Ambient Spellcaster

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Clive Squire

Author's Note: I have always felt that the system of spellcasting for ambient spellcasters doesn't reflect what their capability should be. Although I understand that the portrayal of sorcerers and mystics within the novels and the game mechanics are very different, I have always felt that the sorcerers and mystics (and, to a lesser extent, all bards) never really come across as being 'in line' with the novels and thus not as free flowing as they have been portrayed.
   According to the novels, a sorcerer or mystic, pretty much builds a spell and can cast virtually any spell that falls within the schools or spheres they know of and have learned to tap or focus their energies into producing. The following class is designed to replace both the sorcerer and the mystic classes and should not be used in a campaign that also allows these classes. It should be one or the other.
   The ambient spellcaster is not as hindered by the number of spells that he can cast and has greater leeway when casting them, and has the ability to continually add to his repertoire as he advances through the levels. He is held in check by his key spellcasting ability (which is Concentration instead of the normal Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma), his Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (which limits how many spells he has to start and gains through each level) and the effects of casting (which can weaken him during combat) and improperly casting ambient spells (which could cause random effects) and that their key learning skill, Spellcraft, is a cross-class skill.
   The ambient spellcaster is healthier than the sorcerer but not as healthy as the mystic. He has a good Fortitude and Willpower save and an average Base Attack Bonus. Has the same skill points as either class.

Class Description

Spellcasting: An ambient spellcaster intuitively taps into or focuses in on some of the primordial energies of Krynn. Unlike spellcasters who must commit their spells to their memories, such as wizards or clerics, ambient spellcasters build their spells as and when they need them.

The ambient spellcaster's knowledge of the forces that he creates is not required to be great, thus the ambient spellcaster does not use their Intelligence to determine the effects of the spells that they cast.
Hit Dice: d6.

Class Skills

All the following are class skills for the ambient spellcaster - Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Wis), and Profession (Wis).

Skill Points at 1st Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier (x4)
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the ambient spellcaster.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: The ambient spellcaster is proficient with all simple weapons and light and medium armours. They are proficient with the use of all shields except tower shields.

School/Sphere: Starting at 1st level the ambient spellcaster gains access to a single school of magic or sphere of mysticism. All starting spells chosen by the character must come initially from this school or sphere at 1st level. When the character reaches 4th level, the character can select to take an additional school of magic or choose to learn a sphere of mysticism and every third level after (7th, 10th, 13th, 16th and 19th).

Below are noted the effects of spells that fall within the individual schools or spheres.

Schools of Magic

Aeromancy - Spells that deal with air, wind, vapours and movement.
Cryomancy - Spells that deal with cold and ice.
Divination - Spells that allow the gain of knowledge.
Electromancy - Spells that deal with lightning and static electricity.
Enchantment - Spells that imbue non-living objects with arcane energy.
Geomancy - Spells that deal with earth or stone, or metal.
Hydromancy - Spells that deal with water.
Pyromancy - Spells that deal with heat and fire.
Spectramancy - Spells that deal with light and colour.
Summoning - Spells that deal with folding space to bring or move an object or creature.

Spheres of Mysticism

Animism - Spells that deal with animals, plants and vermin.
Alteration - Spells that deal altering forms of the living.
Channelling - Spells that increase the physical prowess of the caster.
Healing - Spells that heal and repair.
Meditation - Spells that increase the mental prowess of the caster.
Necromancy - Spells that affect the life essence and corporeal dead.
Sensitivity - Spells that deal with the gaining of knowledge.
Spiritualism - Spells that affect the incorporeal undead and the spirit world.

Spells: Ambient spellcasters cast spells like other spellcasters, in a sense. The effects of the spells are determined by the casting level that the ambient spellcaster wishes to cast the spell at. All spells take the same amount of time to cast as they would for other spellcasters.

The difference between an ambient spellcaster and a focused spellcaster is that the ambient spellcaster needs to make Constitution skill checks to correctly tap into the primordial energies and channel them into the desired results.

Ambient spellcasters tap into the forces of Chaos that were imbued into the world or draw the Divine power from the gods to create their effects. The sheer act of this channelling is physically demanding on the ambient spellcaster. To cast an ambient spell, the ambient spellcaster must make a Concentration skill check against a DC equal to 10 plus the modifiers gained from adjusting the required spell to his needs (see casting ambient spells, below).

Spells Known & Spell Limit: An ambient spellcaster, like the wizard or cleric, has the potential to know and cast nearly every spell known. Even then, their ability to tap into the primordial energies quite often allow them to come up with unique spells on the spur of the moment.

Unlike the sorcerer presented in the Player's Handbook or the mystic presented in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting, the ambient spellcaster has no maximum number of spells that he can cast per day, and can continue to cast the spells that he does know as long as he makes the requisite checks to do so.

