View Poll Results: Should this version of the Magician class be sanctioned for the 3.5 revised BRCS?

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  • Yes

    13 86.67%
  • No

    2 13.33%
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Thread: Magician Class

  1. #1
    Senior Member Osprey's Avatar
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    OK, let's give this a whirl...is this version of the Magician class acceptable for inclusion into the BRCS? If yes, there may be room for minor tinkering/correction. If you vote No, it would be helpful to know what you find unacceptable or strongly feel should be there instead.

    This is a package deal - class description and spell list, yay or nay. I'll repost those files for download below.

    Osprey

  2. #2
    Senior Member Osprey's Avatar
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    Here's the Magician core class.
    Attached Files Attached Files

  3. #3
    Senior Member Osprey's Avatar
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    And here's the Magician Spell List.
    Attached Files Attached Files

  4. #4
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    For some reason my computer can't read the class document, even though the spell list is fine. Could someone perhaps repost an .rtf or .pdf version, please?

  5. #5
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    Likewise -- I think there may be a file corruption in the class document....
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

  6. #6
    Senior Member RaspK_FOG's Avatar
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    ditto

    Also, you said you might include some spells (like Contigency) which cannot be found; in fact, no above-3rd-level Evocation spell is on the list, including Daylight. :blink:

  7. #7
    Senior Member Osprey's Avatar
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    OK, I reposted the Class .doc file - should download fine now. I tested it just to be sure, and it worked fine for me.

    Also, sorry, just forgot to add Sending and Contingency. Sending will be added as a 4th level spell (it really seems more like Divination than Evocation to me, and certainly very appropriate for magician capabilities in general). Contingency will be added as a 6th level spell, mainly because of its effects (allowing another spell of up to 6th level to be readied). I edited the download above to include these changes.

    Otherwise, Rasp, Daylight was added as a 2nd level spell (same as for clerics, seemed appropriate for a 6-level spell list). Tiny Hut and Secure Shelter are also both on the list; Tiny Hut as a 3rd level evocation spell, Secure Shelter as a 4th level Conjuration spell. I'm not adding Resilient Sphere and Wall of Force - these are very powerful spells in my experience due to their nigh-indestructible natures - again, a blatant summoning of force magics that seems more in the realm of true magic. [Greater] Shadow Evocation can recreate illusory versions of these effects, but I think the line needs to be drawn somewhere.

    Osprey

  8. #8
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    Works fine for me now Osprey. Thanks for fixing it.
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

  9. #9
    Birthright Developer irdeggman's Avatar
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    First off I voted to sanction the class because I think it is well written.

    But here are some comments I have on the write up though:

    Under Alignment: change to “Most seem to lean towards non-chaotic alignments, …” {I think this makes it less restrictive or at least less implicitly restrictive and it is the chaotic area that causes the most problems with the way a magician learns his art, IMO.

    Under Magician Special Abilities:

    Helpful: change 2nd sentence (on) to read “When the magician Aids Another with a skill, she adds a +4 bonus to the acting character’s skill check in lieu of the normal +2. This ability may betaken more than once, each time this bonus increases by +2.”

    Lorewise: drop “synergy” in last sentence. Bonuses from synergy of related skills aren’t called synergy bonuses anymore, they are listed in the table as bonuses from skill synergies but they aren’t synergy bonuses anymore.


    Under the spell list:

    Add Know Direction as a 0-level Div spell. {It is a 0-level Bard spell in the PHB}.

    Drop Remove Fatigue and Remove Exhaustion as new spells being added. I’m not sure why (or if) these are spells that should be added to the BRCS at all. But I don’t see any strong connection to the magician class concept to insert them in the magician spell list.

    The final note under the spell list:

    I’d rewrite it as follows:

    Note: Shadow spells (Shadow Conjuration, Shadow Evocation, etc.) are illusory versions of true magic. They use shadow-stuff (from the Shadow World) to duplicate sorcerer/wizard spells. The magician can only cast wizard/sorcerer spells of a spell level that he is capable of casting. That is, while the Player’s Handbook specifies that Shadow Evocation, Greater allows a caster to duplicate spells of 7th level of lower, a magician can only cast spells of up to 6th level since his spell list is limited to no higher than 6th level spells.

    {Fits better without really changing the spell description but only applying spell level restriction that the magician can cast.
    Duane Eggert

  10. #10
    Senior Member Osprey's Avatar
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    Irdeggman,

    Thanks for the suggestions. All of them will be inserted, with the new spell exception (see below). Also, Know Direction seems to supercede Starry Sky in function, so I'll drop the latter from the spell list (neat idea, but I always thought it rather underpowered).

    I added Remove Fatigue and Remove Exhaustion because it seems that a "refresh" spell should be fairly simple healing-type magic, yet I can find no spells that remove conditions like fatigue and exhaustion until very high level spells like Heal and Regeneration are gained. It is my opionin that this is either
    A. something of an oversight on the part of the core rules designers
    B. intentional, and thus poorly balanced given how easy it is to cause fatigue and exhaustion w/ magic
    or C. there is some lower level spell that creates this effect, and I missed it.

    My preference would be to add these spells (unless option C. is true, in which case help me out) to the BRCS and make them available to Clerics, Druids, Rangers, and Paladins too. maybe Bards as well.

    My personal preference would simply be to house-rule it and make Lesser Restoration capable of attaining these effects, but monkeying with the core rules seems to be out of bounds for this project, hence the new spells.

    All in all, thanks for the editing suggestions.

    Osprey

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