Spells (was: god legends)

[Scott Adams]

At 08:22 AM 1/27/04 -0500, you wrote: 

>
> I'd have to have some time looking at the existing spells.  I think oblivion
> should probably be a bit higher, perhaps 4, simply because it is presently
> such a "Bam!   you're gone" spell, and so damn cheap.
>
> A lot of the spell effects probably need to  be gone over and rewritten and
> clairified.  BMC should probably be re-figured for all spells based on a
sort
> of "complexity guideline".
>
> For example, the order of complexity for doing direct damage might be: 
>     Direct damage to inanimate 
>     Direct damage to animate 
>     Direct damage to sapiant 
>     
> With the logic being that inanimate has the lowest resistance (usually none)
> to being "harmed", while living things have an active resistance and
> intelligent creatures even more so (or not, depending on how you envision
how
> the magic works).
>
> In reality, I have no problem with the existing spells as long as they are
> all cleaned up, editied and perhaps expanded on.
>
> A possible change to make magic more mysterious might be to have the actual
> mana cost be a bit more uncertain.  At present, Joe Wizard with 44 mana
> points knows he can cast a spell that takes 4 mana 11 times.  *yawn*
>
> Imagine a "mana flux table" (yea, another table, but this would be in the
> "advanced rules". 
>
> Take 19 colums (labeled 2 to 20).  Each row represents one of the current
> spell BMC (BMC 2 here as example): 
>
> BMC 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1
| 2
> | 3 | 
>
>    
> At the start of a scene (or when ever he flet like it) the GM could roll a
> d10 and not ethe number.  Whenever a player casts a spell the GM rolls 1d10
> and adds it to the previously noted "flux".  Reading across the tabel to get
> the actial BMC for that spell cast for magic use purposes.  Obviously the
> higher BMC lines could have a bit more variance (perhaps by +/- 2 at BMC 5,
> mayby +/- 3 at BMC 10, etc).  If the player happens to exceed his mana
points
> due to flux, for ease of use you simply drain DOUBLE the excess from their
> energy level.


There was a game system that used a similiar system.  I can't recall the
name...
pern?..gurps..no..hmm..err..one of those systems I only played a few times
maybe a decade ago.  It worked through Fate and flucations of the mystic realm
and such.  

Fate could work for PL easilly.  Or other factors like exhaustion, mental
fatige, restfullness, enviornent (law in a chaos plane), etc.

The only problem is it means more bookkeeping for the GM :)


Longshot - ZC of AdventureNet International Echomail Network
Fringe BBS - EWOG II - 904-733-1721
Telegard / Allfix Beta Site
Website: http://users.cybermax.net/~longshot
ICQ: 24436933