Toward One Understanding of Spellcraft

The magic system in my Thunderhall/URFAD rules is not straying too far from by-the-book, especially taking the Holmes Basic Set into account. I’m particularly interested to see how my new rules for spell book sizes and costs work out:

There are two types of codices commonly used for spells. The first is the daybook, which is about 5.5” x 8” and costs 5 gp per 16 pages. A spell in one of these will occupy 4 pages per level. Above 128 pages these get less and less durable and 320 pages is the max. The second type is the tome. These run from 9” to 12” wide by 12” to 16” high. The cost is 20 gp per 16 pages, and a spell will occupy 1 page per level.

Will this be a fun little resource-management quirk, or will it be a fiddly impediment to getting on with things?

But with the spells themselves I think I’ve changed things up quite a bit more. I hadn’t any idea of posting this stuff online so I kept no records of changes I was making, but I do know that I went through and tweaked most, and completely rewrote some, of the spell descriptions.

One of the main things I worked to avoid was caster level increasing the power of the spell. While there is an argument to be made that the magic-user’s level may represent a better ability to control or efficiently wield a given spell, that is trumped by the idea that the spells themselves are entities. Call it an essentialist view of spellcraft: Spells have their own natures, beyond whatever caster has evoked them, they exist in-and-of-themselves outside of the constraints of anyone’s or anything’s capabilities.

The result, if I recall correctly, is three spells with effects that vary based on caster level: Animate Dead, which may affect more targets for Necromancers (thematic tie-in) and Wizards (and really there is a dice-determined variable effect anyway, so this isn’t so different); Charm Person, which has different durations (in-game I think I’d interpret this as the subjects of more power magic-users being less likely to mentally break free from the charm); and Charm Monster.

Beyond that I’ve added a few spells, nerfed or slightly beefed up others, and eliminated some. Anyone familiar with modern implementations of OD&D may recognize a Dan Collins/Original Edition Delta influence in my rule set—Target 20 system used for combat with same attack bonuses as his three classes, also using it for saves (but in a different way), and a general tendency for easy-to-remember rules over tables and matrices (e.g., my thieves abilities, in spirit, since the dice, chances, and progression are all quite different).  And the point of that last sentence is that many of the spell changes are indebted to Delta’s “Spells Through the Ages” research. The great example of that is the “elimination” of ESP, and the introduction/revision of Move Object (a lesser Telekinesis, which, and I believe this is in true OD&D fashion, I decided I must have after watching an episode of Merlin), Telepathy, Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, and Telekinesis. Similar is my revised Suggestion spell (still underpowered as a third-level spell, but I’m fine with that: magic is not linear!) and its introduced cousin Urge (corresponding more to later interpretations of Suggestion as a powerful brief-duration spell).

URFAD: The Magic-User

From reading the various OD&D blogs, lurking in the forums or searching through their archives, and recalling how we played the game throughout the 80’s, there is one rule that seems to be frequently worked around: the power of first-level magic-users. I believe I even read somewhere that Gygax suggested starting MUs at third level. In addition, you see bonus spells for high Intelligence, memorizing spells per day rather than adventure, allowing (per Holmes) early-level MUs to make their own scrolls, cantrips that don’t require memorization, spell point systems, and so on.

My contribution is to combine the first two levels (Medium and Seer) into one (Spellbinder), while also following the Holmesian scroll-making rules. A Spellbinder is able to memorize up to three spells per adventure or outing; this assumes at least two full days of rest between outings. All of the other level titles remain the same as do their corresponding spell totals, but now they are one level higher. The XP needed to advance is adjusted to match the fighter’s, which I am using for all classes. Anyway, here is my house Magic-User.
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Magic-User Level Progression
Level	Title	XP	HD	Atk	Spells
					1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Spellbinder	0	1	–	3	–	–	–	–	–
2	Conjurer	2,000	2	–	3	1	–	–	–	–
3	Theurgist	4,000	3	+1	4	2	–	–	–	–
4	Thaumaturge	8,000	4	+1	4	2	1	–	–	–
5	Mage	16,000	5	+1	4	2	2	–	–	–
6	Enchanter	32,000	6	+2	4	3	2	1	–	–
7	Warlock	64,000	6+1	+2	4	3	3	2	–	–
8	Sorcerer	120,000	6+2	+2	4	3	3	2	1	–
9	Necromancer	240,000	6+3	+3	4	4	3	3	2	–
10	Wizard	360,000	6+4	+3	4	4	4	3	2	1

Armor: None. • Weapons: Dagger, staff.

1. To start, magic-users check to see which spells they know (these will be in their spell book, which all beginning MU’s must purchase). Other spells will be acquired through adventuring or research. 
2. First-level magic-users may memorize up to three first level spells per outing (assuming spell book is kept safely at home). They may not memorize multiple “copies” of the same spell.
3. Magic-Users may create magic items (scrolls, potions, enchanted jewelry or weapons). Typical scroll cost is 100 gp and 1 week per spell level. Typical potion cost is 200 gp and 1 week per spell level. Enchanting 10 arrows is 500 gp and 2 weeks, armor to +1 is 2000 gp and 2 months. A Wand of Fear is 10,000 gp and 6 months. A ring with a rare, powerful effect is 50,000 gp and 1 year.
4. Immediately after a scroll spell is cast, the ink disappears (although multiple copies of the same spell may appear on a scroll). Read Magic is not necessary for casting from a scroll.
5. Read Magic is needed in order to recognize command words on magical items that require them. It cannot be used to transcribe a spell from a scroll, which is impossible to do.
6. Magic-users casting from scrolls always act after magic-users casting normally, and when casting unfamiliar spells from scrolls they must make a successful check using the above Chance of Learning Spell +/– levels they are above/below the spell level.
7. Research to add a spell from the rulebooks is 1000 gp and 1 week per level, after which time a spell check is made; after three failed attempts the spell may not be learned. Working from another magic-user’s spell book decreases the cost to 500 gp and adds +1 to the spell check. To discover an entirely new spell it’s 2000 gp and 2 weeks per level, and at the referee’s discretion the spell check may be waived.