Lezentauw

Re: Players not rolling or recording damage I was in one group that did this, back in my DnD days... It was all because of a roleplay moment that everyone enjoyed. My character jumped down a pit, that's walls were on fire from a Wall of Fire spell. My character happenned to be a cleric with a Protection from Fire spell up, and a Ring of Feather Falling. So needless to say my character made it fine with no damage sustained. The utterly stupid barbarian, watches the pansy priest jump down a burning pit safely. So, he screams "That looks easy!" And, proceeds to jump down the pit. Needless to say, he only had 1 hp left, and fried to a crisp on the way down. Then his dead body crashed into the floor some 100' later. Ever since that time, our group of PCs never knew the numbers involved. We were always given discriptions for how you felt or the damage taken, all depending on the pecentage based upon your characters hps.

Re: Thanks to Keith Curtis... I know that I personally do not like modules. I tend to find that a great majority of the modules that I have read, to be nothing more than one shot use items. I find that campaign sourcebooks and gazatteers are better investments for me. With a sourcebook, I am able to create a living area in the campaign world quickly. The PCs are able to be played in a manner as if they are living in the campaign world. If they do not accomplish one of the major plot seeds, it is no big deal. As I did not pay money just for a plot seed. The plot seed is either finished, by others, if they are into another, or grows into a bigger seed for later.

Re: Ncm:15 I am not so sure that I like putting skills of any kind into a racial package. To me skills usually belong in a social package, which is what I am using for everyman skills. My take on what makes Elves so good with a bow is that they can spend 50 some years training how to use one. In my campaign, to represent this I am only allowing Elves to have developed martial skills with a bow. This is what I am using to represent the amount of training that they have done over the years. I am using the Kyujutsu style from the UMA to represent this style. If an Elf was raised in a human society, I don't see that Elf being as good with a bow, than an Elf trained by an Elven Bowmaster. Just how I see things

Re: Ncm:15 I am changing the Elves +1 sight per to +2 Telescopic vision. I am doing this to represent that Elves can see farther than a normal person. This alone should account for elves being better archers, as they will be to shoot at range a bit better than most races do.

Re: Ncm:15 I agree with your above statement 100%. I recognized that was the whole motivation behind me wanting to go down the NCM15 route. I pretty much scrapped the whole notion anyways. No need to have a ton of contrived house rules, to make chargen a tedious process. Reducing the starting points will accomplish the same thing as decreasing the NCMs, and would probably go over a bit better. As to your second note for making skills worth their weight, I have increased my EM skill list to include 3 Knowledge Skills. One for the local area, one for the country they live in, and another for a hobby or area of interest to the character. I am hoping that by increasing the KS's, that I will be showing the importance that I will be placing upon skills in my campaign.

Re: Ncm:15 I thought about doing this. Here is the good and bad that I see with it. Instead of 20 being where everyone will want their character to be at, for Dex and Str especially, 15 will become that limit. CSLs will become more favored once a character gets to that 15 Dex, after that CSLs start to become more cost effective for what you can do with them. Once you drop the NCM to 15, then you are going to have to figure out how you want to drop the Age categories as well. This is what I came up with for the NCM and the age categories. The format will be NCM/NCM40/NCM60/NCM10. I am not sure that this is the best chart in the world though. STR 15/13/8/5 DEX 15/15/13/10 CON 15/13/8/5 BODY 15/13/8/5 INT 15/18/20/10 EGO 15/18/20/5 PRE 15/18/20/5 COM 15/15/15/13 PD 6/4/3/2 ED 6/4/3/2 SPD 3/3/3/2 REC 8/6/4/3 END 40/30/20/20 STUN 40/30/20/15 Even with all this put into it, I am not sure that I am going to follow through on it. I think that I am just going to reduce the points to 50/50, and then enforce correct building techniques per character concepts.

