Magic (D20)
Some of this has not been adapted and is not currently used! See the "Outdated" section.
Just because magic is incredibly rare does not mean that it's something special. Well, it IS special, because it is rare, but so are diamonds. Many a Wizard probably would rather own a large diamond mine than to have their spark. The point is, with great power comes great political intrigue.
While many noble houses admire and want magic, some find it an abomination against Pelor and would snuff any magic user out if they could and a few don't even believe in it. Since magic is a high value commodity, it can be important to use magic unseen as well as hiding traces of handiwork for other mages.
Some of the main new features introduced is that any spell cast leaves residue, that slowly diminishes and can also be removed manually, that active spell auras can be hidden, that fractions of a spell slot can be used for metamagic feats (and some spells) and that it's now easier to see magic as well as using minor magical tricks.
In terms of rules, magic in Hökaland has stealth and politics as central features, which adds depth, but unfortunately also complexity. Below are the house rules for magic of Hokaland detailed.
Casting from Spellbook
- Revised
Caster can use a spell book to cast spells they have not prepared. The process takes a lot longer than it takes to cast a prepared spell. All casting time modifiers are cumulative. Then the caster makes a Spellcraft check of DC 15 + slvl plus any additional modifiers.
- 10 turns per page of spell. (Reminder: 1 spell level equals one spell book page.)
- To cast a spell that has never been learned: x4 time & +10 DC.
- To cast a spell from an unfamiliar source (other's spell book that has not been read through before): x2 time & +5 DC.
- To cast a spell from a different type of magic (arcane, divine, natural, demonic): x2 time & +5 DC & use a spell slot higher than the spell in question.
Please note: Casting spells from a spellbook does not count as a "spellcasting ability" in any way.
See reference at bottom: Reading a page takes about 2 minutes as a presentation, this rule is half that for an effective casting.
Spellcraft
- Semi-revised
The skill Spellcraft is now used with either INT, WIS or CHA instead of INT only. Use whichever is the highest.
It's also possible to attempt identifying a spell being cast from its residue alone (see table).
Some rolls are now easier and others are harder (see table). Primarily, the main difference is that a "natural 1" is an automatic fail and a "natural 2" counts as -10 to the roll (with some exceptions).
Table 1:5 - Spellcraft Checks
| 10+slvl | Identify material made of magic - 3 rounds; max once per day max |
| 15+slvl | Identify potion with Spellcraft or Perception |
| 15+slvl | Identify magic item's properties with Detect Magic. |
| 10+slvl | Identify a Symbol |
| 13 | Identify a Glyph of Warding with Read Magic, Knw. (arcana) - version, type of damage & spell stored. |
| 15+slvl | Identify observable spell being cast |
| 15+slvl | Identify spell aura's school with Detect Magic * |
| 15+slvl | Identify spell in effect with Detect Magic * |
| 20+slvl | Identify observable spell in effect without Detect Magic |
| 20+slvl | After saving throw, what spell was it |
| DC** | Detect spell residue, and rough power estimate |
| 7+DC | Rough estimate of original spell's power, and time since cast. Success by more than 5 gives the details outright |
| 20+slvl | Decipher scroll |
| 20+DC** | Identify which spell was cast from looking at magical residue with Detect Magic |
| 20 | Draw diagram for dimension anchor |
| 15+slvl | Prepare known spell from borrowed book |
| 15+slvl | Learn spell from spellbook/scroll, 1h/slvl, max 1 try/week |
** Table 1:3 Magical Residue
Magical Items
Sickle items
- Assisting Pendant - Training tool for beginner mages and people with no magic ability.
- Mana Cell - Magical pebble that can be used to store magical energy.
- Power Extractor - Personal device that mages use to store magical energy in Mana Cells.
- Radiation Sponge - Device used on non-magical people to absorb excess magical energies into Mana Cells.
Sparks
Revised
Sparks and twinkles is a new concept used to handle very small amounts of magical power. In short a caster can use a spell slot to create a magical "spark" enchantment on themselves that can be used for certain, minor, tasks as well as for some meta-magic feats.
A spark is about a 1/3 of a spell slot and a twinkle is 1/10 of a spark.
Outdated
This information is either outdated or needs an overhaul.
ter that (see Table 1:1 Sparks). A Twinkle is exactly a tenth of a Spark and are entirely interchangable with Sparks.
Magic Residue
Table 1:3 - Magical Residue
| 256 | -18 | Overwhelming |
| 210 | -15 | Overwhelming |
| 128 | -12 | Strong |
| 92 | -9 | Strong |
| 64 | -6 | Moderate |
| 46 | -3 | Moderate |
| 32 | 0 | Moderate |
| 23 | 3 | Faint |
| 16 | 6 | Faint |
| 11 | 9 | Faint |
| 8 | 12 | Faint |
| 6 | 15 | Dim |
| 4 | 18 | Dim |
| 3 | 21 | Dim |
| 2 | 24 | Dim |
| 1,4 | 27 | Dim |
| 1 | 30 | Dim |
| 0,7 | 33 | Traces |
| 0,5 | 36 | Traces |
Table 1:2 - Residue
& Halflife Periods
| *Spell Levels* | ||||
| *clvl* | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | 1.0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | 1.5 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | 2.0 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| 5 | 2.5 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
Any time a spell is cast, it leaves a cloud of magical particle *residue* that both fly in and out of our reality on the spot it happened as well as get stuck to objects or clothes that were in the vicinity of the spell when it happened. A skilled caster can not only detect this, but even figure out which spell was cast. Portions of the spell also lingers, and it's entirely possible to attempt to absorb residue to either hide that a spell was cast (or a magic item destroyed). If enough of residue is absorbed, the power can be reused as Twinkles or Sparks.
The residue is measured in Twinkles and amount to spell level times the caster level used for the spell (can be different than actual caster level). This amount will be reduced to half during a spell residue *Halflife Period*, an amount of minutes equal to slvl x clvl, and continue to halve every Halflife Period, indefinitely (see Table 1:2 Residue & Halflife Periods or use a calculator). The more residue that is available, the easier it is to detect (see Table 1:3 Magical Residue); multiple spells stack for the purpose to detect ANY magic residue, but not to detect residue from individually spells. Note that DC's lower than 1 can still be failed with natural rolls of 1 or 2, or if the DC is raised in other ways.
Note that besides locating the aura, the caster realise that it is in fact residue and roughly how many Twinkles of power it is (DM's estimate). A Spellcraft check can also give a rough estimate of the original spell's power and the time since casting.
A destroyed magic item will spread a large amount of magic power. Do Spell level times caster level for each spell used in making the item, add them together, divide by two and the final number is counted in Sparks instead of Twinkles ( ((slvl x clvl) + (slvl x clvl)) /2 = Sparks). The aura is easily recognised as a destroyed magical item, though no longer possible to determine school.
Notes
Magic is "naturally" incorporated with the fabric of the cosmos. The part that is used actively is leakage and higher concentrations (like fossil fuels in a way). Anti-magic fields come in different shapes and sizes, including those mortals who seem negate magic. Most anti-magic fields created by magic through conscious effort or naturally occurring usually just manage to negate the said leakage and concentrations of it. This is what professional users call "no magic" and what they are aware of. However, it is also possible to create a complete magic nu, where there is no magic. Most sentient beings will in such a situation fall into a coma, and random chemical reactions may happen as the magical lattice is not affecting those molecules. This is naturally occurring, but not conducive to any form of life (or order): a bit like black holes and just as unexplained in detail.
In the same way normal matter is affected in a limited way in a total magical null, the magical lattice behaves erratically around black holes.
References