Magic Systems
- Thread starter Eternal Knot Games
- Start date
Eternal Knot Games
First Post
jaerdaph said:
Go and buy it then...
I know it sounds bad, but the idea came from my SO. We were in the doctors and she started talking about happy, bouncy, creatures that lived in the clouds. (Guess who they are!) From that idea I started thinking about angels, when you've got an over active imagination, like me, all sorts of things come out from the one idea and so it did for me.
Originally all the PCs were going to be angels but the more I developed the world the more I toned down the powers of the PC, and the darker the world got. For a start I split the one Christian God into a celestial family and introduced a family rivalry between the two children Jesus and Lucifera.
Once the rivalry was introduced I gave the two celestial children personalities and dreams for humanity. Using the rivalry and dreams as a basis I started writing a history (which now has mostly gone from the product) of the conflict and the use of humanity as their pawns.
At the same time as I was writing the history I made notes about the world they inhabited and introduced five races. Humans, angels (and demons), fay (the fairy folk born from the same stock as humanity but cursed), spirits (ghosts and spirits either created by the celestial family or souls), and skinshifters (shape changers, werewolves and their kin).
Humans, as they were going to be the main PC race, needed to be split (finally into 5 races) to give GMs and PCs more options in their races and to introduce the history into character creation. The Old Ones and Pure Ones are examples of this; Old Ones are the elder, and original, human race before they were cursed (a different curse than that of the fay). The Pure Ones are the Ayran race that was created during WWII; there are major power struggles between factions of, or individual, Pure Ones.
At first I was going to use the M&M Superlink rules to release my product but I was won over by RPG Objects’ Blood and Vigilance, and am updating Angelus: The Invisible Crusade to give conversion notes to run an Angelus campaign using the BnV rules (with RPG Objects permission). The one lack of the BnV rules is the lack of a magic system other than the standard d20 one, so while I was updating the product to fit in the BnV rules I wanted to add a magic system in (but so far all my attempts at finding a system I can use with permission have failed).
HeapThaumaturgist
First Post
If I'm not mistaken, I think the Green Ronin folks revised that their Black Company magic system was not included in their OGL by mistake, not by design.
Don't take my WORD for that, of course, but have you contacted them about it? It's a pretty well designed system, if a little unweildly.
--fje
Don't take my WORD for that, of course, but have you contacted them about it? It's a pretty well designed system, if a little unweildly.
--fje
rjs
First Post
Indeed, Black Company's magic system is mostly open content except for material relating directly to the novels. For those interested, Advanced Sorcery is a revised and expanded version of the Black Company magic system including several new spells, an all new system for creating magic items, skills and feats tied to the magic system, and an expansion of the ideas (including an Advanced Class) for d20 Modern. I should have the edited manuscript in early December so we should see a release sometime before Christmas.
Since I'm pimping...
Thieves' World has another variant magic system that could easily be adapted for d20 Modern. And, Shadowspawn's Guide to Sanctuary (which is out now as a PDF) includes rules for Ur-Words which is another method of magic. Essentially, Ur-Words are the words of power used by other spellcasters to produce a magical effect. By learning a word, a character gains a spell-like ability which can be modified by attaching prefixes/suffixes (replicating the effects of metamagic feats). Iirc, there's no inherent limit to using an Ur-Word; you must succeed on a check each time and whenever you use the word, it becomes harder to use the next time.
And don't forget Psychic's Handbook/Blue Rose/True20...
Ok, I'm done pimping now
Since I'm pimping...
Thieves' World has another variant magic system that could easily be adapted for d20 Modern. And, Shadowspawn's Guide to Sanctuary (which is out now as a PDF) includes rules for Ur-Words which is another method of magic. Essentially, Ur-Words are the words of power used by other spellcasters to produce a magical effect. By learning a word, a character gains a spell-like ability which can be modified by attaching prefixes/suffixes (replicating the effects of metamagic feats). Iirc, there's no inherent limit to using an Ur-Word; you must succeed on a check each time and whenever you use the word, it becomes harder to use the next time.
