Hey so I posted this whole thing in the homebrew section but was looking for feedback. And honestly it seems like that community is rather inactive? Don't know maybe they just weren't interested.
So this is a material I am trying to develop for my homebrew setting and I've got it pretty much hacked out but I'm looking for more feedback from more experienced GM's and players. (I've only played for about 4 years)
So I'd like to say I'm sorry about how I had to reformat the tables. I tried to make them work in the forums but that just wouldn't transfer or space out properly. But this should be a fairly finished write up of my idea. Sorry if some stuff doesn't have any context but a lot of the fluff is history stuff and racial stuff from my setting. But none of it matter mechanically so here we go!
This rare metal is one of the most expensive materials known to the mortals of Elrahst. Its harvesting is a very expensive and difficult process that involves the smelting of the heavy metal Bismuth together with trace amounts of lead and gold. After this metal is heated until molten crystals specifically aligned with the elemental or outer planes are inserted into it in a very precise orientation. After this the metal needs to be treated with the blood of a Hyade, meaning the creation of this metal is entirely limited to willing Hyade donating their blood for profit, or from far less reputable sources. Due to this ability Deaghnath Lace has always had a mixed history of its legality to buy or even own. In the current age the Lace is well controlled by the empire in both its production and its sale but it is available for high costs. However its military use means that those who wish to use it to create ritual circles outside of buildings directly under empire control must obtain a special contract to even obtain the metal. Deaghnath Lace has the ability to assist in the channeling of the arcane or even divine energies needed to cast spells. It accomplishes this by channeling power into the caster with a much greater focus and force than the typical process of drawing energy from the planes and various natural forces. The material has gained its name from the extremely fine designs and sigils that are crafted out of it to form ritual circles. The effects of Deaghnath Lace are determined by the kind of attunement used within its crystals, the type of ritual circle, and the size of the ritual circle.
A. Level of Ritual Circle
B. Cost of crafting the circle
C. Spell levels that have their level reduced by 1
D. Spell levels that have their level reduced by 2
E. Size required for Ritual Circle
A. 1
B. 35,000 GP
C. Level 2 spells
D. N/A
E. 10x10 FT circle
A. 2
B. 95,000 GP
C. Level 3&lower spells
D. N/A
E. 15x15 FT circle
A. 3
B. 225,000 GP
C. Level 5&lower Spells
D. Level 3&lower Spells
E. 25x25 FT circle
A. 4
B. 350,000 GP
C. Level 7&lower Spells
D. Level 4&lower Spells
E. 40x40 FT circle
A. 5
B. 750,000 GP
C. Level 9&lower Spells
D. Level 5&lower Spells
E. 60x60 FT circle
Attunement of Crystals
Spell Schools, Subtypes, and Descriptors Effected by the Circle
The 9 Hells
Evil, Law, Fire, Enchantment
The Abyss
Darkness, Evil, Chaos, Necromancy
Heaven
Good, Law, Light, Abjuration
Elysium
Good, Chaos, Divination, Cold
Plane of Fire
Fire, Evocation, Light, Healing
Plane of Air
Electric, Illusion, Air, Creation
Plane of Water
Cold, Water, Evocation, Darkness
Plane of Earth
Earth, Transmutation, Creation, Scrying
Astral Plane
Force, Pattern, Teleportation, Universal
Positive Energy Plane
Healing, Light, Glamer, Conjuration
Negative Energy Plane
Necromancy, Darkness, Shadow, Figment
The creation of a Ritual Circle made from Deaghnàth Lace is a long and drawn out process that involves a number of expensive magical rituals (Cost included in the costs above) that take place over the course of a number of days or even weeks. The time it takes is equal to 1 day x the level of ritual circle squared. The crafting of this circle requires a Knowledge Arcana check once a day during its creation. The DC of this check is equal to 15+(5x the level of circle doubled). It also requires a single DC 20 Craft or Profession check in a related field to the material the Ritual Circle is being set into (Such as Craft(Stone) when set into a castle tower). In addition once one of these circles in constructed specifically for the location in question as it must be built in such a way as to tap into and redirect the natural leylines and other sources of magical energy in the area. In rare cases these circles can be transported to new locations and altered slightly to work. This however requires a DC 30 Knowledge Arcana check and has only a 10% chance of working at all, and once altered in this way the circle can never be relocated again without being entirely rebuilt. If a circle is rebuilt from the remains of an old circle of the same level it can be done much more easily, only costing a 1/4th as much as creating a brand new ritual circle. However the remade circle must be of the same planar attunement as the circle it has taken its materials from.
A Ritual circle reduces the level of spells listed under its Planar Attunement by either 1 or 2 levels as determined by its level. No spell may be reduced in this manner or with a combination of other feats or spells to a level under 1st. Thus no spell that was not already a 0-level spell can be made to act as a 0-level spell. A caster must be within the confines of the ritual circle to spontaneously cast spells at these lower levels. In addition a spontaneous caster may only cast a number of spells per day in this fashion equal to their caster level. Prepared casters garner slightly more use from these circles but have a harder time holding their power in. Prepared casters that take the time to prepare their spells within the confines of a ritual circle can prepare up to ½ their caster level (Minimum 1) worth of spells in spell slots with their new adjusted level. These spells remain in these slots even if the caster moves outside of the ritual circle.
What I'm looking for is for people to take a look at this and help me hash out what issues there would be with the current write up. E.G. particularly powerful or game breaking spells with this method, whether as a PC you would even be interested in this sort of set up and why or why not, if you as a GM would run this what would you change and what would you be hesitant about, and overall how would you suggest to balance this out if you think its unbalanced. I would like to say I want to keep at least some element of being able to reduce spell levels and not just swap it with another effect. Although severely limiting this effect or blending it with metamagic sounds extremely interesting and I'd love to hear peoples ideas.
I will try and update with a new post in Spoilers anytime we update something and I'm hoping to let this develop a bit as a community project to figure out the most optimal way to write up this material. Thanks for the time to read this super long post!
The upfront cost is so high that I can't see any PC ever creating one of these. If they found one a prepared caster could likely make use of it, sure.
Gamebreaking spells aren't going to be much more broken if they're a level lower. That said are you OK with people using these to make wands of teleport, for example? Some people got thoroughly upset by the original summoner class being able to do so.
Could I get some help from someone more money experienced in money value in pathfinder? Its actually the one thing I've had to completely throw out in my home games as I just can seem to get a handle on how money should work and what all stuff should cost via typical pathfinder rules.
I would definitely say using the circle to make a wand or other magic item shouldn't be a huge deal. The item would cost the same amount as it only lowers the spell slot that spell uses. It doesn't make Fireball's level 2. It just lets you use a 2nd level spell slot to cast it.
You did specifically say that a prepared caster would make use of this. I definitely think that prepared casters gain a much larger benefit from this as they can take their spells and head off again. As far as spontaneous casters does anyone have suggestions to make this better for them? Maybe something that lets them store those lower slots?