Spellburn and spellpoints (RPG Blog Carnival)

This months blog carnival from Elemental Reductions has the topic of Beyond Vancian Magic - so I was inspired to write about Spellburn.

Key point here is that while the Vancian casting system as exists in most recent editions of D&D is fine, it it all a bit clean-cut for chucking raw magical energy around - hence you should be able to push the boundaries in extremis - get more bang for your buck with Spellburn.

I used a variant of More Risky Spellburn from Sheep & Sorcery where a caster take d6 spellburn to a stat of their choice to max out a spell effect; damage, HD turned, etc. or to cast a spell they know how to cast but cannot normally do so again before rest.

I like the general concept of a magic user doesn't 'run dry' when they run out of slots, they just run out of safety margin.

I have a wishlist of parts that suit the flavour of magic I think I prefer - one that drives adventure and risk taking. I am sure there is a system out there that does exactly what I need but I have not stumbled on it yet.

I would like to see time and place matter - spells cast at a ley-line confluence or some other place of high magical potential being more potent or easier. I would like to see the phases of the moon or alignment of the stars matter.

I would like spell-casting to be open to anyone - if they go to the right place, at the right time.

I would like to see more sources of magical potential being drawn upon - ritual circles that can be charged or other means for spell energy to be stored and used later. I would have high level magics be possible for any who have enough time to drip-drip the magical energy into a vessel sufficient to cast the thing.

Here is where sacrifices come into play, releasing magical energy through grim deeds.

All these strike me as some system of spellpoints - where a spellcaster generates some of their own on a regular basis to a limit - but you can then gather others through fair means or foul, or store them for later use. Then when you want to do things you pile together as big a heap of spellpoints as you've got the guts to use and roll something relevant - intelligence? own spellcaster level? - so small stuff is easy and repeatable but big stuff gets dangerous.

Flavour-wise I feel this would be something with magic like cooking - some people and places know certain techniques, some techniques only work when you have access to certain ingredients or equipment, some things get the job done but in a hazardous or wasteful way - but there are multiple ways to get to what you might want to do.


d6 Sources of magical power 1. Crystal toads - absorb ambient background magic from high-magic places, scrape off the back crystals and crunch them for spellpoints. 2. Elven ley-mirrors - stand in front of one at the right phase of the moon and get a massive discharge of accumulated starlight. Drink from the waterfall. 3. Bleeding altar - feed it your own blood to connect with the soaked in energy of all sacrifices as yet unused with this altar. If near empty, it will drain you. 4. Shadow cliff - walk this path as the sunrise casts your shadow and your shadow will stay and walk over and back until you return. All your spell energies will be drawn into the cliff and you will gain none until you return. 5. Storm web - like a big coppery kite, fly it off the top of your tower in bad weather to catch a lightning bolt. 6. Congealed ichor - liquid to start, can be kneaded to solidity while absorbing spell energies. Typically appear as a jar of ugly marbles.