I would like to suggest that having Scrying (or Greater Scrying) active could provide a bonus to Teleport success chance or cost, such as in the form of a PC modifyer or a DC modification.
I'm aware that Teleport chance is already a fairly complicated algorithm. Presumably any adjustments should be simple and understandable, such as "You also receive a +2/4 on Teleport checks" or similar, but something like "Increase Familiarity by 10/20" would accomplish a similar goal in all but the cases when someone's already been there many times and knows the destination well.
While removing the mishap penalty entirely would closer in line with P&P, I do not see it as appropriate given the substantial cost of Greater Teleport for the same effect.
My logic is as follows:
P&P Teleport mentions using means of scrying to improve destination familiarity to remove 'mishap' chance. Given that we already ensure some 'familiarity' with the destination in the form of marking and visiting, using magical means of remote viewing would still help most casters have a 'clear idea of the location and layout of the destination'.
Scrying, as I understand it to be implemented on this server, is basically a possessable summon for the duration and presumably puts the summon as a buff on the caster, so implementation of the bonus could simply check to see if the Scrying spell is active on the caster when the Teleport is cast, rather than any more complicated checks attempting to learn about action history.Teleport wrote:“Studied carefully” is a place you know well, either because you can currently see it, you’ve been there often, or you have used other means (such as scrying) to study the place for at least one hour.
Ref: https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/teleport.htm
It would certainly be within reason to then also remove the Scrying effect upon arrival, but I leave it to whomever implements to decide if it is warranted.
In terms of affected characters, while I expect that UMDers will receive a boost if they opt to carry another type of scroll/wand, my main hope with this suggestion is to make it a bit more reliable for a pre-endgame prepared spellcaster to teleport if they are prepared to use 2 spell slots.
From my own experience, it takes either substantial skill investment or character levels to actually make the spell work reliably. It's quite disappointing as a lower-level caster to get the shiny new spell Teleport at level 9-ish, and proceed to accidentally murder yourself or an ally when you go to show it off because you only have a net +0 bonus on a straight D20+1 vs a DC that doesn't scale with level(minimum DC:16-30, depending on random dice), while someone with UMD receives a minimum +2 from Item-CL 18.
Since the random chance is weighted by 4 dice towards the center, there is a pretty high chance that a fresh caster trying to go somewhere as mundane as the Farmlands is going to receive a DC of 22 or higher and be practically penalized for a spell that already carries a higher-than-average cost for the level.
It is my opinion that helping boost the familiarity will aid those pre-epic casters actually use their tools, as well as provide some extra utility for a primarily RP-focused Scrying (as I understand it).
Cheers,
Kit