From: gelinas@CAM.ORG (Daniel Gelinas)
Date: 26 Dec 92 07:31:50 GMT
Subject: Help with new character class

I have named the class Law-Makers. One of their requisites is that they be Lawful-neutral. Therefore I disallow any chaotic magic items and any extremely chaotic spells. Otherwise the character class wouldn't make sense (their trying to restor order to the world, this can't be done by creating more chaos).

Considering their ethos would anyone have any suggestions on regulation this problem. Without saying this..

Quote:

***Spell casting:

Although they may only choose one school, Law-Makers are not specialists. They can cast only one school of magic and no other. The restrictions placed on mages also apply to Law-Makers. They may not cast while in armour, they must study their spells. They must acquire new spells and when they find one they must first see if they understand it before they can put it in their spell book. All Law-Makers can cast lesser divination, as this school is open to all users of magic, but only those who choose Greater Divination can cast spells of that school above 4th level. They do start with the basic spells which all mages have (read magic ect...).

Whichever school they choose, Law-Makers are also restricted by not being able to cast chaotic spells. Spells such as 'chaos', 'tasha's uncontrolable hideous laughter', and 'confusion' are good examples. It is up to the DM to determine if any spell is too chaotic to be used.

*After 14th level they do not gain any additional spells.

Note: These guys must presently choose between the schools of abjuration, Enchantment/Charm and Divination.

I have here the complete description of the class. at first I was hesitant to post it, but hey what the hell.

One person has already replied to my previous message and suggested I give them the Ivo/Evoc school. Unfortunately this school is not only too powerful but are generally too chaotic. I find that in general extremely destructive spells lend themselves to chaos. Furthermore, these guys have a great repect for life, and would not use most of the destructive spells. If I'm lucky, Dragon Magasine should be helping me out with this question soon.

Feel free to use this character class if it looks interesting to you. If you do, please do me the honor of mentioning my name.

Any comments on the class would be appreciated. In case you missed the first original post, the question was, how should I solve the problem of which school to give them? Or do you think the present character class is acceptable? I just hate having to write out 2 paragraphs on spells when it might not be needed. I was also thinking of redifining my own school of magic, but that prooved to be more difficult then I thought. It is very hard to decide if a spell is lawful or not, and if it is lawful enouph to deserve special classifi- cation.

I cannot use priest spheres as there is an additional problem with that, that isIf they can cast priest magic they must worship a God, so I would have to go through the process of creating their god, and that just gives me a hell of a lot more work. Of course having a sphere of Law does help out in spell selection. I may consider changing it from magic userto priest, but at the present time I think that would be more difficult.

Class: Law-Maker

Hit dice: 1D8             Armour: Chain or worse
Alignment:Lawful Neutral  Weapons: Size M or smaller.(No two handed swords)
Race:Human                Ability requirements: STR 12 INT 12 DEX 13
THACO: Warrior            Prime requisites:  INT DEX

# of attacks: Warrior
Weapon specialization: Available.
Saving throws: best of wizard/warrior
Proficiencies: 4 weapon 4 non-weapon  progression: 1/3 weapon  1/3 non
Proficiency groups: General, warrior, wizard.

Experience:   H.D      Spell Progression       *M.S    H.I.S    H.N
                       1  2  3  4  5  6
1         0    1                               15      10      10
2      2400    2                               21      15      10
3      4800    3       1                       27      20      15
4      9600    4       2                       33      25      15
5     24000    5       2  1                    40      31      20
6     48000    6       3  2                    47      37      20
7     96000    7       4  2  1                 55      43      25
8    180000    8       4  2  2                 62      49      25
9    336000    9       4  3  2  1              70      56      30
10   696000    9+2     4  3  3  2              78      63      30
11  1056000    9+4     4  3  3  2  1           86      70      35
12  1416000    9+6     4  4  3  2  2           94      77      35
13  1776000    9+8     4  4  4  2  2           99      85      40
14  2136000    9+10  **4  4  4  3  2  1        99      93      40
15  2496000    9+12    4  4  4  3  2  1        99      99      50
16  2856000    9+14    4  4  4  3  2  1        99      99      50
   +360000 each level

* M.S= Move silently  H.I.S= Hide in shadows  H.N= Hear noise
** Spell progression stops

Special abilities:

1st level:  Must meditate every day.  Level 1-3(30mins) 4-6(60mins)
                                            7-9(90mins) 10-(120mins)

3rd level:  Must choose one schoool out of Abjuration,
            Enchantment/charm, Greater Divination.

