[RPM] Conditional Rituals (Too Powerful?)

Varyon · 10-31-2013, 12:58 PM

Actually, your system already handles the issue of different skill levels. The number of slots a spell takes up is set by how many multiples of the threshold it is - so just use the actual threshold for that spell to figure it out. Let's say we've got a character with Path of Energy 14, Path of Matter 13, Path of Mind 12. He's got Ritual Mastery and a +2 grimoire for Fireball, and he's setting up his spells in an aspected Place of Power that gives +3 to Path of Mind. Let's say he wants to set up a few spells - Air Jet, Dull (Sight), Fighting Irons, Fireball, and Hush. Air Jet is Path of Matter, Dull and Hush are Path of Mind, Fighting Irons is the lesser of Path of Matter and Path of Mind, and Fireball is Path of Energy. Here's how they break down:

Air Jet - Threshold is 7 (skill 13), spell is 18, so takes up 3 slots.
Dull/Hush - Threshold is 11 (effective skill 15), Dull is 15, so takes up 2 slots; Hush is 31, so takes up 3 slots.
Fighting Irons - Threshold is 7 (skill 13), spell is 6, so takes up 1 slot.
Fireball - Threshold is 42 (effective skill 18), spell is 18, so takes up 1 slot (or half a slot). The character will probably boost the spell's energy for more damage (a 42 energy fireball does a whopping 9d).

As for other energy sources, you've got a few options. One would be to allow for a certain amount of energy to be added to the threshold based on Magery. Perhaps a better - and easier - option would be to ignore any energy that comes from other sources for calculating the number of slots. In our above example, let's say our mage has Magery 3 (and thus 9 ER). Burning 4 ER drops the "cost" of Air Jet to 14, making it only take up 2 slots. 4 ER drops Dull to 1 slot, 9 ER drops Hush to 2 slots, etc. Any spell that is cast with no gathered energy (our mage could pull this off for Fighting Irons) would take up 1/2 or 1/4 of a slot (whatever the minimum is).

EDIT: As for if the cost of the Lesser Control Magic "wrapper" applies to determining the number of slots, that's up to you. I'd say "no" for simplicity, but it probably won't break anything if you opt to go for it. In the above example, the Greater spells (Air Jet and Fireball) would cost an extra 15 (for ~+2 slots), the Lesser spells would cost an extra 5 (for ~+1 slot).

10-31-2013, 12:58 PM	#31
Varyon Join Date: Jun 2013	Re: [RPM] Conditional Rituals (Too Powerful?) Actually, your system already handles the issue of different skill levels. The number of slots a spell takes up is set by how many multiples of the threshold it is - so just use the actual threshold for that spell to figure it out. Let's say we've got a character with Path of Energy 14, Path of Matter 13, Path of Mind 12. He's got Ritual Mastery and a +2 grimoire for Fireball, and he's setting up his spells in an aspected Place of Power that gives +3 to Path of Mind. Let's say he wants to set up a few spells - Air Jet, Dull (Sight), Fighting Irons, Fireball, and Hush. Air Jet is Path of Matter, Dull and Hush are Path of Mind, Fighting Irons is the lesser of Path of Matter and Path of Mind, and Fireball is Path of Energy. Here's how they break down: Air Jet - Threshold is 7 (skill 13), spell is 18, so takes up 3 slots. Dull/Hush - Threshold is 11 (effective skill 15), Dull is 15, so takes up 2 slots; Hush is 31, so takes up 3 slots. Fighting Irons - Threshold is 7 (skill 13), spell is 6, so takes up 1 slot. Fireball - Threshold is 42 (effective skill 18), spell is 18, so takes up 1 slot (or half a slot). The character will probably boost the spell's energy for more damage (a 42 energy fireball does a whopping 9d). As for other energy sources, you've got a few options. One would be to allow for a certain amount of energy to be added to the threshold based on Magery. Perhaps a better - and easier - option would be to ignore any energy that comes from other sources for calculating the number of slots. In our above example, let's say our mage has Magery 3 (and thus 9 ER). Burning 4 ER drops the "cost" of Air Jet to 14, making it only take up 2 slots. 4 ER drops Dull to 1 slot, 9 ER drops Hush to 2 slots, etc. Any spell that is cast with no gathered energy (our mage could pull this off for Fighting Irons) would take up 1/2 or 1/4 of a slot (whatever the minimum is). EDIT: As for if the cost of the Lesser Control Magic "wrapper" applies to determining the number of slots, that's up to you. I'd say "no" for simplicity, but it probably won't break anything if you opt to go for it. In the above example, the Greater spells (Air Jet and Fireball) would cost an extra 15 (for ~+2 slots), the Lesser spells would cost an extra 5 (for ~+1 slot). Last edited by Varyon; 10-31-2013 at 01:11 PM.