Purchasing Magery Variation [Thaumotology/RPM]

[AlexanderHowl]

I was wondering if the following variation on purchasing Magery for RPM would work. After developing Magery 0, characters would purchase Magery 1+ through sacrificing one level of ST or HT per level of Magery instead of paying character points. After developing Magery 0, characters would purchase Ritual Adept through sacrificing two levels of ST and two levels of HT instead of paying character points.

During character creation, the sacrificial requirement would just be flavor, as players could simply repurchase levels of ST and HT, which costs as much as Magery and Ritual Adept. After character creation though, sacrificing ST and HT would hurt because the character would suffer reduced capabilities until they repurchased ST and HT levels. For example, if a character wished to acquire Ritual Adept, they would likely have to spend years in physical therapy to justify recovering their lost ST and HT.

In addition to sacrificing ST and HT to purchase Magery and/or Ritual Adept, mages could also sacrifice one level of ST or HT to generate 250 points of magical energy for a secondary magical reserve that they could not refill except through sacrificing one level of ST or HT. Magical rituals would use the secondary magical reserve rather than the primary magical reserve until it was exhausted, though mages could use energy accumulation instead of the secondary magical reserve if they wished.

So, what do you think? Do you think that it would be a useful variation? Is it something that you would think of using in your games?

[whswhs]

Anyone who wants to take that option in building a character is free to do so. That's inherent in a point build system.

As for doing it in game—I want to hear the player's rationale for why become weaker or sicklier enhances their magical capabilities. Not a game mechanical rationale, but a plausible narrative, based on science or folklore or published fiction or something. It doesn't seem to me that you've even hinted at such a narrative, and lacking that, I'm going to say no.

[Anders]

Pour out your blood as a sacrifice to the earth spirits. In exchange for the life force in the blood they give you greater magical power.

[coronatiger]

Originally Posted by Anders

Pour out your blood as a sacrifice to the earth spirits. In exchange for the life force in the blood they give you greater magical power.

That sounds more like temporary HP loss, i.e. injury.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by coronatiger

That sounds more like temporary HP loss, i.e. injury.

I agree. There are already rules for sacrificial bonuses to spell casting in Thaumatology.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by coronatiger

That sounds more like temporary HP loss, i.e. injury.

Not if they take a portion of your ST or HT through the bond of your blood.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Not if they take a portion of your ST or HT through the bond of your blood.

Yeah, that was the point.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Not a game mechanical rationale, but a plausible narrative, based on science or folklore or published fiction or something. It doesn't seem to me that you've even hinted at such a narrative, and lacking that, I'm going to say no.

It's a fairly easy one though. There are lots of stories where you sacrifice physical traits in exchange for power, and powerful wizards are often rather sickly, and not just because they are older than dirt. Stories where exposure to magic damages your health rather like radiation exposure are presumably more modern, but not so rare either.

In terms of purchasing this as a variation, there is a game mechanical advantage to being able to later reassign points like that, but it isn't a very big one. If it just works I'd probably charge an extra 5 points for Magery 0 and call it done. If there's more risk, I might just have you buy the ritual of exchanging points like a normal spell, where if you critically fail you lose the sacrificed trait without gaining the additional magery.

Edit: I suppose in principle you could price the ST or HT you can exchange as part of an Alternate Ability with the additional magery (which would presumably be +20%) then add one use to the notional conversion (dividing by 5, taking it to +4%). If you are the player and are going to sacrifice less than 125 points worth of ST + HT that's cheaper than the 5 points I suggested charging, so you may want to lobby your GM for this build.

[Plane]

To stop players from casually swapping their alternative ST/Magery, maybe there should be something to force downtime, such as Maximum Duration which creates a 5 minute window of non-use even for the 0% version lasting 24 hours?

Aside from alternative abilities should also probably some means to prevent casually taking on disadvantages to pay for new advantages, even though that is sometimes suggested when players can't afford costs.

Maybe some kind of exchange rate, like for every 2 points of disadvantages you gain (or 2 points of advantages you lose) you can only gain 1 point of advantages (or lose 1 point of disadvantages)? That would definitely dissuade casual swapping around.

Switchable magery that causes a temporary disadvantage of ST/HT penalties would be another way you could cheapen your purchase. Coupling it with Aftermath (equal ST/HT penalties for the duration you kept your magery on) is also something to stop casual switching on/off of Magery, as even if you only use magery briefly I think there's a 10 minute minimum.

[Anders]

I assumed it would be permanent. You give up a point of ST or HT and get a level of Magery in exchange. Permanently.