Fixes for Mage: Sorcerer's Crusade magic?

[Pielorinho]

Okay, so not exactly the same as what I'm used to, but similar. You have to fit the dominant paradigm, or things get tougher.

Bingo. A botched vulgar effect with a level 3 sphere and in front of civilians is 7 points scourge immediately, nothing to sneeze at, and it'll have a base difficulty of 8; very easy to botch if you're rolling 3 dice!

And the game is set at the beginning of the Ascension War, right? So, is drawing flaming runes in the air in the wrong place and time going to get one burned at the stake yet? If yes, you can add that to reasons why the PCs ought to be a little reticent to do so.

Absolutely true. The game will start in Spain, as well, with the Inquisition at full power. You can get burnt at the stake for being a Jew; practicing sorcery (even Catholic sorcery, like the Celestial Choir's) is definitely a no-no. Once they make it to the New World, it's less dangerous: first, pirates tend not to have much respect for things like the Inquisition, and second, there's no anti-sorcery group as powerful as the Inquisition. But there are still highly superstitious pirates who will want to kill wizards on sight, and plenty of people who will automatically mistrust and fear anyone practicing magic. With good reason.

I don't think your approach is wrong - I am not sure you need a whole lot of modification to make instant ship-killing difficult. It shouldn't be impossible, just difficult and dramatic when they do pull out the stops to make it happen. I think the game (admitting my incomplete understanding) already gives the GM the latitude such that it comes out that way.

You're totally right. Whereas in D&D there's rule zero (is it still there?), followed by a buttload of rules, M:SC is the opposite. There are rules, but the game almost seems to sneer at you for needing them. Over and over it emphasizes the priority of drama over rules, and makes it sound like DM fail if you resort to rolling dice. I'm exaggerating, but only slightly.

Anyway, I'm totally fine with a super-prepared, brilliantly-executed instant ship-kill, as long as it's peculiar to the situation. If they know that they'll be fighting Captain Beauregarde, and so in port they bribe one of his sailors to bring them a sliver of wood from the ship, and they prep a ritual around that wood to bond it to a a twist of cord, expending a dozen or so successes on it, and then when the ship turns its cannons toward the PCs they light the cord on fire, you better believe Captain Beauregarde is bursting into flames.

What won't happen is this: "A ship? My turn? Okay, I use connections3/force3/prime2 to light a spark in the powder room. 2 successes. boom!"

 

[Achan hiArusa]

I like the idea of sticking to the amount of damage a mage can do, I used a cross between 1st and 2nd edition damage for Mage (so damage was exponential with successes). If you want to spark the gunpowder, doing one success isn't enough, you have to the same amount of damage as you would do if there wasn't gunpowder (as someone has stated above, the spark is the coincidence). Also this means that the party will have to work together to weave effects and will have to coordinate what spheres they will have to buy, remember creating a car whole cloth requires at least five successes and ships are much bigger.

Sorcerer's Crusade magic goes with the idea that magic does not come from within. The character must have a justification for his power and it has to be an external one. If it is done this way, then it is casual. If the character falls to the sin of hubris and believes that he is the source of all his magic then he falls prey to the scourge. It really forces the player to stay in his paradigm all the time if he wants to do magic. Saying "I cast fireball" is welcoming the Scourge. Doing a ritual to summon a fire elemental and then having him produce the fireball isn't, as long as that is your paradigm (ahem Hermetics).