AbeTheGnome
First Post
tell me about the magic system.
grim tales?
- Thread starter AbeTheGnome
- Start date
You gain spellcasting levels as talents, just like any other talent in d20 Modern.
You roll a caster-level check to cast a spell, and regardless of whether you succeed or fail, you take ability-point damage. That damage is Strength if you're trained and Constitution if you're not. Having a high spellcasting ability score will soak a lot of this damage.
The downside of the system is that it lets casters fail to cast spells, which is kind of a bummer sometimes -- my players get around this by saving their action points for spellcasting, to REALLY make sure they get that caster-level check nailed.
The upside of the system is that it models most of today's popular fantasy-book magic better than Vancian or a simple mana system. It makes intuitive sense to players to have somebody get weaker while casting. It's decent at modeling, say, Merlin or Raistlin, but it's just as good at modeling someone like (to pull stuff out of my back pocket) Jordan's Rand, Eddings's Belgarion, or Hobb's Fitz -- the warrior who also uses magic, and who draws from his own strength for that magic, and feels tired later.
I use a few simple modifications, some of them based on Wulf's own suggestions here, and some of them to get the right flavor for my campaign. In one game, where I wanted less bookkeeping, I switched from ability damage to, well, damage, because taking a bunch of damage doesn't require the player to recalculate all of his attack rolls and Climb checks. That said, I've also used it as is, and it's been really successful. Makes the PCs think hard before casting a spell -- it's got to be important, like a major fight, in order to be worth it.
You roll a caster-level check to cast a spell, and regardless of whether you succeed or fail, you take ability-point damage. That damage is Strength if you're trained and Constitution if you're not. Having a high spellcasting ability score will soak a lot of this damage.
The downside of the system is that it lets casters fail to cast spells, which is kind of a bummer sometimes -- my players get around this by saving their action points for spellcasting, to REALLY make sure they get that caster-level check nailed.
The upside of the system is that it models most of today's popular fantasy-book magic better than Vancian or a simple mana system. It makes intuitive sense to players to have somebody get weaker while casting. It's decent at modeling, say, Merlin or Raistlin, but it's just as good at modeling someone like (to pull stuff out of my back pocket) Jordan's Rand, Eddings's Belgarion, or Hobb's Fitz -- the warrior who also uses magic, and who draws from his own strength for that magic, and feels tired later.
I use a few simple modifications, some of them based on Wulf's own suggestions here, and some of them to get the right flavor for my campaign. In one game, where I wanted less bookkeeping, I switched from ability damage to, well, damage, because taking a bunch of damage doesn't require the player to recalculate all of his attack rolls and Climb checks. That said, I've also used it as is, and it's been really successful. Makes the PCs think hard before casting a spell -- it's got to be important, like a major fight, in order to be worth it.
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
I've also been tinkering with a "spell burn" system that causes Fatigue > Exhaustion > Unconsciousness, resisted with a Fort save that gets progressively more difficult. It's not as granular, obviously, but the book-keeping is easier.
Using damage is a good alternative as you noted-- i like non-lethal for trained spellcasters and lethal for untrained.
Using damage is a good alternative as you noted-- i like non-lethal for trained spellcasters and lethal for untrained.
Arkhandus
First Post
How about extending the range of fatigue statuses inflicted by spellcasting?
1st failed Fortitude save, you're mildly fatigued; -1 on Strength and Dexterity, run speed is x3 instead of x4, base run duration is 1/2 Constitution score; 4 hours of complete rest and you're back to normal. 2nd failure, you're fatigued. 3rd, and you're mildly exhausted; -4 Strength and Dexterity, cannot run or charge, -5 feet to movement speed; this becomes fatigue instead after 30 minutes of complete rest. 4th failed save, and you're exhausted. 5th, and you're both exhausted and staggered; the staggered effect is lost after 10 minutes of complete rest, then the countdown to recovering from exhaustion begins. 6th failed save, you're unconscious.
1st failed Fortitude save, you're mildly fatigued; -1 on Strength and Dexterity, run speed is x3 instead of x4, base run duration is 1/2 Constitution score; 4 hours of complete rest and you're back to normal. 2nd failure, you're fatigued. 3rd, and you're mildly exhausted; -4 Strength and Dexterity, cannot run or charge, -5 feet to movement speed; this becomes fatigue instead after 30 minutes of complete rest. 4th failed save, and you're exhausted. 5th, and you're both exhausted and staggered; the staggered effect is lost after 10 minutes of complete rest, then the countdown to recovering from exhaustion begins. 6th failed save, you're unconscious.
Similar Threads
