I've had this idea sitting in the back of my head for years now, but as of recently, I've finally started getting serious about it. I was inspired by the card based ability system from Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. How it basically works is there are two types of cards and when combined, give various effects such as stat boosts, summons, shields, new weapons, etc. I've been trying to find a way to do something similar as a class since 3.5, but never got around to it.
The basic idea I have at this time is a spontaneous caster that prepares their spell list each day. For example, combination A will give a list of spells that are all fire themed and the mage would be able to spontaneously cast any spells from their list for their level. Combination B, however would offer a list of healing type spells instead. This would lead to a caster that could fill many roles or stick to a theme or concept very easily.
I was thinking that at first, there would be only 3-6 cards available to make combinations from and more would become available to the mage as they gain levels. I thought of it as though the mage has a magical deck which grants their powers, however some of the cards deem the mage unworthy of their abilities and don't "reveal" themselves until later. I was also thinking of trying a system where the mage could swap his combination a certain number of times per day. At first, it would be two random cards, but as the mage gains more knowledge of their deck, they could occasionally choose specific cards to combine.
There are a few roadblocks at this time, though. In the game, there were 20 cards leading to 100 combinations. Coming up with 100 different spell combinations, so I was thinking breaking the class down into two "builds"- a caster and a war mage/gestalt. There would be specific combinations oriented towards pure casting and another set more melee oriented with things like ability boosts or elemental effects being added to weapons. There would also be a lot less cards to deal with. Also, coming up wioth various themes and spell list combinations is a pretty daunting task.
I was hoping you guys would be able to provide some ideas or criticism before I try to tackle this beast.
There was a full fledge splat book on tarot magic published by mystic eye publishing at some stage (3.0 or 3.5). I'm not sure.
I think the problem is that card reading, like most augury, is very static and strictly speaking can't work unless the DM chooses to empower your reading.
Fortune tellers are mostly better NPCs.
That's not to say I'm disinterested. I'm curious to see what you come up with. I might suggest you have a peek at the Ravenloft conversion as the whole Gypsy card reading thing is pretty strong.
Sigurd
It's not actually a tarot deck, it's just a set of cards that are imbued with different magic abilities and appear very reminiscent of tarot cards.
I think it's easier to grasp if I make some examples:
There are four different cards to start with: Mars, Jupiter, the Salamander, and the Dove. The Mars card is tied to empowering weapons, Jupiter is defensive magic, Salamder is fire, and the dove is divine.
If the Mars and Salamander cards were chosen at the beginning of the day, the theme would be empowering melee weapons and attacks with fire properties. There may be a passive ability which would allow all damage done by melee attacks to do fire damage instead of their normal damage type. The mage would also have access to a spell list of fire oriented spells. If the Dove and Jupiter cards were combined, the spell list would be comprised of cleric spells mostly oriented to healing and defensive buffs.
Now, to switch those up. Mars and the Dove together would have turn undead and maybe offensive buffs. Jupiter and the Salamder would give resistances to fire attacks and appropriate spells.
I just want to make a system with iconic symbols to represent "property" cards and "element" cards to mix and match to meet various situations. The problem lies in the execution. Do I allow all the cards at once to a new mage? Do I limit the number of times the combination can be changed? Is it too much for a caster to, in all essence, have access to all spells both divine and arcane?
I think I would go with the cards working almost like magic items. Each card has a 1st-9th level spell (if the class has up to 9th level spells that is) and you can only cast spells up to your highest level spell slot (they'd be spontaneous I'm assuming). From there I'd probably say you can only get so many cards per level, maybe starting with 4 and ending with somewhere around 12 or 13 (or more). This makes the class slightly simpler (so you don't really have to prepare a spell list every day) but then you could add a mechanic that allows the class to combine 2 cards to get an effect like for instance if you combined the salamander and dove cards you'd get fire resistance based off your level for a day or something like that but you couldn't cast spells. I don't know, I'm just throwing some ideas out. I like the idea (I play a Gypsy every time I play a Human lol) and I'm interested in seeing what you come up with.
It's not actually a tarot deck, it's just a set of cards that are imbued with different magic abilities and appear very reminiscent of tarot cards.
I think it's easier to grasp if I make some examples:
There are four different cards to start with: Mars, Jupiter, the Salamander, and the Dove. The Mars card is tied to empowering weapons, Jupiter is defensive magic, Salamder is fire, and the dove is divine.
I just want to make a system with iconic symbols to represent "property" cards and "element" cards to mix and match to meet various situations. The problem lies in the execution. Do I allow all the cards at once to a new mage? Do I limit the number of times the combination can be changed? Is it too much for a caster to, in all essence, have access to all spells both divine and arcane?
I think you are going to have to put numbers on your suits of cards.
I think I am getting this right
combining salamander and dove and you (as one permutation) can get a flame strike spell. In order to do so mechanic wise you need (I think) a total of 4 (numerically 4th level druid spell).I am still going....
so you can make a total of 4 several different ways
1 dove + 3 salamanders
2 doves + 2 salamanders
3 doved + 1 salamander..Of course I could be completely wrong with what you are thinking!
