5E Homebrew Magic and Mage Class Feedback

[W Canepa]

Hey all, looooonnnggg time since I've been on here.

Played lots of games and campaigns (even finished Emerald Spire start to finish over a 2 year span) in the interim. Recently started playing 5e last year, and have decided to try my hand running a game with that system this fall/winter for my group. (Been running D&D/Pathfinder for over 15 years now.)

One of my goals was to go back to my homebrew roots, and only use prepublished materials in small doses when the setting, region, or narrative could call for it.

Another is that the setting is high fantasy, but relatively low-magic-at-large. Individual spellcasters not already running kingdoms, aligned with some Guild, or the like are few and far between.

Also, magic is wild, potentially dangerous to the world, and the setting calls for conjuration magic and divine magic to no longer exist.

Lots of bits.

Regardless, I have some house rules for magic and spellcasting, and have rolled all the 5e spellcasters into one Mage class with different Magical Paths. Further, there are 5 schools of magic. Some spells no longer exist, others switched schools, etc. My list is comprehensive for my game in terms of known and available magic. Further, while 7th to 9th level spells exist and are known, they are not automatic class features, and must be quested for, essentially.

I will post what I have, and feedback is welcomed! I still have a few months before I plan to run this game.

Magic House Rules:

SPELLCASTING HOUSE RULES

Schools of Magic: Magic is defined by one of 5 schools, but is no longer restricted by spellcasting class. There are only 5 schools of magic: Chronomancy, Enchantment, Evocation, Necromancy, and Transmutation. Some schools are rolled together, and some spells have changed schools.

Dangerous Magic: Magic is chaotic, and spellcasters run the risk of contracting spellblights (see Spellblights, below). Spellcasters can also defile life and the surrounding land and fuel their magic with life force for greater effect, at great expense (see Defiling Magic, below). Evocation and chronomancy spells are sometimes unpredictable (see Wild Magic, below).

Mages: There is only one spellcasting class now, the Mage, and the Magical Path that you choose defines what kind of spellcaster that you are. Mages have access to all spells from all schools up to 5th level.

Spells from Feats: Thaumaturgy and Detect Evil and Good can only be learned by the Theologian feat. Druidcraft and Detect Poison and Disease can only be learned by the Naturalist feat.

Lost Magic: Mages have access to any spell up to 6th level. Spells of 7th through 9th level are ancient, lost spells only rumored about by high-level mages, and guarded zealously by those few that have managed to learn them. 7Th through 9th level spells are legendary, and are often the focus of legendary quests by mages seeking more arcane power. There are no more summoning spells, as conjuration magic was lost a thousand years ago in this world. Mages can still use their 7th through 9th level spell slots to cast lower level spells.

Unavailable Magic: Any spell not listed in the Spells section (see below) is currently unavailable in this setting. Some spells' levels have been altered.

Rangers: Rangers no longer cast spells, and they will gain replacement class features.

Magic Item Crafting: Players cannot craft magic items. That is the trade of NPCs that craft things.

Magic Feats: Spell Sniper and War Caster are only available to characters with levels in the Mage class. The following feats are unavailable: Elemental Adept, Magic Initiate, Ritual Caster.

SPELLBLIGHTS

In addition to spellblighted regions of the world, casting magic can sometimes inflict spellblights.

Whenever you cast a spell, roll a d20. On a natural roll of 1, you gain a random minor spellblight, no save (spellblights can be found in Ultimate Magic, pages 94-98 or on Paizo's website; these rules come from the Pathfinder system, but translate well to D&D 5th Edition with only minor tweaks). This applies to a roll of a 1 or a 2 on spells from the Necromancy school of magic, and a roll of 1-4 on Necromancy spells that heal hit points or restore life to the dead. Necromancy is a very dangerous practice.

If the target of one of your spells that allows a saving throw rolls a natural 20, you must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC = spell's DC) or you suffer a minor spellblight.

If you are already suffering from a minor spellblight when you acquire another spellblight, there is a 50% chance it will be a major spellblight.

Minor spellblights each last 1d100 hours, while major spellblights last 3d100 hours.

DEFILING MAGIC

You can use life force to fuel your magic. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you can spend a bonus action to enhance it, but you defile the earth and life around you. Doing so kills all plant life in a sphere centered on you (diameter = level of spell x 5 ft), and all living creatures in the affected area (including you) must make a Constitution saving throw (DC = 10 + spell slot level) or suffer 1d6 necrotic damage per level of the spell being cast. This damage ignores resistance and immunity. A successful save negates the effects, but causes the creatures brief yet intense pain.

If there is no plant life in the area, the land itself is instead defiled, such that nothing can grow there again unless it is somehow mended by magical means or carefully tended over the course of many years. You cannot use this ability if there is no undefiled land within the sphere, or less than half the area contains undefiled earth.

When you use this ability, you may double your proficiency bonus for the purpose of calculating all spell effects, including saving throw DCs and spell attack rolls.

Anytime you use defiling magic you have a cumulative 5% chance of contracting a minor spellblight. This percentage chance resets to 0% after you take a long rest.