Re: Why play Fantasy Hero over other fantasy games? I started playing AD&D when it was still 1st edition. I have many fond memories of those game. But, due to HERO I am no long a fan of leveled systems. I find to many things that I do not like about them. IMO the HERO system is more flexible, and allows for greater custimization than any version of D&D or AD&D ever could. While a leveled system forces character to have precise abilities, and they limited to when they can learn those abilities depending on the characters level. The HERO system lets characters flow with the storyline, and learn things in an appropriate manner. The HERO system is a bit more complicated, and combat does take more time that D&D does, but with it you have the choice of using more realistic options than are presented in D&D. I prefer how the HERO system handles armor. In D&D it just makes a character harder to get hit. In the HERO system it reduces how much damage a character takes. Using encumberance rules, the HERO system makes it so a heavily armored person is easier to hit. Which makes more sense to me. Another sticky point for me is D&D's hit point system. A character starts off their career worried about getting hit by a single sword blow, and later on can laugh off an attack of a Dragon's Breath Weapon. Whereas the HERO system tends to be more linear.

Re: How not to come up with a magic system! Ok here is the link to the thread that I based the idea presented on. http://www.herogames.com/forums/sho...ht=Magic+System Check out that thread, it may help you out.

Re: How not to come up with a magic system! In my thread for a skilled magic system, there was some people that stated concerns with using LTE. Before you go using LTE, I would first determine what type of magic system you want. To me LTE is more apporpriate for a low/sword & sorcery magic system. If you want a High Magic system, then LTE may not be the way you want to go. It really depends on what flavor you want. If you want to have a High Magic system, this is what I would do. (From your writings, your system does seem to be on the high end. IMO) Part of this idea is based from something that Killer Shrike posted. This is kind of generic, just something to give an idea for another way to create your magic system. Each mage will have an END RES, they cannot purchase a REC for that END RES. The Lay lines recharges the END RES. I would build the Lay Lines as a Regeneration to END RES with Explosion and Extra Time. When a mage is next to a lay line they will get the full benefit. The further they get away from a lay line, the less they will recieve, till they only get 1/(Time limit you decide as the base). So as an example: If a mage was next to a decent sized lay line, he could get 10END/hour back. Next comes the nodes. You could either just add up the REGEN rating that you assigned each lay line, or use the highest lay line REGEN rating (or perhaps average them out) and for each addition lay line intersecting with it would decrease the time by one. Example for a 3 lay line node. Lay line 1 has a REGEN rating of 10. Lay line has a REGEN rating of 5. Lay line 3 has a REGEN rating of 3. You could total them up and have a REGEN rating of 18 END/hour, or a REGEN rating of 10 END/minute or 6 END/minute when averaged.

Re: Fantasy Art Thread Here is a pic that I happen to have with me. I did this one around a decade ago. Enjoy.

Re: Fantasy Art Thread They look pretty good Kroh. Though the second picture, has me pondering the bandilier. It appears to me, to look like it is holding shotgun shells.

Re: Balancing Attacks and Defences Power Levels The advantage "Difficult to Dispel" is one idea that I thought of when I was looking into a similiar problem. Forcing this advantage upon all defensive spells does have its problems though. Now the spells costing 25% more to purchase, which is what you want. But, they will also be twice as hard to dispel. If you are wanting to have the defensive spells cost 50% more, then they could purchase DtD twice. Again this will make the denfensive spells that much harder to dispel. You could explain this rule by saying that some time ago, that mages determined that it was more important for defensive spells to resist being dispelled. Perhaps at the time some infamous group, was running around killing off mages. They would have their mage dispel the opponents defensive magics, while the others would cut him to pieces. Everything depends on what you want, and how it fits your vision of your world... so really the choice is yours. Just remember that the cheaper costs to defensive spells are also that much easier to suppress or dispel. So they do have a certain problem with them as well.

Re: Preliminary Skilled Magic System Let's see what you think of this idea. Just something that I am tossing around. What if, I kept the LTE on the spells. But then had a talent that allowed for channelers to transfer from the local ambient magical energy to restore the END used as LTE?

Re: Preliminary Skilled Magic System I was looking at the spellweaver...

Re: Preliminary Skilled Magic System Ok Killer Shrike, thank you for posting your version of a skilled magic system. I was finally able to read it all the way through. I will have to take a second pass of it, and see if it fits my vision of a channeler. There may be some things that I will want to tweak here or there. On a side note, about what you posted concerning the ambient magical energgy. I would love to use that, as it is simple and is very efficient. The only problem is that a channeler can damage the magical flow in a given area. If I keep everything defined as it is now, I am going to have to do it hard way...

