Designing a Magic System - semi-wild elemental magic

[arcady]

The system is being 'converted over' from my fiction into BESM, BESM d20, and hopefully FH - which I just picked up two days ago.

 

 

I seek a model were magic works around four gender-typed elements. You're born with the talent or not. If you train it up you learn spells, if you go 'wild' your magic is different every time. Even a trained mage though, can learn a new spell simply by observing it being cast (but not if it was cast by a wild mage).

 

Magic would have prohibitively high END costs, to the point that many young mages would burn out their stun or body casting. Mages can pool energy to fuel spells, and can use this to push beyond their normal limits. Mages can also drain their own apprentices dry to fuel magic - even killing them at whim.

 

Magic gets out of control easily. A spell never really fails to cast - a failed casting just gives something different (side effects limitation mandatory for all spells).

 

I'm modelling it up for BESM, BESM d20, and thought I'd see if I could do it for Hero as well.

 

part two

 

Mages go 'active' in youth - so if you don't show talent by adolensce you never will. Most human mages go active around 8-12. If not trained, they'll go wild if they live.

 

Most mages die before reaching a safe point of understanding with their magic. It can and usually does consume them, often horridly - such as being ripped limb from limb by elemental forces, demons, or whatever.

 

 

Elements are:

Fire and Air - male

Earth and Water - female

 

Mages could somewhat stack their power. So with one mage you might have the ability to put out 40 active points, another mage comes along and builds you up by another 5, 10, 15, or some other value I have not yet started to consider.

 

In the BESM version, additional mages gave a bonus to the skill roll, and there is no limit to the power of a spell cast - the powerful you cast, the more draining, with additional mages you could share the energy cost. The skill roll was based on the power of the spell, much like a skill roll in Hero does.

 

A lot of mages working together have the potential to be vastly powerful. A lone mage is going to be a lot less so. While they could call upon amazing power, it could easily kill them.

 

Mages should regularly go into burning out their own stun and body.

 

I could perhaps do this by setting the VPP low, and encouraging unlimited pushing.

 

The BESM version is here:

http://www.iguardians.net/boards/showthread.php?t=2241

 

Taught mages would probably use a VPP as well - new spells are learned with ease, though not mastered initially. Single observation will let you try to cast it, but with difficulty. After some time you will gane control of the 'new method of shaping the energies'.

 

 

I looked at the 'arts arcane' and 'the gift' systems in the book and liked how they lowered the costs. I've got another thread going asking if anyone has tried them and found them wanting or not.

[azato]

Re: Designing a Magic System - semi-wild elemental magic

 

bump.

[Odraude]

Re: Designing a Magic System - semi-wild elemental magic

 

For the ability to copy a power they see, you can build that as a mimicry VPP like it says under the VPP sections in HERO 5th and 6th.

[Markdoc]

Re: Designing a Magic System - semi-wild elemental magic

 

For the ability to copy a power they see' date=' you can build that as a mimicry VPP like it says under the VPP sections in HERO 5th and 6th.[/quote']

 

You don't need that. You simply add new spells into your VPP if you can watch them being cast.

 

cheers, Mark