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Skarg · 05-23-2020, 05:50 PM

I agree that the extra die for success rolls to cast spells is the closest match to the -5 modifier.

A flat modifier would also work. TFT has a -4 to cast spells when a wizard is carrying iron on their body... and in original TFT there was a -4 to cast spells for all non-wizards. So making Low Mana a penalty would also make sense... it'd also allow you to say how low the mana was in various places, if you wanted to do that.

Switching to IQ would be making TFT _wizards_ more like GURPS wizards, which I wouldn't personally want to do (but some other players have suggested - search House Rules sub forum if interested), and it would alter the balance of wizards a lot, removing most of their usual need for DX, which as TippetsTX just mentioned, represents casting spell in TFT (in a way that GURPS Magic unfortunately tends to let get swallowed by high-IQ+Magery casters). If it's just another IQ roll to cast a spell, it would tend to mainly mess up lower-IQ wizards but only occasionally effect high-IQ wizards, which wouldn't match the effect in GURPS that it's harder to effect subjects with Regular-type spells in Low Mana.

Another idea is that self-powered magic items might not be able to be self-powered in Low-Mana areas, and/or that even magic items that normally don't have a ST cost to use, would cost ST at some rate to use in a Low Magic area.

Or ALL magic items might require some roll to even activate in a Low Mana area.

05-23-2020, 05:50 PM	#7
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Low Mana Areas I agree that the extra die for success rolls to cast spells is the closest match to the -5 modifier. A flat modifier would also work. TFT has a -4 to cast spells when a wizard is carrying iron on their body... and in original TFT there was a -4 to cast spells for all non-wizards. So making Low Mana a penalty would also make sense... it'd also allow you to say how low the mana was in various places, if you wanted to do that. Switching to IQ would be making TFT _wizards_ more like GURPS wizards, which I wouldn't personally want to do (but some other players have suggested - search House Rules sub forum if interested), and it would alter the balance of wizards a lot, removing most of their usual need for DX, which as TippetsTX just mentioned, represents casting spell in TFT (in a way that GURPS Magic unfortunately tends to let get swallowed by high-IQ+Magery casters). If it's just another IQ roll to cast a spell, it would tend to mainly mess up lower-IQ wizards but only occasionally effect high-IQ wizards, which wouldn't match the effect in GURPS that it's harder to effect subjects with Regular-type spells in Low Mana. Another idea is that self-powered magic items might not be able to be self-powered in Low-Mana areas, and/or that even magic items that normally don't have a ST cost to use, would cost ST at some rate to use in a Low Magic area. Or ALL magic items might require some roll to even activate in a Low Mana area.