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Old 08-30-2014, 09:17 AM   #121
vierasmarius
 
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

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Originally Posted by Humabout View Post
What about making a charm based on a Path of Magic roll you made earlier for later use?
That's essentially an extra Energy Reserve. If you're going to allow that sort of mechanic at all (which would be a deviation from the standard "can't get better at magic with magic" rule) it should be an ongoing effect using Altered Trait. Probably Greater too, at least for anything over a couple points. So you're looking at a ritual costing 9 energy per ER, plus overhead. That feels like it's in the ballpark of a fair cost.
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Old 08-30-2014, 08:39 PM   #122
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

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What about making a charm based on a Path of Magic roll you made earlier for later use?
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A Grimoire of Recover Energy would slow the process down since would be rolling half as often, but might knock some casters over the magical '17 is not a crit fail' threshhold which is a very good thing

That's skirting the edge of "cannot use magic to get better at magic." I don't know...Hmm. Right off it doesn't hit any alarm bells - but my gut says "no." I'll need to think about it. Do remember that there is no "Recover Energy" spell - you're just using Path of Magic to fill your mana reserve.
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Old 08-30-2014, 10:59 PM   #123
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

Well, the whole point of Grimoires is to be magic items that help with Magic, so I am not inherently opposed to the idea of them helping with magic in this area of 'make it less prone to critical failures through lessening dice rolls and potentially raising the bar the dice need to swing for for the crit fail when refilling the ER'

My bad on the Recover Energy bit . . . . I flavor text it in my games as being a variant off of Recover Energy and consider it a spell, even if there is no actual effects of it being a spell vs not a spell really in game, so my personal DMing leaking into posting, sorry!

I don't think spending your moneys and encumbrance to buy a grimoire that helps in refilling your mana reserve (especially in the area of trying to avoid fumbles) is going to break anything . . . . but, I will admit, I am huge huge fan of grimoires in specific and shoppables in general, so, mileages may vary

I haven't tested this at all in play, as noone has ever asked about it, and until this latest post I never thought about it!
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Old 08-31-2014, 09:15 AM   #124
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

Yeah, it seems like the only real benefit is that you could discard the replenishment charms you didn't charge up much. In exchange for off-screen time, money, and potential quirks/crit-fails. Not sure I'd use it as a mage, but the benefit seems pretty modest and the drawbacks feel like they offset them.
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Old 08-31-2014, 09:30 AM   #125
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

The real issue here is that you are using magic to be better at magic. You're doing in relatively safety what should be done with difficulty. Why would anyone ever take Ritual Adept if they could simply save up mana for later? No, the more I think about it the more I think it needs a solution that isn't tied up in the mechanics of the magic system. I think some variation of paut or raw magic is probably in order in most cases.
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Old 08-31-2014, 09:38 AM   #126
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

I allow DF Paut to work straight up with RPM no harm no foul . . . and noone has the least bit interest whatsoever in using it. Why spend money and encumbrance on something that you can do natively in 5 seconds or 5 minutes? Especially when it only does 4 ER refill, which means refilling your ER in combat time isn't particularly probable even if you have a bushel basket of the potions handy.
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Old 08-31-2014, 09:43 AM   #127
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

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I allow DF Paut to work straight up with RPM no harm no foul . . . and noone has the least bit interest whatsoever in using it. Why spend money and encumbrance on something that you can do natively in 5 seconds or 5 minutes? Especially when it only does 4 ER refill, which means refilling your ER in combat time isn't particularly probable even if you have a bushel basket of the potions handy.
That's actually a good point, though I'd let it replace 5 points of mana per ounce. I think that's the whole issue in a nutshell summed up, really. Why carry a external mechanism when you have a internal one at your disposal? Does RPM need a paut-like external enhancer? No, I don't think so for most cases because it's just too easy to refill it on your own when needed. The question of combat-time does come up, but in most instances you're probably throwing charms vs. actual casting so the point is mote there as well.
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Old 08-31-2014, 09:53 AM   #128
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

Well, DF Paut for instance, 4 FP is a meaningful combat time amount in many cases to a Magic Magic mage who often has some low FP cost spells handy

Thaumatology Paut allows you to temporarily exceed your max FP throw weight (up to like 6x ST I think)

Both of these are neat tricks, and are distinct from 'I restore my FP faster than 5 minutes per FP using recover energy' which is a boring trick, and most mages prefer recover energy.

Now, by your idea, if a 4oz paut potion restores 20 energy, thats enough to fully top off the ER of a Magery 6 caster . . . that is enough to let them throw another 'tweaked to the exact circumstances that I need this spell' low end spell in a fight. I would expect there could be some interest in buying such things
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Old 08-31-2014, 09:59 AM   #129
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

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Originally Posted by Kalzazz View Post
Well, DF Paut for instance, 4 FP is a meaningful combat time amount in many cases to a Magic Magic mage who often has some low FP cost spells handy

Thaumatology Paut allows you to temporarily exceed your max FP throw weight (up to like 6x ST I think)

Both of these are neat tricks, and are distinct from 'I restore my FP faster than 5 minutes per FP using recover energy' which is a boring trick, and most mages prefer recover energy.

Now, by your idea, if a 4oz paut potion restores 20 energy, thats enough to fully top off the ER of a Magery 6 caster . . . that is enough to let them throw another 'tweaked to the exact circumstances that I need this spell' low end spell in a fight. I would expect there could be some interest in buying such things
Well, the majority of the figures use my "5 RPM energy = 1 FP" rule (it's morel like 4.3, but 5 feels betteR). I don't see that being a issue. Again, the problem I find is you're only going to need paut in a combat-type situation. Most other times you can just refill it with Path of Magic. And in most combat situations you are probably not actually casting a spell, you're likely using Conditionals or Charms or Potions or whatever. That in turn makes me wonder if you truly need a external refilling mechanism. Of course, if you let the rule for energy sticking around for up to 5 minutes be in use than it does become far more attractive. Hmmm.
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Old 08-31-2014, 10:04 AM   #130
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Default Re: [RPM] Post your rituals here

Well, your conditionals by nature of being planned out all ahead of time, are usually not tweaked to the specifics of the situation, since you didn't know the specifics of the situation when you prepared them

So I have often (not very often, but definitely often) found that mages are able to use their 18 ER or whatnot to pull off a low powered but 'just what would help here' spell in combat time

So the potential existing for the case of 'I would like to pull off a second 18 ER spell after I have already exhausted my pool' might justify lugging around a potion with you . . . if you use it great, if you dont use it great, but the possibility of wanting to use it is there
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