Dwarf Edition: 10e Caster
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“Wizards can’t wear armor because the weight and bulkiness interferes with spellcasting.”
“Uh-huh… so wouldn’t fighters have LESS strength to swing a sword and be less likely to hit when lifting such heavy armor ?”
<crickets>I call bullshit… wizards have to gesture with their hands/arms and say magic words - not dance under the fucking limbo stick. Full plate armor is probably expecting a bit much - but a breastplate and plate leggings & boots ? Not a problem. I’ll even buy into the “no helmets” rule - but a wizard who wants to start off half-plated in metal or fully-armored in leather will get NO flak from me.
So without further ado, lets get down to spellchucking. Presented below you’ll find three classes of “magic”. I use the quotes because i’m sick of Psionics getting glued on like a bastard stepchild. Magic is for wizards. Prayers are for priests. Powers are for psions. All 3 are the same thing, just ran through a different power source, tapped to change the world around you in a different manner.
Magic is used by investing personal arcane energies into reagents and using the resultant quasimagical item to open a pinhole to another plane of existence. Words and gestures are then used to focus the resultant (and temporary) surge of energy into the effect the caster desires.
Prayer works much the same way - using a priests holy symbol and assorted reagents, the caster invests his personal divine energy (granted to him by his god) to tap into another plane of existence and release a temporary surge of power, which the priest then shapes and forms into a spell effect using chants and prayers and gestures. Notice the similarities ?
Psionics - again, is a focus of the psions mental energy used with focus crystals or patterns/diagrams - to tap various energies of the world and alter his own body or the world around him. Many psions are tattooed with diagrams to make their life easier.
Thrown out the door is the “vancian” memorization tables. All users of Power are allotted a certain number of power points, which they can use to activate whatever spells / prayers / powers “on the fly”. You open your book, glance at the formulae, ready your reagents and focus your will. Blammo, you’ve just used Power.
Magic (or mage-magick, if you prefer) is focused around generating elemental effects, primarily for attacking but occasionally for defense. The 4th abortion (as i contemptuously call that version of my once beloved D&D) calls wizards “controllers”. I don’t know what MMO weenie coined that goofy term, but wizards are ARTILLERY - plain and simple. A walking, talking, ass-kicking apache helicopter who loves nothing more than raining down death and destruction on your goddamn picnic.
Prayer is focused around setting up defenses and keeping everyone in your team alive long enough to complete your mission. The 4th abortion calls priests “leaders” - as if any battle in the history of warfare was ever fought or won by long-robed fathers of the church. No, fellow gamers - priests are SUPPORT. They use their power to keep grunts fighting, keep the artillery firing, and provide a much-needed RESERVE in case things go to hell in a handbasket.
Psionics is a whole different monkey. Previously, psions as a whole made lousy characters to play singly. Like bards, their “jack of all trades” approach has traditionally made them the laughing stock of the Power users. The secret to playing a devastating and effective psion was to multi-class and use psionic powers to augment another classes abilities. Anyone who’s ever fought a psionic-warrior or ran into a psionic rogue knows all too well what i’m talking about. In this game system, i’ve taken the pains to modify and redesign psionic abilities so that a psion can fill either role - Artillery or Support.
In addition, I have broken down different spell effects, allowing power users to generate new spell effects without having to go thru and redesign each individual spell. Mage learns burning hands (1st level). At level 3, he learns to roll the fire into a sphere. At level 5 he learns to make it explode into a ball. At level 7 he learns to make it into a wall. Fan, sphere, ball, wall - its the same damn thing, just applied differently. You’ll see what i mean in a minute.
So, first off lets look at what has gone before :
0e (basic) :
Magic missile, 1st lvl magic-user spell. range 150’. glowing arrow, shot by magic. auto hit, no save, 1d6+1 damage (arrow+1). two more missiles gained every 5 levels.
Cure light wounds, 1st lvl cleric spell. range 0 (touch). cure paralysis or heal 1d6+1 damage to target.
no psionics in this system1e (AD&D) :
Magic missile, 1st lvl magic-user spell. range 60’+ 10’/lvl. glowing missile, auto hit, no save, 1d4+1 damage (lt xbow bolt +1). additional missile gained every two (odd) levels thereafter.
Cure light wounds, 1st lvl cleric spell. range touch, Verbal/Somatic, sphere Necromancy. no longer affects paralysis, heals 1d8 damage to target. spell does not affect incorporeal, those harmed only by iron/silver/magic weapons, or those not living (undead/golems).
