Monday, November 8, 2010

Magic Part 2 - Magical Structure

In Hulgren there are two types of magic, each practiced by the group that they're named for. So to use the races that already exist, a Nilin would use World-Reacher magic, while a Verger would use Mindmagic. This isn't to say that a World-Reacher couldn't learn Mindmagic or the other way around but it would be more difficult.

Anyway on to the actual gameplay elements.


"The DFRPG magic is based around two Skills: Conviction, representing force of will, which determines how much power a wizard can summon up as well as resisting mental stress; and Discipline, representing, well discipline, which determines how much power a wizard can control, as well as controlling emotion, resisting interrogation, etc."

However I felt that some things didn't fit Discipline very well. As such some of them (like Empathy) have other skills controlling them.

"[Note: Taken from the CoL blog, hence the orig. craft/crafter tags further in. I changed it to my world so that people don't get confused] The Dresden Files RPG is designed to be low fantasy: living in a hidden world beneath our own, wizards of major power are not only rare, but almost unique. This is reflected in its rule system: for each stunt a DFRPG character takes, their maximum Fate Point total goes down by one, with a maximum of 9 stunts, leaving only one Fate Point left to influence the world. A DFRPG wizard has to spend seven stunts on their magic, reflecting that it takes up most of their life, and that they will never be able to throw around magic like a D&D spellcaster." "Additionally, I didn't like the mechanics of stunts costing multiple slots, as the wizarding abilities in DFRPG do -- so, I radically reduced the cost of things. Instead of a 4-stunt power of Thaumaturgy and 3-stunt Sorcery, I simplified it down to one stunt per Discipline [orig. Craft], with the additional cost of an Aspect related to how that mystical energy changes how the Disciple [orig. Crafter] sees the world."

However the characters became over powered and took uneeded magic. Fortunately one of the people that played CoL came with this:

"Instead of determining how much power a Crafter can summon by Conviction (as in DFRPG) or one of the various Control Skills (as established last time), one stunt allows a Crafter to summon two degrees of power, or Fair (+2) on the ladder.


Suddenly, there is a definitive difference between a dabbler and a serious Disciple [orig. Crafter]. A soldier who wants to fling a little flame can spend a single stunt on Fair Flameturning [orig. Flameshaping], giving them the ability to summon Fair (+2) power -- and a full-time elementalist is going to buy Fair Flameturning [orig. Flameshaping], then Great Flameturning [orig. Flameshaping], and then Fantastic Flameturning [orig. Flameshaping], allowing them to summon Fantastic (+6) power, or six degrees."

Certain tasks also require the use of Energy. Energy is determined by the how many "ranks" in the Discipline you're trying use you have. Therefore if you have Fair Stormweaving and Fantastic Earthmoving, you have ten Energy if you're trying to use Stormweaving, but thirty if you use Earthmoving. Affinities add ten Energy to the base amount for the skill and its closest parallel. Energy is required only in combat or some other highly stressful and/or timed scenario, and regenerates at a rate of one point every two minutes. To clarify: in the same way that a die roll isn't needed to ride a horse through an open field (unless you are running from someone/something) but do need one to participate in a horse race, it is assumed that unless there is a plausible reason you need to worry about you Energy the task does not require so much, at any one time, that you will run out. The GM should still keep track of the amount of Energy that a character uses when performing even a simple magical task, however - this could be important if something happens. In addition to Energy certain things will require a success test (not physical combat. That's dealt with by any resistances enemies have) To illustrate: Jeenla Nimri is using her skill at Lightkeeping ("Great") to entertain several (five) people, by creating illusions. When she first begins she must make a success test against their Learning (With "Superb" requiring a +6 down to "Mediocre" which requires a +1 or better.) She rolls a +5 against the first person, easily overwhelming his "Average" score. So he sees "Horses of fire, cantering about each other in the air." Energy used: one point every ten minutes. If she had used those shifts (shift = extra affect for each + above what you need) to "piggyback" sound (from Stormweaving) and heat (from Flameturning) it would have cost her three points every ten minutes. Next she rolls a +6 barely scraping by against the scholar's natural tendency to skepticism. Energy cost: 2 points every ten minutes. Then she rolls a +2, failing to impress the images on the mind of the third person. Energy cost: one point for the attempt. After that she takes a shot at doing two people at once since they both look like they're getting ready to walk out. She rolls a +6. Barely enough but it works (they each have an "Average" Learning which is a +4 or better for both at once, plus two points because it's harder to get through to more than one person at a time.) Energy cost: four points every 10 minutes.

If a World-Reacher tries to learn something from the Hulgren group of magic it costs them two stunts unless they have an affinity. With an affinity it only costs one stunt. What's an affinity? Some races, Archetypes or individuals will have an affinity for certain types of magic. For example Vergers have an affinity for Teleportation. This not only grants them a single "rank" in that group, they have an easier time mastering spells in the group that most closely parallels it. So a Verger has an easier time mastering Air than someone with a different affinity, or no affinity. But those with an affinity have a harder time learning the opposite group (it costs them two stunts). Of course the Hulgren/World-Reacher distinction doesn't apply to everyone. Someone who's half World-Reacher and half Hulgren only has to spend one stunt on any of the Disciplines.


This is a "map" of the magical Disciplines [Later note: This list includes only the Core Disciplines. Those opposite each other are the closest parallel to each other.
Hulgren.......................World-Reacher
Mindmagic.......................Elemental
Telekinesis..........................Earthmoving
Teleportation....................Stormweaving
Telepathy..........................Flameturning
Empathic Magic...............Sea/Iceweaving
Planecasting.............Slipping
Summoning......................Planegating
Banishing..........................Slipholding
Darkturning.....................Lightkeeping

This is a "map" of groups that are opposites. As such those with an affinity for one have a harder time learning a group on the other side of the "map".

Hulgren...............Hulgren
Mindmagic..........Mindmagic
Empathy....................Teleportation
Telepathy..................Telekinesis


World Reacher............World-Reacher

Elemental....................Elemental
Air........................................Earth
Water...................................Fire

Edit: Sorry about the periods. I have to use them as spacers or the formatting messes up.


Update: Remember that any Discipline gives you a bonus trait, reflecting the fact that magic changes you as you use it.

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