6th level:  Must return to his fellow Law-Makers for the ceremony of
            change.  Gains ability to perform limited polymorph.

Can only size M or smaller weapons.
Cannot own more than 6 magic items.
Must donate 10% of wealth when possible to Law-Makers.
Cannot keep more treasure than can carry.
Can use only certain types of magical items.

The name 'Law-Maker' was given to these people because of their pursuit of order. They are not actually makers of law, but their primary purpose is to restore order to the world.

They do this in various ways. Some mingle with high level officials in large villages, others go out to battle chaotic forces in the region, and others still preffer to more subtely influence those around them.

It is not easy to become a Law-Maker, the ability requirements are high. Those who do start out do not always make it.

The Law-Makers have discovered that in order to restore order in the world they must be able to have an influence over it. Law-Makers learn many skills in order to attain their goals. When called upon they can speak elloquently to city officials, talk with magic users, and discuss battles with fighters. Law-Makers are very methodical and do not go of making rash judgements on things. They preffer to plan out their actions in a controlled way. They try and prepare themselves as much as they can before setting out on a task. In this way they are able to spend more time solving the task then addressing themselves. They try and be a precise as possible, solving the problem as safely, and as quickly as they can.

Although they are all part of a secret underground, there is no specific leader, but they act collectively in order to spread order as quickly and as safely as possible.

In short, people in this class can do many things, be many things, but everything is done in the purpose of LAW, good or evil is irrelevant.

In order to spread their influence, Law-Makers were able to give their bretheren the power to change their shape. In this way, they could, in essence, become part of other races and help them become more productive societies.

In the Law-Maker ranks there are many occupations (as previously stated) but in times of desperate need Law-Makers may band together to fight the powers of chaos. In some situations they may be called upon to kill, but preffer not to, and use it as a last resort. In general they do not like to draw attention upon themselves (as they are very secretive) and preffer to exert an influence from the background.

If there is one thing that law makers will not tolerate, it is the presence of a doppleganger. These creatures are exact opposites of the Law-Makers, and they will be pursued if they are found. A Law-Maker receives a +1 bonus to hit a doppleganger when in combat.

Law-Makers are extremely loyal and would never divuldge any of their secrets to outsiders, even if their death might result.

***Meditation:

Law-makers must meditate, if they do not, they lose their abilities and begin to make mistakes. For every 24hr period that a Law-Maker does not meditate he receives a -1 to strike and a 10% spell failure possibility. This is due to the lack of concentration that a Law-Maker has if he does not meditate. For each additional 24hr period the penalties are multiplied by a factor of 2(i.e -2 -20% day two -4 -40% day 3 -8 -80% day 4 ect..). In addition, if a law maker has not meditated in a 48hr period, he cannot use his shapechanging ability and reverts to his natural shape.

Meditation is not sleep, and should not be confused with it. It is a period of concentration and relaxation. A Law-Maker is fully aware of his surroundings during this period.

Meditation must be performed before the memorization of spells.

Meditation must be continuous. It can be interrupted for no longer than 5 minutes. Any longer and the character concentration is broken and he must start over again.

***Spell casting:

Although they may only choose one school, Law-Makers are not specialists. They can cast only one school of magic and no other. The restrictions placed on mages also apply to Law-Makers. They may not cast while in armour, they must study their spells. They must acquire new spells and when they find one they must first see if they understand it before they can put it in their spell book. All Law-Makers can cast lesser divination, as this school is open to all users of magic, but only those who choose Greater Divination can cast spells of that school above 4th level. They do start with the basic spells which all mages have(read magic ect...).

