I’m continuing on with this series as quickly as I can due to current events in the RPG industry. In this article I will discuss changes to the magic system.

Spellcasting

I originally intended for a lot of things to go into this section. But most of what I would do would essentially make a different game. In addition, I don’t want to dictate how magic works, as it is going to be different in each world.

Before I get into this, I want to make one cosmetic change. By changing spell “levels” into spell “powers”, I will get rid of the last part of the famous ambiguity of the word level in RPG. At this point, in Fantasy Quest, level only refers to how high up or down you are in a castle or dungeon.

The Skills

First, as mentioned in the previous article, spellcasting in Fantasy Quest requires two skills. I called them “magic power” and “magic theory” skills. At the time I write this, I think perhaps they should be called a “channel” skill and a “method” skill. Basically, you need to know how to get magical energy, and you need to know how to manipulate it.

Here’s a breakdown of what that means for the traditional spellcasting classes:

Wizard

A wizard uses rituals and materials (method) to manipulate the magic of the world and objects around them (channel).

Cleric

A cleric communes with their deity or its intercessors (method) to channel magical power within and around themself (channel).

Sorcerer

A sorcerer uses their willpower (method) to channel magical power within themself (channel).

Druid

A druid communes with nature (method) to channel its ambient magic (channel).

As you can see, the channeling skills for most are so similar that there really is no difference between three of them, only the sorcerer’s channel skill is different. If I were to keep it similar to D&D, the sorcerer’s channeling might come along with sorcery points and wild magic surges. Otherwise, it’s very likely there’s only one channelling skill for all of them, making it easier to add new method skills.

In essence, the method prescribes the spells one can cast, and the channeling describes how spell points are accumulated. It’s easy to implement Warlocks be creating a new channeling skill for them. With this mechanism one might easily create the infamous “warlock who thinks they’re a cleric”.

Meanwhile, half- and third-casters are simply a matter of spending some skill buy points on a method and a channel in between ranking up in fighting skills.

Other Spellcasters. Fantasy Quest also has additional types of spellcasters, although these might be produced in supplements. Warlocks are already mentioned above. Alchemy use materials and technology to manipulate the magic of the world, and might not actually have a channeling skill, meaning their spells will be much weaker. The ki powers of Monks becomes a new spell method which uses mind-and-body disciplines. Psychics tap into hidden capabilities of the mind to channel magic. Spiritualists commune with spirits to convince them to do their magic for them. Healers use alchemy and wizardry to cast healing spells traditionally only available to clerics.

Magic Drama

I have a weird obsession with how easy D&D makes magic. I think it’s a problem that gives spellcasters advantages over mundane characters, and makes everyone want to be a spellcaster. The ease of some magic could take away from the drama of the story itself. A fifth level wizard can kill more people with fireball than a mundane fighter could ever hope to kill in one battle, even if its only once per day. A seventh level wizard can just cast banishment, send the big bad away and the adventure is over. A ninth level wizard can just cast teleportation circle, and all of your plans for the next month of sessions travelling through the wilderness have to be thrown out.

And then there’s wish and all the other ninth level spells available at 17th level. I have never run or played in a high-level campaign, but I don’t even see how it would be fun at that point. I’m glad they’ve weakened wish since earlier editions. But that spell was originally withheld from players, and I’m willing to agree that that is a better way.

Revisiting Spells. I would like to revisit each spell and be sure it really belongs at the level it was given, or even belongs in the game.

Some of those powerful spells should at least have their costs enforced. Well before you’re at the level you can cast resurrection, how much really is 1,000 gp to that character? Personally, I would make the cost for that spell require an adventure to obtain some rare magical artifact, or even a trip to the underworld – and make sure you don’t look back on your way home.

Another major power problem are divination spells. Where’s the fun in problems from bad translations when you can just cast comprehend languages? How simple is a lost item puzzle if you can just cast locate object? At the very least divination spells should be rewritten to make it clear that you are speaking with spirits to gain your information, some of whom may not know, may know it wrong, or may purposely mislead you.

I’d also add costs to magic that in traditional fantasy has costs. I’ve seen a lot of fantasy and myths where traveling into other planes requires you to leave your body at home, taking precautions to protect it. This should be true of those spells in D&D as well. Some such magic might have your body essentially dead, prone to rotting, and taking damage.

One of the issues with some of these spells is that they often have forgotten costs in material components. In my experience, it’s hard for a referee to enforce the material costs of these spells, especially if they haven’t really been enforcing them for the weaker spells. If you just assume the characters have a pinch of ash for some spell, you’re going to forget to enforce that diamond cost. I feel like a better way is to create a more standard cost for spells, and to start this at the beginning. This will make it much easier for the quest master to enforce.

The Risk of Magic. In Fantasy Quest, casting magic has a cost, and this is how it is enforced. Any spell that doesn’t require a roll already, whether it’s an attack roll or a saving throw on behalf of the target, requires the caster to make a roll to cast the spell. The difficulty of the spell is related to the spell’s power. As I’m revisiting spells anyway and rearranging spells in different powers, the difficulty roll might just be 10 + the spell’s power. The roll is made with bonuses from your spellcasting ability score and your spellcasting method skill, so it’s not as hard as it sounds.

If whatever roll is made fails for the caster, whether it be this casting check, the attack roll, or if the target saves against the spell, the spellcaster takes force damage (whether or not they are immune to such damage). The amount of damage is related to the spell’s power, perhaps the power specifies the number of 1d4’s to roll. If I have wild magic surge, that table must be rolled as well. The damage might only be taken if the caster fails their roll by more than their channeling skill rank.

In order to avoid dying by failing to cast prestidigitation, the caster can use one additional spell slot of the same power (or converted from other spell slots) to absorb that damage. Perhaps there are magic items that can help absorb the damage as well. I might also have this damage roll start at higher power spells, with the first and second only giving 1 point of damage, and cantrips taking no damage. They would still have a chance of failure, though.

Casting Beyond Your Limits. I think tying the spell energy to the caster’s own health could add another feature. Fantasy Quest offers an opportunity for a spellcaster to go above and beyond their limits. Anytime a spellcaster wants to cast a spell they don’t have slots for, they can take damage equivalent to failing a spell at the power of that slot to cast it. If the failure damage roll is 1d4 times the power of the spell, then a caster can gain a 4th power spell slot by taking 4d4 force damage. Of course, if you fail to cast the spell, you then take an additional 4d4 damage.

This isn’t just for when you run out of spell slots. This can also be done to obtain spell slots youre channeling skill isn’t ranked high enough to obtain yet. Do you need to get your party out of the cavern a mile below the surface, but you’re only able to cast 3rd power spells? Just take 10d4 damage and you can try to cast a tenth power spell that can take you right back to your home city. You might need to make a roll with your channeling skill bonus to get it done.

I feel like this should also allow a character with no spellcasting skills a chance to cast a spell as well. They don’t get a spellcasting ability, and no bonuses from any such skills, but they might attempt a spell if they are given the instructions to cast it. They’d have to make two rolls, one to gain the spell slot and take damage, and the second to actually cast the spell.

NPC Magic. It’s important that these same costs apply to NPC’s, even the most powerful dragons and demons. They might have skill levels that make casting easier and less risky, but they must pay the same prices. Even creatures with innate spellcasting should still have a chance of failing their casting roll, even if they might be built not to take damage if they do. The only exception might be extraplanar creatures, especially deities, when they are on their home plane, using their own innate magic.