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Skill-based magic


Brian Stanfield

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I've played with the idea in the past(in another system, but this is not so system specific) of gaining new spells either from finding those spells/being taught them by someone who knows them, and/or of researching through a skill spells one wishes to make.

 

They would still need to buy the spell when the time came.

 

This would be a campaign thing, not a rule per se. That way, there is a process for increasing in power for spell users. In that approach, I also worked in the idea that there was no general 'spell making' skill, but that it had to be bought in specific fields, be it 'dark magic creation', 'charms creation', 'protective spell creation', etc, so that spell casters, to become powerful in a broad range of things, would really have to either spend points on a wider range of skills as well, or alternatively roleplay amicable contacts with other spell users who would teach them their spells, or have influence/resources to obtain(through hook or crook) magic they themselves did not have the ability to create.

Edited by TheDarkness
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On ‎4‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 12:12 PM, massey said:

Is there much difference between a warrior buying "Deadly Strike" (or whatever it's called) to add +1D6 HKA to all swords, and a wizard buying "Fire Magic Expert" to add +1D6 RKA to all fire spells?

 

No difference.

 

On ‎4‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 4:58 PM, Brian Stanfield said:

 

Interesting. I like that as a possible talent to add to the list.

 

No need to add a talent - use the one that's there.

 

Burns Hot:  (Total: 16 Active Cost, 16 Real Cost) Deadly Blow:  +1d6 ([limited circumstances]: With fire spells that do damage) (Real Cost: 16)

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary points out that "broad circumstances" could be "all damaging magic"

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Hi Brian ( and anyone else who might be interested.)

 

I've been given permission to put my home brew thing up here. So here it is.

 

I'd like to point out again that I've gone for simplicity. So this means I've skipped a lot of options that might make for more elegant designs. Also for magic I've avoided doing anything like charges for spells; I prefer the idea of sorcerers being able to cast spells all day if need be. They're paying a lot of points for their spells.

 

The main idea is that character design should be fairly easy for a new player to grasp. So I've used packages that can be mixed and matched as the player wants.

 

I've simplified the skills list and included an abbreviated version of the combat rules.

 

Lastly there's equipment lists and my own take on how weapons and armour interact.

 

Cheers. ?

 

Compilation_v22_draft.pdf

 

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Thank you. ?

 

I did most of it in my spare time over about 3 months. Then spent another month doing up the spells in HERO designer. I finished up the main bit about Xmas last year. Since then I've just tinkered and edited. I am STILL finding spelling/ and grammar mistakes,  despite using spell and grammar check several times.

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On 4/29/2018 at 6:20 PM, drunkonduty said:

Compilation_v22_draft.pdf

 

Glen, this is awesome! I had dreams of doing something similar myself, but even more brief than yours. The one thing you most definitely got right is including the package deals at the beginning! I gave my buddy a copy of Fantasy Hero Complete a year ago, and he was overwhelmed (this is why I started that thread at the time). One of the problems is that he was looking for some reference point on how to make a character: what should be included, what sort of skills, what sort of background, etc., but the package deals are buried in the back of the book. You've made them a central part of creating a character for beginners, which is a really useful strategy. You also include the tables showing relative power levels (heroic vs. superheroic, etc.), as well as the starting values for the characteristics. This is not readily obvious when looking at a character sheet in FHC. In fact, as a beginner's book it really seems to assume a lot more player knowledge than should be expected for a beginner. I love what you've done.

 

I plan on, one day, writing something similar but even more brief. More like Xotl's Fantasy Hero Primer, but less directed and more general. I think a quick 30 page document outlining the character building process, including some guidance on package deals, racial and professional packages, etc., along with a general but less detailed discussion of the skills and powers would be useful. In essence, I want to write a companion to Fantasy Hero Complete that will simplify the character creation process, and give a tour of the game along with page references to the book for more details. Although I like the book, it follows the same format that HERO has used for decades, and it's not necessarily intuitive. New, and I mean brand new, players really need something to translate the book for them. The combat stuff is easy to understand, for the most part, so can be summarized really quickly. But I think a rundown of all the different rolls and how they are calculated is a must. A sample combat is also a really useful tool for newbies to get a feel for the game.

 

Anyway, that's the long version of "Awesome! Thanks!"

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Thanks Brian.

 

I am proud of how it turned out. Making a game that beginners could understand was very much the idea you instilled in me with your thread last year. Making character generation simple was my number one aim for the document.The other stuff really just grew out of it. I found that I needed spells for sorcerers. Then I needed to explain how those worked. Then I needed to explain basics of combat. Etc., etc.

 

It's not a complete game. But it's complete enough for new players to grab and play. And if they want more I do keep directing them to Fantasy Hero Complete. One thing I kept comparing it to was the old DnD Basic set from forever ago. That was a complete game in... what was it about 120 pages, including monsters and GM advice? Not much anyway. I wanted the same.

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