Help With a Magic System

[Ndreare]

This is the magic system I am useing in my game please help me determain if it is designed reasonibly. I have only play tested it a little and have so far had little trouble but am looking for more input from experianced players.

 

The Domains of Magic

 

Gaining access to the gift of magic is not as easy as one might think it is more than learning a simple spell and moving on. A character must purchase a different skill for each of the nine magic domains. A character may choice to buy the skills up directly or to buy skill levels for them. However there are some rules on how this works. A character may buy skill levels for magic skills as they are simply purchased as “Skillsâ€. A character may even purchase the familiarity level with his magic skills.

 

• Alteration: Used for spells that change the shape or nature of physical objects and/or beings.

• Awareness: Used to affect the mental and/or spiritual plane. Also used for all sensory powers except magic.

• Creation: Used for spells that summon energy into creation such a fire balls and Illusions.

• Dimensional: Used for spells that break physical laws of space or time.

• Enchantment: Used to perform enchantment and focus related magical feats.

• Essence: Used most “Adjustment†powers.

• Necromancy: Used touch the negative plane.

• Summoning: Used for summoning spells (does not confer control over the entity, for control use Awareness.)

• Warding: Used for defensive and protective spells.

 

What Domain Do I Use?

 

Often a question that comes up is “what domain do I useâ€. The easiest way to determine what domain a power fits in is consider what exactly the power does. For example to create a fire ball you are basically wanting to create energy so that would be the Domain of Creation. Other times special FX would run into more than one Domain. An example of this would be if a character wanted to create a “Dimension Blade†this is both a Creation and Dimensional power as the character would both need to create the dimensional energy and shape/control it. The answer then is that the character has to use the lowest of his skills that are required. This is one of the reasons most skilled wizards by up there skill in more than just one Domain.

 

 

Basic Game Mechanics

 

All magic as a default has the following limitations. Some of these may be over come but that will be covered latter. (RSR and Side Effects may never be overcome unless the character buys the power out rite.)

 

All Powers Automatically have

-1/2 : Concentration 0-DCV

-3/4 : Extra Time; Full Phase, Delayed Phase

-1/4 : Gestures

-1/4 : Incantations

-1/2 : Requires Skill Roll.

-1/2 : Side Effects; (1D6 Normal Damage per every point skill is missed by. This Damage Explodes at -4DC)

 

Over Coming the Limitations of Magic

 

The limitations are actually not so much limitations as obstacles. A character who wants to overcome the limitations of magic such as casting with out gestures or casting in less time may do so by pushing their skill. For every -1/4 the character wants to ignore/overcome the character suffers a -1 to his/her skill roll.

 

Example 1: Nero wants to Cast a Fire ball but because he wants it to go off before the knight attacks him he is going to push off the limitation of “Extra Time; Full Phase, Delayed this is a ¾, so to instant cast his spell he will have to roll at -3. This is in addition to any other penalties such as Active Points.

 

 

Counter Spells & Magic

 

Often in books and games one character begins casting a spell and an opponent hopes to interrupt him or shield him from the mystic flows he is attempting to wield. In game this is resolved as a contest of skills between the characters. In a contest of magic skills the caster uses the base Domain for the spell he desires to cast, the disruptor uses either his “Source Domain†or the Same Domain as the target spell Disruptors choice. The disruptor is at the same casting penalty as if he were casting the Target Spell him self. The character should know the exact spell being he is trying to disrupt. If the Disruptor does not know what spell he is disrupting he may only use “Source†and he has an additional -2 to skill. A character may try to divine what spell is being cast via a KS Magic roll at -1 per 10 AP or a KS Type Magic roll at -1 per 20 AP. Legendary spells may already be known.

 

 

Access To The Schools of Magic

 

Not just anyone can use magic. Only someone born with the “Gift†may actually channel the forces of magic. Unfortunately not all people are born with the gift at its full power. The following is a summery of the different levels of “The Giftâ€.

 

15 : The Lesser Gifted

25 : The Greater Gift

35 : The True Gift

 

Definition of the different levels of “The Giftâ€.