Psionic talent was strictly randomized, what is called in later editions Wild Psionics or Wild Talents. I chose a popular one from back “in the day” as our example.
Molecular agitation (mental microwave) - cost 1 psp/round, range sight, area 1 item or creature, no save. after 10 consecutive rounds of use, cause flesh to blister, doing 1 hp cumulative damage to target (meaning that on round 11 it’d take 1 damage, round 12 it’d take 2, 13’d be 3, etc)2e :
Magic missile, 1st lvl wizard spell. range 60 yards + 10 yards/lvl. glowing missile, auto hit, no save, 1d4+1 damage (lt xbow bolt +1). additional missile gained every two (odd) levels, capped at 5 missiles max at 9th lvl.
Cure light wounds, 1st lvl priest spell. range touch, Verbal/Somatic, sphere Necromancy. heals 1d8 damage to target, cannot affect incorporeals, extra-planar or not living targets.
The blossoming of psionics into a more full-fledged system, still was misbalanced - allowing a 3rd lvl psion to start disintegrating opponents.
Molecular agitation - cost 6 psp/round, range 40 yards, items get saves / creatures do not. causes 1 hp damage 1st round, 1d4 2nd round and 1d6 on 3rd and thereafter as long as power is sustained.3e :
Magic missile, 1st lvl sorcerer/wizard spell. range 100’ + 10’/lvl. glowing missile, auto hit, no save, 1d4+1 damage (dart +1) additional missile gained every two (odd) levels, capped at 5 missiles max at 9th lvl.
Cure light wounds, 1st lvl bard/cleric/druid/paladin spell. range touch, Verbal/Somatic, school Conjuration sphere Healing. heals 1d8 + 1/caster lvl up to +5 max. affects undead in reverse, damaging them (save vs will for 1/2).
Psionics is finally balanced and has powers leveled like normal spells, but many of the signature powers from earlier editions are missing.
Molecular agitation - cost 1 psp, range 25’ + 5’/2 lvls. no save. causes 1 hp dam 1st round, 1d4 2nd round and 1d6 on 3rd round. unclear if d6/round damage continues past this point or not.4e :
Magic missile, 1st lvl wizard AT WILL power. range 20 squares (100’). silvery bolt of force, must manually hit (ranged basic attack, int vs reflex), get one missile which (if it) hits for 2d4+int modifier of force damage. two extra dice of damage at 21st lvl.
Cure light wounds, 2nd lvl cleric DAILY power. range touch. sphere Divine/Healing. target regains one quarter of its max HP (as if using a healing surge) +wis modifier (healers lore feature)
Apparently microwaves are too powerful for the 4th abortion as this power seems to have vanished. The closest 1st lvl power is
Mind Thrust, 1st lvl psion AT WILL power. range 10 squares (50’). ranged basic attack (int vs will) does 1d10+int modifier psychic damage to 1 target.Other game systems light years better than the 4th abortion :
Rolemaster : cure wounds I = touch heals 1d10 damage
Hackmaster 4th ed : cure light wounds = touch heals 1d4 damage/lvl of cleric
Hackmaster 4th ed : magic missile = 1d4+1 damage ea, extra missile on odd levels, 5 max.
Pathfinder : cure light wounds = touch heals 1d8+1 per caster level, max +5
C&C : cure light wounds = touch heals 1d8+1 per caster level, max +5
Simplicity : Heal wounds = touch heals 1d6 +(wis modifierx2)(( late addition ))
5e :
Magic missile, 1st lvl evoc spell. range 120’. create 3 darts of magical force, auto hit up to 3 targets for d4+1 damage ea. can now cast as higher lvl efx for 1 extra piddly dart / lvl over 1st
Cure Wounds, 1st lvl evoc spell. range touch. target regains 1d8+(your ability mod) in HP. no affect on undead. can now cast as higher lvl efx to get bonus d8 per level above 1st
psi unknown - assholes at hasborg haven’t released new core product since the 1st 3 came out
So what gives in 10e ?
