Looking for low complexity fantasy magic system

[anonystu]

I'm looking for a system, or even the base hint, of a magic system that has the feel of Ars Magica, or maybe Earthsea, for two good examples, but is fairly low-complexity/open-ended. Can anybody give any suggestions to games I might be not thinking of or homebrew stuff?

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

I've heard lots of good things about Big Eyes, Small Mouth. It's an anime game, but I've heard it translates well into "regular" gaming.

 

[kenjib]

Are you looking for d20 games or games in general? If the latter, The Riddle of Steel has a magic system that sounds close to what you're referring to. I would not port over to d20 very well at all though. There's a simplified version of the magic system in the quickstart rules at www.theriddleofsteel.net

 

[Wombat]

**shudder**

TRoS Magic...

I like the combat system in TRoS, at least for late Renaissance sword fencing, but the magic system is terribly broken. It is far too easy to min/max and allow a wizard almost unlimited power in a narrow area.

Then again it IS simple -- but be prepared for a lopsided game...

 

[kenjib]

It's not supposed to be balanced. You have to run it around spiritual attributes for it to work well. That's why it won't convert to d20.

 

[Iron Whim]

Tragic Magic

Here's my thing after going over TROS' magic system with a fine tooth comb. If the Vagaries that let you get at magic only allowed for a more limited amount of power, it'd be fine. As it stands, you can max out a few categories and, as a beginning character, disintegrate someone with a fairly simple spell. Sure, you'll age (which is somewhat silly, in my opinion), but your foe will be vapor.

This from the same system that places such a high value on gritty and "realistic" combat. For a renn duelling system, TROS is great, if you want more realism and less swash, but the rest of the game lags pretty greatly. It's got some good concepts, but I wish they'd tested them out a bit more before going to press. Perhaps more levels of the magic system.

Now if you want a good, fairly straightforward magic system, I would recommend Ars Magica v4, available for free in PDF format.

 

[kenjib]

TROS isn't about how well you can kill though. That's the thing. In the book proper there is an interesting essay by Ron Edwards about why the magic system is the way it is. I'll readily admit though that it's not for everyone!

Ars Magica is another good system, but it really doesn't support non-spell caster characters at all -- even moreso than TROS.

 

[Sanackranib]

hackmaster? or 1e D&D