Help me with my "Purple Magery"

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Raekai

If anyone is familiar with Final Fantasy, you will know that Blue Mages have the power to copy enemy abilities, and Red Mages have access to both black and white magic. I have combined the two so that a Purple Mage would be able to copy any spell (or ability, in the form of Partial Shapeshifting), but I feel the way I have it right now is really inefficient, and I want to make sure I can get the most bang for my buck.

Right now, I have it as Wild Talent 1 (Accessibility; External; Focused; Retention). At the moment, once a week (because I'm using in-game time), I can use this Wild Talent to copy an ability and then learn it if I have a free character point. Yay! But... Prerequisites are what is really bogging me down. I want to copy that guy's Fireball, but without the prerequisites, it's no good! That defeats the entire purpose of a Purple Mage. I want to copy these spells.

Any help is welcome, and I will provide more information if it is needed!

Thanks!

Ummm this is how Wild Talent already works, you don't need prereq skills just advantages. Read the whole trait, but this part is especially relevant (which I bolded). That said Consider adding "No Advantage Requirements, +50%" from Dungeon Fantasy 4: Sages to your Wild Talent. Then you can copy whatever you like.

Originally Posted by Basic Set p. 99

Wild Talent does apply to skills that normally have no default, provided you meet any advantage requirements. For instance, you could cast unknown magic spells provided you had Magery, or use unknown cinematic martial-arts skills provided you have Trained By A Master.

Ghostdancer

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

Or take the 'No prereqs' mod on your magery

Or on his Wild Talent?

[Raekai]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Might want to talk to your GM before you get excited, he or she might not like that option. The text on Thaumatology p67 makes it clear that eeven with the extra cost of No-Prereqs Magery, you still need to add more restrictions, to balance it.

If I were a GM presented with a request like that, and it wasn't something I was already planning, I might change the Enhancement cost to +60%, if I couldn't come up with another good balancer.

Can your mage only learn spells by seeing an enemy use them, or would that make you exactly like a Blue mage?

It has some restrictions on it. He can only learn spells through his Wild Talent. So while he could eventually learn every spell... It's gonna be a very slow process... And some spells he may never see!

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Ummm this is how Wild Talent already works, you don't need prereq skills just advantages. Read the whole trait, but this part is especially relevant (which I bolded). That said Consider adding "No Advantage Requirements, +50%" from Dungeon Fantasy 4: Sages to your Wild Talent. Then you can copy whatever you like.



Ghostdancer

But the thing is... I'm worried about the Retention part. If I retain the spell without the right prerequisites then I can't use it, correct? That's what I'm trying to circumvent.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Raekai

But the thing is... I'm worried about the Retention part. If I retain the spell without the right prerequisites then I can't use it, correct? That's what I'm trying to circumvent.

Keep reading...

Originally Posted by Basic Set p.99

Regardless of success, if you lack any of the skill’s prerequisites, your skill is at -4 until you acquire them, and you cannot improve the skill in the interim.

Ghostdancer

[Raekai]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Keep reading...



Ghostdancer

Well, that's what I meant. But I'd rather be able to completely throw prerequisites out the window.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Raekai

Well, that's what I meant. But I'd rather be able to completely throw prerequisites out the window.

So you want to avoid the -4 penalty completely? Then yes, use the No Prerequisites on your Magery. But make sure you balance it somehow, a Unusual Background comes to mind. Consider making the Purple mage (lavender?) dependent on learning his abilities from others. This way he cannot actually study from books, scrolls, whatever to learn new abilities. I'd call that a Nuisance Effect worth at most -10%.

[Raekai]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

So you want to avoid the -4 penalty completely? Then yes, use the No Prerequisites on your Magery. But make sure you balance it somehow, a Unusual Background comes to mind. Consider making the Purple mage (lavender?) dependent on learning his abilities from others. This way he cannot actually study from books, scrolls, whatever to learn new abilities. I'd call that a Nuisance Effect worth at most -10%.

I called it Accessibility -10%. I'm glad I got a good sized price for that! But yeah... I made sure that he can ONLY learn from what he is actually seeing. Even then... He's only learning one thing a week, and he can't retain it if he doesn't have the spare point(s).

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Raekai

I called it Accessibility -10%. I'm glad I got a good sized price for that! But yeah... I made sure that he can ONLY learn from what he is actually seeing. Even then... He's only learning one thing a week, and he can't retain it if he doesn't have the spare point(s).

I'd probably charge a 10-pt UB for that - but that's just me. Consider checking out Game Time in Power-Ups 4. It has more information on that enhancement you might find useful.

[GnomesofZurich]

Originally Posted by quarkstomper

I know this is irrelevant to the question asked, but you know that you will have to give your mages Animal Empathy: Spiders, and lots of Spider Control spells simply so that you can see if anybody gets the "Spiders of the Purple Mage" reference.

Might have to see whether Hanse knows anything about that...