The Lesser Gift: An average weaver can cast spells from up to four “Domains†but they must all fit into a narrow category of special affect such as Air, Earth, Fire, Water or Animal Magic. Many Warlocks and Shamans fall in this category.

The Greater Gift: A typical magic user these people have the Gift at such a level that they may cast from all but two of the known “Domainsâ€. They must select at the time of creation which Domain they are unable to cast from. (Remember to select two Domains that cannot be learned.) Most “Magesâ€, Necromancers, Alchemist, Technomancers ext… fall in this category.

The True Gift: A true Arcane Lord in the traditional sense these people have the Gift at such a level that they may cast from all of the known “Domains†with full power. There are no restrictions as to which Domains this character may study and/or master.

 

 

Arcane Talents

 

Sometimes in addition to just being able to weave and use magic a person will be born with other more limited gifts such as a predisposition to one Domain or an Elemental inclination. These characteristics are always born into the character and never acquired later although it is not unheard of for a character to live out his life and die never having known of his magical gifts. The following are some samples of the known and most common of magical talents.

 

 

1 Arcane Dedication: This character has devoted so much of his time and energy into his Arcane Gifts he has come to truly master them. The character with this “Talent†is actually just purchasing skill levels & as such follows all the rules for skill levels.(Note: The 5 point or higher related groupings include KS and PS that are magic related.) Cost: Varies.

 

2 Elementalist: These characters are inherently inclined to one FX over another. Determine what fx they are inclined to, the character is then considered to have +3 to all his magic skills when working in that FX unfortunately the character is considered to be at -3 for all other spells and may not cast spells considered to be of opposite nature. Cost: 10 (Note may only be selected by characters with the 25 or 35 point Gifted levels.)

 

3 Focused Study: Some characters are so good at casting their spells that they do not have to do the simple things most mages consider necessary. An example of this would be a character who gas spent months mastering his talents so he may cast without his hands or even without using power words. This character may ignore a single -1/4 worth of penalty to casting for each level purchased. A character purchasing this talent must name it in such a way as to clearly identify which limitations he is overcoming. Cost: 3 the cost of this talent is based on buying limited 5-point skill levels.

 

4 Inherit Power: Some characters seem to have unexplained levels of power that exceed what should be their limits. These characters were born with the raw talent of magic well above the limits of their mind & will. For every level of this talent purchased the character may increase his Base Point limit by 5 AP. Cost: 2

 

5 Mana-Blank: This character is completely immune to direct affect magic. They were born without any Mana at all and cannot be aided or attacked directly from magic. Although indirect effects still can have affects on the character such as a created wall of stone would still be seen as a stone wall and would still need climbed or overcome. Often times characters with this talent do not relies that indirect magic such as hurled objects can affect them until it is to late do not let players assume that their characters are experts on magic just because they know the rules. Cost: 50

 

6 Trigger Master: This character has mastered the principle behind triggered powers like Enchantment and Spell Holding. This character may double the number of triggers active at any given time for every level or this talent purchased. Cost: 10/LVL. (Some GM’s may wish to limit this talent to one or two levels as it can be so easily abused.)

 

7 * Others: Since no man can think of everything we must consider there are talents we have not covered. Cost: Unknown

 

 

The Strength of Magic

 

A caster with access to a domain of spells may try to weave anything he desires that fits within his skills. However some things are harder to do than others. To represent this we use the standard rule from 5th ED of -1 to your skill roll for every 10 AP of the power.

 

A character may try any spell he knows however there are certain restrictions on the game mechanics to help maintain balance and represent the different “Strengths†of different weavers.

1: First of these is “Minimum Base Point†restrictions, all powers have a minimum Base Point level of 10 Character Points. This means that if a character wants to create a “Wings of The Raven†spell with flight he must have a minimum of 5†in raw flight before any advantages or limitations are applied.

2: Second is “Maximum Base Points†the maximum Base Points in a power +/- adders before applying advantages or limitations is equal to the lower of the characters INT or EGO attribute times 2.5.

3: “Active Points†there is no hard AP limit for casting a spell.

