In my game, the wizard PC is likely to become one-handed shortly. (It's complicated - retribution for killing an NPC wizard.) How would you handle spells with a somatic component?
Since the wizard would have to cast all his spells one-handed (when previously he would have learned them two-handed), I was thinking of implementing a caster-level check, say DC 10 + spell level. It's not hard (in fact, he's 15th level, so it'd be automatic for 5th level spells or lower) but it may be annoying in a tense situation should he roll a 1 for a higher level spell. I'd allow him to "learn" to cast with one hand eventually (and a regeneration spell from the cleric may just remove the issue entirely), but I'd like an immediate short-term effect.
Sound like a good idea? Anyone have a better one?
Thanks,
Greg
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Let him figure out how to make a Hand of the Mage with his own hand and have that be used to hold/manipulate the material components.
But I think that to cast a spell all you need is one hand free anyway, to gesture with. A wizard can cast with a staff in one hand, a cleric can cast with a heavy shield on one arm, sorcerers can cast with a wand in one hand. I've never seen a rule stating that BOTH hands had to be free for spellcasting.
A no-handed mage? Now thats more difficult.
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Ah, yes, the old mutilation build. A classic for players and DMs alike. My old DM once cursed me with a roving disembodied hand in Ravenloft for attempting what you describe happening to your wizard...
Anyway, your mechanics seem fair, but you may want to consider phasing them out after a time. After all, eventually most people live quite well with their disabilities.
However, because casting only requires one free hand, you technically need no rule (it is more of a flavour, and I like it). That said, your wizard will never be able to hold any object AND cast a somatic component spell. Biggest problem would be somatic AND material components, since you could argue he cannot hold a material and make gestures.
Maybe design a special feat for the wizard that allows him to overcome his handicap with a small side-benefit?
Ah, yes, the old mutilation build. A classic for players and DMs alike. My old DM once cursed me with a roving disembodied hand in Ravenloft for attempting what you describe happening to your wizard...
Anyway, your mechanics seem fair, but you may want to consider phasing them out after a time. After all, eventually most people live quite well with their disabilities.
However, because casting only requires one free hand, you technically need no rule (it is more of a flavour, and I like it). That said, your wizard will never be able to hold any object AND cast a somatic component spell. Biggest problem would be somatic AND material components, since you could argue he cannot hold a material and make gestures.
Maybe design a special feat for the wizard that allows him to overcome his handicap with a small side-benefit?
What are your guys thoughts on loosing your tongue? The DM in my campaign cut of the tongue of my wizard when we got captured by the zentharium. I know that there is silent spell, but I'm not getting a feat for one level, and constantly leveling up a spell by one level really blows.
For the one without a hand, isn't there a feat where you can cast with a weapon in each hand. I think it's called somatic weaponry or something like that (PHB2...I'm at work so I can't reference right now).
I say that with all spells with somatic or material (or focus)components, make them make a Concentration check 10+ spell level. Failure indicates that he cannot direct the spell properly, and the spell is lost.
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In the FR they talk about the somatic component being done with one hand (I believe the right), But I have always thought of it as the "off hand"
I think that your idea sound good if you state that they are cutting off his Spellcasting hand and the check is for him to cast with his other hand.
I would also allow a feat that would allow him to cast with out the check. something like "Spellcasting Ambidexterity"
What are your guys thoughts on loosing your tongue?
Ohhh, losing the tongue!!! That's even better. Mwahhhaaa (<= Evil DM cackle).
Now that I like. Unfortunately it will immediately call for a regeneration from the cleric (yeah, they're that high a level) but he probably won't have it prepared right away. But I like the flavour of it.
I say that with all spells with somatic or material (or focus)components, make them make a Concentration check 10+ spell level. Failure indicates that he cannot direct the spell properly, and the spell is lost.
Problem with that is that every spell caster in the party is maxed out on Concentration ranks. (The party levels are 13-16th.) So, while a good idea mechanics-wise, practically its meaningless. (Both cleric and wizard can roll a d4 for most concentration checks and still not worry about failing.)
Greg
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I say that with all spells with somatic or material (or focus)components, make them make a Concentration check 10+ spell level. Failure indicates that he cannot direct the spell properly, and the spell is lost.Problem with that is that every spell caster in the party is maxed out on Concentration ranks. (The party levels are 13-16th.) So, while a good idea mechanics-wise, practically its meaningless. (Both cleric and wizard can roll a d4 for most concentration checks and still not worry about failing.)
Greg
another option - depending on your material components, I've had a wizard who kept all of his material components on a bracelet for easier access than a pouch. (he likened it to a charm bracelet, with all those dangly things... he'd flip his arm up and grab the right component in the air and cast the spell.. I think it was a dex or acrobatics check to ensure he got the correct component. I think it started at a DC 21 check, and went down by 2 every time that he got the right component 5 times in a row with a min of 10.
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What are your guys thoughts on loosing your tongue? The DM in my campaign cut of the tongue of my wizard when we got captured by the zentharium. I know that there is silent spell, but I'm not getting a feat for one level, and constantly leveling up a spell by one level really blows.
I would liken it to the deafened rules - a flat percentage chance to miscast because you cannot correctly pronounce the words required for verbal components. You can still talk without a tongue, just not very well. Plus, this gives some leeway for the DM to adjust the severity by tinkering with the percentage (even lowering it the longer you live with it).
As said above, you really don't need to punish the PC further by having him make a check, be it spellcraft or concentration (I like spellcraft better though), for you can cast a spell with only one hand.
