[Thaumatology] Composite Attribute for Magic

[Thunderjoe]

I've always liked the idea that mages can intuitively affect mana to cast spells. This means that magic works the way that the mages believes that it should.

If a mage thinks magic works by study and force of will? Normal/Book magic system with spells casted from IQ+Will/2.

If he thinks that you can only cast magic with real strength by "bending" mana into shape. Normal magic based on ST+HP+HT/3.

If he thinks that magic is formed by intricate hand gestures? Based on DX.

If he thinks magic is based on needing to "see" the mana and "catch" it? Per+Will+Basic Speed.

If he thinks that he must "talk" to magic itself and ask it for help? IQ+Charisma+10/2.

Each mage can pick his own set of casting attributes that equal some set amount of cp(above they are all 15 cp) to cast from. You could even give a mage an entirely different system for magic, e.g. if he believed that symbols or words were the source of the magic, then he might use Symbol/Syntactic magic in a world that is mostly using standard magic.

Local beliefs and mages would cause people to grow up being taught that magic works a certain way drastically increase their chances of using magic the same way.

Guilds/Colleges/etc. would simply be a group of mages that believe that magic works a certain way and teach others that way.

[Phil Masters]

One possibility is to float the spell level to different stats depending on context. So, say, a spell could be based on IQ normally, but on Will when casting ritually (because you can pre-prepare the fiddly bits, so mental agility isn't so important, but you really have to focus on the ritual), and on HT when creating an enchanted item (because enchantment is a long, hard, physically draining slog of a task).

The details might have to be fine-tuned to avoid weird artefacts. Or not, if you like weird artefacts.

Full disclosure: this idea is inspired by the Ars Magica rules, which are always worth a look if you want ideas about how magic can be made to look right.

[Desthro]

Originally Posted by Kromm

While (IQ + Magery)/2 might be cruel, especially if Magery is capped, it would certainly encourage wizards to specialize in a few spells rather than drop 1 point per spell to become instant experts.

I rather like this idea. . . though this is just for calculating the base attribute right? Wouldn't Magery still provide it's skill bonus as a talent? So for IQ 10, Magery 2, you end up with a base attribute of 6, so for 1 point you'd get the spell at skill 6-2, then +2 for magery 2, netting you 6.

For IQ 14 and Magery 4, 1 point would get you 9-2, +4, for skill 11, and 4 points would net you a 13. I think this is a good way to go.

[b-dog]

I prefer to completely decouple Magery from IQ. Magery 0 gives a base 10, Magery 1 gives a base 11 and so on. If you want to have the stereotypical scholarly wizard, then you need to also purchase a high IQ. Magery just gives the ability to cast magical spells, IQ is separate and is used for scholarly things.

[T.K.]

Being a while that I've been using a new derived stat for magic in my campaign and setting.

Aretè - AT = (IQ+y)/2, for y = HT-2.

Reason being, in my setting the mental/spiritual part of beings is more relevant to reality manipulation than its physical counterpart. So beings that lack HT would have an innately higher AT and the contrary would also be true, like constructs and apparatus that lack IQ but have HT and are magical.

Spell Saves and alike are also made against this stat instead of normal rolls.

[scc]

Originally Posted by Kromm

I especially like (IQ + Will)/2 and (IQ + Per)/2, as those discourage wizards from buying IQ and then selling back Will and Per,

These wouldn't actually help, as raising Will and Per is 5pts, and raising it twice bumps the whole thing up a level so the problem remains unfixed. (IQ + Will + Per)/3 raises the level cost to 15, so getting close to where you want things to be