Re: The great armour race... For my campaign, I am running as close to feudalism as possible. That means that in ‘civilized’ areas certain weapons and armors are classified as weapons of war. Only nobles may bear such weaponry and armor when they chose. Even guards are not allowed to bear these weapons, when they are off duty. Anyone else caught violating this law is put in jail. Those that continue to wear ‘legal’ weapons, other than a dagger, and armor have at times been watched and harassed by the local guard. Only a person expecting trouble would find a need for such things, is the logic behind the monitoring and harassments. This is just one of the social restrictions that I have put upon weapons. Each area has it own restrictions. While some of them are not actual laws like this one, they still have social reprecussions if the pcs violate them. In the campaign's version of a 'Norse' area as an example. Weaponry and armor are not worn unless there is a need. As a superstitious people, anyone seen continuing to wear weapons and armor start to make the locals weary about them. It could lead as far as the violator being viewed as possessed by 'evil' spirits. I have a group of players that enjoy social role playing situations like these. These social ramifications also put the players at ease as well. It is not very likely that they are going to have to worry about facing many opponents with great swords. This trully becomes the rogue's area to thrive. The warrior thrives out of town, where he can bring all his might to bear.

Re: DEX vs. CSLs I am of the mind that one is not really that much better than the other. DD has more stable CVs, and in certain situations is better off. LL has more flexability, and can adapt more easily to situations. When you compare DD vs LL, you are comparing two high CV characters. As far as stereotypes go, this is like comparing two MA's vs each other. The example above where LL can dictate how things go looks about right to me. It really is a reflection of the age old story where the physically adept youth gets schooled by the old mentor. Like what was already stated as well though, once LL is out of his area of expertise. DD is better off. If DD & LL are in fact MAs, and have to use bows as an example. DD is better off now, as he still has his normal CVs. In surprise situations, DD is better off as well as he has a higher base DCV. It is real hard to apply SLs verses an attack you do not know is coming. Dive for Cover is based upon a Dex roll, so DD is better off to avoid that nasty fireball spell. LL vs DD should not be the only comparison made though. Take Strong Steve for example. A strong character with low CVs, that neither LL nor DD want to get hit by. LL is better capable of making sure that SS does not hit him, and play the dictate game again. With SS's lower DCV, LL can even chose to not boost his OCV. He can go all DCV and DMG. Another example would be versus Conjuring Curtis. Say CC is trying to summon a demon, and has to concentrate to do it. CC being prepared, previously raised his force field. DD will most likely hit, but is now relying upon the luck of dice to drop CC. LL though can move everything to OCV and DMG. He thereby increases his chances to hit and to drop CC.

Re: What superhero character concepts are you tired of seeing? I started out playing the Super-hero genre with V&V. As the GM for our group, I got real tired of all of the random un-related powers. So I came up with a house rule for rolling up the characters. I had them make all of their roles, and then they could look at every category and choose what powers they wanted. But, when finished the character needed to follow a concept of some form. What always struck me as odd, at the time, was that the later V&V modules gave conversions to other game systems. Most notably Champions...

Re: Preliminary Skilled Magic System Until I create the spells, and then perform a mach playtest for myself. The magic system will stay in preliminary status. After the playtesting is done, then I will know if it works or not.

Re: Preliminary Skilled Magic System Yes for some reason I got in the habit of using Active Cost (AC) to represent Active Points...

