Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - [Magic] Magery et al with Temporary Disadvantages

Prince Charon · 07-24-2020, 01:35 PM

'Magery et al' in this context means all those advantages that let you do magic or make it easier to do magic (or something that might as well be magic, like Chi or Psi). So, Magery 0 and the Magery talent, Sorcerous Empowerment, Path/Book Adept (or Ritual Adept), Trained by a Master/Weapon Master, Power Talents, et cetra (even outliers like Gadgeteer or Illuminated could work for this, if you want to go there).

I don't recall seeing any of these used with temporary disadvantages in a game, but I think doing so could be quite interesting, and I'm wondering if anyone has done it, or is likely to. For example, you have Magery 0 and Magery 1 without limitations, but you also have Magery 3 (Fire College Only, -40%; Temporary Disadvantage: Pyromania (6), -10%); you're capable of being very good at Fire spells, but if you use that bonus (or use Fire magic at all, depending on how your GM decides this works), you have a lot of trouble not just setting things on fire for the sheer joy of it, rather than only igniting the things you really need to.

Path/Book Adept with 'Temporary Disadvantage: Megalomania, -10%' would allow the magician to cast more conveniently, while also changing their attitude towards the other characters, and which rituals they might want to cast (and if Time is on the list and you're using Effect Shaping, they may not have time to realize that you're performing the wrong ritual, if they even have the skill to know it), while Ritual Adept with 'Temporary Disadvantage: Weirdness Magnet, -15%' means that even if you don't roll a critical failure, something interesting is bound to happen if you need to use it.

In a setting where Temporary Disadvantages are common limitations on Magery, P/B A, and/or other such advantages, this could change the attitudes people take towards magi, especially if specific TDs are both common and inconvenient.

So, what do you think? Has it been done in your games? What effects do you think it might have in a setting?

07-24-2020, 01:35 PM	#1
Prince Charon Join Date: Dec 2012	[Magic] Magery et al with Temporary Disadvantages 'Magery et al' in this context means all those advantages that let you do magic or make it easier to do magic (or something that might as well be magic, like Chi or Psi). So, Magery 0 and the Magery talent, Sorcerous Empowerment, Path/Book Adept (or Ritual Adept), Trained by a Master/Weapon Master, Power Talents, et cetra (even outliers like Gadgeteer or Illuminated could work for this, if you want to go there). I don't recall seeing any of these used with temporary disadvantages in a game, but I think doing so could be quite interesting, and I'm wondering if anyone has done it, or is likely to. For example, you have Magery 0 and Magery 1 without limitations, but you also have Magery 3 (Fire College Only, -40%; Temporary Disadvantage: Pyromania (6), -10%); you're capable of being very good at Fire spells, but if you use that bonus (or use Fire magic at all, depending on how your GM decides this works), you have a lot of trouble not just setting things on fire for the sheer joy of it, rather than only igniting the things you really need to. Path/Book Adept with 'Temporary Disadvantage: Megalomania, -10%' would allow the magician to cast more conveniently, while also changing their attitude towards the other characters, and which rituals they might want to cast (and if Time is on the list and you're using Effect Shaping, they may not have time to realize that you're performing the wrong ritual, if they even have the skill to know it), while Ritual Adept with 'Temporary Disadvantage: Weirdness Magnet, -15%' means that even if you don't roll a critical failure, something interesting is bound to happen if you need to use it. In a setting where Temporary Disadvantages are common limitations on Magery, P/B A, and/or other such advantages, this could change the attitudes people take towards magi, especially if specific TDs are both common and inconvenient. So, what do you think? Has it been done in your games? What effects do you think it might have in a setting? __________________ Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.