This does not mean that the ambient spellcaster has no limit to his abilities. The act of casting a spell is physically taxing, and that is just when the process works. Each time an ambient spellcaster casts a spell he uses up part of his physical energies. He must succeed a Fortitude save against a DC 10 + the spell's level + the number of spell's he has cast within the encounter. If he succeeds, he suffers no ill effects and can continue normally. If he fails, he becomes fatigued. If he fails again after that within the same encounter, he becomes exhausted. Failure again, results in unconsciousness.

Depending on the type of magic energy the ambient spellcaster chooses to begin play wielding, depends on how many spells that character begins play knowing. At 1st level, an ambient spellcaster knows 1 spell plus 1 spell per point of Intelligence modifier (for arcane users) or Wisdom (for divine users).

As the character progresses through his career, he can attempt to create a new spell (which must be based on another spell, which is then used for a base line, but can come from any source the DM allows). He can create a number of these spells per ambient spellcaster level equal to his Intelligence or Wisdom modifier.

For example, a 1st level ambient spellcaster that chooses divine magic and has a Wisdom modifier of +4, could know between 5 - 9 spells by the time he reaches 2nd level. All spells initially selected by the character must be selected from the 0, 1st or 2nd level spells and can be selected from any spell list.

A spell's spell level is determined by the highest arcane or divine (depending on which type the ambient spellcaster can cast) class that can cast that particular spell. For example, the emotional brew (found in the Age of Mortals supplement) spell is noted as being for a Bard 4, Cleric/Mystic 5 and Sorcerer/Wizard 5. To an arcane ambient spellcaster this spell is considered a 5th level spell, while to divine ambient spellcasters it is a 5th level spell. If a spell is only castable through a domain, the spell is treated as divine in origin.

To learn a spell requires a lot of effort for an ambient spellcaster, even more so then for any other spellcasting class. The ambient spellcaster must make a Spellcraft skill check against a DC equal to 15 + the spell's level in order to learn the spell and spend 1 day per every 5 points in the check result training in using the spell without modification.

Divine or Arcane Energy: The type of spell that an ambient spellcaster casts depends in the number of schools or spheres he has access to. An ambient spellcaster that only has access to a school of magic casts all spells as arcane spells (likewise, an ambient spellcaster with only a sphere of mysticism casts all spells as divine spells).

Ambient spellcasters that have access to both schools and spheres must declare whether the spell being cast is arcane or divine in origin when the spell is cast. It is possible for the ambient spellcaster to create a hybrid spell, one that uses both arcane and divine magic for a spell effect, but this increases the DC to cast the spell by 2.

Class Feature: Starting at 3rd level the ambient spellcaster gains a class feature, depending on his initial choice of either an arcane school of magic or a divine sphere of mysticism. If the ambient spellcaster chose a school, the ambient spellcaster gains the ability to summon a familiar just as a wizard.

If the ambient spellcaster chose a sphere of mysticism, he gains access to a single domain of his choice. The ambient spellcaster gains the granted power of the domain and adds the domain spells to the number of spells the ambient spellcaster knows.

Casting Ambient Spells

The ambient spellcaster has greater leeway when it comes to casting spells. Unlike the other spellcasting classes, the ambient spellcaster is not held to a number of spells known or spells castable per day.

Even while casting the spell, the ambient spellcaster can change and adjust the spell to suit his needs, either increasing or decreasing the effects of the spell. Doing this makes the spell easier or harder for the ambient spellcaster to cast the spell.

The aspects of a spell are split into two groups - the mutable and the immutable qualities. The mutable qualities of the spells can be adjusted as the ambient spellcaster casts the spell. Each adjustment will either add a circumstance bonus or penalty to the DC that he must make to cast that spell in that casting.

Unlike the mutable qualities, the immutable qualities are unchangeable and can never be affected by the adjustments made by the ambient spellcaster through the act of casting the spell. They can be effected by other factors, such as Spell Focus.

If the ambient spellcaster fails the Concentration skill check to cast a spell, he has the potential to create a wild surge of magical energy and he rolls on 2 - 1: Wild Magic Effects (see the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting for more information about wild surges).

The Mutable Qualities of Spells

Casting Level: An ambient spellcaster's casting level is equal to the ambient spellcasting class level the character has. For example, a 12th level sorcerer casts his spells at 12th level. Casting a spell at the spell's normal casting level gives the ambient spellcaster no penalty or benefit to the Concentration skill check needed to cast the spell.

However, the ambient spellcaster is capable of increasing or decreasing the level that he casts a spell at to above or below that which he normally could, even below normally allowable to use the spell in some cases.

For each caster level that ambient spellcaster chooses to drop from the spells casting level, he gains a -2 circumstance bonus to the DC to cast the spell. Raising the casting level of a spell above the normal for the character penalises the DC by a +2 circumstance penalty.

The benefits or penalties to the Concentration skill check are cumulative with each level lost or gained in the caster level of the spell. For example, a 5th level sorcerer could cast fireball (a 3rd level arcane spell) at a caster level of 1st level (granting the -2 bonus for lowering the caster level four times for a -8 circumstance bonus to the DC) or he could cast it at 9th level (incurring the +2 penalty for raising the caster level four times for a +8 circumstance penalty to the DC).

