Ever see some fantasy movie where a spellcaster unleashes a wave of magic, then just focuses it on his victim for a significant amount of time, eventually releasing the energies and letting its effect take hold? Sometimes it's a line of energy, cascading and eventually wiping them away. Other times its some kind of transformation or mind control where the victim struggles and fights back, occasionally showing glimpses of losing control (minor shift of the ears if it's a transmuting spell). And of course, if there's a spellcaster involved, they throw their own magic back and we have eldritch energies weaving back and forth.
Well, that's not available in the epic fantasy that is D&D, so I'm going to attempt to fix this.
Grappling Spells
Repeatedly in a spellcasting grapple, you need to make opposed checks against an opponent. Your bonus is:
Ensorcel Modifier: Caster level + Spellcasting Ability Modifier + Queue's Spell Level (0 if not present)
Starting a Spell Grapple
To start a grapple, you need to apply your Ensorcel Modifier and hold your target. Starting a spell grapple requires successfully casting a spell upon your target. You may only use a spell that requires a saving throw.
* Step 1 (Grab): You make an opposed spell grapple check. Your opponent may choose to resist with their normal grapple modifier rather than their Ensorcel Modifier.
If you succeed, you and your target are now grappling.
If you lose, you fail to start the grapple. You automatically lose the spell cast to start the grapple. Unlike normal grappling, you may attempt to hold if the target is two or more size categories larger than you are.
In case of a tie, the combatant with the higher modifier wins. If this is a tie, roll again to break the tie.
Queue: The spell used to initiate a spell grapple, or brought into the grapple. You gain a bonus to your Ensorcel modifier equal to the spell's spell level while it is in Queue. Each combatant involved in a spell grapple may have one Queue spell.
Spell Grappling Consequences
While you're grappling, your ability to attack others and dend yourself is limited.
No Threatened Squares: You don't threaten any squares while spell grappling.
No Dexterity Bonus: You lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if you have one) against opponents you aren't grappling. (You can still use it against opponents you are grappling.)
No Movement: You can't move normally while grappling. You may, however, move at half speed after a successful spell grapple check.
If You're Spell Grappling
When you are spell grappling (regardless of who started the grapple), you can perform any of the following actions. Some of these actions take the place of an attack (rather than being a standard action or a move action). Unless stated otherwise (such as Escape), you use your Ensorcel modifier while your opponent resists with either their Ensorcel modifier or their normal grapple modifier.
Range and Line of Sight: If Line of Sight is broken between those involved in a spell grapple, or if all spells in Queue are outside of their range, then the spell grapple is broken and the spells in Queue are lost.
Move: You can move half your speed by winning an opposed spell grapple check. This can break range or LoS.
Cast a Spell: You can attempt to cast a spell while spell grappling, provided its casting time is no more than a standard action and you can use it to start a spell grapple. This includes any spells activated from a magic item.
You cannot Wither or Telos your opponent unless you cast a spell, in which case the two actions are combined into one standard action (no need to go through starting the spell grapple).
If you cast a spell, then that spell becomes the one in Queue. If you already had a spell in Queue, then the older spell is lost without effect and then replaced by the new Queue.
Wither Your Opponent: While spell grappling, you can reduce your opponent's ability to make saving throw against the spell that initiated the spell grapple. Make an opposed Ensorcel check. If you win, then your opponent has a -1 penalty to their saving throw against any spell they're subject to in Telos or Reverse Telos. This penalty is cumulative, and is removed if the spell grapple ever ends.
Telos: While spell grappling, you may make an opposed spell grapple check. If you win, your opponent makes a saving throw against the spell in your Queue. If you lose, or if your opponent makes their saving throw, then nothing happens but the spell grapple is maintained.
Escape: Make an opposed spell grapple check using either your Ensorcel Modifier or your regular grapple modifier. If you win, then the spell grapple is ended and any spells in Queue are lost without effect.
Reverse Telos: Make an opposed spell grapple check. If you win, then you force the effects of Telos with your opponent's spell in Queue.
This level of detail is quite a massive addition to the game, and might not be for all campaigns.
I could see it working very well in the world of Harry Potter, or Naruto for that matter. Basically, where the "normals" are pretty much non-existent and everything is assumed to be high magic at all times.
On the other hand, it might not be so good for the standard sword and sorcery game. Why have a whole bunch of rules for only 1 Player, and maybe 10% or less of the Opponents you'll face.
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For standard D&D, it might be more fitting to simply give this to spells as an extra level of difficulty on landing a spell. So you can have a lower level spell doing higher levels of damage or effect, because it *requires* a caster check to essentially grapple a target, and requires extra checks and possibly more rounds before landing.
So maybe scorching ray a level early because you have to battle with your opponent for a bit to land it, etc.
I like it. I think it needs to be streamlined a bit, to avoid being too complex, however. For example, there's not a lot of tactics in these "stream of raw magic energy" duels. (Not the magic duels where they are clearly casting a variety of spells on each other.) The winner is virtually always the stronger one or the one with more "heart" or the one who gets some small bit of help. Streamline it and it's a go for me.
If you notice, I tried to keep it as similar to the normal grapple rules as possible. The vast majority of the text is reworded from the normal grapple rules.
Here are the differences between a normal grapple and a spell grapple...
* Use a different bonus (BaB + Casting Mod + SL)
* Can resist with normal grapple if desired
* Performed at the range of the spell used
* Can force a cumulative -1 penalty to saves against the spell
* Can force the opponent to make a save against the spell used
Ideally, the intent was for spell grapple to be about the same level of difficulty as a normal grapple, without much (if any) learning curve between the two.