Ritual Unusual Background

[jacobmuller]

I'm using a variant of the Ritual Magic systems.
What would be a fair cost Unusual Background to ignore the prerequisite Thaumatology skill for characters who will only be able to access 1 college*?
20cp seems harsh but is the equivalent of IQ+3 and they'll be getting their chosen college without that limiter so effectively half price after IQ+3.
(*1 of 12 limited colleges, Pyramid 3/37? Psionic Magic)

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

I'm using a variant of the Ritual Magic systems.
What would be a fair cost Unusual Background to ignore the prerequisite Thaumatology skill for characters who will only be able to access 1 college*?
20cp seems harsh but is the equivalent of IQ+3 and they'll be getting their chosen college without that limiter so effectively half price after IQ+3.
(*1 of 12 limited colleges, Pyramid 3/37? Psionic Magic)

I would suggest a leveled perk, with each level increasing the cap by 1 and explicitly allowing the perk to be purchased with earned points and training during the game.

[Bruno]

I'd go as low as 10 points if you want a flat advantage - remember they're not getting any Thaumatology skill either this way.

Prerequisites don't "Cost" you points - Thaumatology doesn't cost more if you make it a prerequisite for 12 other skills, it doesn't teach you less about magic in compensation for acting as a prerequisite, and it shouldn't be any less useful without those skills hanging off of it.

An alternative to consider is letting something else appropriate to the psi category act as the prerequisite. Observation (or Fortune Telling!) for ESP-type abilities, Detect Lies for Telepathy, etc.

[Lamech]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

I'm using a variant of the Ritual Magic systems.
What would be a fair cost Unusual Background to ignore the prerequisite Thaumatology skill for characters who will only be able to access 1 college*?
20cp seems harsh but is the equivalent of IQ+3 and they'll be getting their chosen college without that limiter so effectively half price after IQ+3.
(*1 of 12 limited colleges, Pyramid 3/37? Psionic Magic)

Are you using the extended rule of 20 from Thaumatology? If you are maybe 10 points for a cap of 20 plus 4 more points to raise the cap by one. If you aren't using the extended rule of 20 from Thaumatology a) Use it b) if you ignored "a" just allow the person to not have any core skill. He can buy one path up, but on the other hand he can't default to the core skill.

[jacobmuller]

Thank you!
Rule of 20 - will do.
No access to other uses of Thaumatology - perhaps that's why my notes said 10cp! Alternate core skill - I like (if the huge asterisk beside Psionics and Professional Magic in my notes is any indication...). I may have some fun figuring the alternate core skills (cryomancy - refrigerator repairman lol).

Professional Skills - that was another thread I was tempted to open - What are the 30+ Professional Skills? And, if Soldier is one such, what are Soldier Skills - anything lethal... ie would the spells available be anything than can be reasonably associated with the profession?

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

Thank you!
Rule of 20 - will do.
No access to other uses of Thaumatology - perhaps that's why my notes said 10cp! Alternate core skill - I like (if the huge asterisk beside Psionics and Professional Magic in my notes is any indication...). I may have some fun figuring the alternate core skills (cryomancy - refrigerator repairman lol).

Professional Skills - that was another thread I was tempted to open - What are the 30+ Professional Skills? And, if Soldier is one such, what are Soldier Skills - anything lethal... ie would the spells available be anything than can be reasonably associated with the profession?

I rather like alternate Core skills and use them extensively myself.
Professional skills are to handle the misc stuff not really for combat skills or specific spells. However making one a Core skill to replace Thaumatology is one I do not find unbalancing.