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.

Now Draw Her Getting an Education

Some notes for studying spells for wizardry:

Spell formula literacy is itself a skill (fractured comprehension). It lets you figure out what a spell might be by studying how it was written, how it dances on the page, and how it reacts when you play with it. Useful because you might not actually want to fully comprehend what you're looking at.

You can never be absolutely certain what a spell is without learning the spell.

You do not have to actually comprehend a spell to cast it. (Spellbooks are useful BECAUSE you don't really need to learn them. Helps offset the psychosis).

To absorb a spell, you must spend time with a spellbook and make an effort to fully comprehend the nature of it. This goes beyond recitation and reading, it is an understanding of the being that composes the spell

For practical use: every full day you spend studying and looking at it, roll an int check to see if you comprehend the spell. Every additional day of studying adds a +1. Other things can probably boost this; demon conversation skills for example probably also increases this roll by +4. Average DC is 30, modified by how zesty the spell's personality is.

After absorbing a spell, you will need to wait (Spell DC)-(int+spellreading) days to absorb another spell or risk spell psychosis. This type of spell psychosis is usually believed to be temporary and related to the number of days the wizard should have been recovering, but then again there have been permanent cases afterwards. You'd be surprised how much damage a wizard under psychosis can do in less than a week.

They tend to be very noticeable and violent events but are usually preceded by odd mental quirks. Probably has something to do with too many minds and personalities inside of too limited a vessel. Or something to do with the balance of brain juices

Spell psychosis will also be a risk if the number of your absorbed spells exceeds your int/2 round down.

Learning spells increases int and MD with diminishing returns. For example, first two spells increases int and MD by 1, then the next two increases require spells each, then three, then four, etc...

Spell Psychosis

Scribing a spell is also an individual skill you need to learn, but the basics involve mixing inks with brain jelly and having something to write on.

Compared with learning a spell, once you know how the scribing works any given spell in your head will take 2d20-(int+spellwriting) hours to write down. Sometimes this is an all nighter, but you will find it very very difficult to tear yourself away from the writing process once you begin. If you do, you will risk spell psychosis.

Writing the spell down removes the spell from your brain (and also undo the int and MD increases; a wizard who writes down all their spells is no different from an eccentric, "educated", normal dude).

There is no cooldown for writing down spells, but you still need to wait before re-learning a different (or maybe the same) spell. Your head juices need time to reorganize anyways.

It is possible to directly transfer a spell from your brain into another using touch. This is only possible if the wizard performing the transfer suffers from spell psychosis.

And remember, with the right tools you can treat a dead wizard's brain like a fleshy spellbook.

Effects of Spell Psychosis

• +4 to your spell save dc
• MD increases to 1d8, replenish on 1-4
• Megalomaniacal plot: You are now utterly convinced of some grand plot/scheme/conspiracy/purpose/destiny that you are deeply embroiled in. The wackier the better.
• You can force spells into the minds of others using touch
• Call of the Infinite Labyrinth: Roll an effect on the "Effects" table in Veins of the Earth
• Roll 1d20 on each symptom; on a 1, you gain that symptom (do this every time you prompt spell psychosis. Symptoms gained will not be lost as long as you have continuous psychosis)
1. a hallucination (type determined on roll)
2. a delusion (type determined on roll)
3. mania
4. depression
5. OCD
6. body dysmorphia
7. dysphoria
8. dEr0 conspiracy (if the character has ever heard of dEr0)
9. feel no pain
10. pain sensitivity
11. inability to feel sexual desire
12. dependent personality
13. hoarding 
14. narcolepsy
15. kleptomania
16. feel no fear, cannot discern it
17. paranoia
18. prefrontal cortex disinhibition
19. temporal lobe personality
20. anhedonia
21. inability to feel touch sensations
22. psychopathy
23. extreme narcissism
24. spell junkie (if not already)
25. addictive personality
26. you gain wizard vision (if you haven't already)
27. you are awakened
28. inability to sleep
29. tremors
30. instinctive defiance
31. pyromania
32. selective mutism
33. amnesia (type determined on roll)
34. Explosive Epiphany: deal (1d4 exploding)d6 damage in a range of 1d4 exploding*10 feet 

Once you enter spell psychosis, you risk the PC becoming an NPC. You may continue using the PC, but (and your teammates) are subject to all the difficulties that come with the items above. If you ever decide the PC is too much to deal with, they become an NPC. If the party decides that the afflicted PC is not worth dealing with, but you do, make a cha saving throw to prevent the PC from falling into a stress induced psychotic episode and becoming an NPC. (Save may be dependent on symptoms; psychopathy gives a +4 to save, dependent personality gives -4 and so forth). 

Once you exit the conditions for spell psychosis, roll a 1d20 for EVERY SINGLE SYMPTOM you gained over the course of your psychosis. On a 1, that symptom is now permanent even outside of spell psychosis.