So this is supposed to come out soon. Anyone excited?
Hm. No PDF?
@Xavier C: I don't think so. As far as I found out its a new system of magic so I don't think existing classes have anything beyond translating them to the new system.
@Calex: No but its nice to start talking about it around now. I thought the concept was interesting and pre-ordered. I'm hoping to read and review it soon after it comes out. Any important questions that need answering when I review it?
So, do we have a new ETA on when this book will come out?
So this is supposed to come out soon. Anyone excited?
I was so excited I was a kickstarter backer. I can't wait. :D
So this is supposed to come out soon. Anyone excited?I was so excited I was a kickstarter backer. I can't wait. :D
Ditto =)
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I got to the party late but got excited by what was offered and preordered when it came up. Can't wait for it to come out.
Any clue to how long till this is released? I'm noticing that this probably hasn't been updated:
Preordering the print edition will give you a free digital edition of Spheres of Power when the PDF is released (estimated August 2014)!
Does preordering the physical till give you a free copy of the pdf?
I have no idea what's going on. I've been digging for updates but the best I can find is the primary people behind it moved at the beginning of this month.
I have been itching for this though. Cant wait to see it.
An update recently from the kickstarter stated something about a final playtest followed by some last minute tweeks. I do not remember the new estimated delivery date though. The project is definitely not dead, but still in a stage of production.
That's good. Hopefully I'll see it before Christmas time. Me and my fiance are gifting me a lot of pathfinder stuff this Christmas.
A free Preview PDF is now available.
Answers to several questions about the product have been posted here.
The book is much more behind than we'd hoped it would be, but it is advancing well and we will have a work-in-progress PDF (the first 4 chapters of the expected 6) available by Christmas at the latest.
Thanks for answering our questions!
Went from Pre-order to Unavailable??? :( Is not going away right??? :(
Maybe they had an estimation on the first print run and met the maximum they were going to print?
Although I'd like to know what's going on too.
PDF now available!
I preordered August 5th but I don't see a download.
It should be all sorted out now, and it is in fact available.
Oof, after reading about this project, I think I'll wait until the physical books are actually produced before I order one. I don't trust them with a preorder to be honest.
I still don't have a download. Looking forward to it though.
Oof, after reading about this project, I think I'll wait until the physical books are actually produced before I order one. I don't trust them with a preorder to be honest.
Why not?
Just going over the first few chapters and it's an interesting system. Each sphere seems to come with a Base level that is always available and you can use Spell Points to augment. Then you gain talents to further improve what you can do with it.
Conjuring for example lets you summon 1 creature (about on par with an animal companion) but you need to Concentrate to keep it there. If you spend a Spell Point it remains for a while without concentrating.
As you gain levels you either specialize in the Spheres you know giving you more options with them or branch out into new ones.
EX: The above mentioned Conjurer reaches 2nd level. He can learn a new Conjuring talent like having a Telepathic link with his summoned creature or increasing the duration it remains when he spends a Spell Point. Or he can learn a new Sphere like Destruction to blast enemies with.
From the look of it a Wizard will get enough Talents to learn every Sphere and have an extra talent in about half of them or he can really focus on a handful of them.
Sphere magic is an At-Will magic system. They are never going to run out of spells, but when they run out of spell points they have less options available to them. It looks like a good choice for a setting where Magic Users are simply able to "Do Things"
Question on the Symbiat. The Battlefield sense power is interesting. Does this only apply when wearing no armor whatsoever? Or can one wear light armor and still gain this power?
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Still waiting for my download. I've been excited for this for a while.