Actually, when I thought of it, there would only be one of each card. You combine the two cards and that determines your spell list for the day until you change your combination. However, your method is very intriguing as well. Perhaps I'll look into coming up with a format that uses various predetermined decks as well.
As for how the class is going, this is what I have made up as of yesterday:
There are two types of cards: "property" cards and "effect" cards. The property cards will determine how exactly the card combination will work. For example there is a property card that is very offensive magic, one that is defensive, one that is illusory magic, one that affects weapon properties, and one that affects stats and skills. The effect cards are based on the elements. There could be a fire, ice, electric, positive, and negative card.
At the beginning of the day, the mage would choose one property and one effect card that he has access to. Let's say he choses the stat card and positive energy card. He would have access to a spell list that includes offensive buffs and healing spells. He would also gain a special ability to either give a temporary boost to Con to either himself or his ally. However, if the mage decides that he needs more offensive power instead, he can decide to switch his combination. However, the switching of the cards is not always up to him.
At first, the mage would only get to choose his cards at the start of the day. He would get a chance to choose a new set of crads every day based on his level, but at first he would have to choose the cards at random. As levels are gained, he gets more controlled changes per day. However, as a spontaneous caster, he also only has a set number of spells per day as well. This number is an overall number and changing cards would not give more casts per day. This makes for a mix of spontaneous caster that has to "prepare" spells every day.
The biggest roadblock I reached yesterday is determining different cards and abilities as well as coming up with spell lists and unique abilites for all combinations. Also, I was told the ability to switch between all the various spells may be to powerful. I'm thinking maybe similar combinations will share spell lists but have unique perks or abilities.
Also, now that it has been suggested, I might look into an alternate casting method that draws cards to combine and cast the spells. Any thoughts?
I was thinking that maybe if you stuck with the number idea or numbers of cards equating to level for just a moment.
Lets make a 7th level tarot mage and his deck of cards.
lets limit him to a maximum of four of each type of card for his level.
So he has four of each type of card that you have listed in his deck that he may combine in any way he wishes in order to get through his day......
So does a spell list per combination make sense or what cards are capable of doing?
I think a 1st level spell should be doable with two cards
2nd with three
etc.....A dove card can channel energy or spontaneously cast a heal spell
A dove + other can create the appropriate spell effect....
Still thinking.......
I've been thinking about this too. I might come up with pre-built decks that each ahve a theme of sorts- fire, healing, etc. Each deck would have cards that combine to make spells to match that and then instead of switching base combinations the mage could switch decks.
How about the Harrower prestige class from the CS and the Harrow deck ? :)
I'll look into it. Thanks!
Donato, I love your idea, but I think your implementation is a bit perfunctory.
The purpose of using cards is to introduce an element of randomization. If I were playing blackjack, and I got to choose which cards to draw, I would hit 21 every time. Similarly, if I were reading fortunes with tarot cards and I got to choose which cards to draw, why would I even bother with the cards? The way that you have this class setup right now, the PC is basically a wizard who announces flavor text upon casting spells (magic missile - I combine Mars with Athena).
The class would simulate the use of cards much better if each card represented an individual spell and the PC had to select a card from his deck at random, then cast the spell depicted on the card he drew. Then, the card drawn would lose its power until the deck was shuffled again (many full round actions), or until the caster slept. Three ways to do this:
1. (My favorite idea) Bring an actual deck of cards, shuffle, and draw the top card. You don't even have to be a good artist to make this work, just hop on photoshop (or paint), make a cool fireball image and give it a unique number in roman numerals, then print it on cardstock.
2. Give your DM a list of your cards, and let him choose which card you draw. This would simulate the "divine will" of the cards, a la the belief in a functional tarot deck.
3. Use dice (this would lead to some very messy bookkeeping). Assign a number to each card, and roll to see what you draw.
Obviously, casting spells at random is a huge drawback. In order to counteract this and bring the class into its own, I would institute one of a number of counter measures - things that help the class break even on the power curve and also help it feel unique. For example, the class could gain access to a new level of spells every 3rd level (instead of 2nd), but if the PC spends 10 full minutes (100 full round actions) shuffling the deck, it works again. So, per battle, you have an array of low level spells that you can cast randomly a number of times equal to the size of your deck, but infinite times a day. You could also give the class normal spell progression, but give them +1 to saving throw DCs, or extend the duration of their spells by 1.5x the normal duration, but I think those are a bit boring.
If you don't like giving the class their spells back after reshuffling, another thing you could do, that also adds some flavor, is give the class some cool features. For example, every 3 levels they get to draw up a class feature card from another class. So at level 3, you can make a channel positive energy card, or a favored enemy card. Could be positively amazing when you draw it, could be positively worthless - that is the beauty of randomly drawing cards. Your risk is higher, but your reward can be as well. You could also give them features like, once a day, you may search your deck for a specific card and cast it; however, the rest of your deck will cease to function until reshuffled.
Hope you work out something cool, I want to read what you come up with in the end.