1010011010 wrote:concentration
That's crazy—I had to run off to class before posting, but I had a rather similar idea, inspired by Galefury's comment.
Anyway, to take another bite at the apple (and I'll try to be more concise this time), there might be a simpler way, while still accomplishing a bolder change in tmut along the lines of what Galefury and others have suggested. How about:
1.) Casting form spell activates it, requires usual checks/costs
2.) Casting it again deactivates it, but after slight delay (as is case now),
and requires the same check and costs as casting it
2a.) Get rid of the (a) "End Transformation"
2b.) You cannot amnesia a foo form spell while in the that form
3.) Doing stuff that lowers your "max" int (so stat drain doesn't count), or taking off wizardry, gives a penalized spell success check
if doing so lowers your spell success by >X% (probably scaling up with level of the tmut in question). This penalized check means the game ("under the hood") rolls 1+1d3 times to see if you successfully "cast" the spell (without taking MP). If you fail
one of those checks, you get a message about "losing control of the magic sustaining your altered form" and this gives a miscast effect appropriate for the given spell, plus a forced end transformation (after the usual short delay) for your current form.
3a.) If about to take off something that will cause the penalized roll from 3., you get a warning that "This piece of equipment is vital in helping you maintain your current form. Are you sure you want to remove it without first ending your transformation safely?"
3b.) !brilliance could be a bit more generous if you want: A few turns before the effect wears off, you get a warning "You are having trouble controlling your form!", and when the effect does finally end, it simply ends the transformation (after the usual short delay) *without* a miscast effect.
4.) Successfully casting a different form while in one form switches you over immediately, as things currently are
5.) The spellcasting penalties from certain forms (blade hands and spider form) do not apply to those specific spells. (So being in blade hands makes it harder to cast all spells *except* blade hands, ditto for spider form.)
6.) All of the tmut change-form spells can have N/A under spell power now, I guess?
@WalkerBoh: Fair enough.