NeoGrognard

I think rituals need some help. Last time I outlined a few solutions. I mostly covered that majority of rituals serving as non-combat-encounter powers, buffs, and move-along-the-game taxes. I skipped right over item creation rituals.   

My changes to rituals as a whole were relatively simple. Change residuum to components (this one is more of a flavor change, mileage may vary), and allow characters to trade in healing surges for component cost value toward rituals. I think the duration of this conversion should be until the next extended rest. Characters with the Ritual Caster feat gain level X 10 gp component cost and those without gain level X 5 gp component cost when they assist. Note that this system favors lower-level ritual casting.   

In many ways I think that healing surges work as a type of currency for rituals because it creates interesting choices: “Do I want to cast Passwall using some healing surges? I have no idea what’s behind that wall.” Other times I think it works because it can be done in relative safety: “I have all my healing surges, do you want to me contact cast Sending? Eye of Alarm? Consult Mystic Sages?” In this way it allows the characters to tap into other aspects of the game, aspects that are often seen as not worth it because characters are saving residuum for magic item creation or for death insurance.   

That’s the real problem. For most players, hose two are the only class of rituals in the game.   

The iconic alchemical lab. This is something I would like to see in D&D. Maybe a little more fantastical than this painting, but something close.

With the creation of the resurrection power in Heroes of the Forgotten Lands and the Glyph of Life ritual I outlined last week, you can create a greater breadth of life saving rituals and powers, which helps with that aspect of ritual use. One of the dirty truths of D&D is that while most players  (DMs included) find getting raised from the dead a bit dirty and cheaty in a story sense, as soon as a beloved character is dead they are search for the quickest way to Sir Hugo of Hamfist back to the battle grid. A dead character is a bored player. Having a variety of different options for brining a character back to life is good, because it allows the DM to choose the level of cheaty he or she will tolerate, especially consideration that toleration is often situational in this case.     

But what about those darned magic item creation rituals? How do we deal with those?     

First let’s consider the changes to magic items made in Essentials: both the implementation of the rarity system and the idea that, “uncommon and rare items are not normally created in the current age of the world.” One of my groups does a good amount of magic item creation, and Heroes of the Forgotten Lands hit just as they were in the middle of magic item swapping. One of the members was excited about the rarity system, the fact that they seemed to have a lot of uncommon and rare magic items, and that maybe they should get more gold to spend on disenchant (which is not the rule, but I see how he leaped to that conclusion). That’s until I pointed out that under the new rarity system they would not be able to craft uncommon and rare items. They stuck with the old rules.   

Second, there are things about the relationship between the Enchant Magic Item and Disenchant Magic Item rituals that never made sense to me. Why do you get Enchant Magic Item before you get Disenchant Magic Item? Why is it slightly less efficient to disenchant magic items and make magic items gp-wise? Why do you have to wait until 4th level to craft magic items? Why do we even have brew potion? Those things never made sense to me. I would replace the Enchant Magic Item, Disenchant Magic Item with the following rituals.   

Disenchant   

Level: 1                                Component Cost: 0 gp   

Category: Creation          Market Price: 50 gp   

Time: 1 hour                      Key Skill: Arcana (no check)   

During the casting of this ritual you disenchant a magic item, taking its magical essence and converting it—often through transmutation—into a variety of needed ritual components.   

When the disenchantment is complete, you gain 50% of the item’s price in ritual components and if the item was non-consumable and is your level, or no more /less than +/- 4 levels, you also regain a lost healing surge.   

Wow, look at that. It’s basically a free ritual. I put that market price there, but this ritual could be given as a bonus to the wizard’s spellbook (which is another subject I think I’ll tackle in the future). Magic item creation and destruction have always been a sidestepped part of the game. I think we should embrace it. You have to think about some level commoditized magic as part of your economy. That doesn’t mean you have to make it complicated in an attempt to latch on to history, say by mapping the system what we know of Templar banking during the Crusades. While a fun intellectual exercise, that’s an economy of its own context. Economies of context work better. We should engage the level of magic item creation we want. Ignoring it creates more problems than pushing it aside.   

I’ve also increased the amount of components you get. Components can be sold for 50% of value.   

I’m leaning toward the new Essentials model. My grog may be hanging out my fly, but I enjoy its old school sentiment. You could find some dwarf in a basement to buy that magic dagger from, but you had to find the better stuff in the bowels of a demon prince.   

The thing that I don’t like about the Essentials model (or at least what we know of the Essentials model) is the idea that no matter how hard you try, you can’t craft those rare items. We do know D&D is often a power fantasy, right? I think there is a better way to do it.   

Enchant   

Level: 1                                Component Cost: Special (see below).   

Category: Creation          Market Price: 250 gp   

Time: 1 hour or more (see below)                            Key Skill: Arcana (no check)   

You perform this ritual you create a common magic item of your level or lower or an uncommon or rare item of your level or lower if you possess its formula.   

A common item can be crafted in 1 hour, but you must spend one extra healing surge but to do so. You can craft any magic item in a week (including uncommon and rare magic items) as long as you have the formula to create the item without spending a healing surge, unless the formula necessitates that you spend healing surges. You do not need a formula to create common magic items.   The component cost for this ritual is equal to the cost of the magic item you want to make.

There is a new mechanic here, but I think it is one that screams D&D. Formulas themselves can become a new form of treasure. Uncommon formulas are somewhat common in large cities and can be bought, but for at least half the price of the magic item in question, and often much more. Rare formulas are the stuff of fantastic treasure (at least to your enchanter). And just because World of Warcraft does something similar doesn’t make it bad.   

This ritual (at level 1) is expensive, and I did that on purpose. It talks to the treasure numbers (it’s the high-end of a level 1 treasure parcel) which makes it a stealth quest for your ritual casters.   

I put speeds on here, because I wanted a ritual that could be used in a limited way in the dungeon, but was obviously something made for use during long periods of rest, which is missing from the game. Put that on the list of subjects I also want to sink my teeth into.   

So why the healing surge swap? It’s a little fiddly, I know. Partially it is there to allow ritual casters a way to regain healing surges and gain ritual components at a cost. It has some story aspects I also like Constitution is tied to magic item creation (and ritual casting) in an indirect way, making dwarves good crafters. I like the idea that becoming a conduit for rituals involves something akin to your life essence. Hell, I almost want to call healing surges life. It’s treated that way throughout the game. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.