Spell Cost variant to beef up the Wizard

[Daedalus]

In the NA rules at least, the Wizard is a loser. Like the awkward boy in gym class, he is (almost) always picked last. I think it's high time he gets some magical help to give him a pair.

Wizard Progression
A Wizard starts with all 4 elemental spell groups. (The Elf can use the Elf spells.) Each spell can be cast once at no cost. New spell groups (from WoM) may be added with magical research:

Spell Group Cost
1st spell group added ..... 1000 gold coins
2nd spell group added .... 1500 gold coins
3rd spell group added ..... 2500 gold coins

[Costs may need to be adjusted. The thinking is to award 1 group after KK (26 Quests), another group after WoM (46 Quests), and a final(?) set after the EQP (66 Quests).]

Casting Costs of Spells
Each spell has a cost number ranging from 1 to 4 for Heroes:

Air: Swift Wind (1), Tempest (2), Genie (3)
Earth: Pass Through Rock (1), Stone Skin (2), Heal Body (4)
Fire: Courage--1 turn (2)/ 1+ turns (4), Flame of Wrath (2), Ball of Flame (3)
Water: Veil of Mist (1), Sleep (2), Water of Life (4)
Darkness: Chains of Darkness (2), Cloak of Shadows (2), Arrows of Night (3)
Detection: Clairvoyance (1), Treasure Horde (2), Future Sight (3)
Protection: Wall of Stone (1), Invisibility (2), Dispel Magic (3)

Spell Recasting
Instead of discarding a spell when cast, turn it 90 degrees to the right to indicate it as used. A used spell may be recast by paying it's casting cost. This is done by either using a Wizard's Mind Points, by converting uncast spells, or through a combination of the two. (Perhaps a spell should cost double to recast it a 2nd time, triple to recast it a 3rd time, etc.)

Spell Recasting with Mind Points
A Wizard may use Mind Points to recast a spell by reducing his Mind Points by an amount equal to the casting cost of the spell; however, once a Wizard's Mind Points are reduced to zero, he goes into shock. Either use the shock rules from the BQP, the EQP, or this house-rule modification:

When a Hero reaches zero Mind Points, he is not dead but goes into shock. (A Hero cannot go below zero Mind Points.) Reduce his Attack, Defend, and Move Dice to 1 each. If already one die, downgrade 1 step: a Skull to a White Shield, a White Shield to a Black Shield, or a red die to half the result. A Hero may not cast spells or use a Shield until his Mind Points are restored above zero.

Spell Recasting with Spell Conversion
The cost to recast a spell may also be met by converting one or more uncast spells. Turn an uncast spell 90 degrees to the right to show it has been used for conversion. Half of it's casting cost may now be used to pay for recasting another spell. More than one uncast spell may be converted in a turn for the recasting of a spell, and even a converted spell may later be recast.

[Daedalus]

Here are some artifacts to enhance a Wizard's spellcasting prowess using the system above:

Lesser Staff of Sorcery
This magical staff gives a Hero 1 combat die for attack and may be used diagonally. While it is held, an Elf or Wizard only pays 1 Mind Point for every 2 needed for the cost of a spell. For a cost or remainder of 1, roll a red die: Pay 1 Mind Point only if a 1, 2, or 3 is rolled.

Greater Staff of Sorcery
This magical staff gives a Hero 1 combat die for attack and may be used diagonally. While it is held, an Elf or Wizard only pays 1 Mind Point for every 3 needed for the cost of a spell. For a cost or remainder of 1 or 2, roll a red die: Pay 1 Mind Point only if a 1 or 2 is rolled.

Master Staff of Sorcery
This magical staff gives a Hero 2 combat dice for attack and may be used diagonally. While it is held, an Elf or Wizard only pays 1 Mind Point for every 4 needed for the cost of a spell. For a cost or remainder of 1, 2, or 3 roll two red dice: Pay 1 Mind Point only if a 1, 2, or 3 is rolled on both red dice.

Munchkin Staff of Sorcery
This magical staff gives a Hero 2 combat dice for attack and may be used diagonally. While it is held, an Elf or Wizard only pays 1 Mind Point for every 6 needed for the cost of a spell. For a cost or remainder up to 5, roll a red die: Pay 1 Mind Point only if a 1 is rolled.

I included the Elf as he can also work with the spell system from the OP. These artifacts are meant to be given over a long range of Quests, all the way up to or past Dark Company. I included the Munchkin Staff for completeness. I'd keep that Wizard a solo to see how he could fare alone. I estimate The Lesser Staff adds 5-6 MPs per Quest, the Greater Staff adds 10-12 MPs, the Master Staff adds 15-18 Mps, and the Munchkin Staff adds 25-30 MPs per Quest.

Between the Staves and spell groups that may be purchased, a Wizard can end up with a lot of spells to cast and recast towards the end of the published adventures. Other house rules would be needed to balance things out. Some I'm working on:

• an expanded Armory with weapon special abilities that are triggered by spending Exertion Points
• an encounter deck for Zargon that adds a card to his hand every turn
• monster abilities and possibly elites

Another thing I plan to use spell cost for is increasing spell potency at higher levels. Rather than casting a shit-load of spells that are low powered compared to the tougher Quests, I think it would be more wizardly to cast fewer, more telling spells. Hopefully, battles can be speeded up while overall balance isn't completely neglected. I've tried this before in my previous spell system, but such high-powered stuff isn't in demand. Thus, I haven't reworked spell boosting and maxing yet.