And don't forget Psychic's Handbook/Blue Rose/True20...
Ok, I'm done pimping now
Committed Hero
Hero
Elements of Magic looks a lot like the Ars Magica system, which is not surprising given d20's pedigree.
Here's a question, though: the demo has a character using the Mage class from d20 Modern. Are magically-bent classes given more feat slots or skill ranks to compensate for having to purchase magical skills and feats?
And another: Is there a conversion method to port existing 3.X spells into the system?
Here's a question, though: the demo has a character using the Mage class from d20 Modern. Are magically-bent classes given more feat slots or skill ranks to compensate for having to purchase magical skills and feats?
And another: Is there a conversion method to port existing 3.X spells into the system?
RangerWickett
Legend
For those interested in Mythic Earth, you can read reviews here at EN World and at RPGNow (reviews 1, 2, and 3. You can buy it from the new EN World GameStore (which I'd prefer because I get a larger percentage), or from RPGNow if you prefer to shop there.
I have actually never read Ars Magica. My inspiration came from the original Elements of Magic (by Matthew Blakely), Talislanta, and Japanese fighting anime. The last is because, it's not just what type of magic you use, but the style, that makes you cool. I wanted to give people the chance to personalize their magic.
As for converting from D&D to Mythic Earth, it's fairly easy if you're willing to accept that a single rulebook cannot cover every possible type of spell out there. You just need to be willing to eyeball spell levels. Basically, take the core D&D spell level, multiply by 2, and add from 0 to 4 depending on the spell, and you have the spell level in Mythic Earth. Some adjustment needs to be made because ME spellcasting is not limited by spells per day, so things like cure spells cost a good deal more.
The rules even say, if you can't figure out how to make a given spell effect from the options in the book, all you need to do is pick an appropriate skill, and have your GM set a spell level that he thinks is fair compared to other spells in the system. Do you want Evard's Black Tentacles? That spell is not easy to create in ME, but your GM could decide it's fair at level 11, meaning you'd need 11 ranks in the magical skill Summon to cast it safely.
I'm really thrilled by the support Mythic Earth has gotten in this thread.
I have actually never read Ars Magica. My inspiration came from the original Elements of Magic (by Matthew Blakely), Talislanta, and Japanese fighting anime. The last is because, it's not just what type of magic you use, but the style, that makes you cool. I wanted to give people the chance to personalize their magic.
As for converting from D&D to Mythic Earth, it's fairly easy if you're willing to accept that a single rulebook cannot cover every possible type of spell out there. You just need to be willing to eyeball spell levels. Basically, take the core D&D spell level, multiply by 2, and add from 0 to 4 depending on the spell, and you have the spell level in Mythic Earth. Some adjustment needs to be made because ME spellcasting is not limited by spells per day, so things like cure spells cost a good deal more.
The rules even say, if you can't figure out how to make a given spell effect from the options in the book, all you need to do is pick an appropriate skill, and have your GM set a spell level that he thinks is fair compared to other spells in the system. Do you want Evard's Black Tentacles? That spell is not easy to create in ME, but your GM could decide it's fair at level 11, meaning you'd need 11 ranks in the magical skill Summon to cast it safely.
I'm really thrilled by the support Mythic Earth has gotten in this thread.
RangerWickett
Legend
Committed Hero said:
Oh, and the Mage advanced class in Mythic Earth is different from the Mage class presented in Urban Arcana with d20 Modern. The thing was, I mean, "Mage" is the best name for the class, and I thought it'd be pretty unlikely that someone would use both the standard D20 Modern magic system and Mythic Earth's at the same time, so the nomenclature overlap hopefully won't fluster anyone.
Similar Threads
Enchanted Trinkets Complete
Recent & Upcoming Releases
-
December 9 2025 -
June 18 2026 -
October 1 2026
