As part of my homebrew world, due to historical events, wild magic has a prominent roll in affecting the world and Arcane Based Magics.
To make wild magic more impactful I came up with the following Surge Table (below) with the following rules:
1) Wild Mages Roll on this table with every spell cast that is not a cantrip level spell. 2) When Wild Mage uses Tides of Chaos then a D20 roll of 1-6 will be considered a Surge Spell and 7-16 is a normal spell. 3)This table effects all other types of Arcane Magic users within a Wild Magic Zone.
d20
Type
Surge Effect
Additional Effects
1
Failed Spell
Caster takes 1D6 Damage per spell level cast. Save against caster's own Spell DC to take half damage.
Caster loses 1 additional spell slot from highest unused spell level available to cast with**. (regained on long rest). Cannot cast anything but a Cantrip for 1d6 rounds due to "Wild Magic Spell Exhaustion."
2-4
Diminished Spell
Spell effect only lasts half the duration -or- Spell Damage is Halved Target gets Advantage on Spell Save
None
5-6
Surge Spell
Roll on PHB Wild Surge Table
Based on Table Result
7-14
Normal Spell Cast
None
None
15-16
Surge Spell
Roll on PHB Wild Surge Table
Based on Table Result
17-19
Empowered Spell
Target has a disadvantage on spell saves Spell damage calculated with one additional damage dice
None
20
Over Power Spell
No chance for Spell Save by Target Spell damage is automatically the maximum amount. Spell Duration and area of effect is automatically doubled.
Caster does not expend spell slot for spell cast. Cannot cast anything but a Cantrip for 1d6 rounds due to "Wild Magic Spell Exhaustion."
** Example: Player's Wild Sorc is 8th level with the following spell slots not used 1st-2, 2nd-2, 3rd-1, 4th 0. Player rolls a Natural 1 for the table above when casting the 2nd level spell Aganazzar’s Scorcher. Results would be that Aganazzar’s Scorcher fails to happen, Player would roll 2D6 for self damage and have to make a DEX Save to only take half damage (since Aganazzar’s Scorcher requires DEX save) and lose their remaining 3rd level spell slot available along with spending the second level spell slot for trying to cast Aganazzar’s Scorcher.
My Question is, have I spread the roll results appropriately or should change the spread to have a decreased chance of a surge such as what I have below? I do not want the wild magic effects to be a burden on the players but at the same time, I want them to take place more often than how they are in the PHB.
Personally I also find the PHB wild surge chance to be a bit too low, and most of the surges are more flavor than really detrimental. Even so, a lot of the items make the story more interesting, if you're using Wild Surge and want to avoid Surges, then why play it at all?
That being said I think your first table is just fine, if anything the Normal Spell chance is a little high, and thats not a bad thing in my opinion. I rolled 5 times and was able to get 2 normal spells and a handful of other options, so I think this table is fine.
I'm also not a super experienced DM, and it does really depend on the world you're building, but if it helps I plan to use your table in my upcoming campaign :)
Personally I also find the PHB wild surge chance to be a bit too low, and most of the surges are more flavor than really detrimental. Even so, a lot of the items make the story more interesting, if you're using Wild Surge and want to avoid Surges, then why play it at all?
Isn't the wild surge just triggered whenever the DM wants it to?
I really like that. I'm not fond of the original Wild Magic table, and I will definitely steal that for my wild sorcerer player.
On a nat1, what kind of saving throw should the caster do ? I would say Constitution, but I'm curious what you intended :)
It would depend on the spell that was cast that caused the effect. Example, Fireball would be Dex, Stinking cloud then CON, ect... If the spell does not have a save such as Invisibility, then it would be a CHR check against the caster's own spell DC.
What if these home brew rules were combined with those rules originally set out by the Player’s Handbook? That may give more variety and more chances to cast more spells quicker, but it also might lead to more chance of defeat.
As part of my homebrew world, due to historical events, wild magic has a prominent roll in affecting the world and Arcane Based Magics.
To make wild magic more impactful I came up with the following Surge Table (below) with the following rules:
1) Wild Mages Roll on this table with every spell cast that is not a cantrip level spell.
2) When Wild Mage uses Tides of Chaos then a D20 roll of 1-6 will be considered a Surge Spell and 7-16 is a normal spell.
3)This table effects all other types of Arcane Magic users within a Wild Magic Zone.
Save against caster's own Spell DC to take half damage.
Cannot cast anything but a Cantrip for 1d6 rounds due to "Wild Magic Spell Exhaustion."
Spell Damage is Halved
Target gets Advantage on Spell Save
Spell damage calculated with one additional damage dice
Spell damage is automatically the maximum amount.
Spell Duration and area of effect is automatically doubled.
Cannot cast anything but a Cantrip for 1d6 rounds due to "Wild Magic Spell Exhaustion."
** Example: Player's Wild Sorc is 8th level with the following spell slots not used 1st-2, 2nd-2, 3rd-1, 4th 0. Player rolls a Natural 1 for the table above when casting the 2nd level spell Aganazzar’s Scorcher. Results would be that Aganazzar’s Scorcher fails to happen, Player would roll 2D6 for self damage and have to make a DEX Save to only take half damage (since Aganazzar’s Scorcher requires DEX save) and lose their remaining 3rd level spell slot available along with spending the second level spell slot for trying to cast Aganazzar’s Scorcher.
My Question is, have I spread the roll results appropriately or should change the spread to have a decreased chance of a surge such as what I have below? I do not want the wild magic effects to be a burden on the players but at the same time, I want them to take place more often than how they are in the PHB.
Personally I also find the PHB wild surge chance to be a bit too low, and most of the surges are more flavor than really detrimental. Even so, a lot of the items make the story more interesting, if you're using Wild Surge and want to avoid Surges, then why play it at all?
That being said I think your first table is just fine, if anything the Normal Spell chance is a little high, and thats not a bad thing in my opinion. I rolled 5 times and was able to get 2 normal spells and a handful of other options, so I think this table is fine.
I'm also not a super experienced DM, and it does really depend on the world you're building, but if it helps I plan to use your table in my upcoming campaign :)
I really like that. I'm not fond of the original Wild Magic table, and I will definitely steal that for my wild sorcerer player.
On a nat1, what kind of saving throw should the caster do ? I would say Constitution, but I'm curious what you intended :)
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Isn't the wild surge just triggered whenever the DM wants it to?
Basically, but then you still have to roll a d20 and get a one for it to actually cause a surge effect, otherwise its just a regular spell.
Oh that's right. My mistake!
It would depend on the spell that was cast that caused the effect. Example, Fireball would be Dex, Stinking cloud then CON, ect... If the spell does not have a save such as Invisibility, then it would be a CHR check against the caster's own spell DC.
What if these home brew rules were combined with those rules originally set out by the Player’s Handbook? That may give more variety and more chances to cast more spells quicker, but it also might lead to more chance of defeat.
Oh! My mistake! The surge spell already has that included! Sorry!