Difference between revisions of "TwinDevils/Magic"

Revision as of 01:20, 27 September 2016

Magic does not operate the same way in Xibalba as in standard 5e.

Mana Types

Mana comes in twelve flavors: Acid, Cold, Fire, Force, Lightning, Necrotic, Poison, Primal, Psychic, Radiant, Thunder, and Veneficum ("prime"). Each mana type creates spells that principally deal the damage type associated with that type of mana, but have several other characteristics:

• Acid may destroy equipment, defeat magical effects, and affect movement.
• Cold can impair movement, create defenses, and cause storms.
• Fire is principally destructive in nature but can also imbue weapons with fire.
• Force shields, pushes, and damages, but can also is used for flight and banishment.
• Lightning controls light and energy, and can grant speed and invisibility.
• Necrotic deals with the power of life, and as such is responsible for both healing magic and necromantic effects.
• Poison is the sphere of (you guessed it) poison, disease, and noxious gasses.
• Primal is the mana of nature, and can be used to interact with natural phenomena.
• Psychic affects the mind, causing fear, charm, and illusion effects.
• Radiant is the power of the sun and can heal, protect, and smite undead.
• Thunder deals with both sound and the power of earth.
• Veneficum is the finer use of magic, from mage hand and teleportation to extradimensional effects.

Spell Levels

Spells still have levels, which are available to classes when they would normally gain access to them. (e.g. a Wizard gains access to level 3 spells at Wizard level 5). Cantrips are learned as normal, do not cost any mana points, and cannot be augmented (see below).

Additionally, casting 5th level spells or greater repeatedly without a short rest will incur fatigue. This begins to take place on the fourth cast of fifth- to sixth-level spells, on the third cast of seventh-level spells, and on the second cast of an eighth- or ninth-level spell.

Mana points

Twin Devils does not use spell slots, and instead uses mana points.

The total amount of mana available to a character is determined by level, and divided by half if their casting class is only partially a caster class.

• Full Casters: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard
• Half-Casters: Paladin, Ranger
• Third-Casters: Fighter (Eldritch Knight), Rogue (Arcane Trickster), Warlock*

Augmenting

All casters are additionally capable of pumping more mana into a spell of at least 1st level to enhance it. There are three ways a spell can be enhanced:

• Increase the Save DC or increase spell attack bonus: For every mana point added, add +2.
• Add additional result dice (healing, damage, etc.): For every mana point added, add an additional die.
  • e.g. casting Fireball (8d6 damage): One augment increases the damage to 9d6; three augments would increase the damage to 11d6.
• Increase the duration or area-of-effect of a spell by 25% per mana point.

However, with certain amounts of augmentation, spells have a chance to overcharge which forces a d20 roll. Depending on the threshold, overcharging may cause the spell to fail, for it to re-select targets, cause a wild magic effect, or detonate the caster. The overcharge threshold starts at 3 augments for level 1 spells, and scales down to 1 augment for level 9 spells. See the calculator for the exact chance.

Class Magic

Each class prepares mana in a slightly different way, as broken down by class.

Cleric/Paladin

Divine casters regain their mana points after a long rest. Clerics cast with Wisdom; Paladins cast with Charisma. Divine casters choose affinities with mana daily, and can only cast spells of those types for that day. They always have Radiant affinity, and choose a number of additional affinities after a long rest. They select 2 affinities at level 1, 3 affinities at level 7, 4 affinities at level 14, and 5 affinities at level 20.

Druid/Ranger

Natural casters regain their mana points after a long rest. They cast with Wisdom. After a long rest, natural casters choose a number of 1st-level or greater spells equal to their Wisdom modifier + their Proficiency bonus to prepare, and may only cast those spells for the given day. All cantrips a natural caster knows are always considered prepared. At least one spell they prepare must always be from the Primal mana type.

Spells known to a Druid through their Druid Circle feature are always considered prepared, and the first casting of those spells each day does not cost any mana (but may be augmented as normal).

Bard

Bards regain their mana points after a long rest. They cast with Charisma. After a long rest, Bards choose a number of 1st-level or greater spells equal to their Charisma modifier + their Proficiency bonus to prepare, and may only cast those spells for the given day. All cantrips a Bard knows are always considered prepared. When a Bard gains Magical Secrets, those spells are always counted as being prepared as well, adding to the total pool of spells a Bard can cast in a given day.

In addition to casting spells, they may spend a mana point to add half their proficiency bonus to any ability or skill check - this effect stacks with Jack of All Trades.

Warlock

Warlocks regain their mana points after a short rest. They cast with Charisma. They must always cast any spells they know with "At Higher Levels" features at the highest level they can cast. Additionally, your choice of Patron locks off certain types of mana from you:

• The Archfey locks Psychic and Thunder.
• The Fiend locks Cold and Veneficum.
• The Great Old One locks Primal and Thunder.
• The Undying locks Force and Primal.
• The Seeker locks Lightning and Psychic.
• The Undying Light locks Acid and Necrotic.
• The Ghost locks Fire and Radiant.

Sorcerer

Sorcerers regain their mana points after a long rest. They cast with Charisma. They do not retain their sorcery points feature, but may use their Metamagic feature as normal, paying the additional mana cost without invoking augment overcharge. In addition, Sorcerers have a new feature called Polarity. After a sorcerer casts a spell of a given type, they receive a free augment if the next spell they cast is of the opposed type. This does not cost a mana point, but does trigger overcharge as normal. The opposing mana types are:

• Acid <-> Poison
• Cold <-> Fire
• Force <-> Veneficum
• Lightning <-> Thunder
• Necrotic <-> Primal
• Psychic <-> Radiant

Wizard / Rogue (Arcane Trickster) / Fighter (Eldritch Knight)

Wizards, Arcane Tricksters, and Eldritch Knights regain their mana points after a long rest. They cast with Intelligence. At the start of each day, these casters must assign all of the mana available to them to specific types, from which they cast all of their spells that day. For example, a wizard with 12 mana points available may assign 10 to Fire, and 2 to Veneficum, and then be able to cast two Fireballs (5 Fire mana each) and a single casting of Expeditious Retreat (2 Veneficum mana)