Alternative Spellcasting Rules

Altered Magic

This system alters the standard magic rules for Pathfinder 2e, combining some use of Pervasive Magic, and rules homebrewed by HouseDM on Youtube and Myriad_Star on Reddit. It’s intended to create a system that allows any character to have some very limited access to magic, and to offer an alternative to the Vancian magic system traditional to many TTRPG systems.

Spellcasting

Casting Spells

This alters the normal rules for the Cast a Spell action, adding a skill check to it. Casting a spell requires a successful check using the skill associated with the spell’s tradition (Arcana for arcane, Nature for Primal, Occultism for Occult, or Religion for Divine), one free hand (For spells with Material or Somatic Components), and any required material components or arcane/divine focus. The level of spells you can cast is equal to ½ your character’s current level, rounded up. The DC to cast a spell is a moderate DC for the spell’s level (Level-Based DCs).
Critical Success: The spell costs half the normal amount of mana, rounded down.
Success: The spell is cast as normal
Failure: The spell fails, but the mana for the spell isn’t spent
Critical Failure: The spell fails, and the mana for the spell is still spent.
For spells with attack rolls, treat the result of the spell attack roll as the result of the skill check instead, and the target’s AC as the DC of the spellcasting check.

Spell Attack Rolls

Non-Casters with spells requiring spell attack rolls use the skill associated with their magic tradition as their spell attack roll.

Universal Spell Saves

Normal Spellcasters use their Class DC to determine the save against the spells they cast from their class. Non-Casters will calculate the save of of their spells by setting a DC based on the skill used for the tradition the spell was cast from. So, for a non-caster using Divine spells, with a Religion skill bonus of +4, to save against their Divine spells would be DC 14.

Learning Spells

This alters the rules for the Learn a Spell activity. This action is no longer restricted to spellcasters. All characters can use this activity to learn some spells, though the number of spells that can be learned this way is limited. Non-spellcasters can learn a maximum of 2 spells per spell level for each tradition. This limit doesn’t apply to cantrips. Spellcasters with spell repertoires can use these rules to learn spells beyond their normal limit, while casters with a spellbook can use these rules to learn spells that don’t require the use of a spellbook, though any spells learned this way do not use their Class DC, and instead use the universal spell DC described above.

Heightened Spells

Spells can be heightened as normal, though this increases the DC to cast, uses a greater amount of mana, and requires the caster to be able to cast spells of the heightened level. Casters with signature spells can heighten them freely as usual, and must learn higher levels of their non-signature spells individually.

Cantrips

Cantrips normally do not require a spellcasting check due to their simplicity, with the exception of spells requiring a spell attack roll. However, casting a heightened cantrip requires a spellcasting check with a very easy DC for the heightened level of the spell. Heightened cantrips only consume mana if the check to cast the spell results in a critical failure. While cantrips normally do not consume mana, a caster with no remaining mana cannot cast cantrips.
Natural 20 on a Spellcasting Check If the skill check to cast a spell results in a natural 20, use the Natural 20 on a Spellcasting Check Table. Spells requiring an attack roll instead use the results of the Critical Hit Deck: Natural 1 on a Spellcasting Check If the result of a spellcasting check is a critical failure, then suffer an Magical Mishap or Pay Tribute depending on the tradition used to cast the spell.
Magical Mishap: Roll on the Magical Mishap Table
Pay Tribute: Bring an offering of value to a place of importance to your character. Consult with your GM to decide on a sufficient location.
Pay Tribute (Occultism, Primal, Religion)
If you critically fail on your spellcasting check, even with the use of blood magic to succeed (See Blood Magic), you have either angered your deity/patron, offset the balance of nature, upset or displeased the muses of old. When this happens, you must Pay Tribute to regain the ability to cast that spell again. To Pay Tribute, bring an offering to a place deemed relevant to the source of your magic. For clerics, that might be a temple or shrine to your deity. For druids, that might be a particular grove in the woods or body of water. For bards, that may be a donation to a town crier or raising money for an orphanage by leveraging your art form. Consult the table below to determine how expensive of an offering you must provide.
Magical Mishap (Arcana) If you critically fail on your spellcasting check, even with the use of blood magic to succeed (See Blood Magic), you cause a magical anomaly to occur, often resulting in backlash, or a strange, unusual effect. Roll on the table below to determine the result.
Blood Magic Blood Magic is an ancient power that any magic user can tap into. Any time a PC fails a spellcasting check, they may force the spell to succeed by fueling it with their own blood. To do this, the PC takes 1 blood magic damage per spell level for each point needed to allow the spell to be cast successfully. Blood magic can even force a spellcasting check of a natural 1 to succeed, though they still suffer the effect of a magical mishap. Using blood magic is not an evil act. Blood magic damage can only be healed by rest.
For example: Leeroy is a cleric, attempting to cast Heal as a level 2 spell, which requires a Religion skill check with a DC of 18. Leeroy rolls, and after all modifiers are applied, gets a total of 15 on this check. Leeroy can choose to take 6 points of blood magic (3x2) damage in order to add 3 to his skill check and achieve the 18 necessary to cast the spell.
Resurrection Magic Resurrection magic here refers to any spell that brings a creature back to life who has died. The following traits are applied to all resurrection spells. Material components are required. If the spell is successfully cast, the target of the spell awakens with 1 hit point and can only recover hit points by resting. This effect ends once they reach their maximum hit points. Blood magic cannot be used to cause a failed resurrection spell to succeed.

Slotless Spellcasting and Mana

Alternate Spell Resource Tracking

This is a revision of the system for tracking spells as a resource for Pathfinder 2e.

Mana

Rather than tracking a caster’s remaining spell slots, they are converted into Mana points. This allows casters to utilize lower level spells more frequently at the cost of higher level spells, or to cast more high level spells at the cost of lower level spells.

Mana Cost

Casting a spell costs a number of mana points equal to the spell’s level.

Maximum Mana Points

A spellcaster's class mana is equal the highest level that they can cast.

Universal Mana

A character's universal mana is equal to their character level. Regardless of how much mana a character has, it is still only possible to cast one 10th level spell per day, unless the character possesses a feat that normally grants a second 10th level spell slot.

Recovering Mana

Recovering mana requires a 10-minute downtime activity, much like Refocusing for Focus points. The first time a character takes this activity in a day, they recover all of their mana. Each subsequent time they take this activity before taking a long rest, their maximum mana is reduced by an amount equal to half of the highest level spell that they can cast, rounded up, to a minimum of 0. Characters recover all their mana and refresh their mana pool upon completing a long rest.

With the assistance of a Manalisk, characters can recover their full mana pool, regardless of the number of times they've refocused to recover mana since their last long rest.

Mana Needles

Characters can also gain temporary mana by using mana needles. These needles can grant 1-10 temporary points of mana, based on their level. Temporary mana points don’t stack. Mana needles have the same cost as a scroll with a spell level equal to the amount of mana they grant. Scrolls

Mana needles have the consumable, magical and potion traits.

Casting Without Mana

Characters can still cast spells without Mana by using their own lifeforce to power their spells. When a caster does this, they gained the Drained condition, with a value equal to the level of spell that they cast. If they already have the Drained condition, they instead increase the value of their Drained condition by this amount. Any amount of the Drained condition gained this way must be recovered naturally. This can be aided by Long-Term medical care, but magic cannot speed up this recovery.

Prepared Casters

Prepared casters (clerics, wizards, etc.) still prepare spells each day in their spell slots as normal. Casting a spell does not expend the prepared spell and instead expends Mana equal to the spell level. A prepared caster can continue to cast the same prepared spell so long as they have the Mana to cast it.