The first step in designing a new school is to decide what type of magical energy will be wielded by the specialist and how that energy will manifest itself. The type of magic must be general enough to encompass a variety of spells and effects, but it also must be specific enough to differentiate it from existing schools.
Before examining the specifics, consider the differences between the magic of wizards and the magic of priests. Though some duplication exists—both have access to necromantic and summoning spells, for instance—the way they acquire spells is strikingly different
Priests vs. Wizards[]
Priests are granted the use of spells by deities of specific mythoi. Each deity has authority over particular groups of concepts, forces, and things, and these groups are called spheres. A priest's allegiance to his deity gives him access to certain spheres of magic that reflect the deity's special interests. Consequently, the magic of each sphere tends to be quite specific; spells from the sun sphere, for instance, deal primarily with light and darkness, while spells from the healing sphere deal primarily with curing.
Unlike the priest, a wizard isn't bound to a particular deity, and therefore does not depend on a deity for his magical abilities. A wizard learns and masters his spells in much the same way that a professor learns and masters a particular science. This is why the wizard class is a function of Intelligence. Wizardly schools focus on general categories of magical energy and effects and encompass a wide variety of spells.
To preserve the integrity of these differences between wizard magic and priest magic, any new wizard school should avoid focusing on magical effects stemming from one particular condition or thing. Instead, the school should be concerned with the manipulation of general energies and forces
Categories of Effects[]
Confused? Consider the following.
Just as electrical energy or mechanical energy can be harnessed to accomplish specific tasks, it is also possible to channel magical energy to accomplish specific results. But while electrical and mechanical energies are limited by physics and other natural sciences, magical energy knows no such mundane boundaries. Magical energies can be channeled to produce any of the following list of effects.
Transformation: When this type of effect is produced, an object or condition is changed to give it different physical properties or new special abilities.
Creation: When this type of effect is produced, an object or condition is created that did not previously exist.
Requisitioning: When this type of effect is produced, an existing object or condition is summoned from a different location.
Paranaturalism: This type of effect involves the manipulation of forces and phenomena that exist beyond the confines of the material world and the laws governing it. (This can also be considered a catch-all category that includes effects not covered in other categories.)
All of the existing schools of magic can be assigned to these categories.
The schools of alteration, enchantment/charm, and abjuration all involve Transformation.
The schools of illusion and invocation/evocation involve Creation.
Conjuration/summoning involves Requisitioning.
Divination and necromancy involve Paranaturalism.
Although some overlapping occurs (for instance, magical energies that Requisition existing objects may Transform them as well), all magic schools channel magical energies to produce the effects defined in these four categories.
What differentiates one school from another is the type of effects produced. For example, both illusion and invocation/evocation channel magical energy for Creation. However, illusions create unreal objects and conditions; invocations create objects and conditions that cause direct physical effects
Defining the Effects of a New School[]
To begin the design of a new school, the DM must first define the type of effects it produces. Any definition is likely to be vague. But at this stage, it should be. Unlike the intentionally specific priestly sphere, a wizardly school must be general enough to accommodate a large variety of spells.
Use the steps that follow.
- Choose one type of channelled magical energy from the four categories described above: Transformation, Creation, Requisitioning, or Paranaturalism. If you know what type of school you plan to design, the choice of category probably will be obvious. If you do not yet have any ideas about your school, pick any of the categories—it's a good place to start. (If your choice of categories seems less appropriate as your school develops, you can always pick another.)
- Define what specific type of effects these channelled energies will produce. If it is a Transformation school, what types of things or conditions will be transformed? If it is a Paranaturalism school, what type of paranatural energies or forces will be involved.
- Ensure that the definition of the new school does not resemble the definitions of existing schools too closely. Compare them with the school descriptions in Chapter 1.
How It All Works[]
To illustrate this procedure, a new school is created here. First, one of the categories of channelled energy is chosen. The school will involve changing one type of item into another, so the choice is the Transformation category.
Next, we define the type of Transformation effects the school will produce. This definition needs to be as clear as possible; writing down the definition in a sentence or two will put it on the right track. Our school will feature spells that cause an object or condition to change into a different but related object or condition. That description is vague, but good enough to get started.
