Norrathians: Magic Changes

Back to Setting Details

Mana

A character’s mana pool is not determined by caster level. It is determined by class levels that grant the mana pool in question. Hybrid classes have a caster level equal to their class level – 4. However, the total hybrid class levels determine a character’s mana pool.

That is, for the purposes of calculating mana, a 7th-level paladin has as much mana as a 7th-level cleric with an identical Wisdom score. This means that, for example, a druid may multiclass as a ranger without slowing the growth of his mana pool.

Bard Songs

The bard spells that cost mana have not changed. However, bards do not need to spend 1 mana each round a song is being played.

Material Components for Summoning Spells

Arcane spells that summon creatures use the material component as a focal point for the materialization of the creature being summoned. As such, all arcane pet summoning spells essentially have a range of “Thrown Item”. That is, the caster must take hold of the material component and place it in the location where the creature will appear. This can be at the caster’s feet, or it can be at the feet of a nearby enemy, as long as the material component is still within Close range.

Additionally, all material components must be customized to the caster using them. It is not possible for a necromancer, for example, to summon a skeletal minion using any old piece of bone that he sees nearby. Refer to the information on the new skill Trade Skill (arcana) for a complete explanation.

Raising the Dead

If a character who has been raised from the dead loses enough experience points that they no longer qualify for their current level, they do not lose a level. Instead, the character’s maximum hit point and mana pool (if the character is capable of wielding mana) are both reduced by 1 per character level. The character’s maximum hit point and mana pools return to normal once the character regains enough XP to qualify for the current level. There is no other method to alleviate this penalty.

Blended Magic

Blended magic is fairly common, and not that different from regular magical use. By blending spells together, a caster can cast multiple spells concurrently, as one blended spell. While this takes longer, it has the potential to lower the mana cost of the spells, and in some situations, having multiple spells become active at the exact same moment is beneficial. Any caster is capable of blending spells.

Combining Spells

Blending spells together causes them to all be cast as a single spell. This means that the target of the blended spell cannot be split up according to the component spells. If, for example, a necromancer were to cast bone walk, coldlight, and endure disease as a blended spell, the summoned pet would receive the disease resistance and the summoned coldlight.

However, for the purposes of determining spell levels for resistance and dispelling DCs, each produced effect of a single blended spell retains the spell level of the component spells. So, if the same necromancer were to cast disease cloud, heat blood, and fear as a blended spell, the target of the spell would resist a level 1, level 5, and level 2 spell separately, but all in the same instance.

Casting Time

The casting time for blended spells is much longer than what is required for the component spells. A blended spell has a casting time of 2 full round actions, plus a full round action for every spell whose normal casting time does not exceed 1 full round. When blending a spell that has a casting time greater than a full round action, triple the casting time of the spell with the greatest casting time, and add the casting time of all additional spells (using a full round action for all spells whose casting time does not exceed a full round action).

For example, a level 18 magician wants to cast both minor summoning: earth and burnout II, so that as soon as his elemental pet is summoned, it has the benefits of the burnout II spell. Minor summoning: earth has a casting time of 2 full rounds, and burnout II has a casting time of 1 round. To determine the casting time of the blended spell, the magician triples the longest casting time (in this case, 2 rounds) and adds the casting time of the additional spell (in this case, 1 round). So, the magician spends 7 full rounds casting this blended spell.

Channeling

Because blended spells are slightly different than the normal method of casting, a Channeling skill check is required in order to succeed in casting of the spell. The DC is equal to 9 + 1 for each spell being blended. Generally, casters may take 10 on this roll. However, in cases where there are any distractions nearby (such as when casting on a moving ship, or during a storm, or in a busy marketplace, or during combat) the caster must add the normal distraction DC to the blended spell DC in order to determine success. Also, the distraction check’s DC is calculated by adding the spell levels of all spells being blended.

During the casting of blended spells you are always considered flat-footed, and blended spells cannot be cast defensively.

For example, if a shaman wanted to blend together the spells inner fire, endure cold, strengthen, endure fire, endure acid, and endure disease, his Channeling check DC would be 15. If he were to try casting the spells during bad weather, in blinding sleet, his Channeling check DC would shoot up to 31 (15 + 5 + spell levels totaling 11).

Mana Costs

Add the mana costs of all the spells being blended to determine the total mana cost of the blended spell. When blending more than two spells together, the total mana cost of the blended spell drops by 5% (round down, minimum 1 point of mana reduced).

For example, a cleric wants to blend the spells holy armor, cure disease, and minor healing on his friend the wizard who just came out of a small scuffle. The total mana costs for all three spells combined is only 9. Though 5% of 9 is less than 1, he still may lower the cost of the blended spell by 1 mana point. If he then prepares his paladin friend for the next fight by loading him up with armor of faith, resist disease, and symbol of Pinzarn as a blended spell, the mana total comes to 66 points of mana. The blended spell’s cost is then reduced by 3 points of mana (3.3 rounded down).

Full Example

Kurgg Potlicker is a level 12 troll shaman, and is preparing his party for a raid on a small halfling farm. He's overcompensating for the danger by blowing all of his mana on buff spells, hoping to earn him an excuse for doing nothing but barshin’ skulls during the fight. So, he casts spirit of monkey, spirit strength, spirit of cat, endure electricity, endure cold, turtle skin, and endure sonic on himself and his three allies, as four separate blended spells. The costs for these spells individually, respectively, are: 7, 7, 10, 3, 3, 8, and 3, for a total of 41. The total mana saved by casting this blended spell four times will be 8 mana, but he will need to start with a mana pool of at least 156 mana. Luckily, Kurgg has 5 mana left (just enough to cast light healing on himself, if the need arises) and he tells the others that if they don't make it out of this mess alive, it's not his fault.

The casting time for each blended spell is going to be pretty long, and will require some serious concentration, so he finds a good hiding place and gets to work. All of the spells being blended have a casting time of one action. So, he knows that all he must do to determine the casting time of the blended spell is to add the number of spells together and add 2, giving him the number of rounds he’ll need to spend casting. In this case it’s 9 full rounds, or a total of 36 full rounds (about three and a half minutes) for all four blended spells. His Channeling skill check will be 16 for each blended spell. His skill modifier is quite high, so he feels more than comfortable taking 10 on this roll. However, he also knows he would be uncomfortable indeed if he were to be distracted, since that Channeling skill check’s DC would be calculated with a spell level of 32, and that DC would have an additional penalty of a +16 from the normal blended spell’s DC.

If he hadn't cast these spells as a blended spell, he'd have had to decide who didn't get a buff, being 3 points of mana short. This would likely cause someone to distrust Kurgg, and the fight might have started before any halfling knew there was a troll nearby. For those who make it through the battle alive, their buffs will last 2 full hours (6 hours for spirit strength) and all effects will all expire at the same exact moment.
Kurgg is smarter than he looks.

---

EQrpg: Norrathians