Whichever school they choose, Law-Makers are also restricted by not being able to cast chaotic spells. Spells such as 'chaos', 'tasha's uncontrolable hideous laughter', and 'confusion' are good examples. It is up to the DM to determine if any spell is too chaotic to be used.

*After 14th level they do not gain any additional spells.

***Limited Polymorph:

When a Law-Maker goes through the ceremony of change he is given a special symbol. A magical device is used which molds the sorrounding skin into it's shape, leaving a raised portion of skin which looks like the mold. This symbol is part of source of the Law-Maker's polymorph. It is a magical symbol which does not disapear even if the Law-Maker shape changes. It is allways placed in the center of the chest and does not cause any pain when put there. It cannot be removed by normal means but only by 2 ways, death, or the use of another device possesed by the Law-Makers which removes it. If it is removed, the Law-Maker can no longer polymorph. The rest of the polymorph is controlled by the focussed mind of the Law-Maker. Their mental conditioning allows them to control their shape. Upon death the symbol disappears.

The polymorph is very limited. A Law-Maker cannot alter his shape by more than +- 50% of his mass. He cannot change shape into a non-humaniod creature(must have 2 arms 2 legs ect..). He can change up to a maximum of 3 times per day. When he changes, his clothes and small items(rings, belts, headband) change with him if he so chooses. Armour of any type will not meld with the body. He can still change, but cannot ecced the size of his armour. Most magical items change size to fit their owner, therefore, if a Law-Maker changes while wearing bracers, unless he grows too big for them, they will enlarge of shrink to his new size.

If a dispel magic is cast upon a Law-Maker he is affected as if it were an innate ability with a bonus of +2(20%) in favor of the Law-Maker(the bonus is awarded because of the strong mental conditioning the Law-Maker has undergone). If the dispel is successful he reverts to his natural form.

***Magic Items:

Law-makers can use all warrior magical items. They can however only use wizard items of their chosen school. There is one ecception to both of those categories. A Law-Maker cannot use any extremely chaotic item. A deck of many things is a good example, another would be a wand of wonder. The DM and the player should determine wether or not the item should be allowed, if no easy solution is found, then the item should be disallowed.

***Law and actions***

Law-makers expect their own to act with lawful conduct. If one should ever knowingly perform a chaotic act, he will be penalized. For each act performed his meditation time is doubled.(i.e 3 acts performed=8 times longer 2x2x2=8). This extra time is needed for him to contemplate his actions and clear his mind of any further destructive thoughts. If he does not complete his meditation, he suffers the same penalties as he does normally. This is only in the case of actions which go directly against the alignment of the class. The DM should determine if the characters actions warrant penalties(i.e killing for no particular reason, or if it was not needed), and if so how many. It is possible for characters to go into seclusion for several hours(even days). The DM should be warned that generally penaties are given only for obviously chaotic acts which would affect the personality of the Law-Maker, not for such things as

In extremely severe cases, it is possible that the Law-Makers send out a group to find and capture the character, removing all his abilities. This is only done if the character continuously performs chaotic acts. The elders see him as a traitor and should not be allowed to use any of his special abilities for chaos. A special compass can be used (there are few in existence) that will point to any Law-Maker in the area by tracking his symbol. It can then be removed, thus terminating the polymorph ability of that Law-Maker.

***Hierarchy***

There is a loose form a hierarchy within the Law-Makers ranks. In order to restore order to the world, they have organised themselves into networks spreading over vast areas. In this way they can get information to each other, and determine where people should be sent and what should be done. Generally, for every region there is one council composed of 2 to 3 Law-Makers of 10 level or higher. These are further coordinated by 1-2 Law-Makers of 14 level or higher. The size of each region may vary, but it is never too large as to make communication impossible. A region will often compose an area containing 1 or 2 very large cities. In any given region there are never more than 5 or 6 Law-Makers.

There is no supreme Law-maker. Instead, they have organised themselves into subdivided networks which are organized by key individuals. The killing or accidental death of a high level Law-maker sometimes causes problems, but he is often replaced quickly.

Many Law-makers live normal lives until they are called upon to do a mission. The network is designed so that basic control is kept over all members, but that they are still free to work independently. In this way they can scout the largest possible area but still remain in contact with the others as to not cause confusion.

