New Spell: Fiery Burst

Fiery Burst

Spell Level: Magic-user 1

Range: 30 ft

Duration: Instant

The Magic-user points his finger and a bolt of flame lances to the target point, bursting in a 5 ft radius fire blossom. Any creature in the area receives 1d6 points of damage, plus an additional point per 2 levels of the caster (maximum of +6).

Fighting-man Combat Option Clarification

I was asked this in a couple emails so I'll post it here for anyone curious enough to look and see. One of the Fighting-man Combat Options, Manyshot, allows more attacks with a missile weapon at the expense of accuracy.Since all have different rates of fire, it's been asked time and again how many can be made when one has a base RoF of 2, another 1/2, etc. So it's been clarified and made simpler:

·     Manyshot (select missile type) - You can make a bonus missile weapon attack each round with one type of missile launcher you are proficient with by hurrying your reload at the expense of accuracy. All of your attacks suffer a -2 penalty ‘to hit’ with the exception of the final attack you make in the round, that being made at a -4 penalty.

New Cleric Spell - Undeath to Death

Undeath to Death

Spell Level: Cleric 3

Range: Self

Duration: Instant

When the Cleric holds his holy symbol aloft and utters the prayers of his Deity, a wave of divine energy issues forth. All undead in a 30 ft radius of the Cleric suffers 1d4 points of damage per caster level (maximum of 10d4), with a Toughness saving throw allowed for half damage. Any undead of HD under half the Cleric’s level that are killed are turned to dust.

More uses for Spell Slots in a Vancian World

I don't know about all gamers or other people's games, but from playing D&D for over 30 years I know this has happened to me more than a few times...my favorite class are Magic-users (Wizards, Arcanists, Arcane Spellcasters, however you want to call them). Being that 1st level noob to the career is always fun when you find ways to make your cantrips last, load up on normal gear and find interesting ways to use a wet bedroll, 10 ft of rope and a 10 ft pole to confound your enemies and amaze your friends. To say the least, having a vancian spell casting system makes you think hard not only in spell selection, but how to survive without spells too.

There comes a time though, if your lucky and smart, where you reach the level when your character is ready for the heady power of a 2nd level spell...and you don't have any. Back in the day the Referees I've played under have run the gamut from 'tough luck' to allowing the use of the spell slot for lower level spells and adding some wild effects. In more recent years I've toyed with the extra effects for using a higher powered slot for lower level spells. When 3e came out it provided more of a template for what those slots can do (via Metamagic feats). Now don't turn your nose up Gentle Reader! While 3e may have been a departure from D&D (only in my own humble opinion) it took alot of things from what WAS in many homegrown D&D campaigns. So presented here is one such retro system that grants more felxability to those spell casters that may be suffering from a small spell selection, hopefully allowing them to remain useful for their party.

As a side note, we've allowed this for all spellcasting classes (including Clerics). While it might not seem like much use, it is impressive when a Cleric uses a 4th level slot to make a Cure Light Wounds spell into a range 30ft magic that increases the healing done by +50% and can be cast even while silenced, allowing him to keep an ally on his feet that's in melee while he guards the Magic-user.

Mixing Spell Slots

If a player wishes to do so, he may use higher level spell slots to memorize lower level spells by exchanging the slots (not the spell’s level vs the spell slot level used to memorize it) on a 1-for-1 basis. For example, an Arcanist (3rd level Magic-user) could use his 2nd level spell slot to memorize a 1st or 2nd level spell if he desired to.

If a spell is memorized in a slot 1 level higher than normal the caster can apply one of the following effects:

·          Increase the base duration of a spell by 50%.

·          Inflict a -2 penalty on saving throws against the spell’s effect.

·          Increase the range of a spell by 50% or give a touch spell a range of 30 ft.

·          Remove the need to use somatic (gestures) or the need to recite the spell’s chant to cast.

If a spell is memorized in a slot 2 levels higher than normal, the caster can apply one of the following effects:

·          Apply any 2 separate effects from above.

·          Change the area of area effect spells to a cone, cube or diameter of the same size.

·          Increase all dice effects of a spell by 50%.

·          If the spell deals elemental (Cold, Fire or Lightning) damage, change it to another element.

·          Inflict a -3 penalty on saving throws against the spell’s effect.

If a spell is memorized in a slot 3 levels higher than normal, the caster can apply one of the following effects:

·          Apply any 2 separate effects from above.

·          Double the area of effect.

·          Increase all dice effects of a spell by 100%.

·          Increase the range of a spell by 100% or give a touch spell a range of 60 ft.

·          Inflict a -4 penalty on saving throws against the spell’s effect.

A couple more Combat Options

In addition to the Fighting-man Combat Options presented here: Fighting-man Combat Options, presented are 2 more for your campaigns (should you use them)

• Defensive Strike - If you are using the total defensive action and an enemy misses you in melee combat, you may make an immediate free attack on him. You can do this a number of times each round equal to your number of melee attacks.

• Expert Tactician - When in melee with an enemy and you have an ally also in melee with the same opponent, you gain the same benefit as if you are flanking (even if you are not).