Well, as i said before - i’ve redesigned the spell creation system to be completely open ended. Casters gain 1 energy manipulation OR power type selection per level, can burn fcheats for extra ones. Take a look at the table below that lists the various energy types :
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Energy Type description and examples related energies Energy Strength Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Base Weak Light Minor Substnd Average Overchrgd Glowing Major Strong Severe Radiant Strobing Blinding Molten Plasmic ES Name 1d4 1d6 1d8 1d10 1d12 Dam dice Caster XP level needed to access Blood reddish juice that stores life 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Air blasts of air or wind kinetic 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Earth mud, soil, clay, rock 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Fire Bursts of flame, fiery rays or simple ignition atomic 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Water liquid motion 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Holy / Divine Immortal force of goodness 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Kinetic energy of motion 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Magic / Mana versatile energy of manipulation (free and 0 lvl base for spellcasters) 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Martial / Ki focused muscular energy 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Positive (life) energy of living creatures – chemical and bioelectrical 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Primal (nature / plant) the force which grants life to plants and savagery to nature 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Psionic / psychic effects that target the mind (free and 0 lvl base for psions) 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Quasi-elemental – Radiance searing white light or shimmering colors positive, fire 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Unholy / Profane immortal force of evil 1 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Dark / shadow a chilling, all consuming blackness 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Acid corrosive liquid or gas 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Cold arctic air, slowdown of molecular energy atomic 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Metal (orient) ores and minerals 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Poison toxins that reduce stats or HP 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Sonic / Sound waves of noise kinetic 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Elemental – Wood (orient) biomatter 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Force invisible energy formed into hard yet nonsolid shapes 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Negative (death/undeath) Purple-black energy that deadens flesh and wounds the soul 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Para-elemental – Ice crystals of deepest cold water, air 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Para-elemental – Magma molten earth, sand or rock fire, earth 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Para-elemental – Ooze slimy goo and mud earth, water 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Para-elemental – Smoke choking particulates which clog the breathing air, fire 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Quasi-elemental – Ash a spirit-deadening silt that slowly eats away at the living negative, fire 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Quasi-elemental – Dust dead earth which traps the living negative, earth 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Quasi-elemental – Lightning lightning, energy arcs positive, air 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Quasi-elemental – Minerals crystalline types of earth positive, earth 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Quasi-elemental – Salt dehydrating chemical which attacks the body negative, water 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Quasi-elemental – Steam misty, gaseous water positive, water 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Quasi-elemental – Vacuum a lack of breathable air and oxygen negative, air 3 5 7 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Magnetic force of attraction between opposites 5 7 9 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Solar / Sun intense, burning star light 5 7 9 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Disruption an attack which affects the cohesion of materials (typically causing cell death) 7 9 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Temporal / chrono the energy of time and aging 9 11 14 16 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Explosive a hybrid mix of kinetic, air, force and fire 7 9 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Abyssal demonic energy, essence of chaos and evil 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Chemical potential energy stored in chemical form (ie gunpowder) 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Dragonfire a biomagical flame 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Infernal devilish energy of law and evil 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Radio waves of noise above human hearing sound, kinetic 11 14 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Soul / animus / sentience the mysterious “spark” which grants access to higher mental faculties 14 16 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Void absence of all matter and energy (sphere of annihilation) 14 16 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Hellfire hybrid of Infernal and elemental fire 16 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Creation gives birth to new life, items or races 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Entropy decay, opposing creation 18 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Nova an explosion on the surface of a star 18 24 32 40 48 54 75 100 200 Reality the collective belief of all beings 18 24 32 40 48 54 75 100 200 Electromagnetic an electrical/magnetic hybrid electric, magnetic 20 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Atomic – fusion / fission generating heat or other energy by diddling with atomic weight 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Gravity the invisible pulling/crushing force which draws in targets 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Radioactive constantly emitting / radiating energy atomic 24 30 36 40 48 54 75 100 200 Supernova the final death explosion of an entire star 54 60 75 100 200 Infinity a continuous, expansive energy 75 100 200 Supradivine (clockmaker) energy beyond the ken of mortals or immortals 75 100 200 -
@dwarf https://obelisk.daerma.com/topic/174/energy-types-by-caster-level/4
Is this the table?
