Magic Rules that Suck

estar · January 30, 2009, 01:08:13 PM

Quote from: KrakaJak;281121I've never really liked Gurps 3e magic system. I haven't played with 4e's, but I hear it's better. I never liked the Mental/hard skill for each individual spell (+Magery). More or less it was just too many things to put points into when you want to be a mage.

I can appreciate that learning GURPS Magic can be tough. However it is definitely a viable choice. 4th edition corrects some of the issues that cause the most abuse.

estar · January 30, 2009, 01:11:20 PM

Quote from: Balbinus;281157Basic D&D. You get one spell, once per day, if it's a combat spell (because you probably only know one) it doesn't do much more than a sword.

Advanced D&D. You can still only cast one spell at the start, but you know around four of them. But, which ones you know is based on a randomly rolled table in the DMG. Know Floating Disc, Light, Analyse and Burning Hands? Sucks to be you mage boy, you're as useful as a hireling porter.

I think bolting on a version of 4e ritual system for the non-combat spells would make Wizards (and Clerics) a much better class without unbalancing the game. The resource management aspect will still be in play as you can only afford a finite amount of components.

StormBringer · January 30, 2009, 01:19:05 PM

Quote from: Balbinus;281157Basic D&D. You get one spell, once per day, if it's a combat spell (because you probably only know one) it doesn't do much more than a sword.

A sword with which the odds of landing a solid hit are less than stellar.

QuoteAdvanced D&D. You can still only cast one spell at the start, but you know around four of them. But, which ones you know is based on a randomly rolled table in the DMG. Know Floating Disc, Light, Analyse and Burning Hands? Sucks to be you mage boy, you're as useful as a hireling porter.

Everyone is about as useful as a hireling porter at first level. I know people like to make hay about the Fighter getting to swing every round or some such, but the overall success rate of that wasn't much better.

Does no one run from encounters that are clearly beyond them anymore? Is every combat intended to turn out in the player's favour?

S'mon · January 31, 2009, 05:10:07 PM

Quote from: Age of Fable;281122In Advanced Fighting Fantasy wizards are ludicrously better than warriors.

Having spells' limiter be that they cost Stamina to cast, and including a heal spell that restores more Stamina than it costs to cast, will indeed do that.

One Horse Town · February 01, 2009, 04:34:44 PM

Quote from: boulet;281233I can't remember the details but Stormbringer (BRP) felt like its magic system was broken. It was to the point where players felt cheated if they didn't play a magic user (precisely if they weren't Menilbonean). Personally I'm more annoyed by a system that makes one PC archetype the uber-k3wl-p0w3r-wielder while the rest of the archetypes suck than by a game where magic is sub-optimal.

Yup. In earlier editions, there's no way you could really have non-sorcerers along with sorcerer PCs.

LeSquide · February 01, 2009, 04:39:58 PM

Quote from: One Horse Town;281627Yup. In earlier editions, there's no way you could really have non-sorcerers along with sorcerer PCs.

"Can you carry my stuff? My Size is so low I can't pull the giant bronze sacrificial alter along, and it's handy for the summonings."

StormBringer · February 01, 2009, 04:42:38 PM

I dunno about playablity, as my group were never particularly interested in it, but the rules for magic in Marvel FASERIP were abominable. They really should have just instructed people to use the keyword "magic" with the normal listing of powers. Magic in a supers game isn't bad, but having a separate system for it is a bad plan.

KrakaJak · February 01, 2009, 10:48:26 PM

McWoD's magic system was, given the circumstance, actually pretty good.

It was broken as ALL hell though. Especially anything having to do with restoration...

Silverlion · February 01, 2009, 11:38:38 PM

In High Valor, the magic asks you to use poetry to make magic easier! That is you the player must create a dramatic rhyming "spell", in order to make the setback ALL magic causes less hideous. It never makes the CASTING easier, magic is a wonderful, powerful tool, but its gotta be HARD or it runs rampant. Shame the writer thought POETRY* was a way to make it easier.

*or dramatic prose, or taking extra time, or gathering rare materials and such. Why do we have to RHYME! *cries*