Quote:
Originally Posted by Chaorain
So basically I want to have a lot of interaction between multiple magic systems but I'm worried about balance with both option. so my questions are these: - Is there already something that would work based on Advantages for Shamanism?
- Are there any minor variations I could do for added flavor, i.e. Blood Magic?
- Is there a faster and / or easier way to balance the default spells?
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1.
Powers would work fine for this. All you would need to do is create a power modifier that matches your idea of how shamanist magic works in your setting.
Power Ups 8: Limitations would be a great reference for this purpose.
That said, I would also check out Path/Book magic for shamanist magic. Path/Book magic gives a very ritualistic feel to magic. This is a good fit for most shamanist traditions of magic. Magic under this system tends to be long ranged but time consuming to cast.
2. The Assisting Spirits rules in
Thaumatology (p. 90 - 94) basically do what you want out of the box. Flexible magic systems have energy costs and skill requirements that make these systems compatible with the Assisting Spirits rules. If you want to make flexible magic
extremely corrupting, you can use the spell parameters as the energy cost for the purposes of corruption.
3. The quick and dirty approach for fixing
Magic is rewriting the "absolute defense" spells to provide DR or resistance bonuses instead. That would get rid of the most egregious disconnect this system has with the rest of the rules, in my opinion. Prerequisites are more for flavor than game balance, so you can just get rid of them.
Unfortunately, uncapped spells becoming broken could be a huge headache for you. Unless you are willing to confine your players to the spells in
Characters, there is simply no way to balance these due to the number of spells available. Meaning that you will need to house rule spells in the middle of play. And this is likely to lead to frustration and player conflict at the table. You may be better off writing your own spells if this will cause trouble with your group.
I would highly recommend getting rid of the fixed benefits for high spell skill unlocked at multiples of 5 (i.e. 15, 20, 25, etc) if you do choose standard magic. Increasing spell skill by 1 isn't very helpful under this system unless you are casting a regular spell. Using the Alternate Rituals rules from
Magic (p. 9) with a -3 to -5 penalty for halving total energy cost (rounding up) is much better approach because they make even incremental increases in spell skills feel relevant.