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Old 03-29-2022, 10:34 PM   #1
Chris Goodwin
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
Default Authentic Thaumaturgy -- has anyone used it in play?

I love Authentic Thaumaturgy. And yet, I see it as a glorious mess. I've never been able to get any actual play value out of it; I'm going through it now to try to teach myself its systems, and I'm having some difficulty.

Is there anyone out there who has used it in play, and can help demystify it?

Also, only ... yesterday, I think? I noticed that the Anti-psi talents table on page 52 has some dice roll ranges missing. It goes from 01-05 to 31-35, and then skips to 46-55. Is it just my printing, or are all copies of the book like that? (Never mind! It just occurred to me to check the web page here at SJ Games and I found errata! Leaving the text here in case anyone else has the same issue though.)
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Old 04-13-2022, 12:15 PM   #2
Polydamas
 
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Default Re: Authentic Thaumaturgy -- has anyone used it in play?

I have not read that book, but "a glorious mess" sounds like most attempts to turn magic into something coherent and intellectually satisfying!
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Old 04-13-2022, 12:49 PM   #3
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Default Re: Authentic Thaumaturgy -- has anyone used it in play?

There's no possible way to use it in play as anything but flavor text. The principal problem is that Bonewitz never played a TTRPG in his life, and had only the vaguest idea of how it worked in practice.
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Old 04-13-2022, 06:03 PM   #4
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Default Re: Authentic Thaumaturgy -- has anyone used it in play?

The 1st and 2nd editions of Chivalry & Sorcery had magic systems that looked a lot as if they'd been cribbed from Bonewits -- Primitive Magic is the one that comes to mind. I have used those in play, although they were (like many other things in C&S) needlessly fussy.

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Originally Posted by Dalillama View Post
The principal problem is that Bonewitz never played a TTRPG in his life, and had only the vaguest idea of how it worked in practice.
Since the original is copyright 1978, he is far from the only author at the time about whom that could be said. Some were more successful at just thinking it through (or playtesting) than others.
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Old 04-13-2022, 09:33 PM   #5
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: Authentic Thaumaturgy -- has anyone used it in play?

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Originally Posted by thrash View Post
The 1st and 2nd editions of Chivalry & Sorcery had magic systems that looked a lot as if they'd been cribbed from Bonewits -- Primitive Magic is the one that comes to mind. I have used those in play, although they were (like many other things in C&S) needlessly fussy.
"Needlessly fussy"? I think that's a little mild and I have the C&S experience to back it up. "Excessively complicated yet clumsy" would still be polite.
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