Loosely-organized attempts at prose and wisdom from an incredibly unwise individual.
Witchsight!
Posted 26th February 2009 at 04:53 PM by Verdande
We were playing Labyrinth Lord when we hit some downtime. I don't remember if somebody needed to step outside for a cigarette or if it was a bathroom break, but, regardless, myself and the cleric of chaos were talking about Turn Undead.
We cracked jokes about how the mighty and devout clerics made undead run away, how useless it was, and how incredibly rediculous the whole idea of every cleric turning undead was.
Then it hit me.
We'd recently been playing the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game, and one of the things that really stood out for me was the use of the wizard's sight. Basically, wizards were in tune with the ebb and flow of magic, to the point where they could detect sorcery. But this isn't the generic, flavorless "Oh, it's a 3rd level abjuration spell" of the Detect Magic spell. Hell no.
Witch sight would only tell you that greenish tendrils hang from the ceiling, or that a bluish, transparent, crystalline mesh covers that sword you just found. Maybe it would tell you that the ominous building you stand before is wreathed in ethereal fire, or that your buddy is covered in an orange mist.
Witch sight could tell you much, or it could tell you nothing. But it was always something interesting, and it does detect magic. Sort of. Sure, it's got false positives, but never a false negative. If anything, it makes the players more cautious than they might be otherwise, which is just fine considering we play Labyrinth Lord, a retroclone. Caution isn't a bad idea when no two of them have more than 10 hit points apeice.
So I've replaced Turn Undead with Witch Sight for the cleric. It fits better, especially with him being a Cleric of Chaos, and it enhances the game a lot. They've strategically used it just about any chance they've gotten, and they really seem to be enjoying the added descriptive flourishes that their characters experience.
I'd recommend adding something of this sort to just about any character who can use magic, honestly. It's a great deal of fun and really reinforces the fact that these characters are a little more sensitive, unusual, and intuitive than normal people. It sets them apart in a way that few other abilities really do.
We cracked jokes about how the mighty and devout clerics made undead run away, how useless it was, and how incredibly rediculous the whole idea of every cleric turning undead was.
Then it hit me.
We'd recently been playing the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game, and one of the things that really stood out for me was the use of the wizard's sight. Basically, wizards were in tune with the ebb and flow of magic, to the point where they could detect sorcery. But this isn't the generic, flavorless "Oh, it's a 3rd level abjuration spell" of the Detect Magic spell. Hell no.
Witch sight would only tell you that greenish tendrils hang from the ceiling, or that a bluish, transparent, crystalline mesh covers that sword you just found. Maybe it would tell you that the ominous building you stand before is wreathed in ethereal fire, or that your buddy is covered in an orange mist.
Witch sight could tell you much, or it could tell you nothing. But it was always something interesting, and it does detect magic. Sort of. Sure, it's got false positives, but never a false negative. If anything, it makes the players more cautious than they might be otherwise, which is just fine considering we play Labyrinth Lord, a retroclone. Caution isn't a bad idea when no two of them have more than 10 hit points apeice.
So I've replaced Turn Undead with Witch Sight for the cleric. It fits better, especially with him being a Cleric of Chaos, and it enhances the game a lot. They've strategically used it just about any chance they've gotten, and they really seem to be enjoying the added descriptive flourishes that their characters experience.
I'd recommend adding something of this sort to just about any character who can use magic, honestly. It's a great deal of fun and really reinforces the fact that these characters are a little more sensitive, unusual, and intuitive than normal people. It sets them apart in a way that few other abilities really do.
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