Re: Preliminary Skilled Magic System Right now it looks like there are two problems going on. One, I did not include enough information so that everyone can understand my system. Two, I think that I did not make my post entirely clear. A lot of confusion and misconceptions were made based upon me not posting it correctly the first time. I am sorry for that. I will try again, and hopefully it will be better understood this time. Since it looks like people are looking for hard nuts and bolts to the system, that is what I will try to post here. Please keep in mind that this is a preliminary and rough draft version. It is far from complete, as I am looking for help with it. Thank you. Magic is an ambient energy, that is all around. In some areas magic is very prolific, while in others it is very diminished. An END RES and END REC will represent the magic level in each area. As magic is pulled from the local area, it will drain the END RES. In the prolific areas, a channeler will have an easier time at casting spells. In those areas, he will recieve a bonus to his Magic Skill roll, and the spells will be aided at no extra End cost to him. In a diminished area, the channeler will suffer a penalty to his Magic Skill roll, and his spells will be suppressed. A new talent will exist in this campaign, called Magic Aura Sight. With Magic Aura Sight, a character has the potential to see the flows of magic. Not only can they see the flows of magic, but is also possible to see whether a person is channeling. If a channeler has this talents, and he succeeds his PER roll to sense the local magic, he recieves a +2 bonus to his Magic Skill Roll. This talent is not required for a channeler to cast spells, though a mentor may refuse to teach a pupil if they do not possess this gift. Likewise a character with this talent needs not to be a channeler either. Magic Aura Sight costs 15 pts, and 1pt for a +1 PER with Magic Aura Sight. A channeler, must have a Magic Skill to cast spells. The Magic Skill is based of the EGO characteristic. The Magic Skill is required for a channeler to cast spells in this campaign. This represents the characters ability to will the energies around him into a magical spell. The local area may cause a bonus or a penalty to the channelers Magic Skill roll, for the most part these areas are pretty rare. If a channeler chooses to uses optional limitations, which will be explained below, he will recieve bonuses to his Magic Skill Roll. The Magic Skill Roll will use -1/5ac in this campaign. The required INT MIN will affect this roll as well, both for good and bad. The Magic Skill Roll is also modified by a complimentary skill. I will cover the complimentary skill next. The cost for the Magic Skill is 3pts, and (at this time) it is not possible to increase this skill other than by the afore mentioned methods. Each school will be represented by a 3pt KS based off of INT. The schools are; Alchemy, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Nature, Necromancy, & Sorcery. Each KS will reflect the characters knowledge and understanding of that school. A channeler must have the knowledge for a school that he wishes to cast a spell from. Besides being used for the knowledge of each scholl, this KS will also serve as the complimentary roll for the Magic Skill. Each spell in this campaign will cost the channeler 1pt, which is treated in the same way as a weapon familiarity. This represents that a character has spent the time to learn and understand that specific spell. (Some of you think that this is too cheap, so I may do a 1pt/10ac of every spell) All spells must come from a predefined list, or the character must research that spell. Researching a spell, is a long and tedious process. The length to research a spell is dependant upon how powerful the spell is going to be. (I was going to have a seperate Spell Research skill, but I am now thinking of just using the KS for that spells school.) Required Disadvantages. The following disadvantages are required for each spell. Though a character will not have to pay Real Points for a spell, the limitations are listed for those that wish to know. Each spell is required to cost END. A spell may not be bought with a reduced endurance advantage. This is done to simulate the magic being channeled through the caster. As a campaign rule, all spells will be using LTE rather than normal END (I know that many of you object to this rule, so it is under reconsideration.) (REQUIRES END -1/2, -if needed-) Each spell is required to have gestures. These gestures do not need to dramatic and can be concealed. (GESTURES -0) Each spell is required to have incantations. The incantations do not need to be any louder than a whisper. (INCANTATIONS -0) Each spell must be purchased with Requires Skill Roll @ -1/5ac. (REQUIRES SKILL ROLL -1) Each spell is required to have a focus as IAF. If the channeler is without his focus, he suffers a -2 to his Magic Skill roll and X2 END. The focus is able to replaced through gameplay. This is to incorporate if a character does not have his focus for whatever the reason. (IAF -1/2) Due to the complexity of casting spells, each spell is required to