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Skill based rules for Elements of Magic ?
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<blockquote data-quote="gpetruc" data-source="post: 1348394" data-attributes="member: 2255"><p>I'm glad to see that there is someone interested (and the RangerWicket himself, what a honor)</p><p></p><p>Now some more of my ideas:</p><p></p><p><strong>To cast a spell</strong> no MP is needed, you choose the spell and make the necessary skill checks to cast the spells.</p><p>There is, anyway, the limit that the maximum MP-equivalent of a spell is skill ranks-3 (or 2 ranks for 0-level spells), mostly to avoid trying luck too much. </p><p>Also, the reason behind the rank limit was that if you cast a "Transform Water 5/Air 7/Fire 2/Earth 1/Void 0/Life 0/Time 0" you don't want to make checks for all the elements but only the more important ones (Water, Air). without the rank limit you could in this way cast that spell without having a single rank in any of the skills for the minor elements.</p><p></p><p><strong>Spell skills</strong> would be purchased with a separate set of skill points (or 1 rank could cost a small fraction of a skill point) so that you can have a good number of spell skills but you can't, let's say, trade just the spell Lava skill with a much more broad standard skill like Spellcraft or Spot.</p><p></p><p><strong>Skill checks</strong> would be done in the following way: one check for the verb, and one for each maior element/creature/... and possibly add a DC modifier for the flavour components.</p><p>The maior components are the ones that, summing up their MPs, are more than 4x (or 3x, it's all to tweak) the toal MP cost of the remaining components.</p><p></p><p><em>Example:</em></p><p><em>Evoke Fire 5/Earth 3/Lightning 1/Air 1/Void 0/Gen 4 would require:</em></p><p><em>1) a Evoke chech (with a DC for the total 14 MPs) (maybe +3 DC for the three flavour components)</em></p><p><em>2) A Fire check (DC for a component of 5 MP)</em></p><p><em>3) A Earth check (DC for a component of 3 MP)</em></p><p></p><p>note: Ars Magica just adds up the modifiers and roll a single check, but this seems a bit out of the d20 scheme. </p><p>Also, they don't have the feature of using more than one element in a spell while for us is important (but we don't want, for example, to have that if you are good in casting Space then Evoke Fire 7/Space 1 is easier than Evoke Fire 7, and so adding modifiers does not work).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is a good idea (and is a bit like how it works in Ars Magica: you determine the level of the spell with the check, and then pick effects allowed for that level), even if it could make the rules a bit more tricky.</p><p></p><p>Also, there is the problem that you can't have penalties for <strong>failure</strong>, which should help balancing out the fact that without MPs mages can go on casting all day long:</p><p>My original scheme was: </p><p>- if you fail a check you take 1 weariness point.</p><p>- each weariness point gives you a -2 (or -1?) to spellcasting checks. </p><p>- resting 10 minutes removes a weariness point</p><p>(and, optionally, something like)</p><p>- a big failure (let's say by 5+, or 10+) gives you a load of weariness (let's say 4 points), and you become exhausted (or fall unconscious ?)</p><p>- If the weariness points are greater than your Con modifier, you are fatigued</p><p></p><p>In this way you can't just go on trying for a difficult spell, and even trying once could be risky as it could live you without spellcasting for a while if you fail badly the check; instead, you can go on casting simple spells as much as you like, which seems fine.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gpetruc, post: 1348394, member: 2255"] I'm glad to see that there is someone interested (and the RangerWicket himself, what a honor) Now some more of my ideas: [b]To cast a spell[/b] no MP is needed, you choose the spell and make the necessary skill checks to cast the spells. There is, anyway, the limit that the maximum MP-equivalent of a spell is skill ranks-3 (or 2 ranks for 0-level spells), mostly to avoid trying luck too much. Also, the reason behind the rank limit was that if you cast a "Transform Water 5/Air 7/Fire 2/Earth 1/Void 0/Life 0/Time 0" you don't want to make checks for all the elements but only the more important ones (Water, Air). without the rank limit you could in this way cast that spell without having a single rank in any of the skills for the minor elements. [b]Spell skills[/b] would be purchased with a separate set of skill points (or 1 rank could cost a small fraction of a skill point) so that you can have a good number of spell skills but you can't, let's say, trade just the spell Lava skill with a much more broad standard skill like Spellcraft or Spot. [b]Skill checks[/b] would be done in the following way: one check for the verb, and one for each maior element/creature/... and possibly add a DC modifier for the flavour components. The maior components are the ones that, summing up their MPs, are more than 4x (or 3x, it's all to tweak) the toal MP cost of the remaining components. [i]Example: Evoke Fire 5/Earth 3/Lightning 1/Air 1/Void 0/Gen 4 would require: 1) a Evoke chech (with a DC for the total 14 MPs) (maybe +3 DC for the three flavour components) 2) A Fire check (DC for a component of 5 MP) 3) A Earth check (DC for a component of 3 MP)[/i] note: Ars Magica just adds up the modifiers and roll a single check, but this seems a bit out of the d20 scheme. Also, they don't have the feature of using more than one element in a spell while for us is important (but we don't want, for example, to have that if you are good in casting Space then Evoke Fire 7/Space 1 is easier than Evoke Fire 7, and so adding modifiers does not work). This is a good idea (and is a bit like how it works in Ars Magica: you determine the level of the spell with the check, and then pick effects allowed for that level), even if it could make the rules a bit more tricky. Also, there is the problem that you can't have penalties for [b]failure[/b], which should help balancing out the fact that without MPs mages can go on casting all day long: My original scheme was: - if you fail a check you take 1 weariness point. - each weariness point gives you a -2 (or -1?) to spellcasting checks. - resting 10 minutes removes a weariness point (and, optionally, something like) - a big failure (let's say by 5+, or 10+) gives you a load of weariness (let's say 4 points), and you become exhausted (or fall unconscious ?) - If the weariness points are greater than your Con modifier, you are fatigued In this way you can't just go on trying for a difficult spell, and even trying once could be risky as it could live you without spellcasting for a while if you fail badly the check; instead, you can go on casting simple spells as much as you like, which seems fine. [/QUOTE]
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Skill based rules for Elements of Magic ?
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