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LPJ 9925Vicekalta, wizard of the WesternTower, held his dagger in adefensive position as the orcsadvanced on his position.Praying nervously to Beltha, godof the arcane, the wizardmumbled something quicklyunder his breath as his free handreleased a pinch of some dark,reddish powder. A searing blastof terrible, white arcane fireerupted around the orcs, fellingtwo of the five beasts.

No, Vicekalta thought to himselfas he saw the three remainingorcs draw closer, that was mylast spell.

It was at that moment in time,back in the real world, that theDM smiled. The DM quicklyasked Bob, Vicekalta's player,"What's your next action?"

Bob smiled wickedly as he care-fully read the printed sheets inhis hands. "Remember thoserules on overcastting we

discussed last week . . . "

Bob has a reason to smile, though he's notquite out of danger yet. Overcasting -while a valuable tool for any spellcaster -is a dangerous game that could very well

leave the spellcaster permanently scared. But Iget ahead of myself since, after all, I've not yet

explained just what overcasting is.

To put it simply, overcasting is the act of spell castingafter a caster's spell slots are expended for the day.Thee rules are actually quite easy to use as long as thesteps are followed in order. It's important to note thatDM approval is required before the practice of over-casting may be used in a game session. And, to befair, it is possible that the DM will rule that only NPCspellcasters may overcast (though it isn't actually allthat fair to the players).

Overcasting RulesThe first rule of overcasting is that the spellcastermust possess the Overcasting feat.

Overcasting [General]You possess the knowledge of drawing deeper uponyourself in order to cast more spells than normallyallowed.

Prerequisite: Ability to cast arcane or divine spells,permanent loss of 500 XP.

Benefit: You may overcast spells. The exact effect ofan overcast spell depends completely upon the level ofspell cast and your spellcasting class. No character, nomatter level or class, may ever overcast a spell of agreater level than he could normally cast.

Special: The remainder of this short PDF concernsitself with the specifics of overcasting.

OVERCASTING XP COST: LEVELOvercasting a spell immediately costs the spellcaster100 XP x the level of the spell cast. This XP cost issubtracted from the spellcaster's XP total before theeffects of the spell are determined. Whether the spellsucceeds or fails has no effect on this XP cost.

Overcasting: d20 Magic variantRequires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Third Edition, published by

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision.

w r i t t e n b y P h i l i p R e e d

OVERCASTING EFFECTS BYSPELLCASTER CLASSOnce the XP is expended and the effects of the spellresolved the spellcaster player must now determinewhat other effects, if any, the overcasting has on hischaracter. To determine this effect roll 1d6 on the appro-priate table, below. Before rolling the spellcaster mustmake a Spellcraft check (DC equal to 10 + 2x level ofthe spell cast). On a successful check the spellcastermay subtract his Intelligence bonus (or whicheverattribute governs his spellcasting ability) from the d6roll. A failed check has no effect.

BARD OVERCASTING EFFECTS (Roll 1d6)Less than 1: No effect.

1: Caster immediately suffers a -2 morale penalty on allsaving throws for a number of rounds equal to thelevel of the overcast spell.

2: Caster loses his voice for a number of rounds equalto the level of the overcast spell.

3: Caster suffers 2 points of temporary Intelligencedamage for one hour.

4: Caster suffers 4 points of temporary Intelligencedamage for two hours.

5: Caster permanently loses one 0-level spell slot andsuffers 2 points of temporary Intelligence damage forone hour.

6: Caster's Intelligence score is permanently scarred:reduce the caster's Intelligence by 2 points and itcannot be raised beyond this point - by any meansincluding magic and level advancement - until thecaster uses a wish to wish away this effect (at whichpoint he does not gain any increase in his Intelligencescore but this effect is wiped away).

CLERIC OVERCASTING EFFECTS (Roll 1d6)Less than 1: No effect.

1: Caster immediately suffers 2 points of temporaryWisdom damage for one hour.

2: As punishment for daring to demand too much of hisgod, the caster's holy symbol is consumed in thecasting, vanishing from existence.

3: Caster immediately suffers 4 points of temporaryWisdom damage for two hours.

4: The caster suffers 1d6 points of damage plus oneadditional point per level of the overcast spell.

5: The caster is punished by his god - his body twistingand tearing. The caster's Constitution and Strengthscores are reduced by 2 points - permanently.

6: The caster loses access to his spell slots for a one-week period; the caster's god is angry with him.During this time the caster may overcast spells - butall rolls on this chart for that period of time receive a+1 bonus.

DRUID OVERCASTING EFFECTS (Roll 1d6)Less than 1: No effect.

1: The druid loses his nature sense and wild empathyclass abilities for a full day.

2: The druid's animal companion suffers a number ofpoints of damage equal to the level of the overcastspell.

3: Caster immediately suffers 2 points of temporaryWisdom damage for one hour.