have the Concentrate Disadvantage at 1/2 DCV. (CONCENTRATE 1/2 DCV -1/4) As another reflection upon the complexity of a spell, each spell must be purchased with INT MIN. This represents how hard each spell is to learn. Some spells are beyond a characters ability to fully understand them. If a channeler has an INT lower than the INT MIN, he will suffer a penalty to his Magic Skill Roll. This penalty will be -1 per point below the INT MIN. If a channeler has a greater INT than the INT MIN he will gain a bonus to his skill roll, as it is easier for him to understand the spell. This bonus will be +1 per 2 points above the INT MIN. If a character tries to cast a spell that has a higher INT MIN than the characters INT, then that character runs the chance of a side affect occuring. The side affect will only occur, if the character fails his Magic Roll & if his INT is lower than the spells INT MIN. Each spells INT MIN will be 9 + AC/5. The side affect is never consistent and varies upon how much the caster fails the skill roll by. (INT MIN -1) Optional Disadvantages These options are available for the caster to use if he wishes to. If a caster does chose to use any of these disadvantages, they will help him with a bonus to his Magic Skill roll. It is not needed for these disadvantages to be applied to the cost of a spell, since spells are not purchased with Real Points. Gestures- If a channeler gestures in a manner that is obvious from a distance, then he will recieve a +1 to his Magic Skill Roll. If a channeler uses exagerated gestures in a manner that a person would recieve a bonus to his PER roll, then he will recieve a +2 to his Magic Skill Roll. Incantations - If a character speaks the incantations out loud in an audible manner, then he will recieve a +1 to his Magic Skill Roll. If a channeler shouts the incantations so that a person would recieve a bonuse to hear him, then he will recieve a +2 to his Magic Skill Roll. Concentration - If a character concentrates upon his spell to the point of where he has a 0 DCV, then he will recieve a +1 to his Magic Skill Roll. OAF- If a character uses his focus in an obvious manner, then he will recieve +1 to his Magic Skill Roll. Extra Time- Most spells will only take the normal 1/2 action to cast. Some spells are purchased as taking more time, so this will vary per spell. If a caster wishes to take more time, he will recieve a +1 for every step down the time chart. Examples I will use a character with a 20 INT & 20 EGO for this example. Using the two skills required to cast a spell at their base level, they both will be at 13-. A channeler wishing to cast a 10ac spell will have an 11- for his Magic Skill (13 - 2 from ac of spell). The INT MIN for this spell is 11, so he will get a +4 bonus to cast this spell. With no other optional disadvantages the base Magic Roll is now 15-. On average a channeler can expect to get +1 from the complimentary skill in this case. The channeler would then be at an average of 16- to cast the desired spell. A channeler wishing to cast a 30ac spell will have an 7- for his Magic Skill (13 - 6 from ac of spell). The INT MIN for this spell is 15, so he will get a +2 bonus to cast this spell. With no other optional disadvantages the base Magic Roll is now 9-. On average a channeler can expect to get +1 from the complimentary skill in this case. The channeler would then be at an average of 10- to cast the desired spell. This is still a bit below average, but he can chose to start adding the optional disadvantages at this point to raise his Magic skill roll. Without going further than to a full phase for the extra time, a channeler chould achieve an average of 17- if he used all of the optional disadvantages. A channeler wishing to cast a 60ac spell will have a base of 1- for his Magic Skill (13 - 12 from ac of spell). The INT MIN for this spell is 21, so he will get a -1 penalty to cast this spell. With no other optional disadvantages the base Magic Roll is at 0. On average a channeler can expect to get +1 from the complimentary skill in this case. The channeler would then be at a total of 1- to cast the desired spell, which would be treated as 3-. Obviously the channeler would be using the optional disadvantages, just to get his chances up to a 7-. Most likely he would also increase the extra time here to increase the odds even more. This is the first time that the channeler would have to worry about failure as the spell has a higher INT MIN than he has as INT. While the last example seems very stark, these examples do not take into consideration the fact that most characters will have increased the KS to the school that the spell is in. In the last example with a 17- in the KS, and using a full turn would give the caster an average of 11-. THe Magical Aura sight is also not figured into any of these calculations. Hopefully you will be better able to read this, this time. I have removed my former Skill Levels, as they are a break from the rules. The normal skill level rules will be used for the KS's. If I am still missing things that you need to better evaluate this system, please ask. I will try to answer as best as I can. Thank you again.