Is this school sufficiently different from existing schools? Our school sounds very similar to the school of alteration, so it needs some adjustments. Since many of the alteration spells imbue a creature with special abilities, such as water breathing and fly, we can decide that the spells from our school will deal with physical transformations only. Further, all of our physical transformations will be permanent (subject to the usual limitations, such as cancellation by dispel magic).
Throughout the remainder of this chapter, we'll continue to develop this school as a demonstration
Name of the School[]
Once you have an idea for a school, it needs a name. If an obvious name doesn't suggest itself, as it did for the school of illusion, check a thesaurus for synonymous words or evocative phrases. Fantasy literature is another good source for names.
Since our new school deals with change, we checked the thesaurus for synonyms and found metamorphosis, a word that is descriptive, has a nice scholarly ring to it, and even sounds a little mystical. We'll christen it the school of metamorphics.
Name of the Specialist[]
Specialists usually derive their names from the names of their schools by changing the suffix. Thus, from abjuration comes the abjurer, and from illusion comes the illusionist. Most of the time, this technique is satisfactory.
However, some schools simply do not lend themselves to wizardly-sounding names. For instance, the word alterer is clumsy, so the school of alteration has opted for the less awkward transmuter for the name of their specialist. We have a similar problem with our school of metamorphics—both metamorphist and metamorpher are clumsy. Returning to the thesaurus, we find the word transfigure. We can call our specialist a transfigurist.
Spells[]
The most important part of creating a new school is designing new spells that are different enough to set it apart from existing schools. There must be enough new spells to provide the user a reasonable variety of options. At the same time, duplication of existing spells should be avoided. Minor variations of existing spells should also be avoided. The spell selection should be attractive enough so that novice wizards will consider specializing in it, but not so powerful that the school overwhelms all others
Basic Spells[]
A new school does not need an extensive number of spells immediately. Beginning with a core of basic spells is best, adding new spells as required by the campaign and the players.
An acceptable core of basic spells includes the number of spells for each level given in Table 1. Note that this is approximately the number of spells for the schools of greater divination and necromancy given in the Player's Handbook. If the DM is unable to invent this number of spells, he should concentrate on designing spells to fill the lower levels (levels 1-3) so his lower-level specialists can begin their careers.
| Level | No. of Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | 3 |
| 2nd | 3 |
| 3rd | 2 |
| 4th | 2 |
| 5th | 2 |
| 6th | 2 |
| 7th | 1 |
| 8th | 1 |
| 9th | 1 |
Adapting Existing Spells[]
Before attempting to design new spells, first look at the existing spells for other schools. Notice that a number of spells listed in the Player's Handbook belong to more than one school; rainbow pattern, for instance, belongs to the schools of alteration and illusion, while limited wish belongs to conjuration/summoning and invocation/evocation. Do any of the PH spells (or any of the new spells listed in Chapter 8 of this book) seem appropriate for your new school? The alteration spells transmute rock to mud and transmute water to dust are perfect for our school of metamorphics—they both cause one substance to change to another, they both cause physical changes, and in both cases the effects are permanent.
There are other likely candidates from the PH spells for our school, but using an excessive number of duplicate spells (more than two or three) compromises the individuality of a new school.
Ideas for New Spells[]
The DM and players will need to brainstorm for ideas that will eventually be developed to fill in the basic spell list. Although the DM makes the final decisions when designing spells for a new school, the contributions and ideas of the players are important. Fantasy literature is another good source of ideas, as are the abilities of magical monsters and functions of magical devices. The DM and his players might also discuss encounters or battles from previous adventures and decide what types of spells would have been useful for the wizards.
The DM (with the assistance of the players) should then assign a spell name to each idea and decide the general effects of the potential spells. The names of the spells should be brief and descriptive. The effects can be approximate at this point—they'll be refined later. We do not have the space here to develop a full range of spells for our metamorphics school, but here are three potential spells we'll use as examples:
Evaporate: This spell changes liquids into gases.
Blood to dust: This spell changes an opponent's blood to dust, instantly killing him.
