If I keep posting like this, this blog might be worth reading…

Alright so

Sympaturgy

I was thinking the other day about magic, In Game. And I generally dislike the way D&D does magic. I like a more then-and-there approach, kind of like sorcerers are in D&D but even more so. I also have become drawn into the Dresden Files books, and I really dig the way magic works in there.

Harry Dresden sometimes uses a type of magic called Thaumaturgy. In his world, thaumaturgy is magic done to a little thing that affects a big thing. The little thing, though, has to be similar to the big thing, and has to have a piece of the big one. One time he soaks a Snoopy doll with werewolf blood so he can affect the werewolf. Kind of like a Voo-Doo doll, but with other applications, you could use a piece of a tree to scry the area around that tree.

The only problem I have with it is Thaumaturgy means ‘miracles’ in the dictionary. And since there is no Divine magic in Cobweb, I find the connotation less than desirable.

Now some dude, who I can’t remember, wrote a bunch of stuff on how societies evolve and he identified a thing he named Sympathetic Magic, which is described exactly how Thaumaturgy is described in the Dresden Files. So I decided to call the type of magic in ‘Cobweb’: Sympaturgy.

There will obviously be other types of magic, but if you a casting a spell on someone, and you have some hair or fingernails to use as a Sympatugic Link, you won’t have to use quite so much Mettle.

100th Post. Yay.

In addition to the Chart I'm working with in order to create the spells, I've got a list of mitigating factors for the spells. These won't change the TN for the spell but it does change how much Mettle is used. These will be rated -1, -2, etc. based on how big a deal they are. If the spell has a specific time it has to be cast, 'midnight' might be a -1, reducing the mana cost of the spell by one. If the spell had to be cast at the full moon of the fourth season of a year, it would probably reduce it more.

Rare Component - If the spell requires a material component that is rare or important.
Specific Timing- If the spell can only be done at a specific time.
Glamour- If the spells effect is only an illusion. (The rationale is that its easier to make something that looks like a brick wall than it is to actually make a brick wall.)
Focus- If the spellcaster uses a special focus. staff, rod, ring, book, etc.
Sypathurgic link- Sypathurgy...

Maybe I'll talk about that next time....

Two posts??????!!!!omg!

OK so heres an idea.

What if the amount of Mettle (manna) used was not a function of the amount of 'spell points' used to create the spell, but simply the result of a die roll.

It could look like:
If the Spell TN is < 13 than spell uses 1d6 worth of manna.
Spell TN 13 - 15 than spell uses 2d6 worth.

This would make spell creation faster AND mitigate some of the Mettle loss from a failed spell.

For example:
If you are casting a spell with a TN of 13 and you roll a seven (3d6 result: 3,1,3) then take lowest 2d6 (3,1=4) and lose 4 manna points.

Just a thought....

Magic, It's magical

So I think that I've been looking at this particular forest from the inside of a hollowed out tree. After not quite liking my finished product I decided to look around for other examples and found one in the 2nd Ed FATE. (I think they are updating that site so it may be a bit weird.) It uses the same method as the one I was using, but executes it much more elegantly, so I've tweaked and adapted it for "Spider".

To create a spell (OOG), run through the list below adding the numbers together for what you want the spell to do. (Choose either Area or Targets not both) That number is the amount of Mettle you need to cast the spell. Add seven to that number, and you have the TN for the casting check.

Area
small room...1
large room...2
entire building...3
Town...4

Targets
Single Person...1
small group...2
Large Group...3
town...4

Qualities
convenient / inconvenient...1
Damaging / Healing...2
Incapacitating / facilitating...3
Transformative...4

Casting Time
Moments...1
Minutes...0
Hours...-1
Days...-2

Duration
Instant...1
Seconds...2
Minutes...3
Hours...4
Days...5
Months...6
years...7
Forever...8

I'm formulating another chart to determine amount of damage. The TN for the spell will be the same, regardless of damage. However you will have to pump more magic into the spell using more of your mettle. So two spells might have the same TN but one might use 2 points of Mettle while the other uses 5.

Pros:
Easy

Cons:
more gestalt

other people's bright ideas

So Rob had something cool to say about adventure design and it can be applyed to everything from one-shots to epic campaigns.

Basically, the "hard" part of the episode is going to be one of the following:

1. Finding out what the creature is (and by extension, its weakness)
2. Get their hands on whatever they need to exploit the weakness (get the arcane widget, find the body, find the lair)
3. Applying the fix (Actually shooting/burning/stabbing/whatevering the thing, performing the ritual or the like).

In RPGs, there's often a temptation to make all three of these the hard part, and the result is adventures that turn into long slogs. By making only one of them the real problem, pacing stays pretty sharp, and the formula becomes MUCH more usable. If the problem was ALWAYS that the monster was unknown then every show/game would be about research, which would get dull fast. Ditto the other hard points. Shifting emphasis between these three consistent points (Research, Investigate, Apply) gives you the benefits of consistency while still providing versatility.

If you like you can read the rest here.

Hectic Life level: yellow

Yay! I think I'll now have time to start working on Spider again. I figured a way to get the beta charsheet up. click HERE

Glaring game deficiencies: magic

Requirements for magic:

Easy to play

Versatile spells

Jargon:

I'm thinking that instead of explaining magic use in terms of amount of energy you can wield (manna) to explain it as your mind/body/soul's capacity to channel that energy, and having the currency be called 'mettle'.

(over?) Simplification:

I've also had in the back of my head for some time, that, I can no longer seem to justify breaking magic into two groups (sorcerers and wizards) and may need to just combine the two.

GReat Idea.

Not for Cobweb mind you... wellllll....

Anyway, What if skill checks had hit points and you rolled skill-damage on them to compleate them?

Rob hashes it out here.