Ok, time to open up here and get the opinions of everyone on the list. For
our book, which is rules light, setting heavy, we've ditched completely the
d20 SRD races except for humans. We've added our own, with their own unique
racial modifiers. As far as I can tell, according to the OGL and the STL
we're cool with that. We've added a new class, which will be open, and
restricted the use of the other classes depending on your race and culture.
Again, both of those shouldn't be a problem. The one other change we've made
is to change the "special effects" of how wizards cast spells. To quote from
the book:
Wizards � Any race can be a wizard. However, in Diomin wizards are slightly
different than those in the Players Handbook. The main difference lies in
how wizards cast spells and use components. All other class abilities and
restrictions are the same except that no wizard can be Lawful Good. A master
searching for apprentices will never select one that is Lawful Good. Those
with a Lawful Good outlook on life do not have the disposition necessary to
tap into �the Source� for use as magical energy. Any other alignment is
allowed. (The reasons why will be explained in depth in the forth coming
OtherWorld Creations product, Gods of Diomin.)
The slight change in how wizards train and how they cast their spells is as
follows.
Training
Secret masters in areas not close to society, or major cities train wizards.
The only place where this is not true is in Zeredite lands. Therefore, a
large percentage of wizards are of Zeredite origin. But even there wizards
are hard to find and are not a dime a dozen. Also, all wizards have on their
person a symbol that they use to show to other wizards that they are in fact
part of the group. This symbol is a circle with 12 hash marks spaced
equidistant. This does not need to be worn openly and in fact should not be.
Wizards are held in suspicion and are feared and distrusted (see Corruption
Points below) by most races and cultures except for the Zeredites, for whom
the power available to those who become wizards far outweighs the drawbacks.
In 3rd edition, arcane magic has the following components: verbal, somatic,
focus and material. Those now change to the following:
Verbal stays, however by using the verbal component, the wizard is drawing
upon outside forces, using an ancient tongue not spoken today.
Somatic stays. The movements of the hand and or body represent the physical
world and are used as the filter for the magical energy used in casting
spells.
Focus stays. The body itself is the focus for the spell energies.
Material is changed to Spiritual. The Spiritual component is the using of
one�s own spiritual energy to fuel and power magical energy.
Wizards however, do not use the inherent magic of Diomin nor do they get
power from their deity. They draw power from what they have termed �The
Source�. What this source is has never been fully explained. What has been
said is that wizards draw on a power outside that of reality, which they
then mix using Spiritual, Somatic and Verbal components.
While the �special effects� of spell casting have changed, wizards still use
the �fire and forget� system found in the Players Handbook. Drawing the
power and memorizing the correct things to say in order to get a specific
effect is not something the mortal body can withstand easily. It is
"foreign" for lack of a better word. Which means that when a wizard casts a
spell, the spell is forgotten and he has to go back and follow the same
formula, imprinting the foreign matter back into his head.
Another change to the wizard class is the introduction of �Corruption
Points�. For some reason the way wizards cast spells leads them to slowly
build up negative energies that then begin to corrupt the wizard�s body and
soul. While exact details are sketchy on what happens after prolonged magic
use, what is known is that very few high level wizard�s are seen in society.
The rules for �Corruption Points� are as follows. For every level a wizard
gains, he rolls d10 - Int bonus to determine how many points he has gained
that level. For every 10 Corruption Points a character has, he gains either
an insanity or a physical deformity, both of which are up to the DM and
Player to decide. Neither should be crippling, but neither should they be
easily shrugged off. What they should do is represent what the wizard has
gone through during his previous level and be role-played accordingly.
Ok, everyone's thoughts on the legality of the above changes?
Hyrum.
OtherWorld Creations
http://www.otherworlds.cx
