Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
[Penny Arcade] Do you use "Magic!" too much or not enough?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 4984826" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>I don't use "it's magic".</p><p></p><p>In the Penny Arcade example given, I would point out that the players are wrong - the rules <em>do</em> support reverse Necromancy, there just aren't any existing spells to do it. The BBEG in question obviously researched some. If the PCs can find his notes, then they too can have this power. (If it came to that, I would refit the lich ritual for this purpose (we use 3.5e).)</p><p></p><p>In the case of some ancient Elven structure held together with magic, it's "secrets long lost to us". If the PCs really want to know, they can investigate it in detail, and there will be an answer. Oddly, nobody has ever been interested to actually go and find out. (The "Stronghold Builder's Guidebook" is quite helpful here, as it gives precedent for expanding the magic item creation rules to buildings.)</p><p></p><p>It's a minor, and perhaps meaningless, difference. Essentially, I've replaced "it's magic" with "arcane technobabble". Still, I have found that, <em>for my game and my players</em>, this improves versimilitude and leads to an overall improvement in the play experience. YMMV, of course.</p><p></p><p>(I do sometimes wish 3.5e included rules for collaborative magic and extended rituals... but then these already exist in the 3rd party material. Besides, they would be used so rarely, and are so flexible, that they're probably more trouble than they'd actually be worth.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 4984826, member: 22424"] I don't use "it's magic". In the Penny Arcade example given, I would point out that the players are wrong - the rules [i]do[/i] support reverse Necromancy, there just aren't any existing spells to do it. The BBEG in question obviously researched some. If the PCs can find his notes, then they too can have this power. (If it came to that, I would refit the lich ritual for this purpose (we use 3.5e).) In the case of some ancient Elven structure held together with magic, it's "secrets long lost to us". If the PCs really want to know, they can investigate it in detail, and there will be an answer. Oddly, nobody has ever been interested to actually go and find out. (The "Stronghold Builder's Guidebook" is quite helpful here, as it gives precedent for expanding the magic item creation rules to buildings.) It's a minor, and perhaps meaningless, difference. Essentially, I've replaced "it's magic" with "arcane technobabble". Still, I have found that, [i]for my game and my players[/i], this improves versimilitude and leads to an overall improvement in the play experience. YMMV, of course. (I do sometimes wish 3.5e included rules for collaborative magic and extended rituals... but then these already exist in the 3rd party material. Besides, they would be used so rarely, and are so flexible, that they're probably more trouble than they'd actually be worth.) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
[Penny Arcade] Do you use "Magic!" too much or not enough?
Top