A Hit Dice Magic System & Paladin

What is this? 

This is a hack that will work for most OSR games. It takes the spell system from Wonders & Wickedness, but removes spell slots (or character level) and uses Hit Dice instead. I love the magic system from W&W, but I found its progression to be a bit too linear and rigid. Therefore me and Sigve from Revenant's Quill got together and created this little thing.

Why use this? This system is applicable if you want a spell system that allows the caster to have greater control of how powerful each of their spells are going to be.
Heads up! Using this system with a normal spell list, like the one found in OSE or Lamentation, will require a lot of tweaking of those spells

 

The HD Magic System

No slots: Instead of spell slots, use hit dice (HD). This means that a level 1 Magic-User can cast one spell. A level 2 Magic-User can cast two spells, or one more powerful one. 

Casting a spell: When casting a spell, roll at least one hit die. You may roll a number of HD up to the number of unspent HD you have.
When a spell is cast, roll each of the selected number of HD. If the result of the die is greater than 3, the HD is spent. Otherwise it is free to be used again. This means classes with higher HD (like the Paladin below) will burn through spells quicker.

Pushing it: You may sacrifice your health in order to push spells even further or cast spells when normally burned out. To do this, select a spell and roll a number of HD. Subtract the result from your constitution score. If you reduce your con score to zero, you die. This is the only restriction for pushing it. After a week of resting, roll 1 HD. You gain the result back in con score (up to your max con score).

Regaining HD: You regain half your spent HD when resting undisturbed for eight hours in a safe haven.

List of spells: Use the list of spells from Wonders & Wickedness and Marvels & Malisons. Modify the spells in the following way: Where there is mention of caster level, replace this with the number of HD spent.

Other spell rules: For all other rules regarding magic, defer to the rules found in Wonders & Wickedness. However, where there is mention of the caster level, use per spent HD instead.
 

 

Paladin

The paladin is a holy warrior, devoted to a god or divine creature. They are powerful warriors and have limited access to magic.

• Hit dice: d8

• Armor: any, including shields

• Weapons: determined by deity

• Xp progression: Use magic-user (or equivalent class), pluss the divine quests mentioned below.

• Saves: Use fighter (or equivalent class)

Abilities:

Spells: A paladin must be a magic specialist. But instead forsaking one speciality, they must forsake all other specialities of magic. The choice of deity determines what specialisations are available for selection.

Divine Quests: For a paladin to gain the fifth, seventh, ninth and tenth level, they need to appease their deity. This can mean that they have to embark on a pilgrimage, raise a crusade, build a temple, or similar quests.

• The goal should be understood by both the GM and the paladin player. The player and GM should agree on quests that might seem fitting for the paladins deity

Example deities and Divine Quests

Here are some example deities from the pantheon of Norse mythology.

Odin - God of knowledge, runes and foresight

• Weapons: Spears

• Spell specializations: Psychomancy or Spiritualism

• Example quests: Gain great understanding of something lost; meditate on the highest peak and in the lowest depths; spread knowledge to those who do not wish to understand it.

Tor - God of thunder and agriculture

• Weapons: Hammers
• Spell specializations: Elementalism or Vivimancy
• Example quests: Help a village fertilize and grow their crops; strike down evil creatures threatening farmlands

Tyr - God of war, justice and honor

• Weapons: Swords
• Spell specializations: Vivimancy
• Example quests: Serve great justice to those who wronged others; crush a bastion of forces of chaos; seek to understand or tame a deadly beast

Heimdal - Guardian of Åsgard and summoner of Bifrost

• Weapon: Spears
• Spell specializations: Translocation
• Example quests: defend those who cannot defend themselves from great evil; help good creatures move to a safe location

Hel - Goddess of death and the underworld

• Weapon: Daggers and short swords
• Spell specializations: Diabolism or Necromancy
• Example quests: Harvest the soul of a specific creature that has evaded death too long;