Upon reaching 10th level, the Law-Maker can become a council member if he wishes, but it is not mandatory(except in extreme cases). If they choose to do so, their adventuring would be limited, but they would still be sent out on the very important missions. A council member is expected to make important decisions, and delegate duties to others. If any problems arise he would try and deal with them unless he needs more help, at which point he can summon others to his aid.

Additional Spell

All lawmakers are taught this particular spell. It helps them better judge an individual and his actions even if he has been away for a long time.

Aura of Lawfullness/Chaos

Level:1
Range:30 yards
Components:V,S
Duration: 2 rounds + 1round/level
Casting Time: 1 round
Area of effect: 1 humaniod
Saving Throw: None

Let me start off by saying thanks to those who have already replied. From the few I've gotten so far, it seems I might have to explain myself a bit futher.

1- Limited Polymorph: Yes I agree on the surface it looks like a chaotic ability. I agree that being able to assume any form whenever you please to do whatever you like is chaotic, in fact it is pretty much as chaotic as you can get. But that is not what this ability does. Consider the facts

1- They are Lawful Neutral and thus restricted to acting within that alignment. If they don't then it is not my problem. A Law-Maker cannot change into anything he pleases whenever he wants(as per magic user 4th level spell). He is limited to humanoid, he is futher limited by size, and further still by number of times he can do this.

2- They want to provide the world with as much order as they can, since (depending on what world you play) only about 50 - 70% of most populations are human then it *might* follow that they would try and develope a means of influencing other races without disrupting them at the same time(and thus cause more chaos).

Considering arguement 2 I tried to provide them with a way to do so without disrupting a society. It would be impossible for any of them to enter particular societies without doing thing. Many elves, especially drow are untrustworthy of humans, so are dwarves, and such.

2- What is this class all about, why did you make it?

I made this class for a couple of reasons. The first is that it is a unique class, the only other class which comes close is a bard. Much of my character planning was based on a bard. The only problem is I HATE BARDS. No offense to bard players I love them, but I don't like playing them.

The reason I do not want to use clerical spells(sorry for those who replied they think this might be more appropriate, I did do some thinking on it) is because he then basically becomes a paladin.

To date there exists no class of fighting wizards. We have clerics, who really aren't that bad at fighting, we have paladins, and we have rangers. This is why I have avioded clerical spells. I did however see the danger of fighters being able to cast lightning bolts and fireballs( Yes I have DM'ed players that just stand there with a wand and blow things away) so I wanted to limit their spellcasting abilities.

I also wanted to provide players with an alternative to the fighter/mage multi-class(the thieving abilities are minor and these guys don't act like thieves). The fighter/mage multi-class is much stronger than this one (again they can cast any school they want namely Ivo/Evo and necromancy), and I don't really think that this should be the only way. (BTW if you check experience at 8th 9th and 10th levels you will notice that this is pretty close to the multi class requirements)(At least I think it is those levels).

I did by no means try to create a super class, I limited weapons, armour, spell level(which will probably be comming down to 5th), alignment, magic items, spell school and even their actions(as they are not free to do as they please). I even went to far as to make it very difficult for them to act in any other way (mediation time doubles). I am still in the process of making more slight restrictions.

In short I wanted to give humans another possibility.

3- Notes on class abilities in respond to "I think it is too strong" and "what can't they do!"

Some people have responded by saying that this class can do too much, while I respect what you have said, I would like to offer up several arguments.

1- What can this class do that a bard can't do.
Answere: They fight better, their saving throws are better (which I am thinking to change to fighter only), they can polymorph.

2- What can bards do that this class cannot.
Answer: They can cast any school of magic (love those fireballs and lightning bolts). They cast from first level on. They have charming abilities, and can be of any alignment.

Comparison: For both classes the thief abilities are the same(execpt for read languages)(might I also add that rangers also have these abilites). What I would say is take a given amount of experience say 1 500 000 and give that to each lass and compare what they get. I have done this and these are my results:

1- The bard can outcast the Law-Maker anytime. He's got more spells and it takes his less time to study (Law-Maker must meditate 2 hours at that level before studying his spells).

