Ritual Path Magic for Dungeon Fantasy

[Langy]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm thinking about starting a Dungeon Fantasy game using Ritual Path Magic instead of the normal Magic rules. However, I think a few changes from the normal RPM rules are in order so that RPM can fit a DF setting better.

First, I'd like to introduce a modifier for Ritual Adept:

Must Use Grimoire (-50%): In order to cast a ritual, you must either use a Grimoire or have Ritual Mastery for that ritual. You can not improvise new rituals on the fly.

This modifier makes Grimoires and Ritual Mastery much more important. There are also some other changes to Grimoires I'll introduce later on.

Next, some extra advantages:

Faster Casting [5/level]: Reduces the time to gather energy by 1 second (1 minute, if not a Ritual Adept) per level. This effect can not reduce energy gathering time to below one second (minute, for non-Adepts). Further, there is a +1 bonus per level (maximum +10) on instantly gathering energy for Blocking spells.
Extra Ritual Slot [1/level]: You can keep one more conditional ritual active at a time.

Next, some new rules for conditional rituals:

While you can use normal conditional rituals or charms, you can also Pre-Cast a ritual. This counts as a conditional ritual in all ways - it takes up a conditional ritual slot, it needs a Lesser Control Magic effect, etc. It works similarly to a break-to-cast Charm, with the following exceptions:

* It is not tied to a physical object, so it can neither be stolen nor can you give it to someone else to use
* It does not take an extra thirty minutes to prepare, but it only lasts until the next break of dawn (or, possibly, for 24 hours)
* You can not claim any bonus from a workspace kit, but neither do you suffer from lack-of-equipment penalties
* It requires a Concentrate maneuver to cast, rather than a Ready maneuver

A further note of clarification: Pre-Cast rituals and Charms that are simply holding a ritual to be used upon breaking the Charm do not count as 'active' rituals for the stacking rules (MH 37).

Instead of bogging down gameplay with all the rolls needed to Pre-Cast all of the chosen spells at the beginning of the game, a Wizard should only prepare a list of spells to Pre-Cast and record the circumstances when he was preparing - what Grimoires he had available, whether he was casting at a location of magical potency, etc. Only roll when actually attempting to use the Ritual, and use the Quick-and-Dirty Charm Creation rules (MH4 11). If you get a critical failure, this failure takes effect immediately, when the spell was used, not when the spell was originally Pre-Cast. Further, assume all Pre-Casting takes the same amount of time - twelve times the normal energy accumulation interval (a total of one minute for an Adept without Faster Casting, or one hour for someone without either Faster Casting or Ritual Adept, doubled if using a Grimoire).

Now, some alterations to Grimoires:

The current rules for Grimoires make no sense. In particular, the weight of the books involved, combined with how long it takes to cast a spell - there's no possible way for Grimoires to be that heavy, unless they're made out of pure lead, because it's impossible to read through a 10 pound book in ten minutes, or even ten hours. Further, the price progression is wierd. Thus, I suggest changing Grimoires around completely. A Grimoire costs $50 per pound and ten ritual pages, plus the cost of the rituals inscribed in the Grimoire. Thus, a typical five-pound Grimoire costs $250 (plus ritual costs) and holds 50 pages of rituals. The number of pages a ritual takes up and its price depend upon the skill bonus, following this chart:

Bonus    Pages   Cost
+0       2       $20
+1       3       $50
+2       4       $100
+3       5       $200
+4       6       $500
+5       7       $1,000
+6       8       $2,000
+7       10      $5,000
+8       12      $10,000
+9       16      $20,000
+10      20      $50,000

It's rumored there may be more esoteric Grimoires out there, possibly including magically infused ones that can hold an infinite number of rituals, or ones that are significantly protected from harm, or etched on something aside from normal paper/vellum.

A typical five-pound grimoire with ten +3 rituals would thus cost $2,250. The RAW RPM costs are $2,500 and 7 pounds - pretty close, and I like my progression more, especially because it's simpler and quicker to use. It would certainly be reasonable to use the MH progressions, though - in that case, a +0 bonus would be a 1 pound, $20 Grimoire, while a +1 bonus would be a 1.5 pound, $50 Grimoure.

Finally, an RPM lens for the Wizard template:

Ritual Wizard
0 Points

Attributes: -1 IQ [-20].
Secondary Characteristics: -3 FP [-9].
Advantages: Reduce Magery from 3 to 2 [-10]. • Add either Faster Casting 4 [20] or Ritual Adept (Must Use Grimoire, -50%) [20]. • Add ten points to advantage options [10]. • In advantage options, add Faster Casting [5/level], Ritual Adept [20 or 40], Ritual Mastery [1/ritual], and Extra Ritual Slot [1/level].
Skills: Increase Thaumatology to IQ [+7]. • Choose two Path skills at (VH) IQ [8]-14; two more Paths at (VH) IQ-1 [4]-13; two more Paths at (VH) IQ-2 [2]-12; and the remaining three Paths at (VH) IQ-3 [1]-11.
Spells: Remove all spells from the template [-30].

Customization Notes:
Your most important choices are whether to take Faster Casting or Ritual Adept, and which Path skills to focus upon. As an Adept, you'd be restricted to spells you know or have Grimoires for, but could cast spells much faster and reasonably have a full suite of Pre-Cast spells at hand. As a non-Adept, you'd have much more freedom and flexibility - but it would be more difficult to replenish your spell supply in the field, and you'd have to rely more upon Charms than Pre-Cast spells. It's quite possible to take both Ritual Adept and Faster Casting, allowing you to pull off highly powerful spells at a moments notice. Finally, you could choose to buy off the Must Use Grimoire limitation on Ritual Adept, giving you both flexibility and speed.

What Path skills you choose to focus upon will define what kind of a Wizard you are. In most cases, you'll want the Path of Magic to be one of your highest Path skills - Lesser Control Magic effects are used in both Charms and Pre-Cast spells, which will be your bread-and-butter. For your other Paths, the Path of Energy is incredibly useful for an 'Artillery'-type mage, while the Path of Mind is important for Illusionists; Necromancers will want the Path of Undead.

Finally, to really cast effectively, you'll want Ritual Mastery with a number of 'core' rituals, and points from quirks should go towards purchasing a Grimoire granting bonuses to a number of spells. With skill 14, +2 from Ritual Mastery, and +3 from a Grimoire, you have effective skill 19 - enough to give you a safe threshold of 55 energy points. This allows you to cast some relatively powerful spells with minimal risk, such as Explosive Fireball (below). If you are willing to risk critical failure, you can cast some extremely powerful spells, such as Call Lightning (see below).


Example Rituals:

Explosive Fireball (39 Points): Greater Create Energy (+6,x3); Subject, 300 lbs (+3); Damage, 4d explosive burn (+4). Allows you to throw a 4d explosive fireball from your hands. Roll to hit with Innate Attack skill with normal range penalties.

Call Lightning (150 points): Greater Create Energy (+6,x3); Area of Effect, 15 yards, Exclude 5 People (+20); Subject Weight, 1000 lbs (+4); Damage, 6d burn (+20). Instantly calls down bolts of lightning from the heavens to strike anyone SM+1 or smaller within fifteen yards except yourself and four of your adventuring companions.