Casting spells all day long

[Alcamtar]

Okay, I like powerful "High Fantasy" magic, and my players like D&D style magic. But I don't want them to be able to cast powerful spells all day long. Using personal END, it only takes about a minute to fully recover after a fight... so I'm casting about for some other method to limit spellcasting. I'm not so concerned about combat as the potential of magic as a plot-wrecking device outside of combat.

 

Delayed Effect + extra time limits the amount of spells they can cast in combat, but they can quickly recharge during "down time".

 

VPP with charges-per-day allows a limited number of total spells per day, without specifying exactly what they are.

 

An END reserve with moderately slow REC would take a while to recover, limiting daily use.

 

What do you use? Any suggestions? Is this not really a problem?

 

Mike

[Thirdbase]

I plan on using a variation on Long Term End, preventing anyone from endlessly casting spells or fighting, etc. This will also make characters have to sleep or rest.

[Killer Shrike]

Ive used the END Reserve w/ Limited REC method before. My current Magic System uses Charges on spells in a VPP to limit spellcasting.

 

http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/GreyHEROContent/Magic.htm

[Killer Shrike]

LTE is an interesting option as well, but beware of "Healing" spells that get rid of LTE or render it meaningless.

[AnotherSkip]

Have trivial sideeffects as a requirement on all spells whether or not they make the roll.

 

trivial: minus 1-3 LTE per casting probably related to AC ie -1/30 AC.

 

hey its a -1/2 disad, its a place to start.

 

[dugfromthearth]

END battery with limited recovery is usually the easiest for what you want.

[Vondy]

What about having magic be external to the character - requiring a source of mana (end) to cast spells?

 

Sources like magic pools and the like could be end reserves with appropriate recoveries, while sources like the exotic green lotus could be expendable.

 

You could also do a hybrid on this by stating that characters who use their personal endurance pay long term endurance. That way, without mana, they can still throw a few spells (or one biggish one), but they can't do it constantly.

[Rick]

We use an end reserve W/a Limited recovery (every 1/2 hr of restful sleep). If you use up your End Reserve you can dip into your own end at x2 end.

[Fitz]

I make spells cost LTE -- sort of.

 

I tried to think how that could be done other than just waving my god-like GM Hand o' Power, and decided that giving spells a mandatory Side Effect -- an END Drain with delayed return rate -- works well to return the desired effect. It has the advantage that it can be tweaked for individual spells, so the amount of END Drained will depend on whether the Side Effect is defined as Minor, Major or Extreme. I use a Major efect (30pts or 1/2 Active) as the default.

 

This has another advantage for my purposes; it means that only casting the spell costs LTE, while maintaining an already-cast spell can use normal END. This reflects my ideas about how I want magic to work pretty well, since in my campaign it's the evocation of the magical forces which are so draining on the spellcaster, not just the use of those forces.

[bjbrown]

END Reserve with slow recovery is an easy way. But if you don't mind the characters casting low-power spells all day, but only want to limit high power spells all day, just work that into the definition of your magic system. For example, all spells over X Active Points require prior preparation (one at a time with Trigger only), or all spells over X Active Points have a Side Effect: Drain END that goes off every time the spell is cast, or all spells over X Active Points require a rare expendable focus.

[austenandrews]

I've built spell systems based around Trigger and Extra Time, where each spell requires a long casting time but can be Triggered later (basically like Delayed Effect, without the arbitrary number limit). Then you've got a hard limit based on prep time, with some flexibility depending on what else the spellcaster is doing besides casting spells (that is, the caster gets extra spells if he stays home from the tavern, skips meals & sleep, etc.).

 

-AA