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<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 8780043" data-attributes="member: 6680772"><p>The first section we look at in the <strong>Data </strong>chapter is <strong>Magic</strong>. That is, essentially spells, but SW uses neither the word "spell" or its Japanese equivalent "<em>jumon</em>" in the rulebook. This section is split into four parts: True Speech Magic (for Sorcerers), Manipulation Magic (for Conjurers), Holy Magic (for Priests), and Magictec (for Magitec users).</p><p></p><p>The chapter opens with an explanation of the format, which reminds me of D&D 4e powers. First is an <strong>icon</strong> with the spell's level in it. The icon is a wizard's hat for True Speech Magic, a fireball for Manipulation Magic, a diamond for Holy Magic, and a hexagonal gear-shape for Magitec. After the icon comes the magic's <strong>name</strong>, followed by <strong>Consumption</strong> for how much MP it costs. The next line is the <strong>Target</strong>, the <strong>Range</strong> and <strong>Shape</strong>, then <strong>Duration, </strong>and <strong>Resistance</strong> (for the result of a success resistance check). The next line is a <strong>Summary</strong>, a quick one-line reference of what the spell does, and <strong>Property</strong>. Finally comes <strong>Effect</strong>, in which the mechanics for how the spell works is detailed.</p><p></p><p>The Effect box is typically pretty concise. The books manages to fit four spells to a page with this format, and since there are only four spells per level, that means it only needs about six pages per style of magic to cover all the spells characters will have access to with these rules. Holy Magic gets a few extra pages because there are only two spells on the pages for 2nd level and 4th level magic. That is because Priests get specialty magic at these levels depending on who their god is. After the general Holy Magic spells are listed, it lists two spells (one 2nd level and one 4th level) for each of eight different deities. In this post, we'll look at True Speech Magic and Manipulation Magic.</p><p></p><p><strong>True Speech Magic</strong></p><p>Prototypical "wizard" magic, with many analogues from D&D, but IMO, generally more nerfed than their D&D counterparts.</p><p></p><p>Level 1: Energy Bolt (low-level damage at single target), Blunt Weapon (penalty to damage from target), Light (cancels darkness penalties), Lock (locks a regular lock without the necessary key)</p><p></p><p>Level 2: Sense Magic (detects presence of magic, but no other information), Dispel Magic (dispels one magic effect with the Curse property), Nap (target cannot take actions and has a -4 to any checks until woken by being touched by an ally), Vitality (bonus to Life Resistance checks)</p><p></p><p>Level 3: Unlock (automatically unlocks regular locks, and is an opposed roll for magic locks), Sense Enemy (can sense if the target considers themselves an enemy of the caster, but if the caster is in line of sight of the target, the target immediately knows that a spell was cast on them), Paralyze (-2 penalty to Life Resistance or Evasion checks), Reap/Slash (damage with a magic blade to one target)</p><p></p><p>Level 4: Familiar (creates a magical creature to serve the caster), Marking (magical tracker for one object at a time), Lightning (area effect damage)</p><p></p><p>Level 5: Weapon Master (temporarily gives target one of a number of SCAs), Wall Walking (self-explanatory), Translate (ditto), Blast (powerful damage vs one target)</p><p></p><p>Level 6: Conceal Self (conceals the caster if they use only Limited Movement and don't do anything), Hard Lock (magically locks normal locks), Fireball (powerful area-effect damage), Levitation (allows levitation in Limited Movement)</p><p></p><p><strong>Manipulation Magic</strong></p><p>This is largely buffing and nerfing support magic. It has one fairly weak offensive spell, and one fairly weak healing spell. Of special note are its "doll" spells, which animate a doll to do the caster's bidding. (Visually, thought not quite effectually, think Lulu from Final Fantasy X.) It doesn't have to be the caster's doll (though they will likely carry one or more of their own), but once spells are cast on a doll, no spells from some other person will work on it. Animated dolls have the physical capabilities of a small child, and judgments thereof are left to the GM.