4: As punishment - for demanding too much of thewoodland spirits and gods of nature - the druid losesall spellcasting ability for a number of days equal tothe level of the overcast spell.

5: The druid's animal companion flees, never to return.The druid may not receive a new animal companionuntil his next level.

6: The druid permanently suffers 2 points of Wisdomdamage and loses all of his 0-level spell slots. Thedruid may receive new 0-level spell slots as headvances in levels but those lost slots may never bereplaced.

PALADIN OVERCASTING EFFECTS (ROLL 1D6)Less than 1: No effect.

1: The paladin loses his ability to lay on hands for oneday.

2: Caster immediately suffers 2 points of temporaryStrength and Constitution damage for one hour.

3: The paladin loses his smite evil ability for a numberof days equal to the level of the overcast spell.

4: The paladin permanently loses one 0-level spell slot.

5: The paladin is inflicted with a terrible scar as his godbrands its holy symbol - inverted - into the paladin'sforehead. Even a wish will not remove this scar. Theordeal forces the paladin to permanently lose 2d6 hitpoints.

6: The paladin loses all of his class abilities until heredeems himself in the eyes of his god. The DMshould devise a duty that the paladin must fulfill inorder to reclaim his paladin abilities. Some possibili-ties include destroying an evil cleric, cleaning a smalldungeon of all monsters, and building a small churchin the god's honor.

RANGER OVERCASTING EFFECTS (ROLL 1D6)Less than 1: No effect.

1: The ranger suffers 1d6 points of damage.

2: Caster immediately suffers 2 points of temporaryWisdom damage for one hour.

3: The ranger's animal companion suffers a number ofpoints of damage equal to the level of the overcastspell.

4: Caster immediately suffers 4 points of temporaryWisdom damage for two hours.

5: An aura of magical disease surrounds the ranger for anumber of days equal to the level of the overcastspell. All who come within 5 ft. of the ranger mustsucceed a Fortitude save (DC 14) or suffer the effectsof devil chills (see the DMG). The ranger also suffersthe effects of this disease as long as this aura remains

in effect. Magic cannot erase this effect or the disease- only time can end this suffering.

6: Caster loses access to all spell slots for a number ofdays equal to the level of the spell overcast. Duringthis time the caster may overcast spells - but all rollson this chart for that period of time receive a +1bonus.

SORCERER OVERCASTING EFFECTS (Roll 1d6)Less than 1: No effect.

1: Caster immediately suffers 2 points of temporaryCharisma damage for one hour.

2: The sorcerer and his familiar both suffer a number ofpoints of damage equal to the level of the overcastspell.

3: The caster immediately loses access to the spell thatwas overcast: erase that spell from the sorcerer's spelllist and it may never be added back to the list.

4: The sorcerer permanently loses one 0-level spell slot.

5: Caster's Charisma score is permanently scarred:reduce the caster's Charisma by 2 points and it cannotbe raised beyond this point - by any means includingmagic and level advancement - until the caster uses awish to wish away this effect (at which point he doesnot gain any increase in his Charisma score but thiseffect is wiped away).

6: Caster permanently loses one spell slot equal to thelevel of the spell overcast +1 (maximum level of thelost spot may not exceed the highest level spell thatthe sorcerer may normally cast).

WIZARD OVERCASTING EFFECTS (Roll 1d6)Less than 1: No effect.

1: Caster immediately suffers 2 points of temporaryIntelligence damage for one hour.

2: The wizard permanently loses one 0-level spell slot.

3: For a number of days equal to the level of the over-

cast spell, the wizard may not cast spells of the sameschool of magic as the overcast spell.

4: The spell consumes all of the spell components thewizard is carrying at the time the spell is cast.

5: The wizard permanently loses a number of hit pointsequal to the level of the overcast spell.

6: The wizard loses not only hit points (as describedunder #5, above), but also a number of experiencepoints equal to 200 x the level of the spell that wasovercast (this is in addition to the normal XP cost forovercasting).

Closing ThoughtsI hope that you find these rules for overcasting spellsuseful in your next game session. While overcasting canbe seriously dangerous to the caster there are some DMsout there who will feel that the cost of overcasting is notquite high enough. For those DMs I offer the followingsuggestions:

• double the XP cost of overcasting;

• double all hp and ability damage;

• do not allow a successful Spellcraft check to reducethe 1d6 roll but, instead, make a failed roll add tothe roll;

• allow a character to overcast only once a day;

• double the XP cost of the Overcasting feat;

• make a result of 1 on the required Spellcraft checkinstantly kill the character.

About The AuthorPhilip Reed has been working professionally in the role-playing game industry since 1995. In that time he hasworked for such companies as West End Games, AtlasGames, and Privateer Press, and spent almost five yearsas an employee of Steve Jackson Games. Today Philipspends his days at home running Ronin Arts, writingand designing new games, and reading whatever booksinterest him at the time. To learn more about PhilipReed - and Ronin Arts - please visitwww.philipjreed.com and www.roninarts.com.

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