RPM magery and limitations

[starslayer]

So GM (Kal) is starting a new game, I am building a new PC, and we are curious. Is it applicable to apply limitations to the Magery advantage when used for RPM magic.

I am specifically interested in applying 'solitary -40%' to it.

I personally think it is quite applicable, but it will prevent the caster from using willing sacrifice as a power source for magic (or at least, magic where the mage gets to use his/her magery). Which leaves energy reserves, energy gathering, self sacrifice, and unwilling sacrifice as valid energy sources.

[Nosforontu]

Its probably ok, I am not sure if I would give full value to Solitary however though since most RPM casters essentially prep their charms in between encounters rather than cast on the fly like a regular mage would be expected to do so. Gut feeling and with little practical experience with the RPM system so far I would divide the regular magery limitations in half for RPM casters.

[mlangsdorf]

Solitary seems pretty limiting for RPM casters. Sure, you can prepare charms in advance, but if you need to restock in the field, you need to find a space at least 10 yds across (with no rooms above or below it) or suffer crippling penalties.

My experience is that in play, charm slots are limited and somewhat hard to manage. Casting minor spells in the field is vital for the effectiveness of an RPM caster, and you'd definitely feel the limitation in those situations.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by starslayer

So GM (Kal) is starting a new game, I am building a new PC, and we are curious. Is it applicable to apply limitations to the Magery advantage when used for RPM magic.

I am specifically interested in applying 'solitary -40%' to it.

I personally think it is quite applicable, but it will prevent the caster from using willing sacrifice as a power source for magic (or at least, magic where the mage gets to use his/her magery). Which leaves energy reserves, energy gathering, self sacrifice, and unwilling sacrifice as valid energy sources.

Originally Posted by Nosforontu

Its probably ok, I am not sure if I would give full value to Solitary however though since most RPM casters essentially prep their charms in between encounters rather than cast on the fly like a regular mage would be expected to do so. Gut feeling and with little practical experience with the RPM system so far I would divide the regular magery limitations in half for RPM casters.

Half is correct and a Pyramid article I have written addresses this and goes into more detail. For now, use half.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

... a Pyramid article I have written addresses this and goes into more detail.

We're going to have at least one all-RPM issue of Pyramid, aren't we?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by johndallman

We're going to have at least one all-RPM issue of Pyramid, aren't we?

No idea, I just write 'em, submit 'em, and make sure Steven gets 'em. :-)

[starslayer]

I don't know if I nessasscarily agree with the 1/2 costing of solitary on RPM casting.

Reason being, it also heavily impacts your charm creation// out of combat casting.

On the other hand some other modifiers would seem to not really be that detrimental to RPM casting at all.

IE- Assume an RPM mage plays the 'wizard/healer' roll in a party of 4 that also contains a barbarian for raw damage, a scout for ranged damage/thievery, and a knight to tank. (Using DF conventions and a combat oriented party for reference)

Assuming that the party has no problem with 'giving till it hurts' in off time in exchange for pretty much unlimited access to healing and more powerful buffs during on time that will give numbers like the following:

Barbarian: 38 HP, 12 FP : 23 extra energy
Scout: 26 HP, 12 FP: 17 extra energy
Knight: 28 HP, 15 FP, 19 Extra energy

That's 59 extra energy that the solitary caster in a party of 4 cannot access even during off time in exchange for a 40% discount on max skill and personal energy reserves. Having to ask your allies to literally knock themselves out and put themselves close to (but not past) death checks is inconvenient and requires additional security measures, but so does 'if someone gets within 10 yards of me while I am casting the chances of this spell exploding spectacularly radically increases.'

It further restricts the use of 'dude off the street' hires (IE- look for some healthy farm kids (FP 13-16), pay them $4-5, for an hour of their time, explain the concept of donating energy to a spell and what spell your casting, have them donate 12 or 15 fatigue (depending on if they have FP 16 or not); get energy for about $1 per point..

On the other hand at 1/2 value for dark, light, night or day aspected magery would seem too large a discount, as the ability do do all your spell prep in advance for RPM and the ability to engineer situations so that your only doing your dynamic casting when the situation is right (IE If you have night aspected magery don't try to go into the enemy fortress/dungeon until night time, and prep all your conditional rituals the night before) should not significantly cramp your style.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by starslayer

I don't know if I nessasscarily agree with the 1/2 costing of solitary on RPM casting.

That's okay, you can change it for your games. :-) Rule Zero and all.

Originally Posted by starslayer

Reason being, it also heavily impacts your charm creation// out of combat casting.

On the other hand some other modifiers would seem to not really be that detrimental to RPM casting at all.

IE- Assume an RPM mage plays the 'wizard/healer' roll in a party of 4 that also contains a barbarian for raw damage, a scout for ranged damage/thievery, and a knight to tank. (Using DF conventions and a combat oriented party for reference)

Assuming that the party has no problem with 'giving till it hurts' in off time in exchange for pretty much unlimited access to healing and more powerful buffs during on time that will give numbers like the following:

Barbarian: 38 HP, 12 FP : 23 extra energy
Scout: 26 HP, 12 FP: 17 extra energy
Knight: 28 HP, 15 FP, 19 Extra energy

That's 59 extra energy that the solitary caster in a party of 4 cannot access even during off time in exchange for a 40% discount on max skill and personal energy reserves. Having to ask your allies to literally knock themselves out and put themselves close to (but not past) death checks is inconvenient and requires additional security measures, but so does 'if someone gets within 10 yards of me while I am casting the chances of this spell exploding spectacularly radically increases.'

It further restricts the use of 'dude off the street' hires (IE- look for some healthy farm kids (FP 13-16), pay them $4-5, for an hour of their time, explain the concept of donating energy to a spell and what spell your casting, have them donate 12 or 15 fatigue (depending on if they have FP 16 or not); get energy for about $1 per point..

On the other hand at 1/2 value for dark, light, night or day aspected magery would seem too large a discount, as the ability do do all your spell prep in advance for RPM and the ability to engineer situations so that your only doing your dynamic casting when the situation is right (IE If you have night aspected magery don't try to go into the enemy fortress/dungeon until night time, and prep all your conditional rituals the night before) should not significantly cramp your style.

I have no idea what you are talking about here, I'm sorry. :-( Could you explain this a bit better, please?

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

I have no idea what you are talking about here, I'm sorry. :-( Could you explain this a bit better, please?

I think what he's saying is that being unable to tap into all the extra energy your allies or hirelings can provide is a significant limitation. (I wouldn't treat HP as an easily-tapped source though, which drops the "free" PC energy from 59 to 13.) The last part he acknowledges that other limitations (day or night spellcasting) aren't as serious for RPM casters, since they have more control over where and when they cast spells.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

I think what he's saying is that being unable to tap into all the extra energy your allies or hirelings can provide is a significant limitation. (I wouldn't treat HP as an easily-tapped source though, which drops the "free" PC energy from 59 to 13.) The last part he acknowledges that other limitations (day or night spellcasting) aren't as serious for RPM casters, since they have more control over where and when they cast spells.

Okay! I see what he's saying. That said, standard spell casters are in the same boat, they cannot benefit from Lend or Share Energy, they can't caster enchantment, etc. -20% is about right. I've had a NPC have it on his magery (ritual path) and it worked pretty well.