How I'd describe it, based on what I've read and the free preview;
Imagine that there are 20 basic 'spells' in the game. Each spell is an at-will ability that can be buffed using a ki pool-like spell point pool. Each spell has a bunch of 'metamagic feats' associated with it that modify it in some way or another, sometimes with the use of spell points. Classes that use sphere spells get a sphere caster level that scales like BAB, (full, 3/4, 1/2). These caster levels are the basis on how most of the effects and DCs scale, and each sphere caster level you get a new talent which is either one of the 20 'spells' or a 'metamagic feat' associated with a 'spell' you know. At their base a full caster level character can have around 21 slots for the spheres(spells) or talents(metamagic feats), so can specialize in all 20 spheres but they are relatively basic but they can also specialize in one sphere and just make it super versatile.
I REALLY like the concept. It brings casters closer to a martial paradigm, (combat feats) without making them boring. From what I see so far sphere casters are definitely weaker than normal casters since they don't do anything too outside the box and cant reallocate their spheres on a day to day basis. Also they are more specialized since advancing a sphere is rather linear as opposed to being able to cast two drastically different kinds of spells out of the box. For once, a new magic system is balanced at it's core to martials.
But they aren't boring. They have several benefits that offset their lack of power. Unlike normal casters, while they have a resource pool, their main abilities are at-will and so don't run the risk of simply not being able to do something. Blowing a talent in the destruction sphere alone grants you a Warlock-esque at will blast so you aren't sitting back and twittling your thumbs when you aren't begging to retreat and rest so you can get your spells back, so you aren't a complete slave to the 15 minute workday. You also can follow through with a gimmick as simple as 'I'm an Ice Mage' without diluting your theme or being bogged down with limited spell options that represent your theme, or 'doing it wrong' because you don't have staple spells prepared. The casting itself is SOOO much easier, so its much easier for a noobie to be a full caster without going through option paralysis or forgetting spells. For example, a lvl 10 sorcerer can have around 15 different spells known(chosen from hundreds of spells) distributed by 5 spell levels that each have their own resource pool. A full sphere caster at that level can have it as easy as picking one sphere and 10 talents effectively doing ONE thing incredibly well or diversely with one resource pool connected with it. This way casting can be as dumb or complex as you want it to be.
If I had my way without complaint I'd straight replace normal casting with sphere casting just for balance reasons, but I suspect that I will likely describe sphere casting as 'raw magic' or 'magic before spells' and limit sphere casting to the sphere classes.
Sphere magic is an At-Will magic system. They are never going to run out of spells, but when they run out of spell points they have less options available to them.But it's not like they go from "all options" to "boring stuff".
from the look of things so far Spell Points give you an extra OOMPH but you can go the whole day without having to use them.
Summoning without Spell Points means having to Concentrate to keep the Monster here.
Spend a Spell Point and the monster sticks around for 1 minute/caster level and you can do other things.
From the look of things there is never a point where he can't summon his monster (unless it gets killed) The Spell Points just mean the difference between having to Concentrate on the spell or not.
If I had my way without complaint I'd straight replace normal casting with sphere casting just for balance reasons, but I suspect that I will likely describe sphere casting as 'raw magic' or 'magic before spells' and limit sphere casting to the sphere classes.
They have a Sphere casting archetype for each of the Core Pathfinder classes to make for an easy swap from the regular system to the Sphere system if you want to
It is a really cool system. My only wish is that they also had archetypes for the other casting classes outside of PF core. With alternative magic systems like this (which could replace the entire core spell system), I always wrestle with what to do with monsters that can cast.
This does look incredibly cool.
How easy is it to use this instead of Vancian casting for already published Vancian classes? How do you differentiate prepared and spontaneous casters using this system?
This does look incredibly cool.
How easy is it to use this instead of Vancian casting for already published Vancian classes? How do you differentiate prepared and spontaneous casters using this system?
Main difference seems to be that the Sorcerer gets more Spell Points while the Wizard gets more Spheres/Talents.
So More oomph vs. More tricks
How does the system work for minor-spellcasters? Rangers or Hunters, for example?
And then how does it work for people who gain spells through race (gnome) or talents (rogues and minor magic)?
How does it affect crafting of potions, wands, scrolls and staves?
