Ive heard about this sytem, how does it work?
Is it ok to replace all magic with it?
Im trying to adopt it for my table
Where can I find it?
I've flagged this post to be moved. This is a third party discussion and should be moved there.
http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/
http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/using-spheres-of-power
Spheres of Power can be a replacement for all magic. They have archetypes that change over all classes, but are not completely compatible with other archetypes from Paizo.
My group has been using Spheres of Power for a little bit, and it has been a nice balance change. The late game magic users no longer go incredibly broken and the lower magic users still feel like they can create the same effects, but just not in as many spheres.
The major difference is that spells like we know no longer exist and that caster levels are like BAB instead of levels in a casting class. Wizard and Sorcerer have full magic BAB, Magus and Bard have 3/4th, Paladin and Ranger have half. Instead of learning spells, you learn talents which you can use at will. Sometimes they require spell points, sometimes not. Spell points are super limited.
The big change in power is that magic users can go on loner and do more things when they run out of spell points/spells, but don't get to reality-warping states as quickly or even at all depending on what you are looking for.
Ive heard about this sytem, how does it work?
Is it ok to replace all magic with it?
Im trying to adopt it for my tableWhere can I find it?
It is easily my favorite alternate set of rules I have ever seen for a DnD-type game.
So the way it works is you pick a class and each class gets a certain amount of Talent points to purchase abilities from different Schools. Once you unlock a School, you can than spend more Talent Points on enhancing those abilities. The cool part is that there is ZERO restriction on what classes can grab what Schools. Want to be an Armorist (basically the Fighter version of Spheres of Magic) and take Teleport? Sure, no problem. Want to have a permanent companion like a summoner? Sure, no problem. Want to be able to heal? Sure, no problem. Abilities from schools can be augmented with Power Points which are basically the same thing as Psionic Power Points. You get a finite number of them, you add them to Talents to make them better. Most schools have Talents that do not require PP but can be augmented. IE, Destruction lets you do 1/2 Caster Level in d6 damage as an attack (like a Warlock.) But if you spend Power Points, the damage becomes equal to Caster Level (like a Fireball).
Now, most abilities do scale on a kind of Caster Level. So the Armorist could have Teleport... but they would cast it far, far weaker than an Incanter (that's the Wizard of Spheres of Magic). Here is a nice 85 second explanation from the people that made it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAQlm3vjpSY
Want to go deeper down the rabbit hole? http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?415365-The-Creator-of-Spheres -of-Power-Here-Ask-Me-Anything
Anything posted by Azernak0 was posted by Azernak0. Which is a slower way of saying me.
The big winner is for the 'Johnny' type of person, to borrow Mt:G phrases. If you can think of it, you can probably build it in Spheres of Power. By like level 3, even if it isn't powerful. Armorist + Mental Powers that work on weak willed people + Telekinesis that can move something that weighs a few pounds = a damn Jedi.
In our campaign, we completely removed all classes that were not Spheres of Power. My Incanter had a Companion as his melee damage and focused entirely on healing. I could put out some serious damage with my 'Eidolon' and my healing was quite impressive, even able to keep up with damage down from the Big Baddy (I was healing like 4d8+20 damage at level 7).
There's some obvious holes in the system (at will Teleport of like 15 feet, War: No Totem drawback) but it isn't the worst thing in the world. Treat Spheres of Magic the same way you would treat Tome of Battle; if someone is playing a Druid, a Cleric, and a Wizard you will probably want to tell the Fighter "have you looked at Armorist?" But in a party of a Bard, a Rogue, and a Monk you probably don't want someone that can instantly say "no, that wasn't a crit. No, re-roll that failed save. No, I teleport forward 15 feet. And then I give myself Fast Healing 2 for 10 rounds. And by the way, I am level 5."
As for playing it as a player, the difficulty of somethings is removed while other things that were simple are pretty much impossible. My level 8 Incanter, with a single action and 1 Power Point could cure:
All Temporary Level Loss
All Ability Drain
All Ability Damage
Stun, Daze, Staggered, and a bunch of other ailments.
But I would be completely incapable of doing even a single point of Permanent level drain like a Cleric would normally be able to do until I was level 10. Also pretty much impossible in Spheres of Power is giving another person Flight; it just really isn't feasible with the set of rules and systems there.
I adore the system. If you have played Mutants and Masterminds, the free flowing "I am whatever the Hell I want to be!" is similar. The only complaint that I heard from the system from the DM, my dad, was that it took a lot more effort to make encounters using Sphere Magic. Rater than just going "the demon casts Darkness as a 4th level spell", it was "okay, so I take the Light Sphere. I then use the Enhance Talent twice to increase the intensity. Wait, how does that interact with this?"
They don't have replacements for all the classes. Most of the Occult classes don't have a replacement yet. But they get close.
The way it works:
As you level up as a caster, you gain talents.
