Magic
Magic is wild, flippant, and mildly sentient. Spells whirl through the universe, making it difficult to pin any particular one down. Once you have, however, a bond begins to form between the wizard and their spells. Casting a spell requires an immense amount of mental fortitude, as spells don’t generally love being cast. Spells like living in a mind; they don’t like being forcefully expelled.
Capturing
Any wizard may spend an hour sifting through the arcane energies of an area, searching for a spell. If they succeed a CHA save, they successfully capture a new (random) spell. A wizard may only hold a single spell in their mind at a time, but may spend an additional hour transferring a spell into a magical focus (staff, gem, holy symbol, etc.). A powerful wizard is rarely without his arsenal of foci; often, a wizard’s strength is judged by the size of his foci collection.
Casting
Casting a spell isn’t too complicated. First, the wizard declares their spell and rolls the associated dice. Then, the wizard takes damage first to their HP, then to their CHA, equal to the ‘[sum]’ of the roll. If a wizard’s CHA is reduced through the casting of a spell, there is a chance that the spell will flee their control. The wizard must make a CHA save; on a success, the spell is kept under control. On a failure, the spell attempts to break free. If the spell is held in a focus, the wizard may choose to have the spell destroy the focus. The wizard may then hold the spell in their mind, as long as it is free of any other spells. If a spell flees from a wizard’s mind, they once again take damage equal to that spell’s dice.
Spell Samples
Muscle Transfer (d4):
Sap strength from a limb and donate it to another. Removes [sum] STR from drain target, and grants that same STR to the chosen limb; the bonus STR is only applied to applicable saves/checks. An attack performed with the enstrengthened limb deals +[sum] damage. Lasts for one use or 10 minutes, whichever is sooner.
Ethereal Sword (2d4):
Summon a d8 ethereal, bladed sword into your hands. It lasts for [sum/2] rounds, or minutes if out of combat. The sword can be dispersed on contact to deal extra damage equal to the number of rounds/minutes remaining.