Small Magic Overhaul

I've reworked the magic system to make most of the dice rolls player-facing. Spells that just go off have not changed. Spells that used to require a save to reduce the damage or avoid a harmful condition now require a casting roll from the PC, rather than a GM roll on behalf of the NPC or monster to mitigate the effects.

In a nutshell: the caster makes a standard save (difficulty 13 in GLAIVE) to cast these spells. If they fail, something still happens which usually means they only inflict 1/2 damage and/or fail to impose a condition on the target.  For example: Fireball typically allows affected creatures to make a DEX save for 1/2 damage. Now the caster has to save vs WIS to pull off the spell successfully. If they fail, it fizzles but something still happens, and they inflict 1/2 damage. Mechanically nothing changes. Except . . .

What if a monster has a high or low Dexterity? Hitting a nimble elf with a fireball should be harder than hitting a poderous gelatinous cube. In these situations the GM should apply advantage/disadvantage (or some other modifier) to the save when it makes sense. The example given in the rules is casting charm on a goblin vs a wizard.

These changes also required rephrasing how magic works on pg 25. Aditionally, I updated the example magic arrows and quigong techniques to reflect these changes. 

Magic arrows are something I have gotten a few questions about. I think of it more like an enchantment on a mundane arrow, rather than a magic item that you fire from a bow. Each arrow occupies an item slot just like a spell book and the archer can use it again after a Good Night's Rest (assuming they still have some arrows in their quiver to cast the enchantment on). This isn't a hard and fast rule of the game, but it keeps magic arrows functioning in the same way as spellbooks and quigong techniques. It's definitely a meta concession rather than something that makes strict sense in the fiction.

I hope everyone is enjoying GLAIVE. I'm hoping to release a small stand alone adventure in the next few months. Keep your eyes peeled for that! :)