RPM without spell improvisation?

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Qhaysh

Another possibility would be to drop the Path skills altogether, and have each individual spell be a skill by itself. Then all you have to do is use the system to come up the the spell's cost, and just use the skill level in the spell for the energy accumulation rolls.

I initially got into this train of thought because TES uses one number to indicate level of competence in an entire "college" of magic, so it would either be a power talent, or a skill for the entire college. RPM is one of the "one skill for multiple related spells" options so that was, for the initial idea, a desirable feature.

On the other hand, "redoing" GURPS Magic using the equations out of RPM as the fundementals for a unified spell design system is something that I'd do if I had infinite free time :)

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

One element that makes RPM not fit the Elder Scrolls style is the time it takes to cast spells, and the Charm system that can get around it.

At least in Skyrim, I've got several seconds casting time on spells other than the most crude, and the bigger spells have longer casting times than that, so it wasn't terribly upsetting. Everyone would need Ritual Adept to get that particular effect though.

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

In RPM, Charms are basically essential for all combat magic, so it matches D&D well enough in that respect.

Charms being "scrolls" on the other hand maps fairly well to Oblivion and Skyrim.

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

For Elder Scrolls magic, you might need to take a combined Effect Shaping / Energy approach. You wouldn't gather energy over a period of time, but would have to pay it all up front out of a Magicka ER.

The other place to look for "large pools of energy that take time to recharge" is threshold magic; player characters in the video games tend not to blow themselves up with spells, NPCs do so periodically; I keep finding little vingettes about failed spellcasters doing something stupid and killing themselves with a backblast. Things like the Scroll of Icarian Flight and Jzargo's Flame Cloak prove that there's all kinds of Quirks theoretically possible, too.

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Energy costs would need to be smaller for this to be feasible, maybe 1/3 to 1/5 their current amounts. To balance it out, more potent spells would be harder to cast, maybe as much as -1 per 1 mana. This actually matches spell casting in Morrowind pretty well, where Magicka cost acted as a direct penalty to skill in addition to depleting your reserves.

I'm not sure about the exact mechanics in Oblivion (I mostly just stabbed things with the stabbing) but in Skyrim there doesn't seem to strictly be a chance of failure - other than someone interrupting you with a blunt object to your face during the casting process. Skill controls potency of effect and how much magicka is required (and unlocks talents to make dramatic cuts to magicka requirements or boosts to effectiveness).

With RPM, skill controls how much energy you can gather, which in turn is the gate-keeper on the potency of effect, which seemed fairly similar.

Originally Posted by fifiste

Or if you don't want to mess with the spell energy calculations (though just dividing everything with 3 or 5 shouldn't be too hard), you could also say that the Magicka ER is cheap. (Divide the Cp cost by 3 or 5 for example)

Have more free energy associated with Magery levels...

Originally Posted by fifiste

You've got the spell invention rules straight from MH, then add that they will be always cast out of Magicka ER. New spells can be invented at mage-guilds etc. and it will cost money in proportion to their energy cost.

I would totally allow casters to cast via the typical energy gathering, but not by using Ritual Adept to fast cast - only with the full humma-na-humma-na sacred space etc. routine. That way you get stuff like the

Spoiler:  

ritual to resurrect Potema the Wolf Queen that you disrupt with violence aforethought

in Skyrim - they even had a Ritual book, the ritual leader, and a group of assistants to accelerate the energy gathering ;)