Read and Detect Magic as Abilities

[Admin Pete]

Something I have considered for a long time is doing away with Read Magic and Detect Magic as spells and just making them something that Magic-Users can do by virtue of their profession. And likewise for Clerics. Clerics do not even have a Read Magic spell in the 3LBBs , but they do have Detect Magic. These abilities act as per the spell description but they are tied to ability scores:


 

Magic-User	3 - 6 Int or Wis	7 - 9 Int or Wis	10 - 12 Int or Wis	13 - 15 Int or Wis	16 - 17 Int or Wis	18 Int or Wis
Read Magic (Int)	0 in 6	1 in 6	2 in 6	4 in 6	5 in 6	6 in 6
Detect Magic (Wis)	0 in 6	1 in 6	3 in 6	5 in 6	6 in 6	6 in 6
Cleric	3 - 6 Int or Wis	7 - 9 Int or Wis	10 - 12 Int or Wis	13 - 15 Int or Wis	16 - 17 Int or Wis	18 Int or Wis
Read Magic (Int)	0 in 6	1 in 6	2 in 6	4 in 6	5 in 6	6 in 6
Detect Magic (Wis)	1 in 6	2 in 6	3 in 6	5 in 6	6 in 6	6 in 6

At levels 4, 7 and 10 add a +1 to each number in the table across the board.

For Ancient or Obscure Magic writing subtract 2 from all the numbers in the table for Read Magic.
For Very Ancient or Very Obscure Magic writing subtract 4 from all the numbers in the table for Read Magic.

Comments                            

[hedgehobbit]

Detect Magic is sufficiently powerful, IMO, to require a spell slot.

Read Magic OTOH is one of those self-justifying spells. It only exists to read scrolls and scroll can't be read so as to require Read Magic. I replaced the spell with:

Magic Writing Level: 1
Range: 60’ Duration: 1 turn

By casting this spell, a wizard can write up to three sentences of magical text. The text can be visible or invisible as the caster desires. The text can also be in a secret magical language or in plain text. A magical writing spell is required to read the message if it is invisible or if it is written in the magical language. The text will last 1d6 days if visible or 1d6 years if invisible.

All scrolls are written in the magical language although some (20%) are invisible. Invisibly written scrolls can be hidden anywhere; on the back of a shield, on a page of an otherwise ordinary book, on the wall of a dungeon, etc.

[Admin Pete]

Apr 14, 2015 17:57:41 GMT -5 hedgehobbit said:

Detect Magic is sufficiently powerful, IMO, to require a spell slot.

Read Magic OTOH is one of those self-justifying spells. It only exists to read scrolls and scroll can't be read so as to require Read Magic. I replaced the spell with:

Magic Writing Level: 1
Range: 60’ Duration: 1 turn

By casting this spell, a wizard can write up to three sentences of magical text. The text can be visible or invisible as the caster desires. The text can also be in a secret magical language or in plain text. A magical writing spell is required to read the message if it is invisible or if it is written in the magical language. The text will last 1d6 days if visible or 1d6 years if invisible.

All scrolls are written in the magical language although some (20%) are invisible. Invisibly written scrolls can be hidden anywhere; on the back of a shield, on a page of an otherwise ordinary book, on the wall of a dungeon, etc.

I like this; however, I also have scrolls that are thousands of years old. Do you have more powerful versions of the spell.

[monk]

I do it like you, Admin Pete, when it comes to Read Magic.  It's just an ability honed by years of study.  I keep Detect Magic as a spell, though.  It's used much more often now that I moved to a modified spell point system (I think you read the description of that in another thread).

[scottanderson]

What if read magic needs a material focus? Like, magic writing becomes legible through a small prism or lens?

And detect magic works sort of the same. It takes ten minutes of study (one turn) to determine if some amount of material is magical, just like it takes ten minutes to search a 10x10' square? Like, up to 200cn of amorphous material or small objects, or one armor/shield/weapon/etc

[Vile Traveller]

Apr 15, 2015 0:30:24 GMT -5 scottanderson said:

What if read magic needs a material focus? Like, magic writing becomes legible through a small prism or lens?

And detect magic works sort of the same. It takes ten minutes of study (one turn) to determine if some amount of material is magical, just like it takes ten minutes to search a 10x10' square? Like, up to 200cn of amorphous material or small objects, or one armor/shield/weapon/etc

Yes! Every wizard needs a monocle!!  www.wizardsandwarriors.org/show/characters.htm