FreakyCheeseMan
2014-01-16, 12:50 AM
So, I'm about to start a game of Runequest 6, just as soon as I get a copy of Runequest and also some players, although I'm willing to compromise on that second count. I'm planning on replacing the magic system (It's modular, intended to have elements swapped in/out) with something I've been working on for a while, wanted to run the basic notion by you guys for commentary and critique. Here goes.
Any spell has two basic elements that determine it's difficulty - Power and Skill. To cast a spell, you have to provide enough power, and make a skill check against it's technical difficulty. Blasting, summoning, big-grand-effect spells tend to require a lot of power, while subtle, finnicky spells tend to be more technically difficut, and a lot of mages will specialize in one or the other.
PC races don't get any intermal power source of their own, so they have to get the energy for their spells in one of two ways, called "Casting from Crystal" or "Casting from Field (Channeling.".
Casting from Crystal is the simpler and less common option; a common resource in this world (it'd the default currency) is a form of crystal made out of solidified magic. This crystal can be turned into either crystal spells (basically the same as scrolls), or "Activated Crystal" - activated crystal is difficult to cast from (increases the check), but provides raw power that can be used for any spell. EIther form of processed crystal is unstable, and requires a very small amount of focus to maintain - mages can only keep so many power points of each stable (activated costs more), and anything that leaves the mage's possession rapidly degrades into nothingness. Both types of crystal are expended through casting - so, a crystal-reliant mage will have to be judacious in his spellcasting, or he'll run out of options early in the day and likely bankrupt himself in the process.
Casting from Field, or channeling, is the more common option; in it, the mage establishes a mental connection to the local magical field, and draws power through that connection to power their spells. The deeper the connection to the local field, the more power a mage can draw in a given turn.
There are two important numbers for Channeling: Channeling Skill and Mental Endurance. On each turn, a mage must use an amount of energy that is within their channeling skill of the amount they used last turn. (So, if your channeling skill is 3, and last turn you used 7 power points, in the next turn you can use as many as 10, but you have to use at least 4.) Mages can cast "Empty spells" to warm up/cool down without actually manifesting anything; if a mage is for some reason unwilling or unable to cast a spell to cool down, he is assumed to have used the minimum he could cast that turn, but pays a double cost of menal endurance (below.)
Maintaining a connection to a field strains the mind; "Mental Endurance" is a measure of a mage's willpower and the cohesiveness of their mind, which is worn down by continued channeling. Every turn, the ammount of power you've channeled is subtracted from your endurance pooll; if the pool goes into negative values, you're rendered unconscious (or worse.) A mage can recover his endurance through a brief meditation (~1 - 10 minutes), so there's no limit on the spells a mage can cast in a day - but, they can't keep themselves at a full burn all the time, and have to be clever in the first few rounds of any fight, in order to protect themselves and their allies before their best spells can come into play. Nomatter how long they spend building up, a mage can't channel more than five times their casting score.
Example time!
Rexxor the mage has a channeling score of 3, and mental endurance of 50. On the first turn of combat, he's completely cold, and can only use 3 power points - enough for one basic spell, but if he has other actions, he'll have to use them on mundane things. On the next turn, he has 6 power available, and on the turn after that, 9 - assuming the fight lasts and he chooses to continue to use as much power as possible, he'll continue to build up for five turns, at which point he has 15 power available. This is enough for him to to cast his most powerful spells, or use several actions to cast a flurry of basic spells in a single turn; at this point, Rexxor is a complete nova, and probably the most powerful character in the party, if not on the battlefield. However, he has a problem - in building up to this point, he's used 45 of his 50 points of mental endurance, and is currently pushed to his limits by maintaining the connection to the local field. In the next turn, he must use at least 12 points of magical energy, more than enough to make him pass out (and, given that he still has some 25 points of power to burn through, potentially at double the cost, he may end up suffering even worse consequences, such as physical damage, a prolonged coma or the inability to recover his mental endurance without a good night's rest.)
Any spell has two basic elements that determine it's difficulty - Power and Skill. To cast a spell, you have to provide enough power, and make a skill check against it's technical difficulty. Blasting, summoning, big-grand-effect spells tend to require a lot of power, while subtle, finnicky spells tend to be more technically difficut, and a lot of mages will specialize in one or the other.
PC races don't get any intermal power source of their own, so they have to get the energy for their spells in one of two ways, called "Casting from Crystal" or "Casting from Field (Channeling.".
Casting from Crystal is the simpler and less common option; a common resource in this world (it'd the default currency) is a form of crystal made out of solidified magic. This crystal can be turned into either crystal spells (basically the same as scrolls), or "Activated Crystal" - activated crystal is difficult to cast from (increases the check), but provides raw power that can be used for any spell. EIther form of processed crystal is unstable, and requires a very small amount of focus to maintain - mages can only keep so many power points of each stable (activated costs more), and anything that leaves the mage's possession rapidly degrades into nothingness. Both types of crystal are expended through casting - so, a crystal-reliant mage will have to be judacious in his spellcasting, or he'll run out of options early in the day and likely bankrupt himself in the process.
Casting from Field, or channeling, is the more common option; in it, the mage establishes a mental connection to the local magical field, and draws power through that connection to power their spells. The deeper the connection to the local field, the more power a mage can draw in a given turn.
There are two important numbers for Channeling: Channeling Skill and Mental Endurance. On each turn, a mage must use an amount of energy that is within their channeling skill of the amount they used last turn. (So, if your channeling skill is 3, and last turn you used 7 power points, in the next turn you can use as many as 10, but you have to use at least 4.) Mages can cast "Empty spells" to warm up/cool down without actually manifesting anything; if a mage is for some reason unwilling or unable to cast a spell to cool down, he is assumed to have used the minimum he could cast that turn, but pays a double cost of menal endurance (below.)
Maintaining a connection to a field strains the mind; "Mental Endurance" is a measure of a mage's willpower and the cohesiveness of their mind, which is worn down by continued channeling. Every turn, the ammount of power you've channeled is subtracted from your endurance pooll; if the pool goes into negative values, you're rendered unconscious (or worse.) A mage can recover his endurance through a brief meditation (~1 - 10 minutes), so there's no limit on the spells a mage can cast in a day - but, they can't keep themselves at a full burn all the time, and have to be clever in the first few rounds of any fight, in order to protect themselves and their allies before their best spells can come into play. Nomatter how long they spend building up, a mage can't channel more than five times their casting score.
Example time!
Rexxor the mage has a channeling score of 3, and mental endurance of 50. On the first turn of combat, he's completely cold, and can only use 3 power points - enough for one basic spell, but if he has other actions, he'll have to use them on mundane things. On the next turn, he has 6 power available, and on the turn after that, 9 - assuming the fight lasts and he chooses to continue to use as much power as possible, he'll continue to build up for five turns, at which point he has 15 power available. This is enough for him to to cast his most powerful spells, or use several actions to cast a flurry of basic spells in a single turn; at this point, Rexxor is a complete nova, and probably the most powerful character in the party, if not on the battlefield. However, he has a problem - in building up to this point, he's used 45 of his 50 points of mental endurance, and is currently pushed to his limits by maintaining the connection to the local field. In the next turn, he must use at least 12 points of magical energy, more than enough to make him pass out (and, given that he still has some 25 points of power to burn through, potentially at double the cost, he may end up suffering even worse consequences, such as physical damage, a prolonged coma or the inability to recover his mental endurance without a good night's rest.)