2- The Law-Maker will outfight the bard anytime.

3- The bard can charm the Law-Maker, and the Law-Maker can shapechange.

Conclusion: With same amount of experience on each side it is an interesting fight to look at. ***Note** A Law-Maker would not fight without a reason, and would not try to kill the bard unless absolutely nessecery(First section).

I would like anyone who responded to me to read this(I should have put this at the beggining, oh well :-) and if you still feel the same way please let me know. I might then consider any more changes you feel are needed.

Let me also put emphasis on ALIGNMENT. I agree that if these guys could do as they pleased they would be too powerful. Penalties are in place if they go out of alignment. The penalties are very crippling as well. They cannot attack without provocation, they cannot do whatever they please, and they do not possess extremely powerful spells. You will never see a Law-Maker charging over a hill with a two handed sword in hand, casting magic missiles, and fireballs.

NEW STUFF: One person who responded to me came up with something I had been considering doing to solve the spell problem, that is redefine my own school of LAW. This is going to be pretty hard to do, but I have a lot of free time right now so what the hey. I will be posting this list as soon as possible to get some feedback on it. My reasearch will mainly be based on the clerical sphere of law, along with the innate abilities of Lawful Monsters(some dragons ect ..).

I would like to thank anyone who hast sent, or posted replies, for their critisisms and I hope to hear from you again. ANY COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED ON ANYTHING WHATSOEVER DEALING WITH THE CLASS. To note, my definition of lawful neutral is taken from dragon magasine #163, which contains a explanation of alignments. WILL POST THIS ACTICLE IF REQUESTED, CONTAINS ALL ALIGNMENTS.

To the person who asked about leadership: Sorry lost your message, I read it and it was then unfortunately purged from the system. Lawful people put LAW above everything else. They do not need a leader, they could have one, but I feel that it is not needed. The LAW is their guide. They also are very structured(which is Lawful), but IMHO I do not think this means they must have a leader, but that they must act in a structured manner, collectively(as not to repeat things), and act as orderly as possible. They do give each other orders(they do have hierchy) but there is no need to ONEruler. At present(in my world) there and only 20 Law-Makers controlling the rest of them. The more they spread out, the more I think they need to be able to responsibly make descisions(which cannot be made by one man who sits on his but all day, after all he can't be everywhere). Thanks for you post and your evalu ation.

From: gelinas@CAM.ORG (Daniel Gelinas) Date: 28 Dec 92 09:59:57 GMT Subject: Proposed Law school of magic.(goes with new class)

Well I stayed up quite awhile to figure this out, but I mannaged to put a preliminary list together of spells I believe should be included in a school of Law. Most of the spells have short explanations. Generally most divination spells were included for their information gathering capability. Note that some spell's opposites may not be cast, only those indicated.

I have searched through the spells using these criteria

1- Does it allow control to be exerted in a Lawful manner(see priest sphere of law).

2- Can it put an end to or prevent a chaotic situation in a non-destructive manner(Destruction generally yields chaos).

3- Can it be used to aid in information(information helps prevent chaos) in an orderly manner.

4- It is reliable(does the spell do the same thing or is it unpredictable)

Proposed School of LAW

*Indicates reverse may also be cast

1st level

Read magic (obvious)
Detect Magic(ditto)
Aura of Lawfullness/chaos (my spell, went with class description)
Comprehend Languages(Relieves chaos, helps relations, prevents chaos)
Protection from good*(Extreme good and Extreme evil tend to be chaotic)
Charm Person(Ability to exert control over a situation)
Wizard mark(Helps recognition, prevents chaos, enables order)

2nd level

Detect Evil*(Information gathering)
ESP(ditto)
Ray of Enfeeblement(Stops chaotic situation without killing)
Wizard Lock(Orderly, helps prevent some disasters ;-))
Knock(In case you need to get rid of that wizard lock)
Know Alignment(Info)
Detect invisibility(ditto)
Locate object(ditto)

