Nuclear Beasts

Magic Musings

Hm. Well, if I go with this magic system, there are a few conclusions that could be extrapolated from it.

First, magic will generally be slower than a regular action since you'll have to gather mana, then cast the spell. Since it's not effortless (and rolls will always be required unless I add some "take 10" style rules for automatic successes), magic generally won't be used for really trivial stuff.

As long as the local mana holds out, you can work magic indefinitely, so few or no spells should have indefinite durations. It's okay if it's "sustained" and thus drains you a bit as long as you keep it going, but it shouldn't be effortless. I'm thinking here of stuff like Continual Light, Fire Trap or Wizard Lock. It might be okay to allow them, but only after careful consideration.

Control of a mana source would be a big deal. All attempts to gather mana will be easier there. And if extra successes on a mana gathering roll translate into bonuses for the spellcasting roll, then it'll make magic easier in general.

Becoming a god (via absorbing a mana font) should be difficult and dangerous, but doable. Of course, becoming a minor deity by absorbing a Mana +1 or Mana +2 font would really make you more of a target than anything else... I could see Hybris being a haven for several demi-gods in hiding from the more potent deities. Since they aren't much more powerful than a regular wizard, they'd seriously have to worry about folks trying to kill them for their mana source.

I'll have to decide whether sustaining spells automatically penalizes you, or whether you can sustain a certain amount of magic "for free", after which you suffer penalties. Allowing a few spells to be maintained for free (say your Drive rating in spells) would enable mages to sell the occasional enchanted sword or whatnot.

Hm. Healing spells should probably be sustained spells that boost the target's healing rate for the duration. Otherwise, folks could always get healed up to full every time.

Posted by Kiz at December 22, 2004 04:06 PM