Quote:
Originally Posted by christ0pher
My worry with RPM is that it's more complicated and less straightforward than the old regular magic system.
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I was looking for feedback on using the standard magic system with some tweaks in a modern setting. From the feedback so far, it looks like I need to be using RPM instead, but I'm not sure that my players are ready for that. I need a miracle!
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Making the entire setting a low mana zone with rare normal mana areas is a quick and dirty way to explain magic being secret in the setting.
How much complexity are your players willing to accept? And what kinds of complexity do they prefer? Flexible magic systems e.g. RPM are good for simplifying character sheets. Their complexity lies in their rules for constructing consistent and balanced spells. As long as you, the GM, are familiar with these rules this shouldn't be a problem for your players. Writing a cheat sheet with things like Spell Parameters and Long-Distance Modifiers would be a big help for building spells quickly.
On the other hand, if your players prefer spells as skills flexible magic would be a poor choice. Path/Book magic would be a good alternative to standard magic for players like this. To simplify the system, I would use the degree of success interpretation of the Spell Parameters as outlined in the discussion of Syntactic Magic in
Thaumatology to determine spell efficacy. This is more straightforward than the algebra of the penalty interpretation or repetitive dice rolling of the energy accumulation interpretation of the Spell Parameters. Unfortunately, this means that you won't be able to use any of the prepublished rituals in your game. So this creates more work for you. Keeping track of how well they know a given ritual will be the main source of complexity for your players.
For a secret magic setting like yours, I think RPM or a version of Path/Book magic modified as described above would be the best candidate. Spells are time consuming under both of these systems, explaining why society chose technology over magic. Most people wouldn't believe magic exists because of the high charlatan to true mage ratio in your setting. If there are only ~300 mages in the United States, it is quite plausible that no one has seen a true casting.