Spells by School and Level:

CHRONOMANCY (59 spells)
0th-level (8)
frostbite
guidance
light
mending
ray of frost
resistance
thunderclap
true strike

1st-level (8)
expeditious retreat
feather fall
guiding bolt
hex
hunter's mark
identify
thunderwave
zephyr strike

2nd-level (12)
arcane lock
augury
blur
earthbind
gentle repose
knock
levitate
locate object
misty step
pass without trace
shatter
shilloc's snowball swarm
silence

3rd-level (9)
bestow curse
blink
catnap
clairvoyance
haste
nondetection
remove curse
slow
thunder step

4th-level (3)
dimension door
divination
locate creature

5th-level (8)
commune with nature
contact other plane
destructive wave
far step
greater restoration
legend lore
steel wind strike
teleportation circle

6th-level (4)
disintegrate
forbiddance
scatter
true seeing

7th-level
reverse gravity
teleport
8th-level
demiplane
plane shift
9th-level
time stop
foresight

ENCHANTMENT (61 spells)
0th-level (3)
friends
mage hand
minor illusion

1st-level (18)
animal friendship
bane
beast bond
cause fear
charm person
command
compelled duel
comprehend languages
disguise self
dissonant whispers
heroism
sense emotion
silent image
sleep
speak with animals
sudden awakening
tasha's hideous laughter
wrathful smite

2nd-level (10)
animal messenger
beast sense
calm emotions
crown of madness
detect thoughts
enthrall
mind spike
mirror image
see invisibility
suggestion

3rd-level (6)
enemies abound
fear
hypnotic pattern
invisibility
major image
phantasmal force

4th-level (7)
charm monster
compulsion
confusion
dominate beast
greater invisibility*
hallucinatory terrain
phantasmal killer

5th-level (8)
dominate person
dream
mislead
modify memory
scrying
seeming
synaptic static
telekinesis

6th-level (3)
mass suggestion
mental prison
otto's irresistible dance

7th-level
project image
mirage arcana
8th-level
glibness
dominate monster
9th-level
psychic scream
weird

EVOCATION (57 spells)
0th-level (7)
dancing lights
eldritch blast
fire bolt
lightning lure
produce flame
shocking grasp
sword burst

1st-level (15)
alarm
armor of agathys
burning hands
catapult
chaos bolt
detect magic
faerie fire
hellish rebuke
ice knife
mage armor
magic missile
shield
shield of faith
thunderous smite
witch bolt

2nd-level (9)
aganazzar's scorcher
darkness
flame blade
flaming sphere
magic weapon
nystul's magic aura
scorching ray
shadow blade
warding bond

3rd-level (7)
call lightning
counterspell
dispel magic
fireball
lightning bolt
magic circle
protection from energy

4th-level (4)
banishment
fire shield
otiluke's resilient sphere
wall of fire

5th-level (5)
cone of cold
flame strike
immolation
planar binding
wall of light

6th-level (4)
chain lightning
globe of invulnerability
otiluke's freezing sphere
primordial ward

7th-level
fire storm
mordenkainen's sword
8th-level
antimagic field
sunburst
9th-level
invulnerability
meteor swarm

NECROMANCY (54 spells)
0th-level (6)
chill touch
infestation
poison spray*
spare the dying
toll the dead
virtue

1st-level (8)
arms of hadar
cure wounds
false life
healing elixir
healing word
inflict wounds
puppet
ray of sickness

2nd-level (7)
aid
decompose corpse (PRPG)
hold person
lesser restoration
prayer of healing
ray of enfeeblement
restore corpse (PRPG)

3rd-level (10)
animate dead
aura of vitality
feign death
hunger of hadar
life transference
mass healing word
revivify
speak with dead
stinking cloud
vampiric touch

4th-level (3)
aura of life
blight
death ward

5th-level (7)
contagion
danse macabre
enervation
hold monster
mass cure wounds
negative energy flood
raise dead

6th-level (7)
circle of death
create undead
eyebite
harm
heal
magic jar
soul cage

7th-level
finger of death
power word pain
8th-level
abi-dalzim's horrid wilting
feeblemind
9th-level
mass heal
power word kill

TRANSMUTATION (62 spells)
0th-level (5)
blade ward
control flames
gust
mold earth
shape water

1st-level (12)
color spray
divine favor
earth tremor
ensnaring strike
entangle
fog cloud
hail of thorns
grease
jump
longstrider
purify food and drink
searing smite

2nd-level (13)
alter self
barkskin
blindness/deafness
dust devil
enhance ability
enlarge/reduce
gust of wind
heat metal
maximilian's earthen grasp
pyrotechnics
spider climb
spike growth
warding wind

3rd-level (10)
daylight
erupting earth
fly
meld into stone
sleet storm
tidal wave
wall of sand
wall of water
water walk
wind wall

4th-level (7)
control water
elemental bane
fabricate
guardian of nature
polymorph
stone shape
stoneskin

5th-level (4)
maelstrom
transmute rock
wall of stone
wrath of nature

6th-level (5)
bones of the earth
flesh to stone
investiture of flame / ice / stone / wind
move earth
wall of ice

7th-level
whirlwind
regenerate
8th-level
earthquake
tsunami
9th-level
mass polymorph
true polymorph

The only other house rules are disallowing the Paladin and spellcasting/magical archetypes from Barbarian, Rogue, and Fighter, and modifying the Ranger to me magic-free, as well as having some different racial and cultural traits for the races to fit the setting. I MIGHT use a simplified carrying capacity system, but might not. Otherwise, I like 5e.