3rd level

Clairaudience(info once again)
Clairvoyance( " " " )
Hold Person( Helps prevent situation without killing)
Dispel Magic(Dispel chaotic effects)
Suggestion(Helps prevent chaotic actions)
Protection from good 10' radius*(Same as first)
Slow(Slower things tend to be less chaotic)
Tongues(Information, relations, helps relieve miscommunication and chaos)

4th level

Locate Creature(Info)
Remove curse*(Remove curses which cause chaos, Bestow curses which keep order but without killing)<---I'm gonna get comments on this one
Charm Monster(Control, Relief of chaotic situation)
Minor Globe of invulnerability(Counter chaotic spells)
Otiluke's Resilient Sphere(stops chaotic actions without killing)

5th level

Wall of Force(Really stops chaos well)
Bigby's interposing hand (Use it lawfully)
Hold Monster(Control, stop chaos without killing)
Safeguarding(Prevents chaotic spell effects)
Contact other plane(info)
Magic mirror(info)
Dismissal(If you're not supposed to be there chances are you're causing trouble)

I have not continued, as my class will not be able to cast spells higher than 5th level.

Additions are welcome, subtractions will be given serious thought.

I have also made the following changes to my class.

1-Can only specialize in one weapon
2-Saving throws are fighter only
3-Lack of meditation gives temporary level loss.(1level/day of no medit.)
4-Polymorph frequency reduced to 2 times per day.
5-Spell casting limited to 5th level.

From: gelinas@CAM.ORG (Daniel Gelinas)
Date: 31 Dec 92 08:20:30 GMT
Subject: Update on Lawmakers

Thank you for all your responses, keep them comming, I'm not totally finished yet.

So far these changes have been made:

1-Specialize in one weapon only
2-Saving throws are fighter only
3-Meditation penalties made easier
4-Special school made
5-Use of fighter magic items only
6-Polymorph is gone

I must now address some issues:

1- Spells. In response to Paul Kinsler I have these arguments to offer.

Protection from good/evil: You claim that extreme good and extreme evil are not chaotic, then consider this. Law-Makers follow the law, therefore if someone is murdering people, then he should be killed(as this is the law in most places). If this murdering person was caught by an extremely good person, and he murderer replied,"I'm soo sorry I didn't mean to do it, I've seen the light, I won't do it again", the good person might just believe them and let him live. But this is not a rational action, logically if the man could not be trusted then he cannot be trusted now therefore he should be killed. But a really good person is clouded by his good'ness and cannot rationally make the descision. Therefore I think it is chaotic in the sense that it prevents or disrupts law.

Wall of Force: Generally, laws tell you what you cannot do. I believe that the wall of force is a valid lawful spells because it can prevent people from doing things they shouldn't. Of course in the hands of his enemy, he could be imprisoned. But I cannot control the actions of others, only these people, and Lawful Neutral people would use it well in the pursuit of law. I didn't say that these spells could not be used in the pursuit of chaos, what I said was this spell school (recognised by this class only) has the most potential to be lawful. In the clerical school of law 'hold person' is listed. This spell can prevent law as well, but it has a greater 'potential' to be lawful.

In response to another person(sorry my scroll-back buffer does not work properly). I created the school so the DM would not have to waste time choosing what spells his player can have and which ones he could not. Instead, I thought I would do the DM's a favor and print up a pre-selected school. I am a DM myself, and I have enouph on my mind, without having to worry about choosing spells for a particular player. Besides The spells will fit very neatly on one page. **Does anyone have an spells they think should be added**? I have taken the liberty to add 'Bind' to the list as well. I forgot it in my post.

-----------------------Why I'm Avoiding Priests------------------------

I did not want to create a priest class. I feel that there are enough. If I wanted to make it simple, I would have made these guys into a Lawful-Neutral type Paladin.(that's the only one missing, we have Lawful-Good Paladins, Lawful-Evil Anti-Paladins)

But when I created this class I wanted to create a class that used magic user spells. There are at present 4 classes that use priest spells and only 2 that use magic user. I wanted to create a unique class which was unlike the other classes available, and this was what I came up with. Something that is pretty much between a bard and a fighter.

