Olive
Explorer
http://www.greenronin.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5902&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Discuss! I'm not a huge fan of the books, but this game looks like it's going to ROCK!
soulmage said:Alright then, here's how the magic system works:
A couple things you need to know:
1. Spell Energy - You have to have it to cast spells. It also can be used in spellcasting to do a variety of things.
2. Magnitude - All spellcasters have a magnitude rating of zero (Dabbler, or Student of Wizardry) through Fourth (the Taken, the Lady). Magnitude is discussed directly in the Black Company novels and in the game it does a lot of things for you.
3. There's no distinction between Wizards and Sorcerers and the terms are used interchangably. Nor is there a distinction between Arcane and Divine magic (probably no surprise there). You're either a spellcaster or you're not.
4. There's no "spells per day" chart or anything like that. Spell drain is the biggest limiting factor on how much spellcasting a wizard can do in a day.
O.K. - Here's how it works -
Each "spell" is a feat called a Talent. Wizards gain bonus Talent feats as they go up in level. In the last version I saw they also gain their spell energy with each increase in magnitude (gained at certain levels of the wizard class, or by accquiring the Taken template.)
Each Talent allows you to create one or more spell effects. The spell effects it creates are generally on the level of a 0 or 1st level spell. They're all generally low powered, short ranged, and limited to a single target.
Now to turn these into the big bad sorceries used by the Taken and other spellcasters in the books, you apply augmentations to the base spell effect. There are a number of "Standard Augmentations" that can be applied to most of the Talents. These are things like Range, Damage Dice, Duration, Targets/Area of Effect, and Props (adding or reducing spell components).
So what you've got is a system where every spell is highly customizable in a variety of dimensions.
So for instance, if I wanted to throw the sterotypical D&D fireball I can just use the Create Energy talent (which does like a d6 burst of the chosen energy at 10', or something equally dinky). I can add some range to it, increase its area of effect, and the pile on as many damage dice as I think I can afford. (More on that later) and Presto! instant fireball.
On the other hand, I can do more than that. Still using only the Create Energy Talent and just the standard augmentations, I can create a lasting ring of fire around me or an enemy. I can create a wall of fire shaped any way I want. I can make fire rain from the sky over a huge area, or target a bolt of flame at a single person and I can increase my damage dice to d8s, d10s, or even d12s if I so choose.
Now in addition to the one or more base effects that each Talent can create and on top of the standard augmentations that can be applied, most talents also have some custom augmentations that can be applied to the spell. For instance, there's a talent that protects you from energy damage. Energy type resistance 5 or something. In addition to the custom augmentations you might expect (more protection, protection from multiple types of energy, etc.) there's a custom augmentation that allows you to substitute protection from a weapon type in place of one of the energy types. So now you have slashing resistance 5 instead of fire resistance 5. Cool huh?
Alright - so what does all this flexibility cost the caster? Three things:
1. Each spell has a base difficulty class to cast based on what magnitude you have to be in order to learn the spells. (The nastier the spell, the higher magnitude you have to be in order to learn it).
Each time you apply an augmentation to the spell, the casting DC increases by the listed amount. So to figure out the total casting DC of the spell, you simply add the cost of all the augmentations you applied to it. Then you make a Use Magic skill roll to see if you successfully cast the spell.
Due to all the augmentations that you can apply to a spell, the casting DCs can get quite high. However, there are a lot of ways to help you boost your Use Magic check also. For instance:
Ranks in the Use Magic skill & ability score modifier (obviously)
The Talent Focus feat
Your magnitude rating provides a bonus to use magic checks
Synergy bonuses from other skills you know IIRC
Expending spell energy
Voluntarily taking longer to cast the spell*
*This is a great concept imported directly from the books. Goblin points out in Dreams of Steel or Bleak Seasons that although the Shadowmasters are 'one maybe two orders of magnitude more powerful than they are' that the biggest difference between them is how long it takes to do something. What a Shadowmaster/Taken could do easily would take Goblin or One Eye ten times as long to do. That is how One-Eye's spear becomes so powerful in the books. Because given enough time even moderate level casters can create truly potent spell effects.
2. That seguays nicely into the second limiting factor on augmentations. Casting time. Its possible to create some pretty potent spell effects as standard actions. However, as the power level of the spells you're casting starts to creep up towards the nominal upper end of your ability to cast them, the time it takes to cast the spell lengthens. Soon you're casting spells as full-round actions, or even two full round actions if you're starting to really stretch yourself.
In non-combat situations, spellcasting times can get REALLY long if you're ramping up the power of the spell and paying for it by voluntarily taking longer to cast the spell (as discussed under #1.)
3. Spell drain. Every time you cast a spell you take a certain amount of spell drain (i.e. non-lethal damage). This spell drain is offset by the amount of spell energy you have remaining. So, if I take 8 points of spell drain, and I have five points of spell energy remaining I take 3 points of non-lethal damage when I attempt to cast the spell (successful or not). Yes, it is possible to cast yourself into unconciousness.
Each spell starts out with a base 1d8 of spell drain. As you add augmentations to the spell a fixed amount of drain is added to the d8 roll. If you use a point of spell energy to boost your Use Magic roll, not only do you have less spell energy to offset the drain, but you also add an additional d8 to the drain per point of spell energy expended.
Now, you're probably saying to yourself, "All that flexibility sounds great, but isn't this awfully complicated?"
That's the beauty of the system. Once you understand how it works, its actually really easy to use. You'll be creating and modifying spells on the fly in no time. A quick reference chart is provided with all the standard augmentations so that you can just cast and go.
Opinions:
I've always loved looking at new magic systems, trying them out, tweaking them, seeing how they can be improved. So I've seen a lot of magic systems in my time. In my opinion, this is one is the best system ever devised for D&D (or any roleplaying game for that matter). Its just awesome. Powerful, flexible, interesting, and easy to use.
I love the fact that there's not artificial spell level cap. In standard D&D the 9 levels of spells really form a pretty solid ceiling on spellcaster power. Under this system, you can keep making your spells nastier and nastier as long as the augmentations don't take your spells past a DC that you can cast.
So, in standard D&D a 20th level caster is a lot nastier than a 10th level caster but a 40th level caster doesn't get all that much of an edge (except for the clumsy epic-level magic system) over the 20th level caster.
Under the Black Company system a 20th level caster is MUCH nastier than a 10th level caster, AND a 40th level caster will literally mop the floor with a 20th level caster. This is important in a campaign where you have spellcasters like the Lady, the Taken, and of course the Dominator.
Basically, I'd say the magic system alone is well worth the price of the book.
*whew* That wound up being a lot longer than I planned. Did it help at all?
Edit: As I re-read my post I see that I've left out all kinds of things. Like blending effects from diffrerent talents to create really fancy spells. Or the fact that every talent has a bit of flavor text from the books showing the spell in action. Great stuff!
Discuss! I'm not a huge fan of the books, but this game looks like it's going to ROCK!
