This week I thought I'd discuss an idea that I'm really very happy with. The idea is spell templates -- things which can be added to a spell, changing the effects, the parameters and the components to get an entirely new spell, in the same way that a werewolf template makes a human into an entirely different character.

For example, here's a straightforward one, right out of the book:

Electricity
The lightning mage's interests usually lie more in power than in precision. The caster's eyes and hands flash with bolts of lightning when he casts his spell.

Characters can add this template to any spell that inflicts damage. The target must make a Fortitude save against the spell's original Difficulty Class or be stunned for 1 round, in addition to the damage.

Spells with this template gain the electricity descriptor. If the spell already has the electricity descriptor, the target is stunned for 2 rounds.

Cost: Material component (blue or yellow gem worth at least 30 gp).

Gained: From the Energy Mage feat.

You can see that this particular template does not change any of the spell's parameters (level, etc.) except that it adds a moderately costly component. It adds a bit of a jolt to any spell (a worthwhile one, but not an overpowering one), and adds a more significant one to electricity spells. This encourages spellcasters to select their spells on a "theme." There's a real advantage to being a "lightning mage" and you don't have to take a prestige class or anything to do it -- just a feat.

Most templates can be gained through feats, but magic items or prestige classes can also grant them. As you might imagine, the rod of lightning and electricity not only offers the wielder some cool electrical spells to use, but it also grants use of the electricity template. Of course, the caster still has to provide the components. (And spell templates cannot be applied to magic items or spell-like abilities -- just spells.)

Like I said, "electricity" is a straightforward one. You can imagine that there's also a fire template, a sonic template, an earth template, and so on. But the concept is more robust than just that. There's a war template that increases the number of targets a spell can affect. The permanent template replaces the permanency spell and allows just about any non-instantaneous spell to become permanent -- at a cost.

On the far fringe, the programmed template allows you to create magical traps and other waiting effects. One of my favorites is the sanctum template that allows any spell you cast in your personal "sanctum" to be more powerful. (Designating a place your sanctum requires a special ritual.)

Spell templates sort of take the place of metamagic feats (and some spell templates use the metamagic feat idea of adding to the spell's level when they make them much more powerful), but they go much farther than metamagic feats ever did. Not that I'm putting down metamagic feats, since they were my idea in the first place.

Like exotic spells, Tumble as an opposed check, and a few other aspects of Arcana Unearthed, spell templates are one of those things that fit the rules so well that when you read them you think, "Of course!" I'm really happy about that.

 

DESIGN DIARY PAST ENTRIES

* Playtesting -- June 12, 2003
"Playtesting is extremely important to me. When we developed 3rd Edition, we did more playtesting than perhaps any other RPG product, ever...."

* High Magic -- May 29, 2003
"I referred to the Diamond Throne as a high-magic setting. I should clarify..."

* The Diamond Throne -- May 23, 2003
"So it's about time I start talking about the Diamond Throne. The Diamond Throne is a campaign setting for Arcana Unearthed -- the default setting, like Greyhawk for D&D, I suppose...."

* Death's Door -- May 8 , 2003
" I like the D&D death's door rules. I like that at 0 hp, you're still up and can take a limited action, but then you exhaust yourself...."

* Hero Points -- May 1, 2003
"A roleplaying campaign can be like putting up wallpaper...."

* Truenames -- April 18, 2003
"Truenames are common in many fantasy settings. I think I first became aware of the concept in Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy..."

* Go, Go, Go! -- April 10, 2003
"Short entry this time. I hate spells with 1 minute/level durations...."

* Ceremony -- April 3, 2003
"I think I've already mentioned that one of the goals I set for myself with Arcana Unearthed was to make things a little less generic...."

* Things That Rules Take Away -- March 21, 2003
"There are aspects of fantasy roleplaying that rules, inadvertently, can actually take away...."

* Still Talking Classes -- March 13, 2003
"I've saved some of the best classes for last. Let's talk about the runethane, the mage blade, and the witch...."

* More Classes -- February 27, 2003
"This time, I want to tell you about some of the other classes: akashics, magisters, and greenbonds...."

* Build a Better Fighter -- February 23, 2003
"The title this week is facetious. It really should be 'build a different fighter'...."

* The Magic Balancing Act -- February 13, 2003
"In Arcana Unearthed I'm introducing a new method of magic item pricing. First, I streamlined the item creation feats..."

* More Magic -- January 23, 2003
"This week, I thought I'd talk more about the new magic system in Arcana Unearthed."

* Magic -- January 17, 2003
"As a designer, magic in Arcana Unearthed posed a huge challenge. I knew that I wanted to ditch the Vancian system...."

* Design Decisions, Part Two -- December 24, 2002
"Here's a bit more discussion of some of the general issues I faced as I began designing Arcana Unearthed...."

* Design Decisions, Part One -- December 19, 2002
"Before jumping into another big area of Arcana Unearthed's design, like classes or the magic system, I thought I'd discuss some of the general issues I faced as a designer starting the book...."

* Arcana Unearthed Races -- December 5, 2002
"I started with the races. While I knew that the game needed humans as a basis, I wanted all the other races to be new. I didn't want to just create dwarf and elf analogs with different names...."