An Interesting Idea for E6

[Amechra]

So, I was browsing an OSR blog a while back and I found this. And I, for one, think that could be a cool idea for an E6 game.

The houserules I would impose would be:

A) Scribe Scroll is gone as a feat; you either have it as a class feature (read that as "bonus feat"), or you can't take it at all. You also can't scribe the scrolls of a Spontaneous spellcasting class; no getting 2nd level spells through Sorcerer levels and making bank.

B) Each time a Wizard gains a level, they can only add 1st level spells to their spell books.

C) While you can find scrolls of levels higher than 1st while in a dungeon, you can't buy them. If you do sell them, they are going to be pretty much immediately put on auction for the different wizarding academies to fight over - so why not just do that directly?

A part of me wants to use the spontaneous Cleric and Druid from UA for this, and then placing the same restrictions on Archivists - the idea being that yes, gods and bloodlines do grant fantastic magical power, but their beneficiaries don't know how to record the strangely instinctual methods that drive their spellcasting.

I also think I'd ban Artificer for this campaign - it just doesn't mesh with the setting concept.

Any thoughts?

[Nifft]

Have you seen Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved?

A slightly less-drastic way to do what you seem to want -- but with a safety net for unlucky PCs who don't find any 2nd level scrolls in time -- would be to say the Wizards can learn Simple spells on level-up, but Complex spells must be discovered out in the world.

Exotic spells must be discovered, and you have to pay a Feat to actually learn the spell. They're awesome and if you use one of them in public, you're probably famous for using an unknown magic.

[phaedrusxy]

I think you'd need to ban just about all forms of spellcasters except archivists, wizards, and racial (i.e. actual dragons, half-fiends, etc), for this to be even remotely fair to the archivists and wizards. (Or make them exceedingly rare, i.e. only NPCs.) It could still be incredibly fun, as no doubt uncovering ancient hidden magics (or stealing them) would be a major focus of the campaign. You should probably come up with reasons as to why most of the magic was lost (some kind of apocalypse, probably).

It could certainly make for a hellofa fun campaign I think, and I'd even be willing to suffer through playing a spellcaster in it.

I never did look at Arcana Evolved, but I would like to check out those rules now (although I basically will never have time to actually use them ).

Edit: I missed that this was for E6 specifically. I was thinking it was for a "normal" D&D game. Yeah, sorcerers in this setting would probably be fine, and I'd definitely want to only allow spontaneous versions of clerics, druids, etc.

[Amechra]

An extension of the idea:

D) Extra components; I was thinking along the lines of some higher level spells requiring certain environments (You found a copy of Ardent Darts of Flame (Scorching Ray), but it only functions within a volcano), lifestyles (Fortitude of the Corpse (False Life) requires that you wear nothing but funeral garb while you have it prepared, with failure meaning you lose it entirely), or dead languages (Open The Stubborn Gate (Knock) requires that you can read (and speak!) a long-dead form of Dwarven.)

The main idea is that you can use spell research to make them more usable. You found Ardent Darts of Flame - research and experimentation shows that it is the humming crackle of the volcano that is required for the spell, and further experiments show that a "good enough" approximation of the sound is enough to make it work. So you can use a Verbal component instead of the Environmental component.

E) Societies of Arcane (or Divine) Fellows. Basically, instead of getting the full list of 1st level spells to pick from, you get a list of teachers to pick from, each possessing a smaller list of spells that they, personally, know.

I would go with maybe 10 or 11 spells each - drawn primarily from the PHB and the SpC. Maybe have some sort of ability to trade off spells on the list for "advanced" spells - think 1st level spells with a specific +1 Metamagic applied to it permanently, or a Cantrip with a permanent +2 Metamagic. Advanced spells would receive the benefits of Spell Thematics with regards to the guy who taught them to you - they are a masterpiece of arcane artistry.

In other words, if you study under the Collejum Arcanit, they have a wide choice of spells - you'll find most of the 1st level staples there. On the other hand, studying under the Archlich Uturius the Mad† gives you a much smaller selection, but you do get access to his signature spells, the dreaded Soul-Breaking Whisper (Sonic Snap with Fell Drain permanently applied to it) and the much-sought-after Black Sun Aegis (Mage Armor with Fell Energy Spell permanently applied to it).

Raiding a different group to get access to some of their spells is not only expected, but encouraged.

† OK, so he's just a Necropolitan Wizard, but he says he's an Archlich, and that's what really counts.