Improved armor: This spell changes a companion's armor to a better Armor Class
Checking for Duplication[]
Each potential spell should be checked against the spells in the Player's Handbook to see if it already exists. Considering that the PH lists hundreds of spells, re-inventing an existing spell is easy. A DM need not be obsessive about this; a large number of existing spells inflict damage or add bonuses and penalties to saving throws. As long as the new spell has a unique twist of its own, it can be deemed acceptable.
Of our examples, we notice that blood to dust is superficially similar to the 7th-level finger of death spell, since they both instantly take a victim's life. But the methods of achieving this effect are distinctly different; blood to dust changes the victim's blood to an inert substance, while finger of death snuffs out the victim's life force. Further, blood to dust is only effective on victims with blood in their veins. Blood to dust is different enough to stand on its own.
Checking for Play Balance[]
After checking them against existing spells, all potential spells of a new school must be considered for play balance. Imagine that the wizard employs a particular spell every day—will constant use have any significant long-term effects on the balance of the game?
Consider our potential metamorphic spells. Evaporate won't have any profound effects on the game, assuming it has reasonable limitations (for instance, evaporating an entire ocean should be prohibited). At best, blood to dust means one less opponent per day.
But improved armor presents a problem. Since our metamorphic spells are permanent, wouldn't a transfigurist immediately improve all of his party's armor as much as he could? Is this fair? We can't make the effects temporary, or we're violating the definition of our school. Let's throw out improved armor and invent another spell later.
Determining Effects and Levels[]
Once the inappropriate spells have been discarded, we need to define and describe the specific effects of the remaining spells, then assign them to levels. The description of a spell should cover its typical uses, but it is unnecessary—and realistically, impossible—to deal with every possible application. More importantly, the description should cover the spell's limitations in detail; not only do precise limitations make spells easier to adjudicate, they are easier to assign to levels.
Here are some points to consider when assigning limitations to spells:
How many subjects can be affected by the spell? Generally, the more subjects affected, the higher the level of the spell (compare invisibility to mass invisibility, and charm person to mass charm).
What type of subjects can be affected by the spell? Subjects can be low-level or high-level (or low HD and high HD). They can also have specific characteristics (such as the subjects of detect invisibility), or they can be general types with no specific characteristics (such as the subjects of charm monster). Usually, higher-level spells are able to affect high-level (or high HD) subjects that have no specific characteristics— finger of death is a good example.
Are victims allowed a saving throw to avoid the effects of the spell? Disallowing a saving throw for a spell that would normally have one usually boosts it to a higher level. For instance, the 5th-level cone of cold allows a saving throw to reduce a victim's damage by half. If such a throw were not allowed, the spell would be significantly more dangerous and would belong in a higher level.
If the spell causes damage, what is the maximum? It would be grossly inappropriate for any 1st-level spell to inflict 100 hit points of damage. Similarly, a 9th-level spell should be capable of inflicting a significant amount of damage. Table 2 suggests the maximum amount of damage a spell of a particular level should be allowed to inflict on a single enemy. These figures are general guidelines only, and can be altered by any number of variables. For instance, if a hypothetical 3rd-level flying sword spell has only a 10 percent chance of hitting its target, its maximum amount of damage could be justifiably higher than 3-18 hit points.
Remember that the inflicted damage of certain spells may vary according to the caster's level; for instance, fireball causes 1d6 hit points of damage per level of the caster. (Table 2 gives the damage for a spell cast at its base level; if our hypothetical flying sword spell is 3rd-level, but can be cast at higher levels to inflict more damage, Table 2 indicates the maximum amount of damage it can cause when cast at its lowest level. )
| Level | Maximum Damage of Spell (in hp) |
|---|---|
| 1st | 2-5 (1d4 +1) |
| 2nd | 2-8 (2d4) |
| 3rd | 3-18 (3d6) |
| 4th | 8-20 (4d4 +4) |
| 5th | 10-25 (5d4 +5) |
| 6th | 6-36 (6d6) |
| 7th | 10-60 (10d6) * |
| 8th-9th | 10-80 (10d8) * |
- * Spells of 7th-level through 9th- level are differentiated by the number of subjects destroyed and special restrictions on death. For instance, a 7th-level spell might destroy only a single subject, while a 9th-level spell could destroy several. A 7th-level spell might allow a saving throw, while a 9th-level spell might not. A 7th-level spell might allow resurrection attempts, a 9th-level spell might not.
