On the whole, I'm not very satisfied with Dresden Files magic. Though Evocation might be an OK model to start from.
Well, it models magic specifically from those books. It was more an example of how one might approach the matter.
On the whole, I'm not very satisfied with Dresden Files magic. Though Evocation might be an OK model to start from.
Are you talking about magic in the Dresden Files RPG (2010) or the later Dresden Files Accelerated (2017) book?On the whole, I'm not very satisfied with Dresden Files magic. Though Evocation might be an OK model to start from.
The former, I haven't really looked at the latter. Accelerated isn't really my thing.Are you talking about magic in the Dresden Files RPG (2010) or the later Dresden Files Accelerated (2017) book?
Huh, that particular angle hadn't even occurred to me, good suggestion!I would also check The Secrets of Cats, as it has a magic skill system with powers of Warding, Seeking, Naming, and Shaping. That may be a good start.
Agreed!For me, there are two crucial features of the Land:
First, it’s a deeply magical place. It’s not fundamentally naturalistic except where magic is bolted on, and it doesn’t have Gygaxian naturalism. Magic is essential, from the foundations of the world on up, and a bunch of things people do are part of that.
This is a really good point! Actions have major consequences in the Land. In The Wounded Land, it's hard to tell if the damage to Joan has damaged the Land or vice versa!Second, it’s an intensely moral place. Many fantasy stories let protagonists get away with a lot of bad behavior because they’re the designated heroes. The Land doesn’t. And it doesn’t matter to the world whether victims or bystanders forgive the perpetrators of immoral acts: moral consequences are as real as any other consequences. Bad causes lead to bad effects until and unless the damage done can be repaired, and sometimes it can’t be. In the first series, Thomas is quite right to still regard himself as guilty despite others rushing to forgive him. He plays a necessary part in saving the Land despite his guilt, and that’s a rare balance to strike.
It occurs to me that something like Pendragon’s personality traits and passions would go well alongside whatever mechanics there might be.
I took a look at Tales of Xadia, and Cortex Prime more generally. (They had not been on my radar before this.) Interesting stuff, the system basically strikes me as "crunchier Fate", a niche that I'm glad to see people staking out.My first thought would be Cortex Prime - you might want to look at Tales of Xadia as a model, as it is also addressing making a game around a work of fiction that doesn't have a large, clearly delineated list of magical effects to pick and choose from. Tales of Xadia operates under the idea that the character will have some small number of specific effects they use a lot, and they'll have that effect as an Asset, so it'll generally work better, but they can also produce other effects in their bailiwick, just less well.
The problem is that we aren't entirely sure what to expect, except it probably involves stone. Left to myself, I certainly wouldn't guess they could control the weather!My second thought would be Fate. Someone has "Gravelingas" in their High Concept aspect, and they can do anything we expect gravelingas can do.
The rules of ToX seem to assume that you can produce only the most minor of effects without an actual spell, but I can see how to go about what you're suggesting - just apply only the Magic asset itself without a spell.
Values for the Land might be... Hmm. Loyalty, Peace, Courage, Hope, and Love. There's probably also a Despite value, but using it has nasty consequences long term.
I hate to be that guy but Dark Magic, not black magic.In the setting one can have other Assets that can impact the result - like a magic staff as a focus, or an item charged with magical energy... or a white gold ring, etc...
Yeah. Rather like black magic in Xadia.
Fair enough.I hate to be that guy but Dark Magic, not black magic.
Sorry