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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 5029841" data-attributes="member: 58197">Pretty much all the systems you listed above are &quot;hazard systems,&quot; where spellcasters risk falling afoul of some mystical danger when they use their magic. To work well in play, I think any hazard system must adhere to the following:<ul>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">The hazard must be meaningful. If the PCs can easily shrug it off, it quickly becomes ignored.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">The hazard must not be catastrophic. It's neither fun nor magical to arbitrarily lose your character to a botched die roll.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">The player must have some control over the level of hazard faced, with incentives to &quot;push&quot; the hazard level higher in exchange for greater power.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">The hazard must not demand that the GM produce new story elements on the fly; requiring the GM to do substantial creative work when the hazard triggers (in the middle of a gaming session!) is asking for boring and ill-conceived hazards.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">The hazard must not arbitrarily alter the player's character concept, nor invite the GM to do so. Any permanent effects of magic use should be chosen by the player (at character creation, or during play). GMs and game designers often think it's funny to make PCs sprout tentacles. Players are generally less amused.</li>
</ul>It's actually remarkably hard to come up with a system that meets these criteria. I think it can be done, though.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 5029841, member: 58197"] Pretty much all the systems you listed above are "hazard systems," where spellcasters risk falling afoul of some mystical danger when they use their magic. To work well in play, I think any hazard system must adhere to the following: [LIST] [*]The hazard must be meaningful. If the PCs can easily shrug it off, it quickly becomes ignored. [*]The hazard must not be catastrophic. It's neither fun nor magical to arbitrarily lose your character to a botched die roll. [*]The player must have some control over the level of hazard faced, with incentives to "push" the hazard level higher in exchange for greater power. [*]The hazard must not demand that the GM produce new story elements on the fly; requiring the GM to do substantial creative work when the hazard triggers (in the middle of a gaming session!) is asking for boring and ill-conceived hazards. [*]The hazard must not arbitrarily alter the player's character concept, nor invite the GM to do so. Any permanent effects of magic use should be chosen by the player (at character creation, or during play). GMs and game designers often think it's funny to make PCs sprout tentacles. Players are generally less amused. [/LIST] It's actually remarkably hard to come up with a system that meets these criteria. I think it can be done, though. [/QUOTE]

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