One person have that if magic-users did enforce law, then they would enfore their law and not a 'higher' purpose. This implies to me that only priest can follow 'higher' purposes, and everyone else cannot. I find this unsettling. Magic users are just as capable as priests are to follow a purpose, especially one of alignment. In fact their are magic user gods! I don't think that this is restricted to the priest class. Therefore I do not see a problem with the class in that respect.

For those of you wondering, this class does have a history, but it is very long and I would not want to bore you, but basically this is it:

Awhile back I had a 1st edition Dual class (human) fighter magic user. He had pretty incredible stats so be grew in power pretty fast. It just so happends he was Lawful Neutral, and toward the end of his playing days I played his alignment to the letter (to get on other players nerves ;-)). After he retired he began to teach his knowledge to other people. He explained the advantages of his dual class. Slowly more people got attracted to it, and this class was the result.

Their thieving abilities came from a ranger I was playing with. He taught my students (at my resquest) how to hide in shadows ect, because my character thought it was important to be well rounded. This is why people in this class have a lot of non-weapon proficiencies, they must take many different things, ranging from spellcraft to dancing.

Note: To one person who responded a long time ago: I will not include psionics because I believe it would complicate the character too much. Besides the magic user spells they get compensate for that. Otherwise I think it would be a perfectly good class(for you) if you just switch spells for psionics. Feel free, I don't have a copywrite on these guys.

Additional note on meditation: Most people thought that meditation was associated with psionics. While I see some connection, let me tell you were it actually came from. I am a martial artist(in real life) and we meditate quite frequently. The reason being a centered mind can fight better. Because I gave this class many abilities, I thought it was an appropriate restriction to have them meditate in order to center themselves. It helps relieve the confusion that a character would orthwise experience in that situation. I had similar problems when I tried to learn too many kata's at the same time, I began to mix them all up! If I had concentrated more, I wouldn't have had any problems. This is why the penalties exist for not meditating. If they don't, they get confused. Simple as that!

As some respondants already know, I am open to any comments, questions, of any type. Be as direct as you want. Don't worry about offending me, I take criticism well, if it is well founded. I'm allways up for a debate.

Daniel Gelinas

From: gelinas@CAM.ORG (Daniel Gelinas)
Date: 4 Jan 93 02:32:53 GMT
Subject: Re: Proposed Law school of magic.(goes with new class)

This school was specially designed by me, for my class. Techinically it is part of the new system, but there is a hitch. (so far as I know) My guys are the only ones who recognize this school. It is similar to the elemental schools, in that they are not actually new schools, but rather new classiffications of pre-existing spells.

I have no problem if you(as a DM, or as a player) wish to use this school. Of course, if you do specialize, you would need a school of chaos. Addition ally, a specialized mage would obviously not be part of my new class. But at this time, I personally do not need a school of chaos. If you would like me to make one, just let me know and I will be happy to create this school's opposite. Bear in mind though, that I have specific criteria when creating a school. Actually, I think it would be fun to make a chaos school. The reason my class cannot specialize is because only single classed mages can specialize in a school of magic. There is no precedent to a class being able to specialize in a school.

Oh well, if you want a copy just write me another message. NOTE: I took the polymorph out, and am now looking for a new ability to replace it, as there was too much opposition to the polymorph.

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From: tony@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us (Anthony Foglia) Date: 5 Jan 93 16:08:21 GMT Subject: Re: Proposed Law school of magic.(goes with new class)

Wild spells can be used for a basis of a school of chaos, but it would cause some problems. Why be a specialist of the school of chaos and not have access to law spells when one can simply be a wild mage and have access to all the spells? If choas specialist can have access to wild spells what about other specialists (abjurers and alterers come to mind)? Unfortunately the most chaotic spells are wild spells. After glancing through my PHB I can only see a few spells that would fit. From the low levels (the only ones I've looked at so far):

   Audible Glammer
   Color Spray
   Spook (?)
   Blur (?)
   Hypnotic Pattern
   Scare (?)
   Shatter
   Misdirection
   Tasha's Uncontrolable Hideous Laughter