03-15-2018, 05:10 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Interesting Magical Variation
I was reading through my PDF copies of Fight On! magazine the other day, and ran across this fascinating magical variation:
"Spontaneous Magic: Mages in fantasy fiction often can make many small spells without trouble, yet in many roleplaying games they only have a small-to-middling number of fairly potent spells instead. For GMs who prefer a different approach we offer the following: Mages should be allowed to extemporize small spells based on their current spell list. Thus a mage who currently has Exploding Orb of Plasmatic Fury committed to memory could light a candle or campfire without incident; one who has studied a telekinetic dweomer might nudge a box off a mantel; one who can cast Slumber might be able to make someone yawn momentarily; and so on. The possible effects should always do little to nothing directly – certainly no more than one point of damage even in the best of circumstances for example – but player creativity can sometimes give them great indirect effects in play. They also allow your mages to help out in little ways and do the neat tricks that wizards in some books do. As your mage casts the spells on her list, she also gradually loses the ability to create these spontaneous effects, representing the decrease in magical force that working greater enchantments (i.e. ordinary spells) inevitably causes. If you use a mana point system instead of spells that disappear with use, simply have the minor magical effects cost one mana point each instead." Now, while that's written towards D&D-ish OSR games, clearly we could just as easily substitute TFT spells for the effect. Someone who knows Fireball can light a candle or get a campfire started; someone who knows Magic Fist can nudge that box off the mantle; someone who knows Rope can tie or untie a knot, etc., etc. Clearly also, we would use the "mana points variation" to determine cost -- though a cost of 1ST might seem a bit high. Still... This would resolve the debate over cantrips and the like, and make for a much simpler variant of the cantrip idea that could easily be applied. It also allows the players to make an argument for being able to do something tiny (yet sly) that can have an outsize effect on an encounter; e.g., tying the bandit leader's shoelaces together while he tries to terrorize you -- when the fight begins, he has to roll 4/DX to avoid falling down immediately (remember, it's just an example). Anyway, thoughts anyone? |
03-15-2018, 05:48 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Tyler, Texas
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
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03-15-2018, 07:24 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Jun 2012
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
I have played games with assemble on the fly magic systems. They are fun. I actually think it would be easier to create such a system for TFT than for D&D. TFT uses a spell cost system rather than a spell slot system. Build on the fly magic's biggest requirement is a listing of spell effects, ranges, etc, and their respective costs. Then build a spell by deciding what it does and adding up the costs.
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03-15-2018, 08:50 PM | #4 | |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
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03-15-2018, 09:20 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
My original concept here was that it would only be used for MINOR magics -- something along the lines (and potency of) cantrips in the old D&D system.
We'd talked about something like cantrips elsewhere, but seeing this made me realize I was probably over-intellectualizing the concept and it could be done very simply -- as long as the players and GM all agree on the ground rules (which for me would be: a) it has to relate to the regular spell in some discernible way, and b) it can't do much in the way of affecting the environment or inflicting damage on anyone -- it's a very tiny, weak version of the main spell). Not sure if it's a great idea or a really bad one, but I think I might try using it next time I get a group together and see if they like it and what issues crop up with it. Something like this could solve a whole host of "problems" (not game-problems, but "concept problems" is what I'm talking about here; as in "why can I do this, but not that?" e.g., "Why can I cast a fireball, but not light a candle?") that people have had with the magic system over the years (which, let's face it, is primarily designed for tactical combat situations with everything else sort of tacked on around that solid core). |
03-15-2018, 09:48 PM | #6 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
Well I think it sounds like a super thing to consider for enhanced Role-Play or non-critical situations (i.e. non-combat), if even only for a flavor thing. Let us now how it plays out for you!
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03-15-2018, 10:13 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
LOL! Yeah, CLEARLY not intended for a combat situation! ;-)
But I can see how you could use it in the run-up TO a combat situation, or in an emergency situation like trying to get a campfire going in a rainstorm, or perhaps when you're captured... It would really be pretty irrelevant in an arena combat situation, though -- unless you were milking it for laughs. The giant barbarian paused his death stroke upon Chaplin ("call me Charley!") the Magician as he uncontrollably yawned for some reason! (a minor variant of SLEEP). |
03-15-2018, 10:15 PM | #8 | |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
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03-16-2018, 09:43 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
Some things to consider...
In general, what can 1 ST worth of magic achieve? (How much damage, how much armor protection, how much summoned creature time, etc.) How do you limit how much ST a wizard can put into one spell? How do you determine what kinds of spells a wizard can cast? (Verb-noun is very common.) How do you determine whether the wizard successfully casts the spell?
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Chris Goodwin I've started a subreddit for discussion of INWO and Illuminati. Check it out! |
03-16-2018, 11:40 AM | #10 | |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Re: Interesting Magical Variation
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The mind boggles with all the potential story-line and adventures which could develop as a residual consequence of "casting minor magics". Awesome question Chris G! |
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Tags |
advanced wizard, magic, tft, wizard |
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