First magic style

Gef · 07-29-2016, 07:28 PM

Yeah, the magic styles book has been out for awhile, but this is my first dance with it.

EDIT: Turned first style into first collection, starting post 9. What was originally posted here has been moved.

Gef · 07-29-2016, 07:44 PM

Analysis:

I like the way it turned out, but it took a lot of time. Not sure I can do much of this, but the first one's for a PC.

In my game world, 4% of the population have the gift, and half are One College Only (and half the rest are limited some other way, like cyclic). You can train up levels but can't buy off the limitation. Plus, it makes sense to specialize even if you have a broader gift, so there are thousands of wizards in the setting for each college, and it's pseudo-rennaisance, so somewhat organized. There'd be styles like this for each specialty. For this campaign, I require any PC wizard to be single-college (only 1 taker so far).

The leveled approach to alternate prereqs saves a lot of time. Handy to have the spell charts even so. I like that I didn't have to require a dozen spells that the PC can never cast to get another dozen that he can, and I like having some spells that do a P&W job even though they aren't normally in the college.

Regarding the leveled approach, I combined levels 3 and 4, and bumped a bit from 2 and 5, to get all the Resist spells in one place, because that's the signature of the style. But it's okay, 6 spells plus CI as a prereq are enough for any "level 4" spell.

In the campaign setting, the church has a lock on mages. Other countries have secular guilds but not the PCs' home. A master wizard has less rank than a priest. Also, multiple magics exist, but the main two are spells and effect-shaping book magic. Priests use the latter.

I use enhancements and limitations on spells (from the old S. John Ross Pyramid article in 3e days but heavily modified from that start). I combine the modifiers into standard packages to define a school; that's why all the deacon spells require Theology: They have to invoke the names of saints (and can't cast quietly). Plus they need their holy symbols (instead of the wand a secular wizard would use).

I allow casting by default from a grimoire. That's why I gave attention to the actual books and didn't include the Improvised Casting perk.

Dolarre · 07-29-2016, 08:06 PM

Nicely done; I am going to steal this. I do have a few questions.

Why the path to power perk for blessing if you are changing the prerequisites regardless?

What is 'moral strength' under your special exercises perk?

And lastly, how did you calculate the costs and weights of the grimoires?

For a first try, this is really good; keep it up!

Gef · 07-29-2016, 08:26 PM

Glad you like it! I hoped people would find something they could use.

Moral Strength - oops, forgot to mention. This is a houserule, a perk that lets you use Will-based Theology+2 as Mental Strength. In this case, you need the Special Exercise perk to be able to get the cinematic skill.

Bless - Edited, thanks for catching that. Moved to correct level, edited prereqs for top levels so Bless has 20 as required.

Weights I assumed half a pound per spell plus an extra half pound for the 2 that let you buy a skill. Costs were (1+lvl)% of TL4 starting wealth per spell, plus 100 for the text on Occultism (avg skill) and 200 for the one on Expert (hard skill), plus 80 to get a nice round number on the last book for its historical significance and because master wizards can afford it.

PS: This old post might interest you too: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=10978.

Gef · 07-30-2016, 12:15 AM

Second try...

Style is now integrated into a collection starting on post 9.

Gef · 07-30-2016, 01:47 AM

Some expectations:

A typical college-specialist wizard has Magery 0 with or without One College Only (3 or 5), and then learns up to Magery 3 with One College Only and a -40% Gadget limitation (6 more, total 9 or 11). He also has Magery 0 for Arcane Magic as an alternate ability (1pt) and Flagrant Aura (-1). These form a metatrait so the quirk doesnn't hit the disad limit.

Incidentally, anyone with a supernatural advantage can learn Supernatural Awareness as Per/VH, which basically works like Detect Supernatural with Vague, but flagrant auras are the norm so the skill's actually useful, and you get a bonus to sense others like yourself, wizard to wizard, werewolf to werewolf, etc.

Arcane magic is just what the basic set calls ritual magic. I hate that name because there's nothing inherently ritualistic about it, and meanwhile I have the highly ritualistic Book Magic in the game too. It's called "arcane" in the sense of mysterious, and it's mysterious because it's dangerous and therefore restricted, especially from apprentices. Partly it's dangerous because of calamities, and partly because you can draw on chaos and evil spontaneously, to make up for those hideous penalties and the fact that you never bought up Magery from zero. Arcane magic uses the threshold system.

For 18 points, you can get a 30pt energy reserve with the same One College and Gadget limitations, so I assume it's the norm, which means a 250pt enchantment is within reach of quick enchantment. Makes for a lot of minor enchantments on the order of +1 weapons available to the wealthy.

07-29-2016, 07:28 PM	#1
Gef Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Yucca Valley, CA	First magic style Yeah, the magic styles book has been out for awhile, but this is my first dance with it. EDIT: Turned first style into first collection, starting post 9. What was originally posted here has been moved. Last edited by Gef; 08-12-2016 at 01:06 AM.