A talent may be spent to do one of two things. Either open up a sphere, which is an area of related magical effects, and comes with the basic abilities of said sphere, or purchase an extra ability within a sphere you already have.
You also have a pool of spell points. Most spheres give you an at-will ability, which can be enhanced through use of spell points.
The simplest example is the Destruction sphere. When you spend a talent to unlock the Destruction sphere, you get a close range bludgeoning touch attack at will that deals an amount of damage in d6's equal to half your level. You can spend a spell point to do more damage.
As you spend talents in Destruction, you can apply different shapes and elements (usually with extra damage or a small save-or debuff kicker), or extend the range.
So, if you spend a talent to open up destruction, you have it, and it's a nice sidearm, but you aren't very good at it. If you want to be good at it, you have to invest more talents, or you can move on and invest in another sphere. Basically, you have to choose what kind of magic you specialize in, and to what degree.
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I think Azernak0 covers the description exceedingly well; it's a great system, in that it drags the most abusive casters down to about tier 3 level (you can do Cool Things, but you can't do EVERYONE'S Cool Things) and it's also much friendlier to a player that just wants to focus around being really good at one thing, rather than being amazing at everything like your typical PF Wizard is.
I'd also like to throw in a recommendation for the sister system, Spheres of Might. Where SoP knocks the 9th level casters down a peg, SoM drags the full BAB martials up; the system adds SO much utility and mobility to classes that are stuck with nothing but full attacking in the baseline Pathfinder system. It basically removes the full attack from the game by tying all of your damage increasing abilities to the "attack action" (generally attacks made as a standard action or attack of opportunity). It's a lot of fun and there's sooo much potential for varying and interesting builds.
Where Azernak0's statements conflict ('If you can think of it, you can probably build it in Spheres of Power.' & 'Also pretty much impossible in Spheres of Power is giving another person Flight; it just really isn't feasible with the set of rules and systems there.') assume SoP can do it. In that example, the alteration sphere & either the avian transformation talent to add wings, or the elemental transformation talent to turn a touched target into an air elemental can give flight.
It's not always balanced. It breaks in different places and different ways than standard Pathfinder. But it's interesting and, I think, fun.
Where Azernak0's statements conflict ('If you can think of it, you can probably build it in Spheres of Power.' & 'Also pretty much impossible in Spheres of Power is giving another person Flight; it just really isn't feasible with the set of rules and systems there.') assume SoP can do it. In that example, the alteration sphere & either the avian transformation talent to add wings, or the elemental transformation talent to turn a touched target into an air elemental can give flight.
It's not always balanced. It breaks in different places and different ways than standard Pathfinder. But it's interesting and, I think, fun.
Or the telekinesis talent called flight which most directly mirrors the vanilla fly spell.
Mixed results. This system has A LOT of small moving parts. You can customise is a lot.
You can also break a lot with unusual power spikes.
We tried it at our table and it didnt work as someone just tried their best to break the system from the get go.
Or the telekinesis talent called flight which most directly mirrors the vanilla fly spell.Where Azernak0's statements conflict ('If you can think of it, you can probably build it in Spheres of Power.' & 'Also pretty much impossible in Spheres of Power is giving another person Flight; it just really isn't feasible with the set of rules and systems there.') assume SoP can do it. In that example, the alteration sphere & either the avian transformation talent to add wings, or the elemental transformation talent to turn a touched target into an air elemental can give flight.
It's not always balanced. It breaks in different places and different ways than standard Pathfinder. But it's interesting and, I think, fun.
Well, yes, but shapeshifting like that can be done at level 1, lifting people with telekinesis takes either a higher caster level or some more talents. Unless the person lifted is size diminutive.
Well, yes, but shapeshifting like that can be done at level 1, lifting people with telekinesis takes either a higher caster level or some more talents. Unless the person lifted is size diminutive.Or the telekinesis talent called flight which most directly mirrors the vanilla fly spell.Where Azernak0's statements conflict ('If you can think of it, you can probably build it in Spheres of Power.' & 'Also pretty much impossible in Spheres of Power is giving another person Flight; it just really isn't feasible with the set of rules and systems there.') assume SoP can do it. In that example, the alteration sphere & either the avian transformation talent to add wings, or the elemental transformation talent to turn a touched target into an air elemental can give flight.
It's not always balanced. It breaks in different places and different ways than standard Pathfinder. But it's interesting and, I think, fun.
Only air elemental form can be done at level one since Avian form doesn't grant flight until CL 5. But yah I was just pointing out that there are multiple ways to do it and one that is pretty similar to the vanilla fly spell that everyone is familiar with.
Where Azernak0's statements conflict ('If you can think of it, you can probably build it in Spheres of Power.' & 'Also pretty much impossible in Spheres of Power is giving another person Flight; it just really isn't feasible with the set of rules and systems there.') assume SoP can do it.
