I don't really like the 3.X/PF divine casting system. The favor of your god is too binary and it works too much like a wizard. A divine caster is basically asking their god for intervention. What if their god says no? What if their god is busy making war on their outer planes? If their god really likes them, shouldn't their spells come easier?
So, I am working on a system to make divine magic into something other than a wizard with no spellbook.
First, change divine casters into sorcerers who can change their known spells per day. A divine casters known spells is equal to their normal allowance of spells per day plus their domain spells. Like sorcerers, bonuses from stats does not increase their known spells. Their spells per day stays the same, except you add their domain spells to their normal spells. So a level 1 cleric with a wisdom 12+ would have 1 known spells plus their 2 domain spells, and they can cast 3 spells per day.
Second, the faith attribute. The faith attribute is a stat the DM secretly keeps track of. It has a value of 0(you lose access to all divine;y granted powers) to 10(you are a paragon of your diety). This value can go up or down based on roleplay or spellcasting.
Third, spellcasting. Divine casting has an inherent chance to fail. Gods have limited power, and just because you ask for their blessing doesn't mean you will gain it. When a divine caster casts a spell roll d20, and add half the caster's level. The DM will add the caster's faith plus a situational modifier. The situational modifier depends on how the god would look upon the use of that spell. A spell that will directly benefit the diety's cause might get a +5 while spell that is possible harmful to the diety's cause might get a -5. The DC of the check is 10 + the level of the spell being cast. If the cleric fails, they have a 10% chance per point they failed by of losing a faith point for wasting their god's time. If they beat the DC, the spell goes off. If they succeed by 5 or more, they are granted a boon for every 5 points they succeed by.
Fourth, boons. If a divine caster is particularly successful, they will be granted boons. Boons must be used immediately and cannot be saved. The caster has 2 choices. They can forgo their boons to try and gain favor with their god or they can use boons to apply metamagic to their spell for free. For each boon the caster uses, they can apply a level worth of metamagic to the spell being cast. The cleric can apply any metamagic even if they do not have the feat for that metamagic. Any boons that are not used give the caster a 10% chance to gain a point of faith(add them together and make a single roll).
Example, A level 5 cleric with a faith of 6(their diety is pretty happy with them) casts a spell. The DM gives the cleric a +2 situational modifier since the spell is indirectly beneficial to the gods cause. The clerics total bonus is 2(level/2) + 6(faith) +2(situational) = +10. That means the cleric will succeed in casting a level 3 spell on a 3 or better. On an 8 they will get one boon, and could apply 1 level of metamagic for free. A 13 gets them 2 boons, and an 18 gets them 3 boons. If the cleric had a +5 situational modifier, and rolls a 20, they could potentially quicken the spell for free.
Now if the cleric had a faith of 1 casts a spell that their diety doesn't not approve of(IE -5 penalty). They would have a 2(level /2) +1(faith) -5(situational) = -2. If they roll a 4 or less, they would automatically lose a faith point, and become an ex-cleric. Even if they rolled a 9 they would still have a 50% chanel of losing their last faith point.
Thoughts, ideas, problems?
Anyone? Buller?
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Honestly, I don't know that I would like it. Randomness hurts the players more than the NPCs because they roll more often. This mechanic leaves the question of if the cleric can cast the spell up to the favor of the dice rather than the favor of the deity.
While I understand the goal, it seems like additional complexity for little gain. Were I to do it, I would remove the Faith stat and just let the DM decide if there is a chance the spell would not be granted. The player would roll every time, but the DM would know if the roll was for show or for real. This way the player doesn't get punished fof a bad roll by his healing spell on the poor orphan failing.
Honestly, I don't know that I would like it. Randomness hurts the players more than the NPCs because they roll more often. This mechanic leaves the question of if the cleric can cast the spell up to the favor of the dice rather than the favor of the deity.
While I understand the goal, it seems like additional complexity for little gain. Were I to do it, I would remove the Faith stat and just let the DM decide if there is a chance the spell would not be granted. The player would roll every time, but the DM would know if the roll was for show or for real. This way the player doesn't get punished fof a bad roll by his healing spell on the poor orphan failing.
That is why I put in 2 variables that are unknown to the player. This allows the DM to fudge the numbers if they want to.
This is also part of a homebrew where I am working on an grittier overall magic system where caster are not just tossing out tons of spells each day.
Another way to look at it. A level cleric with a 10 faith can never fail, unless they are doing something their diety wouldn't like.
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That is why I put in 2 variables that are unknown to the player. This allows the DM to fudge the numbers if they want to.
This is also part of a homebrew where I am working on an grittier overall magic system where caster are not just tossing out tons of spells each day.
That is a good design goal then, and I hope it works well. I just find that putting two unknown variables in is no different than one unknown variable in practice.
Just because the DM is doing math behind the scenes doesn't mean the player sees anything but a yes or no binary result. As a DM, I have too much on my plate to be messing around with numbers to determine a result that is basically yes or no. I'll roleplay the god and decide yes or no myself.
Your system is interesting, but ultimately extra work for me. Fudging numbers is the same no matter how many numbers you are fudging.
Just to clarify, I think it is solid for your purposes, even if I wouldn't use it. The player has an idea how likely the spell is to succeed and can make the choice to take the risk when he needs to. I just feel that there's too much math going on for little gain.