 

The maximum total bonus a character may add to a Magic skill by any & all known means is equal to a bonus of his highest complimentary skill being used or +3 whichever is more. So a character with a base skill of -18 & Circle Casting of -13 can not have an effective skill before penalties of higher than -31.

 

 

What if You Want To Cast A Spell Beyond Your Skill?

 

Some times a character will want to cast a spell that is so powerful, that his skill roll would drop to unreasonable levels. Well the good news is there are ways to fix that. The character wishing to cast spells that are to powerful to be casually slung may choose one or more of the following options each of which will make the casting easier. Although there is still no guarantee that the spell will go off as desired it certainly help to use these tools.

 

1 Extra Time: By using a PS: Ritual Caster skill a character may add +1 to his skill for every additional step down the time table beyond the base time of spell. This does not usually require a roll unless the character is distracted or otherwise disturbed. A spell cast using PS: Ritual Caster always requires gestures and incantations throughout.

 

2 Extra End: AKA pushing your limits, for every +1 END multiplier the character may add +1 to his effective skill. This has the side effect of any failure while a character is pushing also has its Backfire DC pushed by the same multiplier as the END was pushed by. (This follows the normal rules for pushing.)

 

3 Complimentary Skills: There are two different Power Skills that can be helpful to a spell caster they are Symbol/Rune Casting and Soul Casting, although not actually arcane skills these magic related skills can help a caster in very significant ways but each has its own limits. The limits of the two skills are as follows. Symbol/Rune Casting requires the character create physical marks focusing the magic involved. The minimum size of these marks are 1†square per active point in the spell cast, plus the character still has to roll his Symbol/Rune Casting skill in addition to making his normal roll to cast the spell. Soul Casting, this vile magic requires the character to spend 2 body for every 10 active points or portion their of in the spell. This magic drain on life cannot be restored in any magical or known way other than normal healing time. If the character does not want to use his own life energy he may choose to use the life energy of another by doing body damage to them in a ritual casting while they are prone with a contested Skill vs. Ego roll. The benefit for using these skills follow the standard complimentary skills..

 

4 Casting Circles: Casting circles are handled quite easily. The character leading the circle gets a +2 to his skill & strength for every doubling of casters with all the relevant skills. A character with only four domains in a circle can only add to the skill of others in those same skills. The only real requirement is that all caster involved must be with in 1†of another caster in the circle and no character may have more assistants in a circle than his skill in Circle Casting.

 

5 Casting Aids: Such as a Wizards Staff or Crystal. (These are bought as Arcane Devotion with Limitations such as Focus, Charges and Extra Time.) All foci must be designed in such a way as to mentally represent the desired spell. In example a spell of fireballs could not use a glass of water but instead would need something like coal, ruby dust and/or maybe salt peter.

 

6 Alchemy Aids: Such as a potion or scroll, these devices make it easier to use spells but each one typically only has one power. The benefit of this method is that it allows the character to make his magic roll in the safety of his laboratory. Alchemy Items count towards the standard Triggered powers limits. Items with charges count as one trigger slot for every 8 charges stored/created in the item or for every 5 minutes worth of continuous. (This system uses the 5th edition recommended Skill/5 limit for maximum number of triggered spells prepared.)

 

7 Technomancy Constructs: A Technomancy Construct is fashioned in a laboratory were the character is safe and later provides the caster with the ability to use a predefined spell. The benefit of a Technomancy item is the character is allowed to use his Alchemy/Technomancy skill to activate the spell even when it is from a different Domain. (Example Darith has a Technomancy of -19 and a Fire Pistol, his Creation Skill is only -8 normally to use the Fire Bolt spell (5D6 EB) stored in the pistol he would have to roll vs. his Creation skill as fire ball is magically created energy however since he built it into a Technomancy item he may use his Enchantment skill of -19. Technomancy items count towards the characters triggered powers limits even though they technically do not use the triggered power advantage the way alchemy items do.

 

8 True Enchanted Items: These are objects bought in the normal method of foci purchasing in the Hero system. Enchanted items built with the “Technomancy†fx do not count towards the characters triggered power limits. Although you do have to pay full points for them.

