Combing Spell and Syntactic magic

cosmicfish · 06-05-2013, 02:48 PM

Toying with a campaign setting in which spell magic and syntactic magic would coexist. I have never actually played with syntactic magic before and am looking for some advice. Please note that I have NO interest here in spells as powers - I prefer in this setting the more academic, skill-based system.

Syntactic magic would be academic magic studied by full wizards. These individuals would be able to create essentially free-form spells and otherwise explore the full range of magic, but at the cost of speed and potentially skill penalties. Give them time and they can do anything, but are not as good in a pinch as someone who has actually spent a point on the spell. I am considering allowing energy cost reductions for skill (since I do want high-skill mages to be efficient, even here) but am thinking about longer base casting times (since I do not want this to be tactical magic for any but the best).

Spell magic would be for dabblers who only know a few things and/or lack a full magical education, as well as those wizards who use some spells enough to dedicate points to them. These individuals, having perfected their individual tasks, would be able to execute them well and quickly but are sharply limited by the scope of their training.

In this setting, full wizards (who would enjoy Status as well as a certain set of freedoms in regards to magic) would learn all the Syntactic words at 1+cp each, along with a smattering of useful spells (mostly combat-type). Other spellcasters would be able to learn any of a small number of spells (perhaps without regard to defaults) - exact spell availability would be dependent on circumstance, with the magical guild as well as the crown limiting who can learn what.

Any general thoughts? And any specific idea on what type of Magery full wizards should have to cover both spell and syntactic magic?

And yes, I do know that it should have been "Combining" in the title. If I knew how to fix it, I would.

06-05-2013, 02:48 PM	#1
cosmicfish Join Date: Mar 2010	Combing Spell and Syntactic magic Toying with a campaign setting in which spell magic and syntactic magic would coexist. I have never actually played with syntactic magic before and am looking for some advice. Please note that I have NO interest here in spells as powers - I prefer in this setting the more academic, skill-based system. Syntactic magic would be academic magic studied by full wizards. These individuals would be able to create essentially free-form spells and otherwise explore the full range of magic, but at the cost of speed and potentially skill penalties. Give them time and they can do anything, but are not as good in a pinch as someone who has actually spent a point on the spell. I am considering allowing energy cost reductions for skill (since I do want high-skill mages to be efficient, even here) but am thinking about longer base casting times (since I do not want this to be tactical magic for any but the best). Spell magic would be for dabblers who only know a few things and/or lack a full magical education, as well as those wizards who use some spells enough to dedicate points to them. These individuals, having perfected their individual tasks, would be able to execute them well and quickly but are sharply limited by the scope of their training. In this setting, full wizards (who would enjoy Status as well as a certain set of freedoms in regards to magic) would learn all the Syntactic words at 1+cp each, along with a smattering of useful spells (mostly combat-type). Other spellcasters would be able to learn any of a small number of spells (perhaps without regard to defaults) - exact spell availability would be dependent on circumstance, with the magical guild as well as the crown limiting who can learn what. Any general thoughts? And any specific idea on what type of Magery full wizards should have to cover both spell and syntactic magic? And yes, I do know that it should have been "Combining" in the title. If I knew how to fix it, I would.