Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Gryph" data-source="post: 5474297" data-attributes="member: 98071">Nice thread idea.&nbsp;Some of my own thoughts:&nbsp;1) Magic requires some innate talent for it. Mechanically, I'm fine with that being represented by a minimum attribute value (13 Int, say) or a specific point based Talent (various ways to define in HERO or GURPS).&nbsp;2) Magic is hard. It requires study and practice for every spell mastered by the caster. OR, it can be gifted by a supernatural being, be it God, Demon, Elemental Spirit, etc. If gifted there is a reciprocal cost to be paid, in game, by the caster. As the GM if you take the shortcut I get to tie strings to your character.&nbsp;3) Individuals spells are not easy to cast. Since caster are messing with the fabric of the universe, a good magic system should have elements that represent the difficulty. My baseline is time. The more powerful the spell, the longer it takes to cast. Then you can start adding elements to replace the time to cast. Such as, Casting ahead of time and storing the spell into a scroll/wand/etc., preparing the spell ahead of time and keeping it in your brain to be released with a few words/gestures (Vancian), expanding energy/life-force to fuel the spell (maybe the casters maybe a sacrifice). &nbsp;4) I personally don't care for games where magic using player characters are inherently supernatural beings themselves; whether by bloodline, wild talent. In D&amp;D terms, I like Warlocks, I don't like Sorcerors.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Gryph, post: 5474297, member: 98071"] Nice thread idea. Some of my own thoughts: 1) Magic requires some innate talent for it. Mechanically, I'm fine with that being represented by a minimum attribute value (13 Int, say) or a specific point based Talent (various ways to define in HERO or GURPS). 2) Magic is hard. It requires study and practice for every spell mastered by the caster. OR, it can be gifted by a supernatural being, be it God, Demon, Elemental Spirit, etc. If gifted there is a reciprocal cost to be paid, in game, by the caster. As the GM if you take the shortcut I get to tie strings to your character. 3) Individuals spells are not easy to cast. Since caster are messing with the fabric of the universe, a good magic system should have elements that represent the difficulty. My baseline is time. The more powerful the spell, the longer it takes to cast. Then you can start adding elements to replace the time to cast. Such as, Casting ahead of time and storing the spell into a scroll/wand/etc., preparing the spell ahead of time and keeping it in your brain to be released with a few words/gestures (Vancian), expanding energy/life-force to fuel the spell (maybe the casters maybe a sacrifice). 4) I personally don't care for games where magic using player characters are inherently supernatural beings themselves; whether by bloodline, wild talent. In D&D terms, I like Warlocks, I don't like Sorcerors. [/QUOTE]

Verification