</p><p></p><p>Level 1: Enchant Weapon (+1 damage to target weapon), Spark (weak version of lightning), Dark Mist (area effect -2 to Evasion), Protection (+1 armor protection to physical and magical damage, but not poison, illness, or curse damage)</p><p></p><p>Level 2: Earth Heal (weak healing), Countermagic (+2 to spiritual resistance), Command Doll (command their doll to perform an action), Fanaticism (+2 to-hit, -2 Evasion)</p><p></p><p>Level 3: Fire Weapon (adds fire property to damage, and a +2), Raising Earth (+3 HP recovery for each of three rounds)</p><p></p><p>Level 4: Disguise (magically disguise into another humanoid or Barboros; can be penetrated with a regular True-or-Lie check), Doll Sight (caster sees through the eyes of their doll), Forbidden Magic (suppresses, or "forbids", magic of a particular type, at Level 3 or lower), Poison Cloud (area effect, -3 damage while in the cloud)</p><p></p><p>Level 5: Earth Shield (+2 armor protection), Intense Control (+2 to-hit and Evasion to any doll, golem, familiar, or undead controlled by the caster), Spell Enhance (+1 magic bonus to one target)</p><p></p><p>Level 6: Counter-sense (allows caster to determine type, name, effect, and caster of any magic cast on them), Stun Cloud (all in effected area cannot make declaration SCAs or minor actions), Mana Absorb (area effect; all those effected spend double mana when casting a spell, but receive 3 HP in return), Remote Doll (the caster "enters" the doll, and can move and talk, but cannot use any skill packages or SCAs.)</p><p></p><p>My overall impression is that the MP system, combined with the fact that casters get all the spells in their Skill Package at their level or lower makes SW casters much more versatile than their D&D counterparts, but the effectiveness of any one particular spell is not quite as powerful as its D&D analogue. From the POV of a game master and general player, I think it's a much more reasonable and sound magic system than any of the D&D versions. But, I don't know if those who like playing magic-users in particular would find the more restrained effects as being as much fun.</p><p></p><p>Nap, incidentally, was one of the major balance changes from 2.0 to 2.5. In 2.0, the spell was actually Sleep, and though it affected one character, they would fall completely asleep, only awakened by losing HP or MP, or by an ally using a Main Action. Nap now simply removes their ability to move or take actions, with passive checks being at -4, but they can be awakened by an ally simply touching them (a Minor, and therefore essentially a Free Action).</p><p></p><p>Next time, we'll take a closer look at <strong>Holy Magic</strong> and <strong>Magitec</strong>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 8780043, member: 6680772"] The first section we look at in the [B]Data [/B]chapter is [B]Magic[/B]. That is, essentially spells, but SW uses neither the word "spell" or its Japanese equivalent "[I]jumon[/I]" in the rulebook. This section is split into four parts: True Speech Magic (for Sorcerers), Manipulation Magic (for Conjurers), Holy Magic (for Priests), and Magictec (for Magitec users). The chapter opens with an explanation of the format, which reminds me of D&D 4e powers. First is an [B]icon[/B] with the spell's level in it. The icon is a wizard's hat for True Speech Magic, a fireball for Manipulation Magic, a diamond for Holy Magic, and a hexagonal gear-shape for Magitec. After the icon comes the magic's [B]name[/B], followed by [B]Consumption[/B] for how much MP it costs. The next line is the [B]Target[/B], the [B]Range[/B] and [B]Shape[/B], then [B]Duration, [/B]and [B]Resistance[/B] (for the result of a success resistance check). The next line is a [B]Summary[/B], a quick one-line reference of what the spell does, and [B]Property[/B]. Finally comes [B]Effect[/B], in which the mechanics for how the spell works is detailed. The Effect box is typically pretty concise. The books manages to fit four spells to a page with this format, and since there are only four spells per level, that means it only needs about six pages per style of magic to cover all the spells characters will have access to with these rules. Holy Magic gets a few extra pages because there are only two spells on the pages for 2nd level and 4th level magic. That is because Priests get specialty magic at these levels depending on who their god is. After the general Holy Magic spells are listed, it lists two spells (one 2nd level and one 4th level) for each of eight different deities. In this post, we'll look at True Speech Magic and Manipulation Magic. [B]True Speech Magic[/B] Prototypical "wizard" magic, with many analogues from D&D, but IMO, generally more nerfed than their D&D counterparts. Level 1: Energy Bolt (low-level damage at