Changing a spell's caster level does not change the spell's spell level. Thus, the fireball in the above example is still a 3rd level spell for the purposes of determining the starting point for the saves DC and for other effects that might counter 3rd level spells.

The casting level does have a knock on effect of determining the starting values for a number of other effects of the spell, such as range, area or duration. Thus, a spell that is reduced to be cast as a 1st level spell is treated as a 1st level spell for the purposes of range, duration and area.

Components: All ambient spellcasters do not require the use of focuses or material components in order to cast their spells (they still need to pay the XP costs of a spell though). Neither do they need to make the articulate gestures or say the words of power to activate a spell.

Due to the fact that the spellcaster is tapping into the energy to create the spells effects, if the ambient spellcaster possesses the normal material components and/or focuses for the spell, the save DC for the spell increases by +1 for each focus or component that he uses in casting the spell.

An ambient spellcaster that knows the correct words of a spell and the gestures of a spell gains a +1 bonus to the spell's save DC for each that he knows.

As with normal material components, components used by an ambient spellcaster to bolster his spell are still consumed during the casting of the spell.

Range: The ambient spellcasters level determines the range that a spell can normally reach, and if left unchanged offers no modifier to the Concentration skill check required to cast the spell.

However, the ambient spellcaster can increase or decrease a spell's range factor by one or more categories. The categories for spells are as follows - personal, touch, close range (25ft + 5ft/2 levels), medium (100ft + 10ft/level) and long (400ft + 40ft/level).

For each increase or decrease the spell's range is adjusted, the caster gains a -2 circumstance bonus (if the range is lowered) or a +2 circumstance penalty (if the range is increased) to the DC to cast the spell.

Duration: A spell's duration is normally determined by the spellcasters casting level against the normal allowable for a set spell. Many spells have instantaneous or 1 round per caster level as their duration entries.

Ambient spellcasters can keep the spells duration to that noted for the spell gaining no modification to the Concentration skill check needed to cast it. As with the other aspects of a spell, the ambient spellcaster could increase or decrease the spells duration, gaining a -2 circumstance bonus (for reducing) or a +2 circumstance penalty (for increasing) to the DC for each category the duration is changed. The categories are as follows - Instantaneous, 1 round/level, 1 minute/level, 1 hour/level, 1 day/level.

Spells cannot be increased to have a duration longer than 1 day/level and no ambient spellcaster can produce a permanent effect. A spell that has a permanent effect is treated as having a duration of 1 day/level for the purposes of the modifiers for casting the spell.

Area: The effect of the spell can also be changed by an ambient spellcaster, however the effect must remain within the same lines as the original spells. The spells area, target or effect can be increased or decreased within this line, gaining a -2 circumstance bonus to the DC (for decreasing) or a +2 circumstance penalty to the DC (for increasing).

For example, a spell that has the following line as its entry under targets '1 creature or object/level', could be decreased to 1 single creature or object or increased to affect all creatures and objects within a 10 foot burst.

Of all of the modifications to the spell, the area is the hardest to calculate. As a rule of thumb, when reducing a spell, half the number of creatures of objects would be considered one category and continue halving the number of creatures until you get to one, with each being a category. The same works in reverse when increasing the number.

For areas, for each 5 foot area that can be affected, treat that as a category, thus a spell that normally affects a 10 foot burst has 2 categories it can be reduced.

The Immutable Qualities of Spells

Saving Throw: The spells of the ambient spellcaster remain unchanged. The save DC is equal to 10 + the spell's level + the spellcaster's Constitution modifier + any other modifier (such as knowing the words of a spell or such feats as Spell Focus).

Spell Resistance: The ability of a creature to resist the spells from an ambient spellcaster remains unaffected by the changes the spellcaster makes to his spells.

Example A: A 10th-level ambient spellcaster wishes to cast a modified version of the desert fist (found on the Nexus) as an arcane spell. He wants the spell to be more powerful (cast at a higher level) and reach further (increasing the range), he also has studied the spell somewhat and has learned the words needed for the spell (the verbal components) and has some sand at hand (the material component of the spell). The spellcaster has a total modifier of +13 (9 ranks, +4 Constitution modifier) for his Concentration skill.

To cast the spell, the spellcaster has to roll 1d20 + 13 (his skill modifier) against a DC 22 (10 plus +10 [heightened casting level], +2 [increased range], meaning he must roll 9 or more on the d20 to successfully cast the spell. The spell's DC for the save is 21 (10 + spell level [5] + Constitution modifier [4] + bonuses from components [2])

Example B: A 1st-level ambient spellcaster wishes to cast a modified version of the desert fist (found on the Nexus) spell. He wishes to enhance the spell's effects (heighten the casting level) and increase the reach of the spell (increases the range) The spellcaster has a total modifier of +3 (3 ranks) for his Concentration skill.

To cast the spell, the spellcaster has to roll 1d20 + 3 (his skill modifier) against a DC 30 (10 plus +28 [heightened casting level], +2 [increased range], meaning he must roll 27 or more on the d20 to successfully cast the spell.

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