07-29-2016, 07:44 PM	#2
Gef Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Yucca Valley, CA	Re: First magic style Analysis: I like the way it turned out, but it took a lot of time. Not sure I can do much of this, but the first one's for a PC. In my game world, 4% of the population have the gift, and half are One College Only (and half the rest are limited some other way, like cyclic). You can train up levels but can't buy off the limitation. Plus, it makes sense to specialize even if you have a broader gift, so there are thousands of wizards in the setting for each college, and it's pseudo-rennaisance, so somewhat organized. There'd be styles like this for each specialty. For this campaign, I require any PC wizard to be single-college (only 1 taker so far). The leveled approach to alternate prereqs saves a lot of time. Handy to have the spell charts even so. I like that I didn't have to require a dozen spells that the PC can never cast to get another dozen that he can, and I like having some spells that do a P&W job even though they aren't normally in the college. Regarding the leveled approach, I combined levels 3 and 4, and bumped a bit from 2 and 5, to get all the Resist spells in one place, because that's the signature of the style. But it's okay, 6 spells plus CI as a prereq are enough for any "level 4" spell. In the campaign setting, the church has a lock on mages. Other countries have secular guilds but not the PCs' home. A master wizard has less rank than a priest. Also, multiple magics exist, but the main two are spells and effect-shaping book magic. Priests use the latter. I use enhancements and limitations on spells (from the old S. John Ross Pyramid article in 3e days but heavily modified from that start). I combine the modifiers into standard packages to define a school; that's why all the deacon spells require Theology: They have to invoke the names of saints (and can't cast quietly). Plus they need their holy symbols (instead of the wand a secular wizard would use). I allow casting by default from a grimoire. That's why I gave attention to the actual books and didn't include the Improvised Casting perk. Last edited by Gef; 07-29-2016 at 07:47 PM.

07-29-2016, 08:06 PM	#3
Dolarre Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: First magic style Nicely done; I am going to steal this. I do have a few questions. Why the path to power perk for blessing if you are changing the prerequisites regardless? What is 'moral strength' under your special exercises perk? And lastly, how did you calculate the costs and weights of the grimoires? For a first try, this is really good; keep it up!

07-29-2016, 08:26 PM	#4
Gef Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Yucca Valley, CA	Re: First magic style Glad you like it! I hoped people would find something they could use. Moral Strength - oops, forgot to mention. This is a houserule, a perk that lets you use Will-based Theology+2 as Mental Strength. In this case, you need the Special Exercise perk to be able to get the cinematic skill. Bless - Edited, thanks for catching that. Moved to correct level, edited prereqs for top levels so Bless has 20 as required. Weights I assumed half a pound per spell plus an extra half pound for the 2 that let you buy a skill. Costs were (1+lvl)% of TL4 starting wealth per spell, plus 100 for the text on Occultism (avg skill) and 200 for the one on Expert (hard skill), plus 80 to get a nice round number on the last book for its historical significance and because master wizards can afford it. PS: This old post might interest you too: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=10978. Last edited by Gef; 10-04-2018 at 03:21 PM.

07-30-2016, 12:15 AM	#5
Gef Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Yucca Valley, CA	Re: First magic style Second try... Style is now integrated into a collection starting on post 9. Last edited by Gef; 08-12-2016 at 01:07 AM.

07-30-2016, 01:47 AM	#6
Gef Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Yucca Valley, CA	Re: First magic style Some expectations: A typical college-specialist wizard has Magery 0 with or without One College Only (3 or 5), and then learns up to Magery 3 with One College Only and a -40% Gadget limitation (6 more, total 9 or 11). He also has Magery 0 for Arcane Magic as an alternate ability (1pt) and Flagrant Aura (-1). These form a metatrait so the quirk doesnn't hit the disad limit. Incidentally, anyone with a supernatural advantage can learn Supernatural Awareness as Per/VH, which basically works like Detect Supernatural with Vague, but flagrant auras are the norm so the skill's actually useful, and you get a bonus to sense others like yourself, wizard to wizard, werewolf to werewolf, etc. Arcane magic is just what the basic set calls ritual magic. I hate that name because there's nothing inherently ritualistic about it, and meanwhile I have the highly ritualistic Book Magic in the game too. It's called "arcane" in the sense of mysterious, and it's mysterious because it's dangerous and therefore restricted, especially from apprentices. Partly it's dangerous because of calamities, and partly because you can draw on chaos and evil spontaneously, to make up for those hideous penalties and the fact that you never bought up Magery from zero. Arcane magic uses the threshold system. For 18 points, you can get a 30pt energy reserve with the same One College and Gadget limitations, so I assume it's the norm, which means a 250pt enchantment is within reach of quick enchantment. Makes for a lot of minor enchantments on the order of +1 weapons available to the wealthy.