The PCs are apparently high level so why institute another rule when the problem will likely go away in 8 hours of game time => regeneration spell ;>
All the Wizard needs to do is take the Still Spell feat which will allow him to cast with out the somatic component and the Eschew Material feat with will allow to cast with out the maerial components. Problem solved. And as for the lossing the tongue just take the Silent spell feat, bye bye verbal component. Another bonus to taking the still spell feat, from my point of view that should cause the arcane spell failure to go away while wearing armor. The reason is the spell failure comes from the fact that the caster connot make the proper somatic movements to cast the spell but if he has the still spell feat then he doesnt need to make the movements therefore the spell failure chance shoulod go away. What is your opinion on the matter.
taking the still spell feat ... should cause the arcane spell failure to go away while wearing armorThis is a good point that I hadn't ever considered. I agree that such would seem the case.
I've been thinking a bit lately about Still and Silent Spell. They are really cheap for what they do. I wish I could make them 1.5 spell levels each (or 3 in the BoEM 20-level system).
I don't use material components, so a Stilled, Silent Spell is almost as good as a Quickened one. Better, perhaps, because it just goes off without any indication of the source (I also don't use any sort of "manifestations").
Anyway, I've thought about upping the cost to 2 spell levels each. Certainly seems that Still Spell should be upped if it negates Spell Failure chances. Would love to hear opinions. Sorry if this turns into a thread-jack, but it seems an appropriate tangent to the OP topic.
Rez
The still spell feat in my opinion let's you do exactly that, cast a spell while you are in full armor, if you prepare or cast it at +1 level. There is absolutely no reason to bump up the cost of preparation to +2, you've invested in a feat, don't diminish that investment by making it useless for 4 levels.
As said above, you really don't need to punish the PC further by having him make a check, be it spellcraft or concentration (I like spellcraft better though), for you can cast a spell with only one hand.
I don't want to "punish" him, (although the NPC may have that attitude) I want to add flavour to the game and to at least make it inconvenient. I like the idea of high level characters being very powerful, but I'm not thrilled when they get overly cavalier about things.
I want it to initially be a pain, but for him to either a) learn to live with it and roleplay it a bit or b) at least make the cleric cast regeneration the next day. This particular player thinks that his wizard should be a superhero (never loses, always wins...) and I just want to give him a taste of something different. I think initially he won't like it, but if I can play up the story aspect of it enough, he may just work with it.
Greg
We have all seen the one handed man with the hook the has replaced the missing hand, So for your wizard you dont you give him the option to have a some for of apperatous placed over his stump that would allow him to place wands in it and still keep his hand free.
The character needs only one free hand to satisfy the somatic component for casting a spell according to the PHB. This was likely done to accommodate weapon/staff/wand in the other. If your player is really upset about your penalty, he may raise this as a nitpick. However, I'm not sure that the rules specify how to handle material components ie. do they need to be presented clearly at the same time as the somatic and verbal components or merely on your person? You could rule that if he casts a spell with somatic and material components, that your caster check (or maybe a dexterity check) applies as he tries to do both within the casting time. It would allow a few other spells for him to cast without penalty, and prompt more consideration when choosing spells.
An alternative would be to have him lose a variable number of fingers from both hands, Not enough to disable either hand completely but enough to screw with his somatic casting. This would avoid the argument based on the "one free hand" statement in the PHB, and perhaps add more authority to the dexterity check. :)
Edit: Hmmm... depending on how sadistic you were feeling and the scenario, you could use each finger loss or cripple to build suspense after having the villain gloat over how spellcasting will get progressively more difficult (increase DC by one per digit?). It could add more suspense waiting for a rescue, or if the player was being pressured into revealing sensitive party information, etc.
In my game, the wizard PC is likely to become one-handed shortly. (It's complicated - retribution for killing an NPC wizard.) How would you handle spells with a somatic component?
Since the wizard would have to cast all his spells one-handed (when previously he would have learned them two-handed), I was thinking of implementing a caster-level check, say DC 10 + spell level. It's not hard (in fact, he's 15th level, so it'd be automatic for 5th level spells or lower) but it may be annoying in a tense situation should he roll a 1 for a higher level spell. I'd allow him to "learn" to cast with one hand eventually (and a regeneration spell from the cleric may just remove the issue entirely), but I'd like an immediate short-term effect.
Sound like a good idea? Anyone have a better one?
Thanks,
Greg
It may be significant as to which hand was lost. Most somantics are specific in traditional spellcraft, though not so in game terms. Try this:
Determine with a coin toss which hand was the primary casting hand. If the primary is not the one that was damaged, the caster may continue as normal, but may not hold a weapon while casting. If the primary hand was his casting hand, the wizard must do research and practice (even if ambidextrous to start with) to re-learn how to use the other hand for spells requiring such. Non-somantic spells work as usual, weapon in hand or not.
When relearning the somantic components with the alternate hand, spend 20% of the cost to research and create a spell of similar nature as a way of approximating the expense and energy required to retrain. Alternately, allow the wizard to spend the full cost to develop a version of the same spell that does not require the somantic component.
This might seem rather a chore, but it could be turned into a series of adventures that lead the party to find special ingredients (including cash) necessary to restore the wizard's capability. As final reward when all unusable spells are regained/retrained, you could grant the wizard the ability to convert any somantic component for a newly acquired spell into a verbal or material component while using the normal procedure for learning the new spell, rather than charging additional development cost.
Hmmm... does this sound like an interesting way to handle the situtation?