My 2 Top Wishes for Pathfinder Rules


Homebrew and House Rules


#1) Variant NPC Spellbook

A Gamemastery Guide 2 where the spells used by monsters would be different from spells used by PCs. This is done very well with D&D 4E with the separate power abilities the PCs have vs. those found in the Monster Manuals. When we first played D&D 4E my Players were metagaming, "Well the Goblin should have such and such level, such and such spells, etc." That was eliminated when they were asking, "What is that?!" when referring to the changes of abilities found in the Monster Manual versus those they had at their disposal in the Player's Guide. Pathfinder touches on variant magic and it definitely could be expanded in Golarion. In Inner Sea Magic it says that there should be a novelty about variant magic and if the entire Bestiary collection were turned into variant forms of magical effects, this would definitely keep the Players guessing and maybe more importantly, concerned for the lives of their characters before rushing in simply because they know about what they'll be facing at any point.

Humans in a village should think of Orcish magic as being dark, sinister, unknown and forbidden. But if a Human has Magic Missile and the Orc has Magic Missile, what's the difference? There should be a difference in their magics in my opinion. Not only in their spellbooks but in their items. The same should go for Dragons, Demons, Devils, Drow, etc., basically the entire Bestiary collection past, present and future.

#2) Variant Arcane / Divine Magic Sources

As found in products like Master of Magic by MicroProse in 1994 and AD&D's Campaign Setting "Birthright" and Magic the Gathering, there was an option to play a Regent and cast powerful Realm Spells that affected a region. There were ley lines, special magical node sources, resource management and the like. Pathfinder Kingmaker module series as well as some of the features found in Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat among other Pathfinder sources could definitely be expanded with these thoughts in mind.

Thanks!


I don't know much about #2 and honestly don't care, but #1 has me thinking a bit.

I have a general rule, and did in 3.5 for "spells". Magic missile is whatever color the caster wants it to be. Often times instead of saying "The Orc casts Magic Missile" I will say "Angry, red, jagged streaks arc from the orcs fingertips and hit you in the chest, you take 2D4 damage". This is obviously MM when the players really think about it, but I just set it apart from what they do. I made it "Sound" evil. The same goes for everything else. Burning hands I make like a fire breath or something similar. So while 4e had some neat things for each creature (and I really think had better stat blocks for monsters), there is no reason you can't flavor your things in any way.

Hell, it doesn't really change the game, so my necromancer has Magic Missiles that look like flaming hell skulls and a Ray of Enfeeblement that looks like a wraith ripping into someones very soul. I have found that when you do this sort of thing, other players follow suit with their abilities and it adds a lot of spice to a gaming session.


I kinda feel the same.

However, I don't think it's a real problem. With all those ultimate books, there are enough spells to go around.

Just limit your casters to their original list (possibly with a few exceptions and/or APG). Keep the other spells for your opponents or as interesting treasure for your players.

Or use 3rd party spells for that.


Alternatively, invent your own.

If you know it's only ever going to be cast once (such as by a sorcerer, so no spellbook to learn from), you can even over-power a spell a bit for it's level (make a spell with level 2 power cast at level 1 for NPC X), and the NPC gains a bit of power along with something unexpected for the PCs.

Monsters have spell X as a spell-like ability? Change it to something that fits the theme and is an equal level.

Increase a lower monster's HD, and give him a special power as well to bring out something unexpected.

There are loads of possibilities - unlimited really. Let your imagination fly, remember to keep it balanced, and keep your players on their toes.


I use 'meta-infused' spells, special effects, etc. to create differing spells for opponents. One group of bad guys use alchemical 'bombs' as spell components, there is more then one 'language of magic', and some casters have limited access to metamagic.

EG: in the last game I ran, an Orc caster was scooping up skulls and 'throwing' them at the party. The Wizard took a couple of rounds to recognize the casting of MM and scream at the Sorcerer to start counterspelling.


PF has a PB called Inner Sea Magic. Check it out.


I want them to scale health and defenses more properly in comparison to damage and ability to hit.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Homebrew and House Rules / My 2 Top Wishes for Pathfinder Rules All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Homebrew and House Rules