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<blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 6246345" data-attributes="member: 2205"><p>Heh. Well, it may not be what you're interested in. My goal was, really, to have spellcasting be more like how it's done in <em>Call of Cthulhu</em>. I consider my fantasy setting to be a dark fantasy setting that's as much horror as it is swashbuckling fantasy, so the goal was that becoming a sorcerer was never something done lightly, and never something done without cost. </p><p></p><p>Also, I thought that the Microlite sorcerers I saw looked like they had almost everything that every other class had (other than a few points in bonuses to some skills and to attacks) and in return, they got to cast a bunch of devastating spells. If anything Microlite sorcerers (again, depending on which variation you were using) had a lot more going for them than most other classes. This might have especially been true of the Microlite74 variation, which I used as my "baseline" to modify from. But the primary consideration was to change the flavor first and foremost.</p><p></p><p>But a secondary consideration was that I wanted to do it without having to reinvent the wheel, or deviate too much from a system that I thought was already fairly easy. Those goals were, to a certain extent, in direct contradiction. But I ended up being satisfied (if not 100% thrilled) with how it turned out--it's not the most simple thing in the world, but it's simple enough, and I think fairly evocative.</p><p></p><p>First off, for reasons completely unrelated to magic <em>per se</em> I had already added Sanity in (from a Microlite Cthulhu variant; I kitbashed that particular element in.) So, I jiggered a bit with the hit points cost (it's a bit lower than in Microlite default, IIRC) but <em>also</em> added a risk of Sanity damage when casting a spell. Taking a page from older editions of Warhammer 40,000, with a real flub on that "saving throw" you can even have 1d4 Hounds of Tindalos show up with a spectacularly badly saved spell-casting attempt.</p><p></p><p>I also changed the spell list somewhat, and renamed every single spell to some Lovecraftian counterpart.</p><p></p><p>I only have up to 5th level spells (because I only assume up to 10th level play--I'm not interested personally in playing higher level than that, and since the document was really for my own play of my own setting, I figured why not specifically exclude those higher levels?) but I also added a simple little subsystem where any character can cast any spell--including a few higher than 5th level--as a ritual/incantation. Of course sorcerers are likely to be a bit better at this than other classes, but in theory, anyone can do it. You can <em>also</em> have a proxy or patsy (or sacrifice, if you prefer) take that damage (or at least a portion of it), and you can cast rituals as partnership with more than one caster, spreading the risk around (although whoops! The draft online doesn't include those details; that's in my draft here at home! [<em><strong>EDIT:</strong> OK, I've re-uploaded the file, complete with this change.</em>] I need to finalize and upload that.) None of these are really appropriate for combat spells, needless to say, since the timing to cast them is a bit long.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Desdichado, post: 6246345, member: 2205"] Heh. Well, it may not be what you're interested in. My goal was, really, to have spellcasting be more like how it's done in [I]Call of Cthulhu[/I]. I consider my fantasy setting to be a dark fantasy setting that's as much horror as it is swashbuckling fantasy, so the goal was that becoming a sorcerer was never something done lightly, and never something done without cost. Also, I thought that the Microlite sorcerers I saw looked like they had almost everything that every other class had (other than a few points in bonuses to some skills and to attacks) and in return, they got to cast a bunch of devastating spells. If anything Microlite sorcerers (again, depending on which variation you were using) had a lot more going for them than most other classes. This might have especially been true of the Microlite74 variation, which I used as my "baseline" to modify from. But the primary consideration was to change the flavor first and foremost. But a secondary consideration was that I wanted to do it without having to reinvent the wheel, or deviate too much from a system that I thought was already fairly easy. Those goals were, to a certain extent, in direct contradiction. But I ended up being satisfied (if not 100% thrilled) with how it turned out--it's not the most simple thing in the world, but it's simple enough, and I think fairly evocative. First off, for reasons completely unrelated to magic [I]per se[/I] I had already added Sanity in (from a Microlite Cthulhu variant; I kitbashed that particular element in.) So, I jiggered a bit with the hit points cost (it's a bit lower than in Microlite default, IIRC) but [I]also[/I] added a risk of Sanity damage when casting a spell. Taking a page from older editions of Warhammer 40,000, with a real flub on that "saving throw" you can even have 1d4 Hounds of Tindalos show up with a spectacularly badly saved spell-casting attempt. I also changed the spell list somewhat, and renamed every single spell to some Lovecraftian counterpart. I only have up to 5th level spells (because I only assume up to 10th level play--I'm not interested personally in playing higher level than that, and since the document was really for my own play of my own setting, I figured why not specifically exclude those higher levels?) but I also added a simple little subsystem where any character can cast any spell--including a few higher than 5th level--as a ritual/incantation. Of course sorcerers are likely to be a bit better at this than other classes, but in theory, anyone can do it. You can [I]also[/I] have a proxy or patsy (or sacrifice, if you prefer) take that damage (or at least a portion of it), and you can cast rituals as partnership with more than one caster, spreading the risk around (although whoops! The draft online doesn't include those details; that's in my draft here at home! [[I][B]EDIT:[/B] OK, I've re-uploaded the file, complete with this change.[/I]] I need to finalize and upload that.) None of these are really appropriate for combat spells, needless to say, since the timing to cast them is a bit long. [/QUOTE]
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