How usable is Call of Cthulhu d20 magic?

[jasin]

The basic premise of CoC d20 magic is that anyone can use it (not sure if you have to learn the spell somehow, or just go by the instructions?), but casting deals stat damage.

How usable is this for PCs? How portable would it be into d20 Modern?

I like the idea of magic being something orthogonal to your standard choice of career, paid for in currency other than your standard advancement resources (levels, feats...), but I'm not convinced this works well in practice. For far-reaching, non-combat magic, it seems the cost might become negligible. If you're divining from the safety of your home, what's 1d6 Wis damage? Take a nap for 1d6 days and you're as good as new. For combat magic, who's going to want to take stat damage to deal a couple of d6 hp to the opponent?

In CoC, where magic is mostly a plot device and/or in the hands of the villains, that works fine, but how to adapt this for a game where you want the PCs to call on magic occasionally, but not with the routine of D&D or d20 Modern's Urban Arcana?

 

[Asha'man]

Keep in mind, just because you *could* cast everything from the safety of your basement and then sleep off the effects, doesn't mean the option is available to you. Usually, (and especially in Modern, where there's no such thing as a dungeon crawl) PCs are under pressure to get things done, whether in form of a deadline or otherwise. And if magic is costly, that means any circumstance which forces you to resort to magic must be one where you have no other options, or it's critically important that something works right the first time.

In a system of magic like this, I wouldn't think combat magic would be very prominent at all, and I'd say that's sensible and right. Only supernatural creatures (or VERY powerful mages, probably NPCs) would really use magic for combat or buffing, most rituals would be for utility or information. (Although the occational protective ward might be used, particuarly to defend against hostile magic)

Edit: Another option, in addition to ability damage, might be costly and rare components or foci. Maybe you need a costly blend of incenses to induce a precognitive trance, or an obsidian amulet with particular Aztec religious symbols to focus a "protection from fire" spell

 

[Stormborn]

CoCd20 Magic works just fine in d20 Modern, but its not going to be anything like the default magic system. Magic is only going to be used when it is absolutely neccesary. Why cast a divination spell at all if you can hire a private dective or do the leg work yourself? Why cast a spell in combat if you have a 45? Well, you might cast that divination spell if time is of the essence and there are no clues, and you might cast that combat spell if you are being attacked by a monster with damage reduction who is shrugging off bullets. Magic isn't going to be anyones first choice.

Then there is the "magic must defeat magic" addage. If the bad guy is using a spell to drain the souls of co-eds for a diabolical ritual, you might only be able to protect the campus by setting up a really big warding spell.

Basically you as the GM will have to create a setting where magic is an option, but one of last resort, and then give the PCs chances to research/remember/discover spells that are needed. You want to create a situation where the supernatural exists, but where the PC access to it is rare - kinda like if in Buffy the Vampire Slayer's early seasons it was just about Giles, Xander, Willow, and Cordellia with no Buffy. Supernatural knowledge, some access to spells, but thats not the first line of defense.

SHAMELESS PLUG TIME: If you are looking for a very very adaptable spell system keyed to real world occultism you might want to take a look at Imperial Age Magick by your truly, Scott Carter, and published by Adamant Entertainment.

 

[billd91]

In CoC, where magic is mostly a plot device and/or in the hands of the villains, that works fine, but how to adapt this for a game where you want the PCs to call on magic occasionally, but not with the routine of D&D or d20 Modern's Urban Arcana?

The magic of CoC d20 also works for that game because it is highly corrupting and self-destructive. The stat damage seems more appropriate. Though frankly, I prefer BRP CoC magic to d20s.

For something like d20 Modern, unless you have a particular reason for magic to be corrupting, I'd be more tempted to adapt the 4e ritual system. Then magic becomes more utilitarian in focus. You use it for relatively minor stuff that you can afford to do out of combat, durations are flexible, and the result could improved based on a high skill check.

 

[wolfen fenrison]

Also within the context of the game this magic system comes from, first you have to find a book containing the spells, if decipher the book if its written in a language you don't know or in code then the amount of spells and the which ones are randomly generated, and if you use sanity rules the act of researching the book and spells a fair amount of sanity.
But once you research the spells you know them permanently, and every spell has a SAN cost, but not all of them have ability costs, the concept is that manipulating magic is inherently alien to the human mind and in some cases can be a drain on the casters body or mind.
If you remove the sanity aspect of the magic then you make it less of a burden to learn and cast. If want to use the magic with out sanity rules then it should only be used by the following advanced classes; The Occultist (d20 Modern), The Spiritualist (d20 Past), The Arcane Scholar (Modern Player's Companion), Field Antiquarian (d20 Dark*Matter), Arcane Arranger (Urban Arcana), Glamourist (Urban Arcana), Shadowjack (Urban Arcana)
And the following prestige classes; Alchemist (d20 Dark*Matter), Dark Sage (Modern Players Companion), Diabolist (d20 Dark*Matter), Visionary (d20 Dark*Matter)

 

[Azgulor]

Personally, I'm fond of the magic system in Grim Tales for modern gaming. Spellcasting causes drain/burn in the form of lethal damage. There are thresholds/levers in the system for tweaking the lethality to you and your players' desires.

 

[DM_Jeff]

The best, most robust and customizble modern magic system for 3.5/d20 was in Monte Cook's World of Darkness. I purchased it just based off that alone.

-DM Jeff

 

[wolfen fenrison]

The best, most robust and customizble modern magic system for 3.5/d20 was in Monte Cook's World of Darkness. I purchased it just based off that alone.

-DM Jeff

Its very versatile, but to the speed of play up you may want non-rote spells planed out in advanced or give the player a time limit on how long she can take on improvising a spell.

 

[Aus_Snow]

How usable is this for PCs? How portable would it be into d20 Modern?

It's usable, but I'm not that keen. It's very portable, though.

The thing I don't like about it is the (potentially) regular ability damage; it's just messy and fiddly, what with all the other game mechanics that abilities can and do directly affect. I like the idea, but the reality of it pretty much sucks in actual play.

So, I prefer nonlethal damage (like in the Psychic's Handbook, or the SFX Skills line - even though the latter also has an option for ability damage) or, even better (IMO), the ever increasing likelihood of fatigue, exhaustion, unconsciousness (like in True20, and no doubt a few other things I'm not remembering right now).

 

[Plane Sailing]

Another interesting variant if you have access to "Wheel of time d20" is to copy the male channelers madness rules. In their case gaining levels and overchanneling spells increased their (secret) madness score.

You could use a variant of the CoC sanity rules where the sanity cost of spells gradually totted up (secretly) over time, and as the caster goes past certain thresholds they start suffering some of the effects of madness and ultimately rotting disease.

Conan OGL similarly has the possibility of escalating madness through casting spells which could be merged with CoC d20.

Cheers