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Alternative Systems for AD & D^TM

Magic

Colour

Notes: One of the major obstacles I find I need to overcome is the system's generic setting. Perhaps it stems from having so many co-creators, perhaps it's just the end result of trying to appeal to everyone, but a lot of flavour and colour has been lost. This particularly jars with regard to magic. In the first place, magic loses its otherworldly mystique when every player knows the ins and outs of every spell effect. Compounding the problem, we have the dull, utilitarian spell names - 'Fly', 'Cause Light Wounds', 'Lightning Bolt'. Here's some ideas to help:

Religion-specific spell lists

It's a lot of work, but an individual set of priest spells for each faith really makes a difference to the feel of playing a 'cleric' character. I've integrated spells from plenty of other sources (e.g. the wizard spell lists), and renamed wherever necessary. You'll need to put your own work in as appropriate for your own pantheon, but as an example, here's the set for Azmobaana, nasty Chaotic Evil deity from Pangea:

1. • Animal Friendship, Bless (R only), Combine, Corrupt Food (as Purify Food And Drink (R only), Detect Good, Detect Priestly Magic, Devourer Touch (as Cure Light Wounds (R only)
   • from Wizard list: Change Self, Claws (as Chill Touch)
2. • Aid, Augury, Beast Watch (as Wyvern Watch), Chant, Corrupt Soul (as Charm Person Or Mammal), Enthrall, Hold Person, Snakecharm, Spiritual Claws, Summon Unholy Might (new), Touchscythe (new)
   • from Wizard list: Alter Self, Scare, Strength
3. • Beastskin (as Magic Vestment), Black Sun Rune (as Glyph Of Warding), Corrupt Blood (as Cure Disease, R only), Create Food And Water, Dispel Magic, Hold Animal, Prayer, Remove Curse (R only), Slay Sight Or Hearing (as Cure Blindness Or Deafness, R only), Summon Insects
   • from Wizard list: Infravision, Spectral Hand (2nd)
4. • Breath Of Fear (as Cloak Of Bravery, R only), Giant Insect (+R), Neutralise Poison (R only), Rend (as Cure Serious Wounds, R only), Repel Insects, Sticks To Snakes (+R), Ward Off Weak (as Protection From Good 10' Radius)
   • from Wizard list: Fear, Shadow Monsters
5. • Atonement, Commune, Dismiss Weak (as Dispel Good), Insect Plague, Moonbeam, Plane Shift, Quest, Tear (as Cure Critical Wounds, R only)
   • from Wizard list: Dream, Emotion (4th; fear, hate, hopelessness only)
6. • Forbiddance, Rip Apart (as Heal, R only), Transmute Water To Dust (not R), Wall Of Talons (as Wall Of Thorns), Ward Off Beasts (as Anti-Animal Shell), Word Of Recall
   • from Wizard list: Demi-Shadow Monsters (5th)
7. Astral Spell, Confusion, Creeping Doom, Exaction, Gate, Unholy Word, Symbol, Strength Of The Devourer (as Regenerate, R only)

Hopefully, names like Black Sun Rune, Devourer Touch and Ward Off Weak will immediately give the flavour of this evil cult, and further confound players who have (intentionally or otherwise) memorised the usual spell list. They should also suggest unique and appropriate special effects; Cause Light Wounds cast as Devourer Touch might be delivered as a vicious bite, for example.

Individual Special Effects

Wizard spells also suffer from being pretty bland, on the whole. Seen one Fireball, seen 'em all. I allow (and encourage) wizards to describe their own special effects, which can be as diverse as the characters themselves. The archetype in Pangea has been good old Magic Missile, which has been described as a set of arrows, as little 'photon torpedoes', zooming musical notes (cast by a bard), and (most memorably) as a herd of miniature flying pigs, complete with squeals and resultant tiny trotter-marks in the target. Don't blame me, blame my players.

Once a wizard has decided on a look and feel, they should stick to it. I've awarded a few extra XP to wizard characters with a themed set of spells. Not only does this idea prevent easy identification of a cast spell, it allows the perceptive to recognise the wizardry of an opponent they've encountered before. In Pangea we've also seen 'inherited' spell effects, where the first few castings of a borrowed or stolen spell conform to the theme of the originating wizard, until the new caster has had time to make the spell their own. There can even be families, associations or apprentice wizards who cast spells with the same set of standard effects, again possible for others to recognise.

More Colourful Spell Names

I've always viewed wizards as an insular and antisocial lot, on the whole, and I don't see why they should agree on nomenclature. Better and more evocative spell names can be poached from many sources; other games, good fantasy fiction, and so on. The game Ars Magica has the kind of elaborate and arcane names that appeal to me (its take on magic is generally excellent and colourful) - Ball of Abysmal Flame is far more worrying than boring old Fireball, for instance. Jack Vance's fantasies name many baroque and esoteric spells - Galvanic Thrust (a kind of Lightning Bolt) and the Spell of Forlorn Encystment (Imprisonment), to mention just two.

Again, what we end up with is more mysterious and less familiar magic, and much more gaming colour, which is always good.

Foci

Notes: 2nd Edition has an oddly truncated and piecemeal system for spell 'components'; Verbal, Somatic and Material, which has always felt to me like the beginnings of a good idea. 3rd Edition adds in a few more, including an XP cost for casting certain powerful magics. As usual, what I've ended up with is a mixture of the above with some ideas from Ars Magica and my own:

There exists a spell called Enchant a Focus, given below, which allows a wizard to create a permanent object that takes the place of most Material Components for their spells. The enchantment takes time and expense, and (importantly), is a strictly one-way deal - once a wizard has chosen to use a focus, they can't then abandon it. There are a few basic consequences:

• The wizard no longer needs a Material Component to cast most spells; the focus takes their place, as long as it is to hand. There are exceptions for particularly expensive and unique components.
• Spells that require a Somatic Component are cast by gesturing or pointing appropriately with the focus, and Touch ranged spells are cast by touching the target with the focus.
• If the wizard loses their focus, they are unable to cast any spell that needs a Material Component (except Enchant a Focus itself) until they create a replacement.
• The wizard gains one extra spell memorisation 'slot' for spell levels 1 - 4 (if they're also a Specialist Wizard, the extra spell slots stack).

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