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yah… that markdown thingie didn’t work for me
- huh, worked for the manipulations tho… might be some number of columns limitation here on the board ??? -
Additionally, you can apply one or more manipulations to an energy type, creating different effects on each casting - whether you want to master Elemental Fire in all its forms or roll out every flavor of Wall a mind can come up with :
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add name add lvl add efx Armor 0 an effect which covers or plates the body Arrow 0 ranged attack (must make to hit roll) Fist 0 a touch spell used to enhance a barehanded strike Orb 0 a small baseball of energy Shield 0 a concave barrier which protects a quarter (side) of the caster – 90 deg Touch 0 a spell effect that requires the caster to touch his target / victim. Arc 1 A 15’ wide swath in front of caster, or a 15’ long arc from caster Ball 1 rolling sphere which damages targets in its path Blast – 10’r 1 explosion of energy which travels outward from center Burst 1 explosion of energy which ignores center square Missile 1 Self-guided ranged attack (auto-hit) Ray 1 energy which erupts straight outward from caster affecting FIRST target in its path Weapon 1 lets you imbue a weapon with energy Aura 2 sustained effect which affects surrounding friends/foes differently Blast – 20’r 2 Bolt 2 a short beam which starts some distance from the caster Breath 2 a short, narrow cone which expands outward one square to either side from a straight line Column – 5’r 2 a burst or blast which erupts down from the heavens engulfing all targets above area of effect Cone / Spray 2 a short beam which grows ever wider as it gets further from the caster Gaze 2 – 6 fires twinned parallel rays (2), bolts (4) or beams (6) from the eyes of the caster Imbue 2 lets you imbue a creature with energy Resist 2 grants basic DR vs an energy type Runes / Symbol 2 allows caster to suspend original spell in glyph form… indefinitely Barrier 3 denser, more compact version of wall – 120 deg Beam / Lash 3 energy which travels straight outward from caster affecting all in its path Blast – 30’r 3 Protection from 3 grants better DR vs an energy type Skin 3 similar to armor, but internally reinforces targets skin with efx Tendrils 3 creates tendrils of energy which enwrap and damage targets each round Transmute 3 changes one energy type to another Trap / Delayed / Suspend 3 as runes, but set with predetermined trigger Wall / Field / Screen 3 a flat plane of energy – 180 deg Bomb 4 explosive mixture of 2 or more energy types Cage 4 a targeted, ranged barrier Cloud / Fog / Mist – 10’r 4 a sustained, ongoing burst or blast which can be steered about by caster or winds Dome / Shell 4 half of a sphere which encloses or protects caster from all aboveground threats Rain 4 adds bludgeoning damage to spell Spikes 4 adds piercing damage to spell Swarm 4 ea creates multiple effects from single spell Swords 4 adds slashing damage to spell Vampiric 4 adds vampiric effect to spell (½ dam comes back to caster as healing) Cloud – 20’r 5 a sustained, ongoing burst or blast which can be steered about by caster or winds Blast – 40’r 5 Chain 5 spell effect arcs to nearby targets Sphere / Globe 5 a completely encapsulating wall of energy, both above and below Cloud – 30’r 6 a sustained, ongoing burst or blast which can be steered about by caster or winds Immunity to 6 grants basic immunity to an energy type Blast – 50’r 7 Ward 7 blankets an area with a single type of energy suppression Cloud – 40’r 8 a sustained, ongoing burst or blast which can be steered about by caster or winds Geyser – 10’r 8 a sustained, ongoing burst or blast which erupts skyward engulfing all targets above area of effect Cloud – 50’r 10 a sustained, ongoing burst or blast which can be steered about by caster or winds Quake 13 awesome eruption of power creates damaging shockwave, blasting all targets away from spell center Storm 14 affects all targets in 100’ radius Tornado 23 affects all targets in 100’ radius with multiple overlapping effects Tsunami 1000 affects all targets in half-mile radius. Base damage is 1d10 per spell point used in casting -
@dwarf said in Dwarf Edition: 10e Caster:
yah… that markdown thingie didn’t work for me
- huh, worked for the manipulations tho… might be some number of columns limitation here on the board ???I fixed it…
I did not like the blank columns for some reason.
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@daermadm said in Dwarf Edition: 10e Caster:
@dwarf said in Dwarf Edition: 10e Caster:
yah… that markdown thingie didn’t work for me
- huh, worked for the manipulations tho… might be some number of columns limitation here on the board ???I fixed it…
I did not like the blank columns for some reason.
Also looks like no side scroll… BUt yeah if this is the same table as the one I posted before, I recall having issues likes this.
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@daermadm mmmkay… guess we can’t complain about free board software huh ?
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@dwarf said in Dwarf Edition: 10e Caster:
@daermadm mmmkay… guess we can’t complain about free board software huh ?
