[DF18] Incantation Magic and Bookkeepping

[Diomedes]

Has anyone had trouble with the bookkeepping requiremrnts of Incantation magic? Has the GM’s need to keep track of the results of the casting roll for each spell in a slot been a problem?

On a related note, incantation magic allows the caster to create blocking spells on the fly, with a -10 penalty, but is there any way to activate a prepared spell as an active defense? The rules don’t specify, but I suppose I could just use the same penalty.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Diomedes

Has anyone had trouble with the bookkeepping requiremrnts of Incantation magic?

Note: I've never used it in DF... but... I did use RPM in a fantasy campaign a bit back... and the only trouble I had was in adjudicating spell builds, which I didn't allow during combat*.



* Eventually I did, once I grew familiar enough. I let them buy an advantage that let them cast on the fly as I'd reworked the way RPM worked to not allow 'inventing a spell on the fly'.

Has the GM’s need to keep track of the results of the casting roll for each spell in a slot been a problem?

Not for my usage... I just had them record their spells on index cards. Spell Name, roll, effects, etc. When the charm/hung spell was used, they hand over the card. It also meant they wouldn't forget pre-prepared spells between game sessions.

On a related note, incantation magic allows the caster to create blocking spells on the fly, with a -10 penalty, but is there any way to activate a prepared spell as an active defense?

I'd allow it without the -10. They've prepared a Defensive spell for a purpose after all.

However... they'd be limited in Duration. I'd drop the duration by one [TIME UNIT]* and I wouldn't allow spells that weren't defensive (so no Censure cast as an active defense). Also, if they activated the prepared spell normally it would work normally.

Granted this is just my quick and dirty eyeballin of the rules.


* So hours drops to minutes, minutes drops to seconds, second to 'number of defenses in one turn'.





Of course, allowing it with just the -10 and it works as it works is also appropriate.

[Humabout]

I never used this system. Standard RPM is minimal in terms of bookkeeping. From what I can tell from reading and playtesting Incantation Magic is that it's a best attempt at making RPM DF-like, so it should handle ok. That said, anytime you add a system onto your game, you will increase your bookkeeping some.

Something that speeds up RPM a lot is encouraging players to predesign spells and falling back on those. That way a slot can be recorded as Fireball (6d, 10 yds, -3) or some such instead of having to lost out too much stuff. There's a reference you can fall back on for details already. Also, making those details is something I'd offload on the player, and it gives you a chance to adjudicate any issues that might crop up prior to use in play.

That said, you'll get random usage in play, but not much (thank you, casting time requirements). And frankly, that's the nature of freeform magic systems.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Diomedes

Has anyone had trouble with the bookkeepping requiremrnts of Incantation magic? Has the GM’s need to keep track of the results of the casting roll for each spell in a slot been a problem?

As the co-author of the book and the guy behind most of the crunch it's no more recordkeeping than gear and/or consumables. In fact, I tend to think of most GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 19: Incantation Magic spells as consumables like potions since you have to renew them back in town or take lots of time.

Most casters will come to use the same types of spells for some things so it just becomes a matter of adjusting the MoS when they roll. In general, I keep track of the Margin of Success, any changes to Duration, Girded, Range, Subject Weight, or dice of damage. I use:

"Acid Blast (Mos 6, damge 9d)"

Originally Posted by Diomedes

On a related note, incantation magic allows the caster to create blocking spells on the fly, with a -10 penalty, but is there any way to activate a prepared spell as an active defense? The rules don’t specify, but I suppose I could just use the same penalty.

That's a good question. On one hand, that's changing the definition of the spell itself - but like you would in regular RPM with charms. On the other hand, it seems perfectable DF-able. Hmmm. I'd say you probably could with no changes. The -10 to rolls is going to be harsh enough. The only problem I see is caster's turning spells into free actions by accepting such a steep penalty. Maybe a perk per spell would be fair.