Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - [Thaumatology] Specialist Magic-Users

Prince Charon · 11-25-2019, 04:28 PM

Basically, a thread for magic-users of various types (probably mages, but not necessarily) who are rather more specialized than their peers. Depending on the intended setting, Magic As Powers might or might not be involved here. That does not automatically mean that one spell, ritual, or whatever on the caster's sheet gets lots of points and the rest get one each (or none in systems that allow defaults and/or familiarities), although that's a possibility. An enchantress with Enchant 21, Recover Energy 20, and Powerstone 21 would be a Powerstone specialist (and could make a brisk trade in Quick & Dirty Powerstone enchantment, especially with some assistants who also have high Recover Energy skills, and decent skills in Enchant and Powerstone), even though she spent as many points in each of Enchant and Recover Energy as she did in Powerstone - the other spells are just there to aid or allow her rapid production (and leveling up) of powerstones. Her business partner might have Powerstone 16, but have Enchant 21, Recover Energy 20, and Staff 21 - a high-quality, if limited, enchanting shop. An adventurer or Q&D enchanter might even have more points spent on Recover Energy than in the spell he specializes in, because it's just that useful for them. Specializing in a single College could count, or a small group of spells that work well together but are not necessarily all part of the same College; I'm more thinking of narrowly specialised mages (though not necessarily Johnny One-Spells), but I'm not going to limit the thread that strictly.

A Path/Book (or other Ritual Magic) specialist would likely work somewhat differently, especially with an Energy Accumulating style. One way to do it would be to have Path/Book Adept or Energy Reserve (or both) with the 'One Ritual Only, -80%' limitation (or with 'One Path Only' or 'One Book Only'). Symbol-Drawing or other Syntactic Magic specialists might specialize in one Noun or Verb, or in one of each (e.g. 'Control 17 and Magic 17,' or 'Transform 15, Body/Human 16, and Animal 14'). Clerical Magic specialists depend on which form of Divine Magic you're using, but in my opinion should involve some backstory and other role-playing about why you're focused on this specific aspect of your god's/goddess's power. Realm Magic and other high-flexibility systems seem like 'specializing' would mean spending a lot of points in a specific Realm, and anything further would be a matter of role-playing.

Thoughts?

11-25-2019, 04:28 PM	#1
Prince Charon Join Date: Dec 2012	[Thaumatology] Specialist Magic-Users Basically, a thread for magic-users of various types (probably mages, but not necessarily) who are rather more specialized than their peers. Depending on the intended setting, Magic As Powers might or might not be involved here. That does not automatically mean that one spell, ritual, or whatever on the caster's sheet gets lots of points and the rest get one each (or none in systems that allow defaults and/or familiarities), although that's a possibility. An enchantress with Enchant 21, Recover Energy 20, and Powerstone 21 would be a Powerstone specialist (and could make a brisk trade in Quick & Dirty Powerstone enchantment, especially with some assistants who also have high Recover Energy skills, and decent skills in Enchant and Powerstone), even though she spent as many points in each of Enchant and Recover Energy as she did in Powerstone - the other spells are just there to aid or allow her rapid production (and leveling up) of powerstones. Her business partner might have Powerstone 16, but have Enchant 21, Recover Energy 20, and Staff 21 - a high-quality, if limited, enchanting shop. An adventurer or Q&D enchanter might even have more points spent on Recover Energy than in the spell he specializes in, because it's just that useful for them. Specializing in a single College could count, or a small group of spells that work well together but are not necessarily all part of the same College; I'm more thinking of narrowly specialised mages (though not necessarily Johnny One-Spells), but I'm not going to limit the thread that strictly. A Path/Book (or other Ritual Magic) specialist would likely work somewhat differently, especially with an Energy Accumulating style. One way to do it would be to have Path/Book Adept or Energy Reserve (or both) with the 'One Ritual Only, -80%' limitation (or with 'One Path Only' or 'One Book Only'). Symbol-Drawing or other Syntactic Magic specialists might specialize in one Noun or Verb, or in one of each (e.g. 'Control 17 and Magic 17,' or 'Transform 15, Body/Human 16, and Animal 14'). Clerical Magic specialists depend on which form of Divine Magic you're using, but in my opinion should involve some backstory and other role-playing about why you're focused on this specific aspect of your god's/goddess's power. Realm Magic and other high-flexibility systems seem like 'specializing' would mean spending a lot of points in a specific Realm, and anything further would be a matter of role-playing. Thoughts? __________________ Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.