Classless Magic

I removed all the "casting classes" from my game. Wizards, clerics, sorcerers, and warlocks do not exist in the class format; instead, I wanted to make their traits universally accessible.

I like the idea of anyone being able to pick up a spellbook and, with time, learning a spell. Wizardry is learning and casting spells; entrapping/scribing/negotiating a spirit into your brain to cast a spell. It's something anyone can learn. "Wizards" are magical junkies that do it all the time.

Clerics don't exist as a term. Religious "casting" is replaced with miracles; divine intervention. You want something from your god? Pray and sacrifice.

Those with high charisma manifest their destiny in the flesh; the powers they gain are an extension of themselves, as much as your own limbs and your brain. "Sorcerers" don't need magic die, they just get abilities. Those who believe themselves to be children of dragons grow scales and claws. A mighty and arrogant warlord will find his skin truly impervious to iron. It is belief, not objective history and reality, that shapes the body of a "sorcerer".

Warlocks are just a term; they make deals for power, no matter the kind. You can ask for spells, strength, money. Plenty of wizards are also probably warlocks.

Vessels act as conduits for spirits and other non fleshed beings of power; gods, demons, elementals, etc... Word Bearers speak with the Voice of the Authority. The thrall of Davok in my Lair of the Lamb run can ignite flammable material on touch (including their on flesh, which they can burn at -1HP per 10 minutes/dungeon turn).

More things exist; practically, the only "categories" of magic that matter are wizardry spells, miracles, and everything else. All of these can intersect and overlap. Any PC that wants to use "magic" can have a number of options; it offers an extremely high amount of variation and "customizability". 

For context I run my games using the GLOG ruleset, which includes the use of magic die. Like I mentioned in my post on spell psychosis; MD is mostly based on the number of spells you know. This is why any PC can learn wizardry independently from their templates or levels. A magic system with spells slots is less intuitively detached from class levels.

• 1 spell = +1 MD and int
• 3 spells = +2 MD and int
• 6 spells = +3 MD and int
• 10 spells = +4 MD and int

Basically every time you gain another MD and int, you will need to learn a larger number (+1 stacking) of spells to gain more MD. There is no upper limit on this besides going crazy from spell psychosis and getting murdered by a paladin.

I should also mention that all PCs can "smell" magic. The kind of magic can also be guessed at based on the type of smell. For example, a lightning trap smelled of strong ozone, while anything undead smells of sulfur (you are actually smelling the presence of the soul that was dragged up from hell into the corpse). A little something that I picked up from Matt Colville.

This functions as a way for PCs to detect the presence of relevant spells/enchantments and know if an item is magical. Gameplay shouldn't be hamstrung by lack of access to spells, and it gives another way for PCs to gain more information and be clever about their choices.