Sorcery: replacing fatigue cost with something else?

[Varyon]

An idea I had for one of the many settings bouncing around in my head was to have spellcasters who had to carry gold on their person (often in the form of jewelry) in order to cast spells, and some of this gold turned into lead* upon casting (the amount that was transformed being a function of the power of the spell). Replacing Costs FP with some quantity of gold (or other expensive substance) should be doable via Trigger or similar Limitation. Other options can be found in Power Ups 8: Limitations, particularly under the "Supernaturally Appropriate" listing (p.5).

*The substance actually maintained most of the material properties of gold but lost its luster, turning into the dull gray of lead, and of course became worthless for further spellcasting. It was thought to be lead back when magic became established (back around TL 1 or so), and while the modern (well, modern for the setting, which is around TL 4 or TL 5) scholars recognize it's something else - some call it "depleted gold" or similar - most people still refer to it (and think of it) as being lead.

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by weso12

I'm think abouting but it seems a little over priced TBH basically adding a point tax to any one who plays sorcerer

If the ER is something that everybody has, but only sorcerers use, then it could be a campaign feature that doesn't cost points.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by weso12

it's a horrible idea because the discount you get with sorcery is balanced by the fact that cost fatague -5% is no way in hell balanced.

So, if this is your problem, I'd say fix this problem :) Rev. PK has a houserule: "Costs Fatigue is worth -10% per level, to a maximum of -40%. If you have an advantage that would normally remain on indefinitely, you can take "Costs 1 FP per 10 seconds" for -20% or "Costs 1 FP per second" for -40%."

[PK]

Why not just use Alternative Rituals (p. 7), which offer ways to completely negate the need to spend FP?

If that doesn't work, here's an excerpt from [REDACTED] that offers advice for removing Costs Fatigue from the Sorcery PM:

. . . you have two options. The first is to find another ‑5% limitation that fits the mold; consider Nuisance Effect, where ‑5% can represent things like “Concentration causes throbbing veins and profuse sweat, for ‑1 to reactions,” “Must mutter a few words, so cannot use if gagged,” or “Requires simple movement, so cannot use if restrained.” The second is to recalculate the cost of each ability with a ‑10% PM instead of a ‑15% one; this avoids the issue of FP cost altogether, but obviously requires much more work. However, neither approach takes into account sorcery spells where Reduced Fatigue Cost was used to get an inherently fatiguing advantage’s FP cost down to 1 FP; in those cases, you’ll need to add another level of Reduced Fatigue Cost for a net +20%.

[Lord Azagthoth]

I once played a singe scenario in which sorcey was evil. Each time you cast a spell, you gained a 1cp disadvantage. This could be anything from decreasing Appreance, Temperature intolerance, Mental diseases and modified (to be able to get the 1pt versions).

Was nice to see how some sorcerers who end up at the end of the scenario.

[munin]

I would just replace the implied "Costs Fatigue, -5%" with a -5 point Required Disadvantage like Code of Honor, Honesty, Sense of Duty, Disciplines of Faith, or Vow (p. P21-23). Thus your sorcery is subject to the usual limitations of magic (no/low mana zones, anti-magic) and you have to stay in your god's good graces as well.

[Anders]

How about using Threshold magic?

[weso12]

Originally Posted by PK

Why not just use Alternative Rituals (p. 7), which offer ways to completely negate the need to spend FP?

If that doesn't work, here's an excerpt from [REDACTED] that offers advice for removing Costs Fatigue from the Sorcery PM:

. . . you have two options. The first is to find another ‑5% limitation that fits the mold; consider Nuisance Effect, where ‑5% can represent things like “Concentration causes throbbing veins and profuse sweat, for ‑1 to reactions,” “Must mutter a few words, so cannot use if gagged,” or “Requires simple movement, so cannot use if restrained.” The second is to recalculate the cost of each ability with a ‑10% PM instead of a ‑15% one; this avoids the issue of FP cost altogether, but obviously requires much more work. However, neither approach takes into account sorcery spells where Reduced Fatigue Cost was used to get an inherently fatiguing advantage’s FP cost down to 1 FP; in those cases, you’ll need to add another level of Reduced Fatigue Cost for a net +20%.

I think the last might be the best solution As in just removing the -5% cost fatigue limitation I just always assumed that it would be bad idea to remove that for balance reasons but I guess if the co-line editor says it's okay then it's fine.

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by Lord Azagthoth

I once played a singe scenario in which sorcey was evil. Each time you cast a spell, you gained a 1cp disadvantage. This could be anything from decreasing Appreance, Temperature intolerance, Mental diseases and modified (to be able to get the 1pt versions).

Was nice to see how some sorcerers who end up at the end of the scenario.

Neat idea!

[weso12]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Energy Reserve 10 is 30 points.
"Costs ER Only" is an additional -5% kicker to Costs Fatigue.
If you go with that, that's balanced by the numbers.

Actually I just realized the problem with this is that unless you spend on average more than 300 points on Sorcery Spells, you are paying more then if you had no limitation at all.