 

In all cases the character still rolls on the Domain skill that the spell would come from when creating/using the item (Exception is Technomancy in which case the character only rolls in the base domain at object creation). He simply gains benefits from having the object focus his spell. It is not uncommon for an Enchanter/Alchemist/Technomancer to have a very high Enchantment skill and very low skill (-11 to -15) with the other Domains making it so that days or even weeks can be spent creating magic items. The character also need to have the appropriate PS skill for crafting whatever object he hopes to focus his powers through such as brewing, Armor Craft or Literacy. A rarely chosen exception is to have someone else craft the object in your presence as you cast the magic.

 

 

Extraordinary Skill

 

Characters with Extraordinary Skill may use their magic skills at passive levels. This is done by treating their skill as if were only half its full level. The advantage is it represents a mages passive ability to resist the spells of other wizards or sense magic casually. A Character never suffers spell back fire from passive skill he either innately resists/senses or casually creates or he does not. This is the effortless level of power a normal person uses breathing.

 

 

Special Exceptions to General Rules

 

Always Using The Lowest Skill

• Magical Defenses: A character may use either half of Essence or Warding his choice for determining inherent PowDef.

• Magic Perception: A character may use either Awareness or Essence his choice for magic perception.

• Necromancy: A character may use his skill in necromancy for the following powers that would fall in other Domains Animate Dead, Create Zombie, Control Dead, Repel Undead & Sense Necromantic Energy.

• Adjustment Powers that affect the Magic Skills or the “Gift†Talents Directly are automatically at X4 to skill penalty.

 

Holy Ground & Other Places of Magic

 

Mana Wells: Wells are treated as environmental conditions that provide bonuses to magic for either all magic skills or for limited magic skills based on the type. Common types of Mana wells are Elemental, Necromancy, Healing, Protection ext…

 

Dark Magic Zones: These areas are treated as environmental penalties to limited magic or all magic similar to Mana Wells. It is possible to have the two different types over lapping such as Holy Ground that will have bonuses to all healing/divine fx spells and negatives to all necromantic spells.

 

Wild magic zones are areas of such increased magical energy that channeling is at -8 to skill and all successes are critical with double power while all failures are critical with double the normal amount of backfire.

 

 

Perceived Power Levels

 

Something that should be addressed is how much power do I need to represent certain power levels. So I give this chart of perceived power levels from the perception of the Adinari Guild of Magic.

• Apprentice Skill of -8 through -15

• Wizard Skill of -16 through -20

• Master Wizard Skill of -21 through -25

• Arch Wizard Skill of -26 or higher

 

 

 

END NOTES: In games that use ER. Add (AP of ALL Extra Talents/5) + (Highest Magic Skill/2) + (Total Levels of all Magic Skills/10). So a character with INT 10, + True Gift (No other Talents) + 3 points in eight magic skills for an 11 + 13 points in Creation for a 16 would have 0+8.8+8=16.8 added to their ER.

[tkdguy]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

Sounds pretty good so far. Very well thought out.

[Nevenall]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

Looks pretty darn cool to me.

 

Do you make up what ever spell you want on the fly?

I would have a hard time doing that quickly.

[swobeas]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

Looks like a cool system and I would like to participate in playtesting...

 

which won't be able, at least courtesy of not havin a megascale flight

 

 

greets from berlin

 

swobeas

[Ndreare]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

Looks pretty darn cool to me.

 

Do you make up what ever spell you want on the fly?

I would have a hard time doing that quickly.

 

 

No sorry. The spell system was thaught up by me with a game world in mind. In that game world you have to "Know" a spell to cast it. However people can teach each other spells pretty easy. (I actualy poasted it along time ago but got no responce from anyone.)

 

However Spells have no cost. They are all free. In example say you knew some of the spells in Until Super Powers Data Base or Hero System Grimoir. Your character could teach those spells to other who had the power to learn them. But you would not normaly be able to just through together a spell on the fly.

 

I like the idea of simple spells being done on the fly. But what has happened in the little play testing I did the first time around was the players started to lag down combat trying to think up spells.

