RPM question

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

If you take Adept it changes from ritualistic to on the spot.

Yes... But it's still not just a matter of screaming "Igneus!" while pointing a stick at an enemy to immediatly turn him into ashes. It's more like a few seconds of making funny noises and silly dances, enough time to turn you into target practice for bowmen

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by nudj

I was looking for something that gave flexible rules for creating "any" magic spell someone could come up with (unlike GURPS Magic) but wasn't as complex and prescriptive as powers and stunts. It sounds like if I want more spontaneity, I need to really think about what is a greater effect in my game. I'm not sure loading up on charms or conditional spells is what I want (sounds like "fire and forget"). Ritual Adept is clear, but maybe high levels of Magery/Thaumatology/Path skills would be enough (it's a high point game with goons and bosses).

Thanks for all the advice guys!

Well, Conditional spells and charms are more akin to D&D spells. Remember how it goes for D&D, you have the list of spells in your Grimoire and each day you can choose an X number of spells to "memorize"?

But RPM is so much better than that, since you dont need any kind of Grimoires or fixed lists. You can have your "memorized" spells (in the form of conditionals and charms), which you can custom taylor to your liking, and you can still cast on the spot.

If you want an alternative however, Gurps Thaumatology has 2 good alternatives for flexible magic (heavily inspired by Mage the Ascension and Ars Arcana), which are Realm Magic and Verb/Noun magic. Both are very good options; Realm Magic is my personal favorite (I am a 2 decades player of Mage the Ascension, so it would be impossible not to be).

In fact, RPM is an amalgamation of Realm Magic and Verb/Noun Magic. The division into the realms (Life, Spirit, Matter, Time etc etc) is Realm Magic, while the energy costs based on what you wanna do (Create, Control, etc etc) is Verb/Noun magic (specifically, those are "verbs" - "Create", "Control", "Transform" etc).

Perhaps one of those 2 would better fit your interests for quick and flashy mages.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Yes... But it's still not just a matter of screaming "Igneus!" while pointing a stick at an enemy to immediatly turn him into ashes. It's more like a few seconds of making funny noises and silly dances, enough time to turn you into target practice for bowmen

What gathering energy looks like to characters in the setting is up the GM... and possibly the magic traditions of the caster. It could be making strange sounds and dancing... or it could be reciting a long incantation (like in Bleach), doing complex hand signs (like ninja in too much media to count), chanting quietly to oneself (like in most JRPG's when there's a delay between telling the character to cast a spell and them actually casting it), etc. And you could indeed have the casting part of it involve shouting something ("Indignation!" "That's impossiblaaaarrrgggghhhh!"), it's just that you need some time to build up energy first.

Of course, if you do want to be able to just point a stick at a character and make them catch flame, but don't have the ability to pull it off*, you could make that stick into a Charm (or even a Wand, using the rules from the previously-referenced Pyramid article) that does just that.

*Which is important to note, here. An RPM mage can absolutely do an on-the-spot casting that would let them just point at someone and have them catch flame... they just need enough reserves (internally or using an item of power) to power it, enough effective skill to gather the necessary energy instantly, enough levels of Compartmentalized Mind to compress multiple gathering attempts and the casting into a single second, and/or make enough use of Decanic/Traditional Trappings to reduce the cost to something they can manage.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Yes... But it's still not just a matter of screaming "Igneus!" while pointing a stick at an enemy to immediatly turn him into ashes. It's more like a few seconds of making funny noises and silly dances, enough time to turn you into target practice for bowmen

It absolutely can be. You can take a -4 to gather rolls to roll once per second with Adept. If you want something faster than that you have to go to NERAW (not exactly rules as written) or use the rules for incantations from DF19 which do exactly what you're suggesting.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by dcarson

Anyone that is a adept should have 15-20 points of internal energy. They have to do gather energy rolls to refill it but they can power one or more minor rituals off of that. So if you really need a fireball because is what will kill it you can do one, but only one.

One of the most fun parts of RPM is figuring out what's needed at the start of an encounter to make it easier and how to do it with your energy reserve. Examples in the Florida! Monster Hunters campaign included:

• Realising the opposition were using gas and making it harmless with Transform Matter.
• On being faced by two idiots with SMGs, killing the primers in their ammunition with Destroy Matter.
• Area-effect Destroy Undead to weaken a bunch of zombies that had just appeared.

[dcarson]

And getting what is needed to do a major ritual can make a nice session. In one I ran

The 4 decans for the Magic Path are Allath, Alleborith, Arôtosael and Saphathorael.

For Allath I will use my criminal background to acquire some heroin, and buy 2 bottles of 2008 Pavie (a very deep red wine) that appears to sell for $350 a bottle. (hoping for 15 points)

In tribute to Alleborith, I plan to spend $600 on a garnet necklace (for Capricorn) and dried lavender (for Mercury). In addition he is fond of places of power, which I hope to satisfy by a ritual on a raft in the lake. (hoping for 10 points for necklace and lavendar and not sure what I will get for the lake)

I will honor Arôtosael by waving eagle feathers (for Jupiter) through the incense of dragon's blood (for Aries). I will also sound a ram's horn (possibly 'borrowed' from a Synagogue.) (hoping for 10 points plus some small amount more for the rams horn sounding)

I hope to get favor from Saphathorael with two bottles of Tullimore Dew Whiskey, who also approves of lakes. (hoping for maybe 15 points for expensive consumable plus place).

I was considering making the medicine bags from pieces of blue police uniform material, in honor of the linke between police and Michael the Archangel, the greatest of all celestial protectors.

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

It absolutely can be. You can take a -4 to gather rolls to roll once per second with Adept. If you want something faster than that you have to go to NERAW (not exactly rules as written) or use the rules for incantations from DF19 which do exactly what you're suggesting.

Yes, what I meant is that you would need a combination of high skill, reserves, whatever.

What I mean is that this wouldnt be an USUAL use of RPM. Sure, an archmage with every single skill related to it at 25+ and an abysmal amount of CPs in his sheet would do it without blinking an eye.

But I was saying that, for your "everyday mage", he would use a charm or conditional to deal with that.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Yes, what I meant is that you would need a combination of high skill, reserves, whatever.

What I mean is that this wouldnt be an USUAL use of RPM. Sure, an archmage with every single skill related to it at 25+ and an abysmal amount of CPs in his sheet would do it without blinking an eye.

But I was saying that, for your "everyday mage", he would use a charm or conditional to deal with that.

Ahhh, I see. Then yes. Agreed.