04-16-2008, 06:32 PM | #161 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Yrth technology
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I also tend to think that a mage craftsman would be more like a Johnny One-Spell than an Archmage. Let's say a guy has IQ11 and Magery(Earth-only) at 1 and he starts out as an apprentice turning rocks into pots with Shape Earth. Shape Earth has only 1 prereq and he only needs to put 1 pt in that. For 31 pts (not counting any Disads) he has Seek Earth-10 and Shape Earth-12. That's already probably enough to go around making "earthenware" pots and even counting FP recovery time he's working much faster than a potter and not spending anything on having a kiln. With nothing but On the Job Training his Skill level goes up to 16 in 4 to 6 years (he's a 47 pt character now). He can branch out to Shape Metal now. He can make metal pots and any other simple thing (he's still only a 77 pt character at Shape Metal-16 and he's probably in his early 30s). He might not get the +4 for "routine task" that a Blacksmith would but making horseshoes with magic takes much less skill than doing it with a hammer. It's more like working with modeling clay. He can probably make simple armor like helmets without any particular Armory skill but investing just a few pts will give him a professional level with that and he's making expertly fitted suits of plate armor in _days_ instead of weeks or months, So, if you give him 25 pts of Disads you've got a 60 pt character who can totally upend the armory and blacksmith business on a citywide basis (and he still only knows 3 spells). Archmages are not needed to change the economy with magic.
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Fred Brackin |
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04-16-2008, 06:41 PM | #162 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Yrth technology
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It is easily observable that even the least spell will take one-tenth the stamina of an average mage. Thus you could have a 9 spell Apprentice or an 11/10ths Journeyman. When a mage can cast or maintain a 1/10th level spell indefinitely he can be declared a Master (or that spell at least). Mana level probably could get described in the same terms the game system uses. Choose more dramatic adjectives than "High" or "Low" for flavor purposes if you want to.
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Fred Brackin |
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04-16-2008, 08:02 PM | #163 | |||||
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Re: Yrth technology
[QUOTE=Fred Brackin]Well, he does have to make a living somehow and you can't go around building castles everyday.
[quote] Castles aren't built in a day, and a highly skilled mage with the proper background certainly could build castles, towers, fortifications, and bridges for a living. Such a mage would need more than just the Earth spells. He/she would also need some building and craft skills - Architech(not sure if I got the name right) etc. Quote:
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BTW, a 77 pt. character is well above average. He's in the territory of someone who's a mastercraftsman. Quote:
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Of course, the king is more likely to have said mage armourer come to his attention and bring him to court to work exclusively for the crown. The king's guard needs armour more than the towns people.
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James (aka griffin) Stuff I'd like to see in Pyramid Griffin's Claw - fantasy Special Ops team |
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04-16-2008, 08:27 PM | #164 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Yrth technology
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He only needs common rock and not good potter's clay and no fuel for a kiln either so it's more output with fewer costs. The thing is that when he starts this routine he _is_ a 25 pt npc. If you really want to hold the line about magecraftsmen you've got to keep magery (even minor magery) _rare_. Of course, mundanes would grow similarly through On The Job training too so even 25 pt npcs might not stay that low.
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Fred Brackin |
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04-16-2008, 08:46 PM | #165 |
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: a crooked, creaky manse built on a blasted heath
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Re: Yrth technology
I still think most mages would find more interesting things to do than spend their lives making pots. I know I would, if I had cool magic powers. :)
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04-16-2008, 10:35 PM | #166 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Re: Yrth technology
While we're on the subject of Enchantment, The Trappings of Technology by Demi Benson has an interesting set of optional rules for Enchantment to make Magic Items a bit more like technology, namely by making them cheaper to produce, though more likely to break down and wear out.
While regular Magic Items would still be nigh-eternal and costly to produce, Techno-Magic Items would be would have a finite usefulness, but would be cheaper to create. So yeah, you can get a +1 Puissance Magic Sword made on the cheap, but it won't last you a long, long time. |
04-16-2008, 11:12 PM | #167 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Yrth technology
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04-17-2008, 12:01 AM | #168 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Yrth technology
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04-17-2008, 07:16 AM | #169 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Yrth technology
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Fred Brackin |
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04-17-2008, 07:22 AM | #170 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Yrth technology
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I wouldn't even bother rolling crit fails for pot-making. It'd all be "puff of smoke and your pot is all lumpy looking". If you did bother to roll you'd get a lot of "cast spell on self" and "cast spell on random ally" and other things that equaled "no effect".
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Fred Brackin |
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