Re: Preliminary Skilled Magic System First of thank you for the replies, even if they were a bit brutal in spots. Like I stated early in my first post, this system is in the rough draph stage. I am sorry if it was difficult to follow, I sometimes have problems stating things so that everyone can understand.. As to Shrike's skilled system, I have printed it out, though I have not taken the time to read it yet. I have not created my own magic system yet in the Hero System. Up till now, I have been using Keith Curtis' magic system that was in the Digital Hero. I like the magic system, though it does not fit the feel I am wanting for my campaign... So with that said, I was hoping for some feedback. I really do not want to be creating another magic system, nor to frustrate a player if they choose to play a channeler. Channeler's are what I now call the mages of my campaign world by the way. As to Shrike's question about the campaign world, it is set into the Kingdom of Kalamar campaign setting. Though I am adapting it to my vision of that campaign world. So that you can better help me, I think that I should describe how I envision magic works in my campaign world. I see a channeler forcing his will upon the ambient magic that is around him by the use of a predefined formula, or what we would call a spell. The stronger willed a person is the easier it is for him to cast spells, as he force his will upon the ambient magic. As the magic is channeled through him, it drains him of his own energy. The spells are a complex set of formula, that requires a channeler to fully understand. Some spells may even be more complicated than the channeler can fully understand. When a channeler does understand a spell, he is able to force his will upon the magical energies more efficiently. A channeler can burn the area of magic, though not in the same manner as a defiler in the Dark Sun campaign. This is something that I got from the campaign book for the KoK. One of the Dieties is resposible to prevent magic from extinguished from the campaign world, and I thought that it would be a neat touch to impliment that into the spell system. To totally burn magic out of an area though, it is going to be pretty hard though. I do not have the details totally figured out yet, but it will not be as simple as just draining the END RES of the local area. I hope that helps a bit, for how I envision magic to work. Let me try to now explain my thinkings of how and why I made the choices I did. I decided to use EGO as the base char to represent a channeler forcing his will upon the ambient magic. Rather than to have a seperate magic skill for each school, I was thinking that it would be better to have just one skill to represent the actual magic skill. By then having a channeler use a KS for each school that he wishes to know, I would have a skill to represent the knowledge that the channeler has for each school. I was wanting a channeler to be able to use his knowledge of that school to help him in casting spells as a complimentary roll. (For some reason, I was thinking that it was +1 for each point it was made by. Which was part of the reason I used the -1/5 rather than the -1/10. This may very well be too limiting.) Normally a skill is bought as 3/2. Three points for the skill and two points to get a +1 with that skill. I think that I stated it incorrectly about the EGO roll. I should of stated that the magic skill is a Skill based upon the EGO characteristic. At this point I was frowning away from allowing a channeler to use the standard +1/2 pt rule for skills, and was wanting to incorporate Magic Skill Level system that mirrored the standard CSLs... As to all the ambigous bonuses and penalties, they are there because I am not sure at what level to set them. Both the incantations & gestures are figured at -0 for this campaign. They are a slight modification to what was presented in Fantasy Hero. Since I was being harsh with the -1/5, I knew that I had to give bonuses. So I came up with the use of incantations and gestures as the HERO system describes them to get a bonus. As to the focus, yes it can be replaced. I was trying to incorporate a way for a mage to still cast spells, without a focus. I also came up with the fact that if a channeler used the focus in an obvious manner, that he can get a bonus for that as well. Here are some of the things that I was considering for my campaign that affected my decisions. A great sword is pretty much going to max at 2d6, boostable to 4d6 with STR & CSLs. That puts the great sword at an equilivent 30AC/60AC. So I am wanting to keep the channeler to these levels. A 60ac spell should be very hard to cast in this campaign. As to the LTE, it was my balancing factor for a channeler having a more varied set of abilities than say a warrior would. The whole reason I was wanting to use a skilled spell system, is that I feel a channeler should not need to be spending a gazillion more points than the warriors do to be just as competent. If both professions only need to spend 20 to 30 points on their profession, everything would be on an even playing field. Ok, hopefully I got everything. Please continue to critique. And, yes I will read SK's skilled system....

