Spells written down are how many pages?

[The Benj]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

Depends on who's writing them. On average, yes, but I've known some people who could write both minutely AND neatly enough to match a good typewriter or word processor.

That makes me wonder: What is the appropriate Skill or Advantage for having small, neat, legible handwriting? It's not really Writing, nor is it quite right for Calligraphy. I suppose it could be something like a pre-TL 5 Typing Skill, I suppose. Hmm...

[Last Pawn]

I've always preferred that magic be rather complex, even the straight up combat magic, without having the rules be complex. To that end I've interpreted the pages that spells take up as dealing with the setting/colour portion of the spells. So the written portion of the spell makes note of how the phases of the moon affect summoning, how Mercury's and Mar's positions affect the crafting of fire magics, and what herbs and gems aid healing. This is all done with appropriate graphs, charts and pictures. Of course it's still roll beneath skill in play, but at least the three or four pages aren't simply used to communicate "say abracadabra".

Originally Posted by The Benj

That makes me wonder: What is the appropriate Skill or Advantage for having small, neat, legible handwriting? It's not really Writing, nor is it quite right for Calligraphy. I suppose it could be something like a pre-TL 5 Typing Skill, I suppose. Hmm...

Probably a technique that defaults to Writing, Calligraphy, and Artist (Drawing).

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by The Benj

That makes me wonder: What is the appropriate Skill or Advantage for having small, neat, legible handwriting? It's not really Writing, nor is it quite right for Calligraphy. I suppose it could be something like a pre-TL 5 Typing Skill, I suppose. Hmm...

I believe I have rules about that in LTC1. I don't remember the details, but you can use either DX-based Calligraphy at a bonus, or Professional Skill: Scribe, I think. The details will appear sometime soon, it is to be hoped.

Bill Stoddard

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by The Benj

Don't forget that this figure assumes typed pages. Handwritten pages are MUCH less information dense.

This figure does NOT assume typed pages. My sainted grade seven teacher would have us burned at the stake for delivering typed pages, without extenuating circumstances.

I fell amongst extenuating circumstances, being legitimately disabled and basically incapable of writing an essay by hand (at least, legibly - I can give you one that turns into a literally illiterate scrawl after a few lines). That's why I got the guidelines - when she said a 5 page essay, since she didn't have font/size guidelines I needed to know how big she meant.

[Bruno]

For reference - 250 words a page is with US Letter sized paper with school lines on it, the stuff with a 1" margin at the top that we were forbidden to write in, and a similar margin on the spine side with 3 holes for a 3 ring binder (also forbidden writing area). For symmetry, writing on the 1" margin on the right was frowned upon, but going right down to the bottom of the page was acceptable.

Not exactly medieval margins, but not hyper-efficient either... but also a modern script, which frankly is TL 5-6 and waaaay better than TL 2-3 writing, never mind the language shifts. The invention of standardized punctuation and mixed case? Woo, huge stuff.

[The Benj]

Originally Posted by Bruno

This figure does NOT assume typed pages. My sainted grade seven teacher would have us burned at the stake for delivering typed pages, without extenuating circumstances.

Canada is a brutal and barbaric place, with many strange customs.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by The Benj

That makes me wonder: What is the appropriate Skill or Advantage for having small, neat, legible handwriting? It's not really Writing, nor is it quite right for Calligraphy. I suppose it could be something like a pre-TL 5 Typing Skill, I suppose. Hmm...

I use a technique of Professional Skill (Copyist) or Professional Skill (Scribe) with a default around Calligraphy-2 or Writing-4 or Administration-5. The Professional Skill also includes knowledge of what hands are appropriate to what document, the format of common documents, and so on.