Introduction

This chapter introduces the following new rules to help enhance the sense of wonder magic can bring and allow you to more easily play games that are free from the standard assumptions of magic availability and stat-boosting items.

Simplified Spellcasting: When playing a high-level spellcaster, it can be a pain to keep track of which spells you've prepared out of several dozen every time a new day dawns in the game. This system allows you to focus on preparing your most powerful spells while using a flexible pool to cast all the rest.

Spell Alterations: This section includes new rules options that alter magic in different ways: limited magic, which weakens spellcasting's free scaling ability; wild magic, which subjects the spellcaster to magical surge effects; and active spellcasting, which adds more options to keep the spellcaster involved with her spells.

Esoteric Material Components: Since the introduction of the spell component pouch, material components have been reduced to little more than flavor. This system brings back significance to spell components, introducing new esoteric components whose effects vary depending on the style of your campaign.

Automatic Bonus Progression: The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game assumes you have access to certain bonuses at each level. But what if you want to play a game where magic items are rare or have non-numerical effects? This system allows the PCs to gain the bonuses they need from their own inner power—no bonus-granting items are necessary.

Innate Item Bonuses: What if you like magic items to grant bonuses but are frustrated because that makes bonus-granting items the obvious choice, narrowing your options? This system eliminates items that only grant bonuses and instead adds bonuses to all items in most slots, ensuring that the items in those slots are both flavorful and highly functional.

Scaling Items: Sometimes an inherited weapon turns out to be more powerful than it had seemed at first, and the hero refuses to give it up even when given the option of flashier blades or when facing overwhelming foes. Scaling items are magic items that grow with your character and unlock new special abilities as she levels up. This section presents numerous examples of scaling items to add to your games.

Dynamic Magic Item Creation: In legends and stories, the process of creating a magic item requires much more than a simple roll of the dice. This system turns magic item creation into dynamic events that include the whole adventuring party and add unique flavors and attributes to the items the characters create.