[sadkitchen]

You forgot the...
Super Munchkin Staff of Free Spellcasting +2
This magical staff gives a Hero 5 combat dice for attack and also counts all black shields rolled as skulls when determining damage. A hero can attack diagonaly with this staff. While being used the Super Munchkin Staff of Free Spellcasting +2 also allows your hero to roll 2 additional combat dice when defending. While it is held, any hero can cast any spell at no cost, even if that hero normaly cannot cast spells.

In more seriousness (if that can even be said by me!) your new spell casting idea looks good on paper. Have you gotten the chance to playtest it at all? Most of my ideas look good, some even sound good, but when I sit down with my scrap paper and dice and pretend play Quest 1 I find that they don't work at all.

The encounter deck for Zargon also sounds very interesting. I would like to see your ideas on this.

-SadKitchen

[knightkrawler]

The Casting Costs of Spells I introduced into my system, too, almost the way you did, Daedalus.
When I present it, don't be surprised by the similarities

[cynthialee]

You would have to mark the spell cards with thier cost.

I think the easiest way to beef the wizard is to allow access to swords after 10 quests and give him 1 more body point after 5. All that runing with the Barbarian and Dwarf will be hard physicaly thus he should beef up some after awhile. After 10 quests of watching enemies and allys swrod fighting I think the wizard is a smart enough guy to figure it out.

[Daedalus]

@Cynthialee-
Ya, a direct and effective way to assign spell cost to a card is to put the number on it. I was thinking of stickers that could be gotten at a stationary store. Write the number on them and stick 'em to the bottom of a spell card. They should come off again....

Sleeves would also do the trick, just add a slip with the cost at the bottom of the card. I really should try them.

Another option would be to print out a cost table that the Wizard could keep handy. Table--bummer.

The last thing I can think of is to reprint the cards with the cost on them. I'd only bother to do this if I can successfully rework bumped-up versions of the spells to print on the reverse side. That is a tough task for me at this point, as I haven't gotten to the Photoshop stage yet (though I'd like to).

by the way, thanks again for your criticisms of my first attempt to work up an alternate spell system many months previous. You more than anyone motivated me to rework things. I feel this version works a little more basic and better. Not playtested, though.

As for allowing swords for the Wizard, I'm starting to see things that way, too. This thread contains an argument for it, a couple of posts down. However, I still want to keep the main juice in spells, because for me that's what defines the Wizard.

@SadKitchen-
Like I said, I haven't playtested this. I've been contstrained by the assumption that I need a group to playtest. Your reference to solo playtesting is a revelation for me. If I decide to do this and take greater responsibility for my house rules, I'll post about it later.

The Zargon Encounter Deck isn't completed. I worked on it for a while, then moved to some other rules. This thread represents a partial house cleaning of back-logged house rules in my notebook. I'm glad to have an excuse to polish and post the ideas. I'll take another look at the Encounter Deck, but I'll need some time to finish working things up--I like to mull over things for a good, long while. I'll get it done eventually, because I feel the Zargon player really deserves to play a more interesting game.

I also still need to finish out my Exertion Point system for the more martial Heroes. Everybody gets a power bump at higher levels, but the Wizard doesn't factor in much compared to the Barbarian. Mostly it amounts to a bonus die in combat, but there are other uses.

Currently, I'm trying to retool the Search mechanic to allow for failure and range. I never liked the idea of Searching for things that are supposed to be well hidden with complete confidence. That's a big part of the reason why I started work on the Encounter Deck. I want the players to have to decide when it's worthwhile to search, and figure out when they'd rather play quickly to avoid allowing Zargon more cards to use against them. If I get it right, the dungeon crawl will be turned into a dungeon trot, or at least a brisk walk. I don't want things as fast paced as Descent, though; rather, I'm aiming for a middle ground.

@knightkrawler-
I'm not surprised we're both going with spell costs--it makes a lot of sense if you want to allow more than a single casting. The spell costs are there for tactical choice--I hope they work. Magic is a knotty problem, so I'm looking foward to your solutions. Right now, I really can't be sure of deficiencies in play balance in my house rules, especially at higher levels. One thing I am sure of is that the Wizard is too weak with just 9 spells, 10 if you count the Spell Ring. That Wizard was designed for earlier EU Quests, and even then he loses as monsters get more numerous and tough later. At the least, I'd like to allow extra spell groups to be purchased, so that the Wizard could play with all of the published spells in tougher Quests--more cards, more fun.

[sadkitchen]

You may not want to let anyone see you playing by yourself. My wife constantly picks on me whenever I get out my dice and take over the dining room table to hash out a rule I might want to implement.

But it is a great way to figure out which ideas don't work at all. (Say a Super Munchin Staff of Spell Casting +2 for example). Most ideas don't even take a full quest to decide if they can procede as planned to introduce to your gaming group the next time you HQ. You should have seen my 1st attempt at spell costs. My wizard cast genie 3 times before finaly failing to cast it once, and then cast it 2 more times durring the adventure. (Just a little OP in my oppinion )

-SadKitchen

[cynthialee]

I am glad I could be of some assistance. I was afraid I came off as too gruff and snapish.