Sorcerous Limitation or Weakness: Wild Magic

[Glistam]

The spellcaster in my current game has the "Wild Magic" Sorcerous Limitation. We've played several games now and I will admit, it's a bit tiring trying to keep coming up with these on the fly. Has anyone ever created a chart or table for some generic weird effects? I have tried not to re-use any of the ones I've done already but my idea pool (especially on the fly) is dwindling.

For those who may not remember, this is the Sorcerous Limitation:

56-70 Wild Magic: The character's spells and magics work ... but not always as expected. There is usually (not necessarily always, but 8 out of 10 times) something inexplicable, unpredictable and/or inconvenient about the character's spells. The duration might elapse before it should or there's some weird backlash. Perhaps a negate poisons spell sometimes makes the target vomit up the poison, rather" than simply cancelling its effects inside the victim's body. Perhaps a target affected by a fear spell acts unexpectedly (shrieking prophecies in a foreign tongue as he flees). A fire ball spell might send a backlash spray of ash or sparks that inflicts 1D6 or 2D6 points of damage to the spell caster. Heal Wounds might leave weird purple scars. Call Nightlord may bring the wrong Lord, or may allow him to bring a few "friends" with him.

What is going on? Maybe the character has not quite mastered the mental disciplines required to perfectly cast spells, or his training is irreparably flawed. Or perhaps some outside force (on the Nightlands?) is deliberately sabotaging his or her magics. In the latter case, let the G.M. decide exactly who is doing this, how and why.

[Glistam]

Here's some examples I remember of spells that were cast and how they went wrong. I can't take credit for all these ideas, some of them came from the player in his character journals/stories. There's a disproportionate number of shadow-based side-effects because the caster is a Nightbane, so I felt the shadow theme was appropriate. Fire themed effects have started cropping up now, because of the character's association with a Fire Warlock. I know there's been more, but these are the ones I can remember.

Invisibility:

• Only turned the character's clothes invisible
• Everything the caster saw was tinted red

Shadow Meld

• Eyes became sensitive to light, but but only when not in the shadows
• Had to roll a save vs. M.E. to avoid sinking into the shadow to who knows where

Armor of Ithan

• Armor felt tight and restrictive, like it was a size too small - had the "light armor" penalties applied
• Armor was not totally invisible and made of shadow - when standing still, the character looked like a 3D shadow and had a prowl bonus

Magic Net

• Net was composed of shadow
• Net was sticky
• Net had a tether attached to the caster's hands - capture was dependant on opposed strength rolls

Chameleon

• Made the recipient slightly slimy

See the Invisible

• Caster's eyes glowed for the duration

Sense Evil

• Gave the caster a headache - if evil had been around, the headache would intensify in relation to to the power of the evil being

Mystic Alarm

• Delayed alarm response to being tripped
• Ward symbols, still invisible, became shadowy three-dimensional figures and "flickered" in tune to the firelight around them

[gaby]

Good idea.Love it when people use the Sorcerous profeiciences and limitations,I hope you come up with more.

[Glistam]

Conversely, the player chose the Sorcerous Proficiency of "Mystical Lineage"

41-50 Mystical Lineage: There are traditions across the world where the powers of a magician are inherited - a family gift or a curse. In some traditions the eldest daughter inherits her mother's powers, for example, and in the months after Dark Day, entire families have discovered that they share some mystical inheritance. Perhaps the character belongs to one of these families. Perhaps the character and his six brothers have all inherited the powers of their father (the seventh son of a seventh son; one perhaps being a Sorcerer, the other six being less powerful Mystics or Acolytes). The character benefits from generations of research, personal journals, theories, observations and books (and possibly the advice, aid and occasional meddling of other family members, who may provide information, suggestions, assistance, and, in emergencies, aid. They have their own lives to lead, however, and they are not the character's servants. Moreover, they will expect the character to help them if they get into trouble - several adventures may follow from this). Note: As the Nightlords begin to destroy the Earth's uncooperative sorcerers, entire families of mages and Mystics, in particular, would certainly attract their attention. Bonuses: This Sorcerous proficiency provides a + 10% bonus to the research skill, and + 10% in figuring out existing magic and creating "new" or "variant" spells.

While the player hasn't made the time to create "new" or "variant" spells, I have implemented the following guideline: Any roll on Research, Lore: Magic or Principles of Magic (within reason, G.M.'s call) that is within 10% of success grants basic information, but also sparks a memory within the character of a book or journal from their family's archive that promises additional information. Since the character started the game estranged from her family, this "forced" a choice with the character that ultimately healed some of those wounds, but also uncovered other issues as well. Family is complicated.

But she got her book.

[Glistam]

Here are some new ones I dropped on the player in the last game - or at least, the ones I can remember. This "Wild Magic" proficiency was a hassle at first, but I'm really starting to like using it to throw this player off his game. Not listed are the times when the spell duration was just shorter or longer than expected, or if the effects/area were just enhanced or diminished.

Magic Net

• Net was on fire, would burn the target (luckily, target dodged) and had a 60% chance to light combustibles on fire.

Sense Magic

• Instead of seeing magic, the character received a low tone/buzzing that increased or decreased as their proximity to magic increased or decreased.

See Aura

• For the duration of the spell everything in the world was a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors and looked as if the character was on a bad acid trip. Perception checks had to be made to recognize anything that wasn't a living being with an aura - living beings with auras were recognizable solely because of their aura, and all the normal info was available.

Armor of Ithan

• The armor was invisible and weightless, but not noiseless.