Investment dynamic spellcasting


Advanced d20 Magic » Investment dynamic spellcasting
An investment is a sacrifice made by the spellcaster to help fuel his or her magic. Investments are of two general types: investments of body and investments of mind. Investments may be used with forms and foci freely, and all the bonuses stack.

[top]Investment of Body

When the situation demands it, a spellcaster can focus all of his or her strength on a spell, drawing
power from the character?s own life force as necessary to help augment and control the magical force.
This investment is naturally painful for the spellcaster; any Spell Drain suffered from the spellcasting is taken as physical (lethal) damage.
When making this sacrifice, the character gains a +5 bonus to the Fortitude Save and Control check. A character whose Energy points have been expended can only continue casting spells by making an investment of body ? a potentially dangerous choice, but one that is sometimes necessary to survive.
The GM must decide whether it is possible to magically heal the Spell Drain damage of an investment of body. Natural healing could take some time, whereas magical healing can remove any injuries within moments. Whether this damage can be so easily healed should be decided based on the setting and the needs of the story.
A character who is exhausted when he or she begins casting a spell suffers all Drain as physical (lethal) damage and gains no bonus for it. Magic can only be pushed so far before it hurts.
There are a variety of damage systems popular today. Whether the spellcaster uses Energy points or Subdual damage, if the GM uses hit points, then lethal damage easily means hit points. However, for DM's who use the wound/vitality system, vitality is clearly available as a non-lethal form of damage, however to use wounds as lethal damage requires some adjustement. Rather than applying dice of damage to wounds, the following may be used to represent investment of body. For each dice of damage that is to be applied, apply one wound point or ability score point.

[top]Investment of Mind

Arguably the most costly sacrifice of all, an investment of mind requires the spellcaster give up some portion of his or her own mental and spiritual energy. In game terms, the character expends Experience Points when casting the spell. He or she gains a +1 bonus to the Fortitude Save and Control check for every 100 XP expended in this manner. A spellcaster cannot expend enough XP to reduce him or herself below the minimum for his or her current level ? a character cannot lose a level due to an investment of mind.

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