One thing that I forgot to point out as far as advantages to sphere casting: It is outright more fair and makes sense.
Think about it, a wizard learns 2 spells each level for free, at some point one of those spells can be Fireball and he isn't required to know Burning Hands or even another evocation spell to cast it. How fair is that to the fighter who needs five feats just to wipe his butt?! A martial character is taxed by feats to go on a progression on what he can and cannot do because it makes sense. You need to Dodge before you can start running through threatened squares safely with Mobility. But a caster can cast whatever they want without any sense of progression? A wizard can be casting enchantment and illusion spells for ten levels and then one day just decides to be a fire mage for that day and he's now a completely different character.
I understand that others might not agree with me because I'm the type of person that plays a caster and no matter what stick to my gimmick even if I can prepare the entire spell list, but honestly doesn't it make way more sense that your advanced spellcasting is directly related to the spells you can already cast? Isn't that way more fair?
Funny sidenote; I also allow Dreamscarred Press' Path of War so in my games I could very well see casters functioning with spell 'feats' and martials with 'vancian' maneuvers. I do have another third party thing that essentially is spheres of power for martials but I'd pay a lot to see a robust martial talent system that mirrored spheres of power.
As to replacing casting for third party casters, I'm not sure how I'd do it (because I'm still waiting for my pdf) but I suspect it may be easy to make all full casters full caster level progression, 6/9 casters 3/4 caster level progression, and 4/9 casters 1/2 caster level progression, then replace spell related abilities with traditions, and probably limit them to appropriate spheres. There may be more tools to kajigger it together (I don't know because I'm still waiting for my pdf) but I imagine the GM would have to do it manually for third parties.
How does the system work for minor-spellcasters? Rangers or Hunters, for example?
And then how does it work for people who gain spells through race (gnome) or talents (rogues and minor magic)?
How does it affect crafting of potions, wands, scrolls and staves?
There's supposed to be crafting rules coming up and I imagine 4/9 casters have 1/2 caster level progression. For racial casting I have no idea. I guess they could just have it. Spells still exist unless you just replace casting and really don't want to deal with SLAs. If you get rid of spells completely and replace it with sphere casting even with SLA I think you have some work on your hands, which is why I imagine I am less likely to replace spells completely simply because I want my NPC Codex and Bestiaries to work without doing any work. The kickstarter did more than well so we are looking at a bestiary in the future and we can always beg for an npc codex of some sort.
How does the system work for minor-spellcasters? Rangers or Hunters, for example?
And then how does it work for people who gain spells through race (gnome) or talents (rogues and minor magic)?
How does it affect crafting of potions, wands, scrolls and staves?
Different spell casters have different rates of Caster level Progression and each class gains Spheres/Talents at their own pace.
EX: at 10th level
Wizard = Caster level 10 with I think 18 Spheres/Talents
Bard = Caster Level 7 with 12 Spheres/Talents
Paladin = Caster level 3 with 5 Spheres/Talents
I do have some suspicions about this system, though:
Using the read magic power requires that you spend a spell point. Since when was that spell important enough that it has to be gated behind a resource?
Duration is a bit different 1 hour/level vs. 10 minutes/level
Very important question.
I just bought the PDF. Do I get the missing chapters when those are done? Because otherwise I'm a little unhappy.
Duration is a bit different 1 hour/level vs. 10 minutes/levelBut what's so important about magical writing that it needs a spell point spent? I mean even in core Pathfinder it's at-will with no cost.
not sure.
Scrolls probably work different. I mean you have near unlimited casting with this system so the need for scrolls as written in the Core drops a fair bit. With Destruction Sphere I can throw bolts of Fire all day long, why am I carryings a Scroll of Fireball or a Wand for that matter.
I don't think magic items have been addressed yet so I'm not sure how they change.
Duration is a bit different 1 hour/level vs. 10 minutes/levelBut what's so important about magical writing that it needs a spell point spent? I mean even in core Pathfinder it's at-will with no cost.
