Sunday, September 23, 2012

Magic thoughts.

First up, Vancian magic can go get f@cked. In my book spell drain is the way to go. A few big spells as your buggered and need a lie down and cup of tea. Wizards have to to be thinkers... better a few well placed smaller spells throughout the day, and one megadeath boom-boom when it is absolutely necessary.
I also like giving players the option to get energy from risky sources. Chaos mutations, bargains for unholy tasks (yep, giving wizards scenario hooks they MUST complete) or hooking into seriously unstable juice that could fry you.
What I feel is that, as a wizard player you have access to phenomenal power that makes all the other player classes tremble... But....
Gandalf casts only a few spells, and you get the impression its only when absolutely necessary. Being the keeper of immense power is a thrill, as is having secrets from other players... secret tasks to fulfill for spell pacts.

What if you get a bonus for each spell you DONT let the other players see?

Wizard: Take to the mountains... I shall deal with this fiend!
Warrior: what? How- your an old man and that... Thing is..
Wizard: This wizard has his ways young warmonger... Now go!

Magic makes or breaks an rpg system in my book. Balancing wizards against warriors has always been a sticking point- but I feel the blow by blow nature of dundred will counter this somewhat. Warriors are hella fun.
I am wondering if, in addition to pre-baked spells, if wizards should get the same flexibility to do stuff on the fly.
Spells perhaps, like weapons, could be used in various ways. Take the marvel character magneto. He uses his powers to open doors, disarm, torture, trap and in combination with metal clothes to give himself flight. He has power over metal.
Now just giving a pc 'power over metal: 30" is a bit vague. How much metal? How fast? Well, a +30 metal mastery could be equivalent of a human with a stat of +30. So you can lift what a strength +30 human could, throw it with the aim of a +30 archer, make a wall that is -30 to climb or destroy.

Its not very old school. Not as flavorful as magic missile or prismatic rays. A mix is important.


3 comments:

  1. I agree with your thoughts on spell drain, the system I'm working on uses a "pool" of points to draw from as you cast.

    It's also fun to come up with insane, over the top spells that drain a huge amount from a wizard's pool.

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  2. There is something to having physical markers, like dice or glass beads denoting power. The player feels like he is drawing and throwing power around as he moves them. Its quite a hoot.
    I did this for skulldred, where you stockpile d6 for spells and charge up using rituals. Perhaps d10 work for dundred- since you can buy bags of them for world of darkness games.

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  3. I'm also a fan of markers. I've heard people complain that 4e is "too much of a miniatures game," I personally like it when combat feels like a miniatures game. Although I think 4e failed at what they were trying to do with their combat system. For me, it's all about movement. Unless you're maybe a spell caster, you should be moving throughout the battlefield, pressing attacks, giving ground when needed, and circling around foes to find a better spot, and countering when they do the same to you.

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