I will post the Mage class in a minute.

[W Canepa]

I have created a Dropbox link to the Mage class PDF to avoid formatting issues.

Mage Class 5E Dropbox File

[Here4daFreeSwag]

Good to have some free 5e Magey stuff out there. ;)

[W Canepa]

I am not sure what you mean, but would love any feedback or criticism you have regarding balance and playability!

[GM Rednal]

That's an account for posting appreciation for free content. XD I was kind of hesitant on the mimics-existing-classes thing until I realized it was meant to replace all the caster classes. Which brings us to the first question, actually: Is there any particular reason you wanted to make them all part of the same class instead of, say, calling them part of one group in-universe but retaining the different class options? If subclasses (for lack of a better word) are too distinct, they're basically different classes anyway, and it's easier to reference things if you don't have to skip past a ton of options that aren't relevant to you.

Also, I don't see a list of spells for these classes. Is there one list all paths for the Mage use, or is it separated by subclass? (That'll affect my opinion on some other components, so it's important.)

[W Canepa]

Hi GM Rednal!

In this homebrew universe, divine magic no longer exists, and all spellcasters are essentially arcane sorcerers that approach how they learned and developed their sorcery in different ways.

There are no pacts with outsiders, therefore no warlocks. There is no connection to the gods of other planes, hence no cleric or paladin. Using energy from nature actually defiles the land, a la Dark Sun, so Druid-types are just sorcerers that are protectors of nature. Wizards are sorcerers that have supplemented their learning with spellbooks and other wizardly ways. And the different paths I have created are essentially, mechanically the same as a sorcerer's origin or any other class' subclass features.

There is only one spell list, and any mage can access all the spells I listed, but they are still limited by the normal rules of learning new spells. Spells now have different schools, and some spells have changed level or no longer exist (I also added 2 Pathfinder spells to the Necromancy school: decompose corpse and restore corpse, as I felt they filled a niche not covered by existing spells, and the Necromancy school was a little light on spells).

[GM Rednal]

All right. And do you feel the one spell list effectively covers all of the expected roles for casters? Normally, classes like the Cleric provide some important in-game effects in terms of healing removal, condition removal, and so on, as well as a number of protective spells and buffing abilities that arcane casters don't have. If there's no access to, say, Lesser Restoration, that makes many enemies significantly more dangerous to fight. 5E, like its predecessors, tends to assume you have access to restorative abilities (or at least a friendly NPC in town, if not in the party). Carving those powers out is tricky at best and horrifically unbalancing at worst.

[W Canepa]

Yeah, you would know the answer to that if you had read what I posted. But thanks for attempting to engage through Socratic dialogue.

[W Canepa]

If you click on the Spells by School and Level spoiler bar above, you will see that all spells that I am keeping from 5E from all classes are now divided into 5 schools of magic.

The role differentiation is now a mixture of which Path the mage chooses and which spells they choose to know.

Much like fighters are differentiated by their paths, feats, equipment, etc.

[GM Rednal]

*Checks* Yeah, I missed the list up above. XD My attention was on the PDF linked. So here's another question for ya: Is it actually a good idea to have a combined spell list? 5E generally has fewer spells known and usable than Pathfinder. A 5th-level Mage, in your system, will have six spells known (we're discounting cantrips) across three spell levels. There's a good chance they'll forget a 1st-level spell to learn another 2nd-level spell, so they might well end up with two spells known at each level.

With so few spells known and access to the good stuff for multiple classes, I feel like many Mages will lean towards cherry-picking the best stuff, particularly spells considered "necessary" in most games. Many people do that (to some extent) anyway, but it can happen more when you've got enough "great" options to fill every slot you have. I'm a little worried that Mages are more-or-less encouraged to be the same in their spell selection, at least within a narrow range of choices, regardless of the subclass and class abilities they choose.

[W Canepa]

I'm okay with that if players choose to go that route. It would be in fitting with the setting. Very little magic is still known or used, and what is known and used is pretty familiar.

If it becomes a problem, I can add the feats Magic Initiate and Ritual Caster back to the mix, or even allow learning a spell of X level in relation to what a character can already cast in place of a Feat or something.

I am really not too worried about it. It is a low-magic, high fantasy setting. Mages are rare, and their differences are their paths and how they decide to interact with the world.

I feel that the variety of mages will be similar to the variety of fighters.

I really just want to know how people think these rules hold up. Did I leave any gaping, broken combos out there? Did I make spellcasters unplayable? Are the spellblights and defiling magic too harsh or easily prone to abuse? Etc.

[W Canepa]

It's moot now; we ended up going a different route.