Subj : 3rd Edition - Part Five To : All From : krynhoth@druidic.net Date : Fri Nov 17 2000 08:43 am From: Jason Tamez Subject: 3rd Edition - Part Five Magic. The term "memorization" is no more. Wizards, etc, spend time each day with their spellbooks, or whatever, and basically pre-cast every spell they want that day. All that's left to do is the final words and gestures that will trigger the spell. A wizard spends an hour each morning, after a good rest, and prepares his spells for the day. It always takes an hour to prepare your full allotment. As you gain levels, you learn to store them more quickly, but that's offset by the higher number of spells you can prepare. You can reduce this time by not preparing your full allotment, but you must spend at least 15 minutes on it, or else you don't have enough time to get your mind in the proper state to receive the spells. Divine spellcasters, when they are created, choose a specific time of day. That's when they can pray for an hour to receive their spells. Bed rest is not needed. Sorcerers and bards, after a good rest, need 15 minutes of concentration in order to clear their mind and "reset" themselves to their maximum spells per day. Magic is either arcane (wizards, sorcerers, bards) or divine (clerics, paladins, rangers). Components : V - Verbal S - Somatic M - Material (consumed) F - Focus (not consumed) DF - Divine Focus XP - Experience points If a specific material component doesn't have a listed price, it is considered to have negligible value. You are usually assumed to have enough of such items for any spell. Counterspell: You may ready a counterspell action in combat. When you see someone cast a spell, you can make a Spellcraft check to guess the spell. If you recognize the spell, and you have the same spell prepared, you can cast a slightly modified version of it in order to counter the other's spell. You can also try to counterspell with Dispel Magic, but that doesn't always work (see the spell description). You may also counterspell something like Haste with its opposite spell (Slow). Certain spells may have Descriptors. These are useful for adjucating special damage or special abilities (for example, a Bard's countersong ability only words against sonic or language-based spells). The Descriptors are: Acid, Chaotic, Cold, Darkness, Death, Electricity, Evil, Fear, Fire, Force, Good, Language-Dependant, Lawful, Light, Mind-Altering, Sonic, and Teleportation. A soul can refuse to come back to life. It knows who's trying to raise him and what his alignment is, and can refuse to rejoin the living if it doesn't want to come back. Bonuses given by spells stack if they're of different types. For example, a spell can give a +1 morale bonus, and another could give a +1 vs. evil bonus. Those bonuses would stack. Otherwise, the highest bonus is used. Also: if the bonus is given without identifying a type, it generally stacks with all other bonuses. Spheres are gone. All spells are grouped by school: Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation. There are four types of special abilities: Natural - a natural ability, like a bird's ability to fly. Spell-like - acts like a spell, only without spell components. You can disrupt their concentration and makes attacks of opportunity. They can be negated by spell resistance, and fail to function in areas of negated or suppressed magic. They cannot be counterspelled, nor can they be used to counterspell. Supernatural - dragon's breath, medusa's gaze, turning undead, etc. These cannot be disrupted in combat and generally don't provoke attacks of opportunity. They are not affected by spell resistance or "dispel magic". They do not function in areas of negated or suppressed magic. Extraordinary - Uncanny Dodge, troll's renegeration, etc. These aren't really magical abilities, so they aren't affected by dead magic areas, spell resistance, "dispel magic", etc. They can't be disrupted in combat, and generally don't provoke attacks of opportunity. The final chapter is all spell lists. Beyond it is the appendix, index, a blank character sheet, a small blurb about "upcoming" products (DMG, MM), a small primer about handing out experience, and a small assortment of monsters (red dragon, ghoul, skeleton, orc, and other familiar baddies). There's also a small list of magic items and a "do-it-yourself dungeon". Finally, there's a CD-ROM with a character generator on it. Demostration version 1.0. I've yet to try it out. Next up: The Dungeon Master's Guide! -- Jason -- |Fidonet: krynhoth@druidic.net |Internet: scott@conchbbs.com | | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. --- # Origin: (1:106/357.99) * Origin: ConchGate (1:106/357.0) .