If the spell causes damage, do victims get a saving throw? Of the spells in the Player's Handbook, many of them allow the victim to make a saving throw in order to reduce or eliminate the potential damage. Though it is unnecessary to allow saving throws in every case, this is a good way to add balance to what otherwise might be an especially dangerous spell. There are three options to consider.
1. No saving throw. This option maximizes a spell's lethality.
2. Half damage. This option means that the character suffers half-damage if his saving throw is successful. This is less lethal than a spell with no saving throw, but more lethal than the following option.
3. Negate. This option means that the character suffers no damage if his saving throw is successful. This is the least lethal option of all.
Note that saving throws need not always be saving throws vs. spells; consider different types of saving throws for spells of higher levels (in every case, however, only one type of saving throw should be allowed). A saving throw vs. spells is always an option, no matter what the level of spell, but here are some alternatives:
- For spells of 3rd-level and 4th-level, use save vs. rods.
- For spells of 5th-level and 6th-level, use save vs. paralyzation.
- For spells of 7th-level, 8th-level, and 9th-level, use save vs. death.
If the spell is defensive, does it inhibit the enemy's ability to attack, or does it offer direct protection from damage? Generally, spells that defend against a specific type of damage (such as protection from normal missiles) are less powerful than spells that protect against a general category of damage (such as minor globe of invulnerability), and spells that protect the caster or subjects of the caster's choice (such as protection from evil) are less powerful than spells that inhibit the enemy's ability to attack (such as wall of fog). The highest-level defensive spells tend to be those that get rid of the attacker (such as dismissal and imprisonment.)
If a DM has designed a defensive spell that he wants to modify so he can assign it to a higher level, he can do one or more of the following:
- Increase the types of damage against which it protects. (To assign the spell to a lower level, decrease the types of damage.)
- Increase the number of subjects the spell protects, usually by increasing the area of effect. (For a lower level, decrease the area of effect, or have the spell provide protection for only the caster.)
- Increase the number of opponents whose attack abilities are reduced. Again, this is usually accomplished by increasing the area of effect. (For a lower level, decrease the area of effect.)
- Increase the power of the spell so it eliminates the attacker altogether.
Does the spell increase or decrease a subject's saving throw modifier? Penalties and bonuses to the subject's saving throw alter the effectiveness of a spell. Consider again our hypothetical 3rd-level flying sword spell. Assume that it inflicts 1-10 hit points of damage on subjects when used at night, and that a saving throw negates the damage. If the subject is allowed a +2 bonus, it might be more appropriate to assign flying sword to 2nd-level. Conversely, if no saving throw is allowed at all, the spell might belong at 4th-level.
Is the effect of the spell permanent? Spells whose effects are temporary are less powerful than those whose effects are permanent. (Remember that few spells are literally permanent, since dispel magic negates their effects in most cases. A limited wish or wish can negate almost any spell. )
What are the spell's duration, range, and area of effect? Longer durations, ranges, and areas of effect translate into more powerful spells. Adjusting these elements is a good way to modify a spell to assign it to a higher or lower level. For instance, if flying sword persists for only one round/level and has a range of 30 yards, it belongs in a lower level than if it persisted for one turn/level and had a range of 100 yards.
There are no minimum or maximum requirements for durations, ranges, or areas of effect, as long as the DM stays within the bounds of reason. For instance, a range of 1 mile/level sounds ridiculously high for any 1st-level spell. A good place to start for establishing durations, ranges, and areas of effect is 1 round/level (duration), 10 yards/level (range), and a 10-foot cube or one creature/level (area of effect). Remember that these are general guidelines only, and are not appropriate for every type of spell. Many spells have an effective range of 0, meaning they affect only the caster. Others affect only a touched subject. Those spells whose effects are permanent until negated have no set duration. For some spells, such as extension, area of effect is irrelevant.
