What Good Are Spells, Anyway?

[doctorbadwolf]

I have run into a very thorny question as I iterate on my game, Crossroads. What to do with spells.

The question, here, is should the game include ready-made Techniques at all?

Spoiler: For context

, in the current iteration there are Skills and there are Traits, and then Attributes which are a resource pool you can spend to fuel active traits or Push skill checks up the success ladder.

Magic is broken up into about a dozen Skills, each with 3 specialties, and since the whole game runs on a unified resolution mechanic, your skills and specialties primarily give you the dice pool for a given check, and provide a framework to understand your character in terms of capability.

Traits are anything from Techniques (actions beyond what you can normally do) to Resources (like a signature tool or a special companion or cool laboratory) or Proficiencies (Passive abilities, like gain faster base speed or adding your Strength score to your Toughness (damage threshold against injury).

Currently spells can be gained as traits or improvised as skill checks or as complex rituals requiring multiple checks, and you can invent new spells during downtime or even reverse engineer spells you have witness in you are quick to study the effects and roll well on doing so.

Making a new spell takes time that could otherwise be spent crafting, investigating (a major part of the game) or otherwise preparing for the next or ongoing job, or on a handful of other Endeavors.

But, if the idea is to encourage inventing spells and focusing on your skills and major Traits,..perhaps the game should be very tight with ready made spells?

Another concern is that I want the game to have a dynamic of “what you need to remember you have should be easily seen during play by being right on the main character sheet page, while the things you’ll naturally look for can be on secondary pages or, only when necessary, in the book somewhere.

So, then, where would you want spells and other special action features?

 

[GMMichael]

The question, here, is should the game include ready-made Techniques at all?

Yes; it sounds like players (and GMs) will want some context and/or examples.

Currently spells can be gained as traits or improvised as skill checks or as complex rituals requiring multiple checks, and you can invent new spells during downtime or even reverse engineer spells you have witness in you are quick to study the effects and roll well on doing so.

But, if the idea is to encourage inventing spells and focusing on your skills and major Traits,..perhaps the game should be very tight with ready made spells?

You'll see less inventing with more ready-made spells, yes.

Another concern is that I want the game to have a dynamic of “what you need to remember you have should be easily seen during play by being right on the main character sheet page, while the things you’ll naturally look for can be on secondary pages or, only when necessary, in the book somewhere.

So, then, where would you want spells and other special action features?

Do you want fast play? Fit everything (besides player notes) on the front of the character sheet. For in-depth, detailed, technical play, or just boring play, spells can go on pages 2-4. Five is right out.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yes; it sounds like players (and GMs) will want some context and/or examples.


You'll see less inventing with more ready-made spells, yes.


Do you want fast play? Fit everything (besides player notes) on the front of the character sheet. For in-depth, detailed, technical play, or just boring play, spells can go on pages 2-4. Five is right out.

lol yeah. Currently the character sheet has room for a list of traits but half the front page is the skill list. Page 2 is for background and contacts and such, and then details of traits are 3+, with printable extra pages for techniques in case a character has a long list.

I do think that I will keep moving toward more passive/sweeping traits like gaining extra contacts/ally/patron or a magic sword, being faster than anyone else, etc, and then stuff like Riastrad Fury, which increases Toughness and allows you to enter special supernatural stances (rather than the standard aggressive, defensive, guardian, passive) that last the whole scene and do things like increase attack damage and movement speed.

Techniques can be limited to a few examples, or things that most characters may want. By making most of them “examples” it hopefully avoids making players feel like they can only counter attack if they have a technique on their character sheet that says they can.