Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Wizardy: School of Conjuration

With Danik, our mage, reaching level 2, I wanted to give a try to make another Wizardy option available: Conjuration. I already had some ideas before but this was a good time to flesh them out on paper (or whatever this is).

The hardest part is to estimate the balance of this. Wizardy schools in the package are quite powerful I think however, so nothing below should be over the top. If Danik goes this route, it'll be a good time to test things out but he might go Illusion instead...




Wizard: School of Conjuration
Your study of magic focused on the manipulation of the planes and otherworldly forces. Through your magic, you try to breach the gap between the what is and the what might be, conjuring forces few mortals usually encounter in a lifetime. While used routinely during Divine rituals, Arcane conjuration is frowned upon in most social circles, just a step above Necromancy and you had to find a master in secrecy or had to study on your own.
The most powerful Conjurers are usually found serving a ruler of some sort, sometimes as part of their military. Their knowledge of dimensions and planar travels tend to be very useful when mixed with military tactics. Others simply lock themselves away from civilization, delving ever deeper into the unknown manipulation of space and dimensions, spending years in endless debates with dimensional beings and sometimes even immortals themselves.

(idea here is that Conjuration is a bit like Necromancy in that it alters the natural order of things and therefore people and organizations tend to not like it if not directed by an immortal, as in Divine Magic, hence why it's frowned upon and views with suspicion)

Conjuration features:

  • 2 - Multi-dimensional Mage Hand
  • 5 - Dimension shift
  • 12 - Planar Network
  • 16 - Instinctive Conjuring
  • 20 - Planar Distortion

Multi-dimensional Mage Hand:
(idea here is to really give a true conjurer feel. The hand is a direct extension of yourself, as if you had another hand yourself. It shouldn't be overpowered I think compared to the other level 2 wizardy abilities and could lead to some interesting tactics)
  • If you do not know the Mage Hand cantrip, you now do.
  • Mage Hand is now a permanent, at will, swift, concentration cantrip. The conjurer can, as part of another action (not a spell), summon or unsommon his mage hand and have much more control over it than the normal cantrip. 
  • You can now cast spells through the hand itself instead of through you. While you still need the verbal component of the spells on your side, the hand can handle the somatic component, summoning in it's palm your own (or others) components (they need to be within 25' of the hand itself). 
  • You can, as an action, make the hand do an Attack, Grapple or Use an item. The hand uses the mage's INT modifier without PROF bonus for it's actions. It's base damage is a d4 + INT modifier of the mage though it can wield items as well if available. 
  • The hand has no weight nor physicality until it acts. If attacked when it's physical, it'll dissipate instantly then reform for the next turn of the mage. 
  • The hand must be within sight of the mage at all time and cannot be used if "Blinded". If at any moment eye contact is broken, the hand dissipates. It still has the same range and moves as a normal hand (25') 
  • The hand has no free will and acts during your combat turn. You can move it (up to 25') as part of your move for the turn. 
  • When unused, the hand will stay dormant as part of your own body, resting along your torso peacefully until you activate it. It's appearance is like a ghostly hand, the same size as yours. 


Reactive Shift:
(this one is tricky but could be tons of fun. Against one attack, it's a straight up "avoid it" if it works but since it's one reaction per turn, shouldn't be overpowered in combat. It's "fun" parts of random direction makes it balance I believe and adds even more tactical possibilities).
  • You can now use your reaction for a turn to "Shift" and avoid danger. 
  • If you do, roll a d10. On a 1 to 8, you "shift" through dimensions 5' in that direction, avoiding the blow (going from Top left square to bottom right). On a 9 or 10, you shift too close for no real effect. 
  • If your shift would take you into a solid structure of any kind (wall, door, etc), you take D10 damage from the shock and shift back into another empty square next to it (DMs choice). Do a DC10 CON save, on success, damage is halved. 
  • If your shift would take you into a space taken by an item big enough to cause movement penalties (chair, rocks, etc) do a DEX save DC 15. On a success, you barely avoid collision. On a failure, you collide with it and end up prone in that square. 
  • If your shift would take you into a space taken by a creature of any kind, do a STR or DEX contest between you and the creature. If you lose, you are fall prone. If you win, the creature falls prone. In any case, the creature you shifted into is pushed back one square from the direction you arrived. 
Planar Network:
(simple but effective. "Contact other plane" is cool spell at that level but is a BITCH due to its resistance checks. As a conjurer, makes sense to get some kind of advantage on that I think.)
  • If you do not know the spell "Contact other plane", you now do and always have it memorized. This doesn't count as a known slot for the day though it does consume a spell slot when used
  • You can cast the spell as normal but you have advantage on your resistance checks when you receive an answer.
Contingency Conjuring:
(this is where the dimensional shit starts hitting the fan. Simple but when you look at the conjuration spells, it can be CRAZY. Quite like this one personally)

  • You can use any Conjuration spell you know as a reaction. You do not need to have it memorized but otherwise normal casting rule apply (and it costs a spell for the day according to the spell level) but ignore the casting time entirely.

Planar Distortion:
(not sure here. I got a vague idea but need to sleep on it. Overall I'd like some kind of big fucked up zone effect where crazy shit can happen at will, ranging from conjuring simple items as will, to contacting other plane beings, to random planar shift, etc. Like some kind of Conjurer Master spell)

Edit: Danik finally ended up going Illusion, which is another great school. Never got to see this into play.



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