Sounds really weird when placed together like that ^_^
To clarify: "pretty much any build is possible. Want to do Wolverine? You can totally do that! (Fast Healing + Claws + Alteration sphere for AC when naked) And even better, you become Wolverine at low, low level. As you gain levels, you become a better Wolverine unlike in other systems where you wouldn't 'become your build' until higher level.""Weirdly, some things are easily handled while others become difficult. Flight isn't just a 3rd level spell that you can cast on the fighter but you can make a Healer capable of treating nearly every ailment all at once. My Healer was so effective at curing for low resources and for a single action a player at the table said, and I quote: 'So who brought God?'."
Edit:
Let's stick with the Mt:G themes here.
If you play with a bunch of Timmys, they will LOVE feeling how 'strong' they are. "Wow! I have Claws at level 1! I can make TWO WHOLE attacks for 1d4+3 damage! That's so strong!" but they won't break the game and it will be fun.
Johnny will love the "I wonder if I can make Han Solo" and will make something very cool. You will say "wow, I am surprised you were able to make that." Johnny is happy, your table is happy.
Spike, the "I will do it at all costs to win!", is going to be a problem but he will always be a problem. If he wasn't playing Spheres of Power, he would just Google "Pathfinder Tier List" and then "Cleric Handbook."
It seems that you have to use those classes and basically re learn another game, right?
I though it was just something for the Magic, not an entire new game.
It seems quite complex and Im wondering how does it apply with feats and traits
Spheres of Power still works without Spheres of Might. It can be applied through archetypes or classes. Or both. It is significantly less complicated than Vancian, which is an immensely overbearing and complicated system with lots and lots of fiddly bits.
It seems that you have to use those classes and basically re learn another game, right?
I though it was just something for the Magic, not an entire new game.It seems quite complex and Im wondering how does it apply with feats and traits
It isn't a new game, just a lot of renamed things there. Fire blast is still there, you just you destruction sphere, a fire damaging talent, and a shape changing talent to make it into a sphere.
The blocks are still there, you just have to build them yourself now. You don't get an action figure anymore ready to go that has its limits, you get a lego set that can build that action figure or anything else.
It seems a bit crazy starting, but it really isn't all that hard. Most talents just change the base sphere thing that you can do in some way. Life sphere gives you 1d8 +cl healing, and depending on the talents you can make it give you 5d8 + CL or 1d8 + 5xCL or just give you fast healing for CL minutes.
Spheres of Power still works without Spheres of Might. It can be applied through archetypes or classes. Or both. It is significantly less complicated than Vancian, which is an immensely overbearing and complicated system with lots and lots of fiddly bits.
My question is this, we usually play APs, how do I adapt this?
Do I have to change every single combat to Spheres of Power?To use feats and SoP I need to also use Spheres of Might?
I've been reading a bit, I get how it works, but still somewhat confused
Just have the people that use spells keep using the same spells. 99% of it can be recreated with spheres of power and it is WAY too much work for you to do otherwise.
Combats at higher levels will be easier and mages can go nova, but they don't have a solution for everything. Combats at lower levels will have casters feeling a bit more like the normal fighters, just throw a few more things there way.
Power and Might are two separate systems made to be completely unrelated. One helps casters, one helps martial. Just use spheres of power first, see how it feels, then give spheres of might a try. This is what my group did, mainly due to spheres of might not being out at the time that we started spheres of power.
My question is this, we usually play APs, how do I adapt this?
Do I have to change every single combat to Spheres of Power?
To use feats and SoP I need to also use Spheres of Might?I've been reading a bit, I get how it works, but still somewhat confused
Pretty much anything's going to be a bit confusing until you fiddle with it. In practice, it's less complicated than Vancian.
As for going through APs, you shouldn't have to do much of anything. The party uses Spheres. The NPCs function as written. Most NPCs in APs don't nearly push the limits of what Vancian magic can do, generally don't present problems that can only be solved with X spell, and PCs are still equipped with tools to deal with magical problems.
You can purchase the book here. It's a great system that's worth supporting.
It's best to have a campaign that only has Spheres as opposed to mixing it with Vancian spellcasting. The Spheres system uses different benchmarks of balance.
You can purchase the book here. It's a great system that's worth supporting.
It's best to have a campaign that only has Spheres as opposed to mixing it with Vancian spellcasting. The Spheres system uses different benchmarks of balance.
Then again, first party material uses different benchmarks of power from itself.
The thing is you don't need to replace vancian magic if you don't want to, Spheres can work along side it fairly well. So you don't need to change the eneimies to match if you don't feel like it.
One thing I have noticed is some players get a lot more creative with spherecasting than they do with spell casting. It's kind of like having a new set of tools with which to approach problem solving.
For example in one game the players faced an archer gauntlet and the guy with creation magic got them forward by creating a series of stone boxes one after the other as an improvised tunnel. Took him a lot of spell points but it avoided a lot of damage.