Hey everyone! I have a character in a campaign I’m running who currently has a Wand of Wonders which casts all spells 1 level below actual cost. He also did a custom mage build from the mage section in the master’s edition.
My main question is: to balance it, should I say that it can’t go below level 1, or should I add a spell burn? Currently, he is casting all of his level 1 spells for free and it’s getting overpowered.
I totally forgot about that being a stipulation. I think I’ve been letting him cast it without a roll which is silly of me. I will definitely start incorporating that.
It’s also perfectly valid for you to say that Level 1 is as low as you can go. If you’re starting in the basement, there is no sub-basement. As long as the mage has access to higher-level spells and normally pays some cost, then the item should still have some significant effect and there should be little reason to complain. You’re just pumping the brakes for the good of the table and the game.
At my own table I use typical roll-to-cast magic in conjunction with casting costs paid by mages in actual hit points (no stun points, etc.), and it has worked well for years. In return, mages get access to spells above Level 1 and can cast spells at spell POWER levels from 1 to 4. They can cast absolutely devastating magic if they are willing to pay the ultimate price.
Yeah, in ICRPG, there’s almost nothing that happens automatically without making a roll using the appropriate stat to meet or beat a target number.
In our games, a mage could cast a spell without making a roll, but he or she would have to “burn” it, meaning they couldn’t cast it again until after a full rest in safety, which almost never happened in our games. A variant of this rule would be that the mage might have to burn it permanently to get a free effect or push the limits of what was possible.
I also think spellburn, a strict mana pool, or even outright spending hit points are great limiters. Another one might be limiting a spell to only once per encounter or scene or location.
That being said, I never want characters to feel like they aren’t awesome. So, unless the character is just simply hogging the spotlight, to the detriment of other players, I’d also just let the person rock on being awesome. But they still have to roll to cast. In that way, the target is always the great limiter or equalizer.
When it comes to Advanced Magic type spells I have personally ruled that unless specifically stated “cost reduced to 0” or “no cost”, an item/ability reducing a spells cost can never reduce the cost to/below 0. The exception to this rule is casting a spell through potion making.
Alternatively if a player wants spells from the magic advanced magic section but everyone else is normal characters then the spell can never be casted higher than power level 1. Or the cost comes straight out of HP rather than a HEART of SP