When the DM has finished defining the effects of a new spell and has assigned it to a level, the spell should be compared to the existing spells of that level. If the new spell is clearly weaker or excessively more powerful than spells from the same level, the DM should either assign it to a different level or make adjustments as suggested above to make it comparable. In general, the illusion and divination spells are the least powerful, and the necromancy and invocation spells are the most powerful; a new spell should be checked against these first.
Let's return to our two new spells for the school of metamorphics. Evaporation causes a quantity of water or other inorganic liquid to instantly turn to vapor, just as if the sun had evaporated it. It will not inflict any direct damage (evaporating the blood or other organic liquids of a creature is forbidden). Evaporation is difficult to perceive as providing meaningful defense for a party. Evaporation is destined to be a low-level spell, probably 1st-level.
Range? Most 1st-level spells have a range of 30-60 yards; since evaporation is relatively weak, we will give it a higher range of 60 yards.
Area of effect? Most 1st-level spells affect an area of 10-30 yards (or 10–30 foot-radius, or 10–30 foot cube). In this case, we will give evaporation an area of effect of a 20-foot cube + 10-foot cube/level. (This makes the spell more powerful as the wizard increases in level.)
Checking our 1st-level evaporation spell against the existing 1st-level spells in the PH shows no major discrepancies. The definition of evaporation still needs more tightening. We need to determine whether it affects liquids concealed in containers, rain, quicksand, and lava, and other limitations it has.
Looking at blood to dust, it belongs in a higher level because it causes death. We will decide that blood to dust causes all of the blood of a single victim to turn to dust, instantly killing it. It is certainly not as powerful as a 9th-level spell (the 9th-level power word, kill can destroy several creatures at once); let's place it at 7th level and give it a range of 60 yards (comparable to other 7th-level spells). Checking the existing 7th-level spells, we discover finger of death, a spell not unlike blood to dust. Finger of death is more powerful, since it can destroy any creature, even those without blood, but it also allows a saving throw. To balance blood to dust against other 7th-level spells, let's say that victims of blood to dust are not allowed saving throws. Further, undead, monsters from other planes, and monsters with more than 4 HD will be immune to blood to dust. With further adjustments (Can the affected subject be resurrected or raised? Can the corpse be animated to become a zombie?), we'll have a powerful but balanced 7th-level spell for the school of metamorphics
Casting Times[]
All spells must state their casting times. A guideline is to make the casting time equal to the level of the spell (a 7th-level spell has a casting time of 7), but casting times of one or more rounds are also common. Complex spells might have casting times of one or more turns. Avoid short casting times for high-level spells and excessively long casting times for all but the most powerful spells.
We'll give our 1st-level evaporation spell a casting time of 1 and our 7th-level blood to dust a casting time of 1 round
Components[]
Every spell has one or more components. There are two ways to determine the components for a new spell:
1. Locate existing spells from the Player's Handbook that are similar to the new spell and assign similar components. For instance, finger of death is similar to our new blood to dust spell, so we'll decide that blood to dust has verbal and somatic components.
2. Assign the components randomly. If this sounds too arbitrary, consider that the components of a particular spell were likely determined by the wizard who originally researched it. A common assumption is that two wizards working independently could discover the same spell; it is unlikely that they used exactly the same components. For our evaporation spell, we'll use verbal, somatic, and material components, the most common combination.
Instead of choosing a specific set of components for a new spell, you can determine them randomly by rolling 1d20 on Table 3. If you get a result that contradicts the conditions under which the spell is cast, roll again
| d20 Roll | Components |
|---|---|
| 1-14 | V, S, M |
| 15-17 | V, S |
| 18-19 | V, M |
| 20 | V |
3. Consider the level of the spell and assign components accordingly. Requiring all three components makes a spell harder to cast. Reducing a spell's components to make it easier to cast might be a reason to create a higher level version of a low level spell.
4. Still can't decide? When in doubt, require all three components; most existing spells use all of them.
As for the precise nature of these components, be guided by common sense and imagination. Material components should relate to the effect of the spell. Check existing spells for component ideas and comparisons. We'll decide our evaporation spell's material component will be a drop of water