And if I had the time, it is open source. I could submit a patch to fix it.
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@halfgiant said in Dwarf Edition: 10e Caster:
@dwarf https://obelisk.daerma.com/topic/174/energy-types-by-caster-level/4
Is this the table?
Yes.
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Few questions about the mechanic, for example say a 12th level wizard cast a solar/sun ball (11th level can do a minor 1d10) and ball effect is +1 level which is 12th level (the caster lever of this character).
Is the damage 12d10 or 11d10? For the ball affect?
And would that be 12 spell points cost to cast?
Calculating spell DC is 10 + Spell Level + Relavent Ability Modifier, in this case what would be the spell level?
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the minimum caster level to take the Solar energy type is 5, so generating a ball (+1) of solar energy you can roll around over targets is a effect generated by a minimum 6th lvl caster (which, in clouds system costs 3 spell points). damage dice intensifies as caster level goes up (kinda like how damage dice increases for a fighter’s energy spirits), so your BASE damage at minimum lvl would be 6d4 and last for 1 round per level of the caster, typically. so for 6 rounds you could roll that over people and burn them with solar radiation/radience for 6d4.
as a 12th lvl caster, your dice got bumped to d10’s, so for the same 3 spell points you’d generate a 12d10 ball of solar carnage to roll over people with, for 12 rounds. big mean glowy pool ball
“Vampire in the corner pocket !!”as far as the DC goes, its probably considered a 3rd lvl spell (what 6th lvl casters can cast) ?
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- peers over at the cloud’s modified 10e fighter *
yeah, he left 12th lvl at d10’s… so the fighter is whacking people for 4d10 energy spirit damage, which should wind up to an extra 8d10 - 16d10 depending on how many swings he’s gettin at that point… the balancing mechanic was that the fighter energy spirit damage per hit roughly equated to half a rogues backstab (who typically only gets ONE backstab in a round) and his total energy spirit damage was about the same a caster could generate, tho across a larger swath of opponents (as it was limited by the power pool)
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Experience Points advancement any different are follows the same feat, ability score, and exp progression for everything else in 3.5/d20?
Bonus Feats same as a 3.5 wizard?
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So um, I am looking at both lists and I am wondering, do I select my energy type (ex, Negetive energy at lvl 3) then look at the second list and decide how I want to channel that energy as an attack (ex, Blast 20r at +2). Then as long as I meet the total lvl requirement and the spell/power point cost, poof, I have a new spell/energy attack?
Please dont think I am being sarcastic or anything, trying to figure these charts out.
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correct, half-g…
onaga, in my design of the 10e caster, i envisioned the caster gaining one new ability for each level of caster - whether it be access to a new energy type or taking a different manipulation instead. so a 5th lvl 10e caster would have access to 5 energy types or 5 manipulations or any combination thereof equalling 5. at 1st level, they got a single ‘bonus’ one merely so they got one energy type and a way to use it as a new caster. most take Magic/mana as the initial energy type and Arrow so they have something to attack with from a distance
and yeah, you have to be a minimum of 3rd level to get access to negative energy… so you can take that at any level past 2, then apply a manipulation to generate whatever effect it creates. so if you take Blast 20’r as a manipulation - then creating a 20’ radius Negative Energy Blast is a 5th lvl caster effect (which would cost you 3 spell points in clouds system to generate what is basically a negative energy explosion similar to a fireball)
technically, the 10e wizard has to wait until 2nd level before being able to select Magic (power) and Missile (ranged autohit) to generate a standard magic missile effect, but that also went hand in hand with my older-than-dirt splitting of spell levels into low/high efx which made more sense in the 2e game system…
(( ive been bending D&D pretty much since day 1 - even if only by misinterpretation. remember getting like 20+ webs for each casting of the spell, halfg ? (10 year old us didn’t know what the word duration meant, so we guessed it meant quantity) or getting one spell per copy you had scribed in your spellbook ?? lol - and the auto-refresh of all spells at midnight on the dot
ahh, youth and ignorance )) -
And this class has not been reworked for my campaign like the fighter and rogue have. But it will likely be close to what is here.
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Haha, yeah we would wait until about 11-11:30pm at night holding back on our spells before a big battle, and then go in guns blazing because at the stroke of midnight (real-time) everything reset. Good times.
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Energy Types + Effects
The number of energy types + effects a caster gets equals - Caster Level + 1
