Magic revision, short version

 

Chaos is eternal, and magic IS Chaos - these rules arrived when they were meant to

Better late than never, here are the revised rules for magic, based on initial concepts that never got finalized... until now!

Key points:

• Magic is SKILL BASED, like everything else.
• Spellcasting is WP-based.
• EACH color of magic is a SEPARATE skill (whether or not the caster actually cares about colors).
• Other lores have their own skills.
• Most casters know Pretty Magic (used to cast petty and lesser magic) and at least 1 Color lore (or other lore).
• Spells have a MINIMUM MAGIC RATING to cast; if your MR is too low, you can't even try to cast the spell.
• The difficulty of the spellcasting test is loosely based on Casting Number (the higher the number, the more difficulty).
• Stuff like ingredients and magic foci can grant bonuses to the spellcasting test.
• Spells will get tweaks to stuff like range, damage, and other things to bring them more in line with weapon mechanics.

ELF SPELLCASTING

Elves use High Magic, which includes controlling ALL the Winds of Magic. They do NOT get any freebies, except that when an elf takes a wizard career, he gets access to ALL the color skills. So no, elves don't automatically start with +30 in everything. They have to learn everything the hard way by sitting in a high tower on Ulthuan, being taught by the finest wizards of the world for a century or so before graduating...

TRUE High Magic is when an elven Wizard Lord makes new and unique spells that combine 2-8 of the winds of magic to do truly astonishing stuff. Kind of outside the scope of what most PC spellcasters are doing.

MINIMUM MAGIC RATING

Each spell has a minimum magic rating; if you don't have a high enough MR, you can't cast the spell!

The spell's listed Casting Number is used as a baseline, then adjusted for general usefulness and power. I'll make a list of all the spells eventually, but if you have a spell that isn't listed, just ask.

MR1: Spells with a Casting Number well below 10. Examples: Aethyric Armor, Blessed Weapon.

MR2: Spells with a Casting Number around 10. Examples: Dispel, Lightning Bolt, Wind Blast

MR3: Spells with a Casting Number around 15. Examples: Fire Balls, Wings of Heaven

MR4: Spells with a Casting Number around 20. 

MR5: Spells with a Casting Number of 25 or more. 

Priests (MR "penalty"): Remember that priests typically have 1 less MR than wizards (Initiates have MR0, High Priests are MR3 vs MR4 for Wizard Lords) and can thus only ever reach MR3. This is more than compensated for by the fact that they invoke the displeasure of their God when fumbling magic rather than unleashing Chaos. Sure, Gods can be fickle and WILL penalize even devout servants for misuse of magic, but it beats mutation, insanity, or being dragged into the Warp by a LONG shot! Plus, priests have more useful stat lines, skills, and talents.

TO-DO

Lists of common slores and spells with MR ratings and difficulties are coming, plus some advanced rules.

Goal: Spells are easy to resolve using basically the same system as everything else. Magic should feel powerful without being inherently more powerful than other combat options. Magic should, however, enable casters to do stuff non-caster never can, from flying to seeing in the dark to putting the restless dead to rest.