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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Quixote" data-source="post: 8715040" data-attributes="member: 694">In my home campaigns, I tweak the BtW magic system in a few minor ways to make it fit a B/X aesthetic a bit better.• I don't want ability scores to have a direct impact on spell ability (which they largely don't in BXCMI), so instead of Int and Wis checks, I have cantrips and rituals require a d6 roll. Cantrips succeed on 1–5, as do rituals with a level lower than the caster's; and rituals of the same level as the caster succeed on 1–4.• In BtW, if a cantrip roll fails and the magic starts to spiral out of control, the caster can "snap the thread" to prevent the cantrip from backfiring or taking effect in reverse. But this cuts the caster off from all of their magic for the rest of the day, until they can take a long rest. I found this a bit harsh in play, so I allow a caster to snap the thread by sacrificing a daily spell slot. A mage is only cut off from their magic if they choose to snap the thread and they're also out of daily spells to give up.• Just for a touch of flavor, I renamed "The Patient Word" ritual to "Nevca's Mnemonic Nave" (Vance anagram + alliteration FTW!)• I treat elves more similarly to B/X, where they're a straight combination of fighter/mage, but with a level limit (7th for elves vs. 10th for humans — drawing from LBB D&D, where halflings are limited to FM 4th, dwarves to FM 6th, and elves to FM 4th/MU 8th, I decided to make my version of demi-humans level-limited to 6th for halflings, 7th for elves, and 8th for dwarves).[spoiler]I also use the system in the revised edition of my OSR steampunk game, Engines & Empires (thank you, OGL and Open Game Content!), where it's expanded in two ways:• In addition to the mage class, I add a scholar class that functions like a cleric, bard, or fighter/mage; its combat abilities are in between fighter and mage, but it can only use a tiny subset of the available spells (the "cleric" flavored ones) and only those cantrips and rituals which are cleric or druid flavored (the ones based on Wis in the original BtW). Also, as BtW mages don't keep spellbooks, I decided to have scholars be very much reliant on grimoires.• The technologist class (which drew its original inspiration mostly from Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura) uses a system of minor gadgets, chemical preparations, and leveled inventions that parallels and balances against the mage's cantrips, spells, and rituals.[/spoiler]</blockquote>

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