Near-release beta for my Campaign Magic System

So I’ve finally finished most of the work on my magic system for my campaign. I will be writing it up in a PDF style format in the near future but I’ll put it here for now so people can look it over. The specific terminology may change and there may be a few minor tweaks depending upon specific mechanics that might pop up as being incompatible with the system, but overall I think this system is play-ready.
Anything in brackets [ ] is subject to change.

Spellcasting Alterations for Generic Fantasy World #4:

Magic in this world is a dangerous and corrupting otherworldly force. By using magic you allow energies not of this world to pass through your mind, body and soul. Magic corrupts that which it passes through and those who choose to wield it tend to suffer all manners of mental and physical disabilities while attempting to master its many nuances. Mages are subject to discrimination and distrust because of these things and choosing to wield magic in this world is a dangerous and depressing decision.

All magic users have a [Sanity] score. You determine this score by taking the character’s Wisdom Score and multiplying it by 5 (Wisdom x 5 = [Sanity]). This is your permanent score and is the maximum your character can have at any one time [and maxes out at 99]. This represents your character’s ability to withstand the unnatural forces coursing through your being.

There are two [Sanity] scores. The first one is your permanent score as previously discussed. The second one is your current score which fluctuates depending upon the amount of magic you’ve been using. As you use more magic your score drops as you temporarily damage your psyche making you more prone to the corrupting influences of magic.

Whenever a spell caster casts a spell they lose 1D6 per Level of the Spell of [Sanity] from their current score. When they lose enough cumulative [Sanity] equal to ½ your Wisdom score the caster must make a [Sanity] Check. A [Sanity] Check is a D% roll versus your Current [Sanity] Score. If the number on the roll exceeds your current score you fail the roll and gain [Taint] equal to the Spell Level of the spell just cast.
Whenever the caster gains [Taint], they must make a Will Save of DC (15 + amount of [Taint] gained) or be Dazed for [1 round]. [Taint] has some interesting effects that it manifests upon a caster’s body. There are 3 levels of [Taint] Manifestations and two ways they affect an individual. They manifest in Physical Corruption, and Mental Depravity. The 3 levels are Mild, Moderate, and Severe. [Taint] Manifestations appear immediately after completion of casting a spell conferring all of their penalties immediately.

Wisdom	No Taint	Mild Taint	Moderate Taint	Severe Taint	Insane
1-4	0	1	2-5	6-13	14+
5-8	0	1-3	4-11	12-27	28+
9-12	0	1-5	6-17	18-41	42+
13-16	0	1-7	8-23	24-55	56+
17-20	0	1-9	10-29	30-69	70+
21-24	0	1-11	12-35	36-83	84+
25-28	0	1-13	14-41	42-97	98+
29-32	0	1-15	16-47	48-111	112+
33-36	0	1-17	18-53	54-125	126+

D20	Mild	Moderate	Severe
1	Dead Eye	Lips Sink	Lich Eyes
2	Aggressive	Treacherous	Murderous
3	Ear Scabs	Fingers and Toes Fuse	Shriveled Flesh
4	Bestial	Deranged	Unbalanced
5	Gums Swell	Bones Thicken	Great Swollen Growths
6	Compulsive	Hysterical	Unresponsive
7	Feet Curl	Joint Pain	Spine Twists
8	Crazed	Jittery	Craven
9	Lumps	Eruption of Sores	Wrigglers
10	Disoriented	Hallucinating	Paranoid
11	Odor of Decay	Paralyzed Face	Nose Rots
12	Mild Phobia	Moderate Phobia	Severe Phobia
13	Palsy	Uncontrollable Seizures	Skull Deformed
14	Neglectful	Distracted	Enthralled
15	Skin Seeps	Blood Eruption	Internal Corruption
16	Opinionated	Solipsistic	Hubristic
17	Skin Sloughs	Skin Thickens	Skin Lichen
18	Prophetic	Delusional	Apathetic
19	Winded	Chronic Illness	Lungs Eaten Away
20	Sycophantic	Weak-willed	Fatalistic

*These two tables have corresponding information that will be in the setting booklet.

This isn’t all doom and gloom though. Spell Casters go into their chosen paths knowing that they will be exposing themselves to these energies. With that in mind they start to develop a level of resistance to the corruption. This is represented by their Threshold. Threshold is equal to the character’s Caster Level. Every day a spell caster can ignore 1D6 of [Sanity] loss per Caster Level. So, a 3 rd level Sorcerer could ignore up to 3D6 of [Sanity] loss a day while a Fighter 2/Wizard 1 could ignore 1D6 a day. This Threshold pool is usable as the person running the character sees fit. The [Sanity] loss is traded out on a D6 for D6 basis. [If this is confusing ask me about it and I’ll try to explain it better]

There is an advantage that magic confers to those who wield it in this world though and that’s the ability to cast extra spells by taking extra [Sanity] loss a caster can exceed their Spells Per Day limit if they deem it necessary. The process for that is you add 1D6 to the normal [Sanity] loss for a spell and immediately must make a [Sanity] Check. If that check fails the Caster gains DOUBLE the [Taint] they normally would and must pass their Will save (DC 15 + [Taint] gained) or be Dazed for 1D4+1 Rounds.

[Sanity] is regained at a rate of [1D8 per Caster Level] per day. It can be quicker if in a special location/temple. [Taint] is lost more slowly, you have to avoid spell casting for 1 week and then you begin to lose it at a rate of [½ Caster Level (Rounded up)] per day until you cast spells again or have lost all of it. This spiritual cleansing process also removes Manifestations. The recovery from it can be sped along by finding special springs or recovery assisted in a specially sanctified temple room.

If a character loses all of their [Sanity] they are temporarily rendered unconscious. [This next part is still in flux. Mostly I’m looking at either making the character unplayable until they gain back at least a ¼ of their sanity. Maybe I’ll have them roll on an insanity table or something like that, but I’m not quite sure exactly how that’s going to happen yet. Losing all your [Sanity] will be a big deal with some type of semi-permanent/permanent consequences. Suggestions are more than welcomed.][This permanent consequences thing will also come up for those who exceed their [Taint] limit.]

Now comes the question of how magic items work. In short, unless they’re ancient heirlooms (most of which are controlled by the Sacred Empire and the Elves), they don’t exist and can’t be bought or constructed. [Item creation feats are going to be tweaked to compensate for this fact, eventually…] Magic enchantment has been replaced with Alchemical contraptions and multiple Masterwork item qualities. [Those systems are still in the early planning stages right now.][There is also a list of spells being developed that either don’t work, don’t exist, or work slightly differently. Mostly things like Wish or true resurrection, things that I feel ruin the game more often than not. If I nix a spell from your book, it’s because I hate the spell, not you.]