This is part 1 of my 4 part dive into Chaos Magic. In Part 2, I'll delve into the price of using Chaos magic in the form of corruption. In part 3, I plan to provide examples of Chaos magic, and in part 4, I will detail a few magic items which are designed with Chaos magic in mind.
One of the more unique vestiges of Dungeons & Dragons is the very nature of Vancian magic. Over the nearly 50 years since RPGs came into being, players have had a wild and varied relationship with the nature of spellcasting. The memorization and expenditure of spells as a finite resource does provide an excellent means of managing a magic-user or cleric's ability to affect the world around them while still allowing those without magic to have their moments to shine.
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| Jeff Easley |
Types of Magic
Magic, by its very nature, is unknowable. In some ways, Vancian magic undoes this unpredictable, chaotic mystery by turning magic into a science. Magic-Users prepare A and B. When they cast A & B over the course of their day, they achieve the expected results of their spells. In many ways this makes the typical magic-user more akin to a renaissance alchemist than an eldritch sorcerer of old. This begs the question: If a magic-user's spells are predictable, stable invocations, following some manner of consistent rules, does that not make them lawful? Thus, I suggest that Magic-Users and Clerics in traditional D&D are not practitioners of all magic, they are casting Spells of Law.
Lawful Spells are, as their name implies, spells that follow a strict set of rules. Much like science in the real world, law magic can achieve safe, consistent results following enough experimentation. Much like striking a match, the Light spell can consistently and safely create an arcane light source. Law magic is magic which has been deemed safe, predictable and reliable.
So what about the other end of the cosmic balance? If there is lawful magic, so too must there be Spells of Chaos. Traditional D&D does not have chaotic magic, so we must turn to other sources of inspiration for this kind of spellcasting. Magic in settings and games such as Warhammer and Dungeon Crawl Classics are prime examples of magic at its most chaotic. Creating light is not simple striking a match. It is creating a supernatural light source from the unpredictable winds of magic. Sometimes you create a brilliant orb of light, while other times the fates conspire against the spellcaster and instead they accidentally summon a demonic entity of pure radiance.
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| Caio Monteiro |
Chaos Magic in Play
Having established that the traditional Vancian mechanics of magic in D&D are the mechanics of Lawful spellcasting, the next step is to determine a suitable way to represent the unpredictable nature of Chaotic magic.
Why Chaos Magic?
If chaos magic is so unpredictable and dangerous, why would anyone in their right mind dabble in it at all? Much like in the real world, the reasons could be many: a desire for power, revenge, curiosity, boredom, or easy of access. Unlike magic of Law, with its formulae, words of power, spell components and hand gestures, magic of chaos is much easier to access. This brings us to our first wild departure from traditional D&D:
Any character of any class can attempt to invoke Chaos magic.
"This is madness," I hear you say. Exactly!
Additionally, chaotic spells are generally more powerful than their lawful counterparts. The draw of such power is a temptation for many a mage, though only the foolhardy and the desperate see this path through to the end.
Spells of Chaos are more powerful than similar spells of Law.
Invocation Scrolls & Preparation
Don't worry, I am not proposing total pandemonium. Chaos magic still comes with certain restrictions. The primary restriction to casting a spell of Chaos is that the character must be aware of how to invoke the spell. The most common way of learning chaotic spells are to find an Invocation Scroll, though some cultures may have traditions that grant knowledge of certain dark rituals.
Spellcasters who prepare spells from an arcane tome can record these foul incantations into spell books like any other spell. Those that choose to practice the dark arts often keep two separate spell books, one for Law and one for Chaos. This allows them to keep up appearances without risking ostracization.
In regards to divine spellcasters (Bards, Clerics, etc.), only those of a Chaotic alignment may prepare Chaos spells as part of their allotted spells per day. Those of any other alignment may not prepare a chaotic spell, but may still cast such spells from an invocation.
All arcane casters can prepare Chaos magic regardless of alignment, but only Chaotically aligned divine casters may prepare Chaos spells.
An invocation is the chaotic counterpart to a standard spell scroll. Unlike the typical spell scroll, however, an invocation can be read without needing to cast Read Magic and the invocation is not lost upon casting the spell it contains. Unlike lawful scrolls, which are little more than spells stored away on parchment, invocations are more akin to an instruction manual which the reader follows to cast the spell.
Invocation Scrolls are written in the Common tongue and are not consumed when a spell is cast from them.
In most cultures, Invocation Scrolls are deemed heretical, and even the possession of one could result in the bearer being labeled a heretic or a renegade sorcerer with the typical punishments which come with such labels. This being the case, arcane practitioners who are tempted by the darker arts practice even greater secrecy than normal when it comes to the storage and carrying of such texts.
The mere possession of a Chaotic Invocation is considered a crime in many domains.
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| Jeff Easley |
Mechanics of Chaos Spells
Casting Roll
To cast a Chaos spell, the caster rolls 2d6 and adds a bonus to the roll equal to the highest level spell slot they are capable of casting (for example, a 4th level Cleric would roll 2d6+2). When a Chaos spell is cast successfully, the caster does not expend their use of the spell like a traditional Vancian spell of Law.
Spell Difficulty
- The difficulty of casting a spell is 11 + spell level (for example, a 3rd-level spell would require a result of 14+).
- To cast a Chaos spell, roll 2d6 + highest available spell slot.
- If this rolls beats a casting requirement of 11 + spell level, the spell is cast successfully and is not erased from the caster's memory.
Chaos Dice
A caster may choose, before rolling the dice to cast a chaotic spell, to add any number of d6s to their dice pool.
Ritual Sacrifice
If a blood sacrifice is made while casting a Chaos spell, the caster can gain benefits based on the type of sacrifice offered to the Lords of Chaos. Bonus dice gained from a sacrifice never count towards corruption (rolling doubles or triples).
- Animal Sacrifice: add 1d6 to the casting roll.
- Blood Sacrifice: the caster lowers their maximum hit points by 1. Add 2d6 to the casting roll.
- Human Sacrifice: add 2d8 to the casting roll.
Spell Failure
When a spell caster attempts to cast a Chaos spell and fails, the spell does not manifest, and the knowledge of the spell is erased from the caster's memory until it is prepared again. Additionally, the caster takes damage equal to the level of the spell they had attempted to cast.
Corruption
When rolling to cast a spell, if any two dice result in the same number the caster must roll on the Minor Corruption table.
If three or more dice result in the same number, the caster must roll on the Major Corruption table instead of rolling on the Minor Corruption table.
Summary
- Chaotic spells can be cast by any character, regardless of class (even lvl 0 commoners!)
- Chaos spells are generally more powerful when compared to their Lawful counterparts of equal level.
- Only Divine casters of a Chaotic alignment can prepare Chaos spells. Arcane casters of any alignment can prepare them like other spells.
- Anyone can cast a Chaos spell from an Invocation Scroll.
- Invocation Scrolls are not consumed when cast.
- Possessing or casting chaos magic is considered heretical in most domains.
- Casting a Chaos Spell:
- Roll 2d6
- If the character can cast spells, add the highest spell slot they can cast to the roll.
- The player may add any number of d6s to the casting pool.
- The player can choose to offer a sacrifice to gain dice that do not trigger corruption rolls.
- Compare the result to the spell's difficulty: 11 + spell level.
- If the roll meets or exceeds the spell difficulty, it is cast successfully.
- If the spell roll fails, the caster takes damage equal to the spell level and the spell is forgotten if it was one of the caster's prepared spell.
- If doubles were rolled, the caster must roll on the Minor Corruption table.
- If triples were rolled, the caster must roll on the Major Corruption table.
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