Disclaimer: I'm neither planning to run a D&D-derived campaign nor elaborating on any rules.

I've just been contemplating a way of converting D&D (3.5 and earlier, that is; 4th?, well it's 4th; 5th had unfortunately been coinciding with EotE) spell levels and everything into Genesys, over a cup of coffee:

The spell levels are converted into 5 Tiers (halved and rounded up);

the spellbook/prayerbook would work like the Talent Pyramid, but separately;

All level-0 spells for a Magic Skill are subsumed under one Tier 1 Spellbox/Talent.

What are the issues? What did I miss? Why and how would this mechanic be broken?

So how are you working "spell slots"?

Taking the rank of the base characteristic and adding it to ranks for the number of spells per day?

Your power curve would ramp up for spellcasters dramatically compared to other careers. The 9th level caster classes are already considered unbalanced at high levels in 3.5 and Pathfinder.

Assuming 20 exp a game session, and a focused player, they could have a 9th level spell after 9 sessions. Perhaps limit Tiers available to a spellcaster's ranks in their magic skill, or Knowledge, or both. That could delay top Tier spells by up to 5 or 6 sessions.

And, of course, you will need to devise an analog to caster level as it relates to duration, area of effect, and damage in general. Will the Strain requirement be dropped for a spell slot system? Then there are saving throws to consider as they have a major balancing effect in D&D. It will take a lot of work to convert the extensive D&D spell list over to the narrative dice system, but I can see that being a fun way to spend a few free evenings for a certain kind of mind.

It's an interesting thought experiment, but is Vancian magic worth the effort?

Ranked casting level talent? (I haven't yet got my genesys, so I'm practically commenting blindly, and don't know if this is possible in genesys.)

I am a fan of vancian casting in general, but not necessary the way d&d does it. I'm thinking of allowing people to have a number of prepared spells equal to stat+skill with the benefit that prepared spells are easier to cast, but have a locked effect, where free form casting is more flexible, but not as reliable.

2 hours ago, Manic Modron said:

I am a fan of vancian casting in general, but not necessary the way d&d does it. I'm thinking of allowing people to have a number of prepared spells equal to stat+skill with the benefit that prepared spells are easier to cast, but have a locked effect, where free form casting is more flexible, but not as reliable.

Okay THIS I like, especially as it helps to mitigate some of the complaints people had about how hard it is to pull off stacked effects. I've never been a big fan of Vancian magic despite D&D being my most played RPG system. I much prefer Genesys' approach to magic, but this idea works really well. Hmm...I'll need to tinker it into the system I'm already working on.

Okay, wrote this up when I found some free time at work today.

Prepared Spells

I n some settings, Spellcasters are required to prepare their spells. By preparing a spell, the caster is able to reduce the overall difficulty of a spell at the expense of some versatility.

To prepare a spell, the character must concentrate for a half hour, either reading a spellbook, praying to their deity, or communing with spirits and the natural world. At the end of this time, the character selects a number of spells to prepare, adding one effect to the spell. The first time the character casts that chosen spell , they reduce the difficulty by one to a minimum of one.

A character may prepare a number of spells equal to their Arcana, Divine, or Primal skill plus the relevant Characteristic. A character may prepare the same spell and effects multiple times, each granting them an additional use of that specific combination. Maintaining the energy of a spell is difficult, specifically those intended to harm a target a character is limited in the number of attack spells they may prepare. A character may only prepare a number of Attack spells equal to half the total number of spells they can prepare.


Later I'd add talents that let you add multiple effects and the like. I was split between decreased Difficulty and not needing Advantage to activate a quality. Thoughts?

House rules don't exactly need specific wording, but still I think:

Quote

The first time the character casts that chosen spell , they reduce the difficulty by one to a minimum of one

Should instead be :

Quote

When you cast a spell and effect you have prepared, you may choose to remove it from your prepared spell list to reduce the difficulty by one to a minimum of one.

Because I think the former wording is confusing when you have prepared the same spell multiple times.

Overall, though, I like the idea. I'd want to play to see exactly how the Wizard vs. Warrior balance feels before I mucked with things, but once I have I'll keep this kind of thing in mind.

On 12/14/2017 at 11:39 PM, Cyvaris said:

At the end of this time, the character selects a number of spells to prepare, adding one effect to the spell.

exactly "one" effect ? so no "fire balls" with range and blast effects ?

how about spell formulas found on scrolls (that are usually unchangeable) ?

could these be prepared even if they contained multiple effects ?

maybe there is a need for spell research rules to create such spell scrolls in the first place ;-))

This was just a first pass at the idea and a base for it. I'd say that adding multiple effects would be a talent to create for something like this.