Technically the cost is a spell known/spell prepared slot. But since this means almost nothing, particularly to prepared casters this is both a good and bad thing. Compared to normal casting this is a terrible thing, not that terrible because I've never actually seen read magic cast, I'd argue that some cantrips like Read Magic and Detect Magic shouldn't have been cantrips in the first place. It feels like Read magic exists in the first place so that wizards can do their spellbooks but when I really think about it, it does quite a lot for what it is, in terms of thinking about it realistically. Its not very important in the game but how insane is it that you can just cast a cantrip to be able to read any magic inscription, not even a specific type or language of magic just 'read magic'. I'm glad nobody uses it because I don't really know what the limit is on that. Detect magic on the otherhand I see used so much that I'm quite sick of it. How is a cantrip that powerful?
But all in all its terrible that they have to spend a resource to do something that a wizard can do for free. I'm not terribly bothered by this.
Very important question.
I just bought the PDF. Do I get the missing chapters when those are done? Because otherwise I'm a little unhappy.
I pre-ordered over on DTRPG and downloaded the one-page ‘thank you’ pdf several months ago, and OneBookShelf e-mailed me to download the current version when it was updated on Boxing Day. Presumably they (and Paizo) will do the same thing again when the other two chapters are added.
Thanks for the answer, Trace. That makes me feel better.
I'm looking through this now and wishing they had given some sample builds or conversions of Pathfinder characters. I'm also trying to figure out how the Witch would work in this system. Just replacing her spellcasting with spheres seems too simple to me. Her hexes should be accounted for, too?
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First, holy CROW! I just realized Gennifer Bone did the character portraits in Spheres of Power. I had the joy of working with Gennifer on my webcomic, Mysteries of the Arcana. She did a large portion of chapter 3 and part of chapter 4. Awesome!
Reading through more indepth. The book would have really benefited from some character creation example (perhaps that could be a free web supplement?). Let me see if I understand this correctly.
Let's say I want to adapt the standard, core wizard class to this system. We'll call this wizard character Lestha.
1. Lestha, as a wizard, is a High-Caster and uses Intelligence as her casting ability modifier. Thus, as a 1st level wizard with 18 INT she has:
- Caster Level = +1
- Casting Ability Modifier = +4
- Spell Point Pool = 5 (INT bonus + level)
- Saving Throw Difficulty Class = 15 (10 + 1/2 caster's level + CAM)
- Magic Skill Bonus = 1 (total caster levels)
- Magic Skill Defense = 12 (11 + total caster levels)
2. Lestha automatically gains 1 sphere she is proficient in. This gives her access to the sphere's base abilities. Lestha chooses to be proficient in the Warp sphere to gain mastery over space, allowing her to teleport either herself or another, willing target anywhere within Close range as a standard action (Medium range if she spends a spell point).
3. Lestha may choose 4 talents (2 bonus talents that all casters get + 2 for being a wizard). The wizard has to pick these talents from the list available to the sphere she is proficient in. She may spend a talent slot to gain a new sphere instead. Lestha chooses Extradimensional Storage and Quick Teleport from the Warp sphere talent list for her first two talents. She uses her third talent to gain the Destruction sphere and then uses the fourth talent slot to buy Crystal Blast from the Destruction talent list.
4. Lestha picks a single sphere specialization from the Incanter class list. Naturally, Lestha selects Warp and gains access to the three specialist abilities that gives her.
5. Lestha gets a casting tradition as designed by her GM. Lestha's GM has decided wizards use the Traditional Magic casting tradition, which simulates traditional D&D casting.
So:
- Sphere casting replaces spellcasting.
- Sphere specialization replaces arcane school AND arcane bond (no familiar. Sad.)
- The wizard still gets Scribe Scroll.
- Are cantrips also replaced by Sphere casting? Or do wizards automatically get the 'Cantrips' feat from this book?
Thanks for helping!