[DF] Placing areas of different mana in Dungeon Fantasy

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

But the answers in Spells still aren't wholly satisfactory, because it indicates areas of no mana should be plot-device level rare—which causes real problems for explaining how PCs are ever supposed to (permanently) defeat a lich.

Are liches random encounters in DFRPG? Typically, one would expect a lich to have a role as a lasting, serious antagonist - you don't run into and kill a lich on the way to grab some treasure, you have a longterm quest to take him out. And, of course, the way you do so is by either capturing him somehow and dragging him to the plot-device NMZ, or encountering him near the plot-device NMZ (maybe he has some nefarious plan associated with it) and maneuver him into it before killing him. That, or you just move on to a different area and ignore the lich, like a proper murder-hobo (heroism is overrated).

Of course, if one can create temporary NMZ's (with an appropriate spell, power, scroll, artifact, etc), then you just need one of those (although acquiring such may well be a quest unto itself).

Originally Posted by Taneli

Roll 3d6 for each area that comes up and hasn't been resolved yet. High number indicates high mana, low number indicates low mana, 18 means very high mana and 3 means no mana.

I like this idea, although it may make NMZ's a bit too rare for Dependencies to come into play. Most places should probably be normal mana, of course. So, a rough draft might look like this:

Roll (Freq)	Mana Level
3-4 (1.85%)	None
5-7 (14.3%)	Low
8-13 (67.6%)	Normal
14-16 (14.3%)	High
17-18 (1.85%)	Very High

Alternatively, you could roll 1d20, and use the following, which I think I like the distribution of a bit more:

Roll (Freq)	Mana Level
1 (5%)		None
2-4 (15%)	Low
5-16 (60%)	Normal
17-19 (15%)	High
20 (5%)		Very High