[Black Rose]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

How Does one go about "inventing" a new spell? Do you use the standard Inventor (Spell Creation) skill? I've always liked the idea of needing some sort of base spell to work from, since it's all but impossible to create a spell out of whole cloth. Since your spells don't "cost" in the traditional sense, it might be easier to get "sample forms" to pull from to create new spells: "Hmm, bit of Fire here... Penetrating over there... add some Water... voila! I have Naptha!"

[Ndreare]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

How Does one go about "inventing" a new spell? Do you use the standard Inventor (Spell Creation) skill? I've always liked the idea of needing some sort of base spell to work from' date=' since it's all but impossible to create a spell out of whole cloth. Since your spells don't "cost" in the traditional sense, it might be easier to get "sample forms" to pull from to create new spells: "Hmm, bit of Fire here... Penetrating over there... add some Water... voila! I have Naptha!"[/quote']

 

Yes, an inventor skill would be required.

 

I guess Ishould have thaught of that before posting. My spell creation rules I made were deamned by the players to be too complex. I will summ it up for you guys and you can tell me what you think.

 

Primary Skill Invention complimentory skill Research

 

A character may try to invent new spells. To invent a spell you must Roll an inventor skill at -1 for every 10 AP in the spell. However the more complicated the spell the harder it is to invent on your own. For every "Caution" in a spell -2 to your inventor roll, for every "Stop" in a spell -4 to your invention roll.

 

The base time required to Invent a new spell in 1 minute plus one step down the time table for every -1 worth of modifiers. A character may step up the time table for inventing by 1 level per an additional -1 penalty to his roll as for normal skills. This helps represent that most wizards do not invent "Palor Maiming Plauge" a 175 AP plauge that sweeps the land. However Palor with his 19 Invention and 18 Research managed to invent it after only 1 year of study and another year of research. (lucky basterd must have rolled a 4)

 

 

Example 1: So to create a "Spectral Form" = Desolidification spell (40 AP(-4), pluss Stop(-4) =-8 to your inventor roll. So this spell also takes Three months of trial and error before it function properly.

[Pentoth]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

The magic system you have devised seems great. Deffinately lots of thought into it.

[Ndreare]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

The magic system you have devised seems great. Deffinately lots of thought into it.

 

Thanks for the compliment I am hopeing that others like it also.

 

 

PS: If any one has a web site were they host other people work, let me know I could send this as a complete word file when it is done. (I think it would be cool to share but I do not have a web site.)

[Nevenall]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

Is there a limit to the number of spells that a character can start with?

 

Also, I'm curious to know more about the domains.

[Ndreare]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

Is there a limit to the number of spells that a character can start with?

 

Although there was no writen limit to how many spells a character could start with I did have a game based limit. I allowed players to start with one spell for every 2 full points spent on Domain Skill. So a character with 7 points in creation (Roll+2) would have 3 creation spells at the start of the game. A reason for no hard limit was that players could have a background like Guild Mage that justified having several low value training spells that should not count against a limit.

 

Also' date=' I'm curious to know more about the domains.[/quote']

 

 

Most of what the domains represent was "Flavor" for the game world. I can post it and see if you guys think the flavor is up to snuff. (Never really considered myself much in the creative department so do not expect to much.)

[Ndreare]

Re: Help With a Magic System

 

Well here is a start for the first couple damains. I useualy have the players in the room as we talk about the spells but here you go.

 

Magic From The World of Core

 

 

“Hi I’m Loar, I’ll be your guide during your first few weeks here at Adinari. Well I guess the best place to start would be for me to show you to the mess and the bathrooms.â€

 

“A what?†you ask.

 

“You’ve never heard of a bathroom? Well let me explain here at the tower we have many amenities you have probably never heard of, from chamber pots with flowing water to magical lighting through out the whole tower. One of the things you should be aware of is areas marked off limits are ABSOLUTLY OFF LIMITS. There are many magical wards protecting most of these areas along with mundane traps and traps brought from other worlds to prevent access. I know this is something you would think should be kept secret but apparently since they made a command for all in the tower to know accidental student deaths have gone down nearly 70%.â€

 

“They? Who are they on the out side there are all kinds of rumors about who rules the tower.†You say.

