David Duncan's, The King's Blades

[Savinien]

I've started rereading the series and I was curious if anyone else read them. How did you feel about them? Were you curious about the magic system and Hero Conversions?

 

I am.

[Nolgroth]

Re: David Duncan's, The King's Blades

 

I remember reading the first three and despite the author's statement that events did not match from one book to another, I was a little put off by the different events. If it would have been the same events with the same conclusion, told from very different eyes, I think the series would have been a lot better.

 

Now the King's Blades themselves were really a fun idea. Sort of a cross between the Warders from Wheel of Time and the Musketeers of Dumas fame. I rather liked the whole concept and I thought the way they were "made" was rather creepy.

[Old Man]

Re: David Duncan's, The King's Blades

 

The only one I've read so far is the Gilded Chain. I never really put much thought into Hero conversions of the magic system, though--since it seems as though magic would effectively be NPC only. It would be very S&S and ritual- and focus-oriented.

 

Otherwise what you have is relatively typical swashbuckling.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: David Duncan's, The King's Blades

 

Ive read all of the Kings Blades and Kings Dagger books and am a big Duncan fan in general.

 

The Magic in the Blades setting is pretty understated, definitely on the lower end of things.

 

Most of the magic revolves around transforming / imbueing things -- perhaps transmogrification is a better word for it. In the setting this is generally called conjuration, but not in the D&D evoke something from nothing sense.

 

The actual conjurers would probably by created by a powerful but specifically limited Transform requiring a conjuring circle, a specific ritual per effect from a Known Spell list or equivalent, etc.

 

The "beneficiaries" gain their abilities according to the normal rules for adding Powers to things via Transform.

 

 

 

In the gilded chain we also see some kind of necromantic magic when Durendal and Wolfbiter travel abroad, but it is similarly ritualistic / low magic and could probably be handled along similar lines.

 

In a later book, Impossible Odds I think, another order of magic users on the continent is introduced, and they seem to have more useful combat magic, but it also seems to be much more rote and to lack the tranmogrification capabilities of the conjurers. I'd have to sit down and reread that book to glean more info from it, but if I recall correctly it seemed more hermetic / alchemical in nature, with a heavy layer of occlusion to hide the specifics / keep things mysterious.

 

In the Jaguar Knights we see a very specialized form of magic in the form of the animal / totemic warriors, but its underlying functionality appears to be yet another form of ritualistic transmogrification.

[Savinien]

Re: David Duncan's, The King's Blades

 

What about the inherrent abilities of the Inquisitors and White Sisters?

 

I really enjoyed the subtle infusion of the magic. It seemed fairly normal that it existed, yet it didn't dominate the setting.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: David Duncan's, The King's Blades

 

The White Sisters just have Detect Magic.

 

The Inquisitors were mostly gadgeteers, and their inherent abilities (if any) are presumably the result of being the recipients of conjurations, same as Blades.

[sbarron]

Re: David Duncan's, The King's Blades

 

I think I've read most of the Kings Blades books and really enjoyed them. The setting has enough different groups to really keep the stories interesting, and there seems to be a lot of uncharted territory...

 

As to how a magic system might work in HERO...I just don't know. Killer Shrike usually has a pretty good handle on these sort of things, so I'm sure his ideas are sound.

 

On a more general note, I really like how all magic must incorporate the 8 elements in order to work. So even though the Jaguar knight magic, the weird Ape creature magic, and Chivian magic all look and feel very different, in the end they are all drawing on the magic power the same way, even though the casters don't always know or understand this.

 

I've always wished RPGs would do more with this idea...create a system of magic with a unifying theme that no one in the game universe knows. Then have different groups access the magic in different ways, but always abiding by the original theme. I think it would create a cool setting where the players might be able to piece together the true source of all magic, and thus be able to become more powerful through this knowledge. It would create a nice reward for PCs that develop a knowledge and understanding of various magic systems within the setting...but I digress.

 

Kings Blades = Cool!

[Savinien]

Re: David Duncan's, The King's Blades

 

I think I've read most of the Kings Blades books and really enjoyed them. The setting has enough different groups to really keep the stories interesting, and there seems to be a lot of uncharted territory...

 

As to how a magic system might work in HERO...I just don't know. Killer Shrike usually has a pretty good handle on these sort of things, so I'm sure his ideas are sound.

 

On a more general note, I really like how all magic must incorporate the 8 elements in order to work. So even though the Jaguar knight magic, the weird Ape creature magic, and Chivian magic all look and feel very different, in the end they are all drawing on the magic power the same way, even though the casters don't always know or understand this.

 

I've always wished RPGs would do more with this idea...create a system of magic with a unifying theme that no one in the game universe knows. Then have different groups access the magic in different ways, but always abiding by the original theme. I think it would create a cool setting where the players might be able to piece together the true source of all magic, and thus be able to become more powerful through this knowledge. It would create a nice reward for PCs that develop a knowledge and understanding of various magic systems within the setting...but I digress.

 

Kings Blades = Cool!

 

I'm with you and agree. I'm hoping Shrike de Killer might contemplate the game mechanics behind the magic system, or at least detail the philosophy of creating it. Cause I have no ideas.