of local law enforcement. Situation DC --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- per level of spell +2 (0th level spells are +0) per component already +1 supplied by that supplier per 10cp of component +1 price after the first 10cp membership in Veiled Alliance -5 spell component is clerical only -15 This has several interesting effects: 1) It encourages roleplaying 2) It creates interesting NPCs 3) It's a great way to generate sub-plots (my bat guano dealer is missing!) 4) It effectively models both the difficulty and danger of being a wizard, or worse, mistaken for one, he he he. 5) It doesn't bog you down with keeping track of individual spell components