 

“Well that is something I can’t tell you rite now as I am still not allowed to know. Rules are that only fully trained sorcerers are allowed to know who the leaders of the Three Halls are. So until you get accepted into their ranks you will just have to wait.â€

 

Fighting the curiosity you ask “Why would they keep something like who your boss is a secret? I mean how do you know who to bow to and who to dodge?â€

 

“Well the rules are until you become a Full Wizard you show absolute respect for every one who is a Wizard.â€

 

“How long have you been here? Do you do this all the time like your primary job or what?â€

 

“Well actually you are the first person I have done this for. I'm normally not given this much responsibility. See I have only been here for a year and a half. I don’t even know how to do anything with magic yet but create light and I am not aloud to do that without a supervisor present. However I am the third best in the Swordsmanship class and have the highest marks in the whole class at history and demonology.

 

“So what are you going to study? Or have they not told you yet. They started me off only telling me that I mite be able to learn magic. Not like I could complain so far I haven’t had to pay a dime for my tuition, someone else is covering my cost of admission. Who covers your cost, family?â€

 

 

********************TWO DAYS LATER********************

 

“Welcome class, I am Proffesor Venturi and I will be you instructer for the next 4 years in Thaumantic Theory.

 

“The best place to start is to cover the current understanding of magic and how it is used and functions. What you will not get from my class will be how to use your gifts. However what you will get is an understanding of what the gift is and how it can be used my men.â€

 

“Why do we have to take this class, I know a sorcerer that came to the palace once and he said he never came here. He said that magic just works because it is magic.†Ask a you man to your left.

 

“Well the man you are speaking of is not here is he? Also he has not taught you how to use your gift. Often with hedge wizards, we find that their spells are weaker and the repertoire of skills is smaller. A large benefit you will get from this school and class is understanding. Understanding is the first step to mastering your skills.

 

“Now if you children are done interrupting my class I will begin by telling you about the nine Domains.

 

“The first and most important of these is the Domain of ‘Alteration’. The Domain of Alteration is used by wizards to control the very nature of an object. In example if you were to take a drink of water we all know it is water by the characteristics it has from taste to wetness. A wizard with mastery over ‘Alteration’ has the power to change that nature, both in minor and major ways. Take for example legends you have heard of Wizards who can turn Water into Wine, Lead into Gold or a tree into ice. All the spells use fragments of ‘Alteration’, the basic understanding of the nature of matter will be covered by Professor Warlin in his class.

 

“The second and considered by some to be the most useful Domain is ‘Awareness’. As you sit there is your chairs you are not aware of all the things happening. There are things in this world people do not see. Many of them you have heard about but do not understand. Most of these things can be sensed by skilled wizards. Examples includes the thoughts of those around them, the closest source of water or even the nearest human civilization. The basic understanding of the nature of the mind and awareness will be covered by Professor Richton in his class.

 

“Third would be the Domain of ‘Creation’. ‘Creation’ is used by wizards to summon forces into being. The most common example of creation that you children should be familiar with is Summoning a Wall of Iron out of thin air, Fire balls and Lightning Bolts. These are examples of wizards creating raw energy from their mystic reserves. Basic understanding of the nature of creation and the pattern it follows will be covered by Professor Aileen in her class.

 

“Fourth of the Domains in the Domain of ‘Dimension’. ‘Dimension’ is often the hardest to understand by our students, it is also the least common gift. But I was told that two of you have this gift. Many of you have heard legends of wizards traveling through time, or opening gates to other places, well these are all traits of ‘Dimension’ however there are many more Spells that have been invented using this Domain. They include such spells as Walk through walls, Time Prison and as I am sure every child in the lads has heard of Perra Storm and her magic blade that can cut through anything. Well her blade was made by wizards using fragments of ‘Dimension’. The Domain of ‘Dimension’ is taught by Professor Whailen in his class. But I would not be very worried about that yet as you will not be taking his class until your third year.

 

 

************************************

 

I will add more later.