slaughterj
Mar 11th, '03, 12:44 PM
I've been thinking more about various magic system designs, and I like ones in games I run to be structured so that magic isn't cast willy-nilly ("I cast my "Tie my shoes" spell!"), and isn't so common as to make one question the medieval state of society, i.e., so that disease/plague, famine/starvation, healing, travel, etc. are all still relevant. A number of suggestions have been made, from use of BODY, to Side Effects, to hard-to-obtain materials. Here's one I've been thinking about:
Make all spells cost LTE END on casting.
A few thoughts/clarifications:
- Award the lim, let the casters save the pts (magic can be costly, set up the lim at a set -1/2 lim value or some such, or calculate what sort of long-term Drain END effect it is equivalent to, and assign the lim value based on the proper level of Side Effects).
- This will make all "large" spells cast less frequently (have to rest up).
- This could be set up with personal END or in an END "Mana" Battery.
- At a base level, this would mean that if someone cast a Healing spell, they would be down in x END for several hours, so they won't be casting but so many at any point in time - the same goes for Cure Disease, Create Food, etc. - thus helping to maintain the medieval feel.
- Create some combat spells that are continuous in nature - costing END to maintain/use, but not additional LTE (which is only required on activation). (This is even easier to differentiate from "helpful" spells like Healing, etc., if those spells are only available for Divine practitioners.) Spells like Flame Bolt could be set up where the spell caster can fling a bolt each phase, paying the normal END, but are self-controlling because they aren't going to spend END very long to maintain it (i.e., can't fling bolts of fire all day). However, I'm still trying to figure out how to do this under the Hero system, since this isn't the same as the Continuous advantage (i.e., you have to hit each phase separately, using a new attack action, etc.), but it has been suggested to make such spells have a Magic Roll lim at half value for such effects.
Thoughts?
Make all spells cost LTE END on casting.
A few thoughts/clarifications:
- Award the lim, let the casters save the pts (magic can be costly, set up the lim at a set -1/2 lim value or some such, or calculate what sort of long-term Drain END effect it is equivalent to, and assign the lim value based on the proper level of Side Effects).
- This will make all "large" spells cast less frequently (have to rest up).
- This could be set up with personal END or in an END "Mana" Battery.
- At a base level, this would mean that if someone cast a Healing spell, they would be down in x END for several hours, so they won't be casting but so many at any point in time - the same goes for Cure Disease, Create Food, etc. - thus helping to maintain the medieval feel.
- Create some combat spells that are continuous in nature - costing END to maintain/use, but not additional LTE (which is only required on activation). (This is even easier to differentiate from "helpful" spells like Healing, etc., if those spells are only available for Divine practitioners.) Spells like Flame Bolt could be set up where the spell caster can fling a bolt each phase, paying the normal END, but are self-controlling because they aren't going to spend END very long to maintain it (i.e., can't fling bolts of fire all day). However, I'm still trying to figure out how to do this under the Hero system, since this isn't the same as the Continuous advantage (i.e., you have to hit each phase separately, using a new attack action, etc.), but it has been suggested to make such spells have a Magic Roll lim at half value for such effects.
Thoughts?