Game Spotlight - Fantastic Heroes & Witchery

Fantastic Heroes & Witchery, published by Dice of Might Publishing, is D&D how I would have written it, and much more. Here are my houserules for this great game. Pdfs for the following (and more) are linked on the right. Be sure to download my Character Sheet. 

Ability Scores

Improving Ability Scores

Upon gaining a new level roll 3d6 for each Ability Score, if the result is greater than the Ability Score's current rating, that Ability may be raised by one point.

Hit Points

Wound Hit Points

A character's minimum starting Wound Hit Points are equal to half his Constitution score (rounded up).

Saving Throws

All characters regardless of class utilize the same Saving Throw chart, with their Character Level not their Class Level, determining their base Saving Throw number.

Character Level	Saving Throw
1st	17
2nd	16
3rd	15
4th	14
5th	13
6th	12
7th	11
8th	10
9th	9
10th	8
11th	7
12th 13	6 5

Combat

Bonus-to-Hit and Weapon Proficiencies

A character's Bonus-to-Hit is applied only to weapons with which he is proficient. Non-proficient weapon use is not further penalized.

Declaration of Intent and Initiative

At the beginning of each round players declare their characters intended actions, then d20 rolls are made for every character, representing their attack roll, skill check, spellcasting roll, or other action.

While all actions are generally considered to be occurring simultaneously, certain types of actions can be completed more quickly than others, these categories are, in descending order of precedence – Missile Fire, Movement, Melee Combat, and Magic.

When characters perform actions within the same category the person with the highest total result (after factoring in all relevant modifiers) is considered as having completed his action first. A character can chose to delay an action, allowing him to act later in the round than he otherwise would.

Magic

Spell Preparation and Casting

Magicians must memorize spells in order to cast them, but the memorized spell is not "lost" when cast. The number of spells the caster may use per day is unchanged, rather each casting uses a "spell slot" of a particular spell level that represents the magical energy and force of will the caster must exert. The magician has a number of spell slots of a given level equal to the number of spells of that level he can memorize.

Example: A 2nd level Wizard may memorize two first level spells. He chooses to memorize the following spells - Burning Hands and Charm Person. The Wizard may cast Burning Hands twice, or Charm Person twice, or each spell once during the day.

Additionally, higher level spell slots may be used to cast lower level spells, though provides no benefit apart from increased versatility.

Example: The aforementioned Wizard is now 3rd level, allowing him to memorize and cast an additional second level spell. He memorizes Invisibility in addition to his usual repertoire. This allows him to either use his second-level spell slot to actually cast Invisibility, or to use it for an additional casting of Burning Hands or Charm Person.

Spellcasting Roll

Magicians must make a Spellcasting Roll when casting magic; this roll is used to check for spell failure, to determine when in combat their spell is loosed, and to serve as an Attack Roll for spells that require it. Roll d20 + the magician's spellcasting ability score modifier + the magician's spellcasting level + specialty school bonus (if applicable).

Spell Failure

The base difficulty to successfully cast a spell is 10 + the spell's level; casters wearing armor in which they are not proficient also add the armor's AC bonus to this target number. If the Spellcasting Roll is lower than the spell's adjusted difficulty level the attempt fails, although the spell slot is not lost.

Interrupting Spellcasting

A successful attack roll in combat may interrupt a magician attempting to cast a spell. If a magician is hit before his spell can be completed he must make a Constitution Saving Throw to maintain his concentration or the spell will be disrupted and the spell slot used to cast it wasted. Specialist mages may apply their specialty school bonus to this Saving Throw.

Cantrips

Magicians have access to cantrips, 0-level spells which may be cast at will. A first level magician begins knowing up to three cantrips, and automatically learns another whenever gaining the ability to cast a higher level spell.

The following classes possess this ability - Adventurer, Agent of Chaos, Agent of Law, Agent of the Gods, Alchemist, Alienist, Bard (Magic-Using), Diabolist, Draconic Sorcerer, Eldrich Archer, Fae-Mage, Forestal, Gnome Illusionist, Magic-User, Psychic, Sea Witch, Specialist Mages (all), Swan Maiden, Trickster, War-Mages (both), Warlock, Wise-Man, Wizard