single target), Blunt Weapon (penalty to damage from target), Light (cancels darkness penalties), Lock (locks a regular lock without the necessary key) Level 2: Sense Magic (detects presence of magic, but no other information), Dispel Magic (dispels one magic effect with the Curse property), Nap (target cannot take actions and has a -4 to any checks until woken by being touched by an ally), Vitality (bonus to Life Resistance checks) Level 3: Unlock (automatically unlocks regular locks, and is an opposed roll for magic locks), Sense Enemy (can sense if the target considers themselves an enemy of the caster, but if the caster is in line of sight of the target, the target immediately knows that a spell was cast on them), Paralyze (-2 penalty to Life Resistance or Evasion checks), Reap/Slash (damage with a magic blade to one target) Level 4: Familiar (creates a magical creature to serve the caster), Marking (magical tracker for one object at a time), Lightning (area effect damage) Level 5: Weapon Master (temporarily gives target one of a number of SCAs), Wall Walking (self-explanatory), Translate (ditto), Blast (powerful damage vs one target) Level 6: Conceal Self (conceals the caster if they use only Limited Movement and don't do anything), Hard Lock (magically locks normal locks), Fireball (powerful area-effect damage), Levitation (allows levitation in Limited Movement) [B]Manipulation Magic[/B] This is largely buffing and nerfing support magic. It has one fairly weak offensive spell, and one fairly weak healing spell. Of special note are its "doll" spells, which animate a doll to do the caster's bidding. (Visually, thought not quite effectually, think Lulu from Final Fantasy X.) It doesn't have to be the caster's doll (though they will likely carry one or more of their own), but once spells are cast on a doll, no spells from some other person will work on it. Animated dolls have the physical capabilities of a small child, and judgments thereof are left to the GM. Level 1: Enchant Weapon (+1 damage to target weapon), Spark (weak version of lightning), Dark Mist (area effect -2 to Evasion), Protection (+1 armor protection to physical and magical damage, but not poison, illness, or curse damage) Level 2: Earth Heal (weak healing), Countermagic (+2 to spiritual resistance), Command Doll (command their doll to perform an action), Fanaticism (+2 to-hit, -2 Evasion) Level 3: Fire Weapon (adds fire property to damage, and a +2), Raising Earth (+3 HP recovery for each of three rounds) Level 4: Disguise (magically disguise into another humanoid or Barboros; can be penetrated with a regular True-or-Lie check), Doll Sight (caster sees through the eyes of their doll), Forbidden Magic (suppresses, or "forbids", magic of a particular type, at Level 3 or lower), Poison Cloud (area effect, -3 damage while in the cloud) Level 5: Earth Shield (+2 armor protection), Intense Control (+2 to-hit and Evasion to any doll, golem, familiar, or undead controlled by the caster), Spell Enhance (+1 magic bonus to one target) Level 6: Counter-sense (allows caster to determine type, name, effect, and caster of any magic cast on them), Stun Cloud (all in effected area cannot make declaration SCAs or minor actions), Mana Absorb (area effect; all those effected spend double mana when casting a spell, but receive 3 HP in return), Remote Doll (the caster "enters" the doll, and can move and talk, but cannot use any skill packages or SCAs.) My overall impression is that the MP system, combined with the fact that casters get all the spells in their Skill Package at their level or lower makes SW casters much more versatile than their D&D counterparts, but the effectiveness of any one particular spell is not quite as powerful as its D&D analogue. From the POV of a game master and general player, I think it's a much more reasonable and sound magic system than any of the D&D versions. But, I don't know if those who like playing magic-users in particular would find the more restrained effects as being as much fun. Nap, incidentally, was one of the major balance changes from 2.0 to 2.5. In 2.0, the spell was actually Sleep, and though it affected one character, they would fall completely asleep, only awakened by losing HP or MP, or by an ally using a Main Action. Nap now simply removes their ability to move or take actions, with passive checks being at -4, but they can be awakened by an ally simply touching them (a Minor, and therefore essentially a Free Action). Next time, we'll take a closer look at [B]Holy Magic[/B] and [B]Magitec[/B]. [/QUOTE]
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