Re: Preliminary Skilled Magic System So does anyone have any advice for what I have done so far? I am really hoping to get opinion about it. If you do not like what I am thinking for a magic system, let me know why.

I am working on a skilled magic system. What I have so far is a rough draph. I would appreciate if I can get some advice for what I have done so far. Let me know what needs to be improved, or what I am missing. Please keep in mind that magic is going to be rare to uncommon at best. Magic in Tellene is not created by the spell caster, rather it is a force that is present in the outside world. A mage channels the magical energies into spells. The act of channeling is not something that is done easily. For even if the mage is successful in channeling the magical energy, he is left drained from the energies running through him. Since magic is an external force, there are fluctuations to the amounts of magic in the world. Some areas are richer, and some areas are poorer in magical energy. When a mage casts a spell he pulls the magical energy from the world. As he pulls the magical energy from the world, he drains his current location of magical energy. The magical energy is replenished in time. Casting spells require a strong will and intellect. The actually art of casting spells is guided by the will of the caster. The stronger willed a person is, the better he is able to channel the magical energies. Intellect also plays an important part in casting, as it shows the casters knowledge in magic, and how to properly exert his will upon magic to the desired effect. The magical skill is Ego based, and cannot be raised by any other means than raising the EGO characteristic. The main skill will be modified at a rate of –1 per 5AC in the spell. Each school of magic is represented with a Knowledge Skill. They serve as the characters knowledge of that school, and also act as a complimentary skill for the magic skill. A mage purchases his spells as 1 pt Knowledge Skills. This represents that the mage has studied and learned the purchased spell. Spells must be purchased from a predefined list. A mage may only create spells with the Spell Research skill, or with special permission from the GM. A mage can purchase skill modifiers for the Knowledge Skills. These skill modifiers can be used as a bonus for magic skill, knowledge skill, or for OCV. Shown as follows. [a] 2pt +1 with specific spell 3pt +1 with 3 spells (must be of same school) [c] 5pt +1 with specific school [d] 8pt +1 with all schools known A mage pulls the energy required to power a spell from his surrounding area, and then channels it through him. When a mage channels magic, he is left physically drained from it. Therefore all spells are required to cost END. As a campaign rule, all spells will drain a mage of LTE, and not as normal END. Part of the complex nature in casting spells, calls for a series of gestures. The gestures are not required to dramatic and can even be concealed. At the casters option he may instead use dramatic gestured for a bonus to casting a spell. Incantations follow the same guidelines as gestures. A mage is only required to speak the incantations, they do not need to be any louder than a whisper. Though at the mages option he may choose to speak them louder for a bonus to casting a spell. A foci is strongly recommended for a caster. All spells will be built with the understanding that a mage will be using a foci. The foci does not need to obviously be a part of casting a spell, unless the mage chooses to due so to get a bonus to casting a spell. If a mage is ever without his foci, he can still cast spells though they will be at a penalty and with an increased endurance of x2. The Foci is defined as IAF. Due to the complexity of the spells, a mage must concentrate throughout the casting of a spell. This can lead to penalties if the mage is casting a spell in the middle of combat, as he can easily be distracted. At the mages discretion he may take extra time in casting a spell. This will grant a bonus of +1 per level dropped down the time chart. Another aspect of the complexity of spells, a mage must have an INT equal to or greater of the INT MIN of a spell to cast it. If a mage attempts to cast a spell that he is not physically capable to fully understand, he will suffer penalties to his skill roll. If the mage fails at casting that spell, the caster will then be subject to dire side affects from the spell. Casting a spell beyond the understanding of a mage is not something that should be taken lightly, as it can be as extreme as costing the mage his life. The side affects are never consistent, the severity of the side affect depends on how much the mage misses his magic role by.

I personnally use the Kingdoms of Kalamar as my campaign backdrop. The sourcebook for this campaign contains 95% background information. While all the areas are pretty detailed, there is no area that you cannot modify without worrying about chinging the feel of the world. Even if you do, just remember that this is your campaign. Change it to how you want it to represent. By using KoK as a backdrop, I am able to now concentrate on the areas that the pcs are in. I only then have to further detail things out, as I envision them. One of the major changes that you will do to any campaign, is the magic system you chose to use. That is one of the most important decisions in a FH campaign.