Practicable Magic: Reliable Spell Casting for DCC RPG

Hey, a new post! I got inspired by the hub-bub that's happening in the tabletop role-playing game world, I decided to iron out a small set of rules for my favorite #openDND, Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. Obviously no one should be surprised since Crawl! is a zine for DCC, but it's been almost a year since I've posted anything, and I needed to prove that I'm working on something. This is not going to appear in a new issue of Crawl!, instead it's going to replace a chapter in Crawl! no.3: The Magic Issue. Eventually it's going to replace the Patron spells for Van den Danderclanden, which are also found in the updated edition of Crawl! no.1. For some of you that don't know, the original edition of no.1 didn't include these spells, and there were probably some revisions along the way. It'll likely appear first as a mini-zine before Crawl! no.3 gets updated. We'll see. 

So, you're thinking "Reliable magic in DCC RPG?" That's anti-thesis-tith-ical (sp!?) to the CHAOS of muh DCC RPG magic. I guess. So, "Yes?" These rules are optional, I really shouldn't have to stress that. Since your game is your game, you can totally ignore these rules. That's magic. Or you can check them out, criticize it in thee comments, Like, Subscribe, you know the drill. But, no lie, one of the biggest complaints I hear about DCC magic is the randomness, which some of us love. Some, probably a scrawny coastal wizard, or (L)awful cleric, want some more stability, predictability, and balance. Well here's "some". It's still random, you can still turn your friend into a chicken... there is just a bit more control. Like art or food, magic done slow and cooked to perfection. But it's still magic, and DCC magic is supposed to be fun, and someone can still screw it up. All right nerds... don't forget to comment below. 

Practicable Magic

Reliable spell casting for DCC RPG by Rev. Dak J. Ultimak. 

Any wizard or elf can use any available time and resources, to safely prepare and store a spell that can be accurately cast, at-will, the following day (typically after regaining spells per the standard rules).

Sidebar: Regaining Spells: The rules for regaining spells can vary depending on the type of magic, and can be based on a time of day, the moon, rest, prayer, or after an actual day. It may also vary from campaign to campaign and wizard to wizard. Settling on a single trigger can make things easier, such as 8-hours rest, which is commonly known and used. Regardless of when the regaining of spells takes effect, it's important to remember that it takes extra time to store a spell, and this time must be spent before any rest. A wizard can't store spells while resting.

Spell Storing

• Normal spell check plus an addition bonus +CL

• May use spellburn or Luck

• Must be able to still normally cast spell

For each spell the wizard desires to store, they must effectively cast the spell, but are afforded more time and focus and they must avoid the usual distractions, such as combat. They make a spell check as usual, and get an added bonus equal to their class level. Natural rolls, such as a 1 or a 20, still apply and so do any failure results, including ones that result in the spell being lost, and especially any corruption or misfire effects. Spellburn and Luck may be applied as usual. This spell check result will be the spell effect that is then stored. Each attempt requires to caster to still be able to cast the particular spell, so if the wizard lost the spell during the day, through usual means such as failing a spell check, or they lost it during a previous attempt at storing it, they will not be able to store another copy of that spell until they regain that spell. They may burn Luck to prevent this. Use discretion if incorporating Mercurial Magic, do they occur when storing the spell, or do they take effect when casting it the following day? Is it random? 

Spell Storage

• May store up to their number of Known Spells

• Must use twice the material resources.

• Takes longer to cast (1 round = 1 turn, 1 turn = 1 hour)

• Needs a magical vessel (wand, staff, magic sword, etc.)

• May use their brain to store limited spells (equal to their Intelligence modifier)

A wizard can store as many of these spells they can cast up to their number of Known Spells (as per their character class and level, Intelligence modifiers may apply). Storing these spells takes significantly longer time than normal, and also uses twice as much gold, material components or sacrifices required by the spell. A spell that normally takes 1 action, 1 round, or 1 minute to cast, will take 1 turn or 10 minutes to store. A spell that takes 1 turn to cast, will take 1 hour to store. In lieu of their Known Spells limit, the amount of time before regaining spells is a hard time limit, they still need ample time before spell storing and regaining spells. If the wizard doesn't regain spells, for any reason, for example a wizard doesn't get their required rest, they won't recover any lost spells and the stored spells become lost.

The wizard will need a magic vessel to store these spells, this vessel can be any magic item that can be wielded, such as a magic wand, wizard staff, or magical sword. The wizard may also use their brain. The maximum number of spells they can store in their brain is equal to their Intelligence modifier. So a wizard with an Intelligence of 13 may store a single spell (+1 modifier) in their brain. Otherwise the spells must be stored in some magical device. Their number of Known Spells still remains the limit.

Stored Spell Casting

• May cast stored spells any time after they normally regain spells.

• May still cast spells normally, even spells that are stored.

• Losing the spell through normal casting loses the spell for the day, even those that are stored.

• Spells may be stored for only 1 day.

After regaining spells, per usual rules, the wizard can cast these stored spells at will, as if they were casting normally, but the spell effect is the effect that was previously stored. Once a stored spell is cast, it is expended and can't be cast again. Any verbal or somatic spell components are still required, but any material components are no longer required because they are magically infused with the stored spell.

A wizard may still cast spells normally, even if they have the same spell stored, BUT if a failed spell check results in the spell being lost, all the stored spells are also lost because the magical connection that binds them is broken. Burning Luck can not restore spells that have been broken (but the wizard may still burn Luck to re-cast lost spells).

Any stored spells that aren’t cast by the “end of their day” are lost, as the connections fade from memory. A wizard may choose to let stored spells expire at any time.

Look Mah! No OGL! Feel free to use this in your game. Normal copyrights apply, feel free to use its concepts in your game, but some attribution would be nice.