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Tuesday 20 March 2012

Random Mechanics - Magic System


For no particular reason I have been thinking a lot about magic systems in a fantasy setting. For me magic should be extremely powerful, but also simply mundane. It should be able to achieve anything from blasting a goblin into oblivion to boiling a kettle.  I'm sure that this half thought magic system I am about to explain has already been attempted and realized in a much better way, but I'm not aware of where so it won't stop me sharing my random thought.

With magic, anything can be achieved
I'm not a big fan of how magic is presented in games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Where the player is presented with a list of spells that they are able to learn and prepare. For me, magic should be fluid, unpredictable and limitless.

My idea is a sort of 'words of power' kind of system. As the character grows and becomes more experienced she will learn or find more words which can be combined to cast spells. She may start knowing 'Fire' and 'Wind'. Separately the former would create fire and the latter would create wind. Combined the wind could fan the flames or create a tornado of fiery death.
Each phrase could be given a set of rules or could be left abstract and up to player and GM interpretation, depending on the type of game. These phrases could be combined to do pretty much anything, but the more complex the more difficult it is to cast.

My magic drains me
Magic has to come from somewhere, be it harnessed from all around us just like air, or a magical stream from under the earth or our very own life force. Whatever the source magic should be taxing. In Dungeons and Dragons, players can cast epic, crazy and powerful spells without much risk to themselves. Sure you cast a daily spell and miss, you can't use it again until you rest, which I suppose represents it being so powerful it takes a lot out of you so you can't cast it again, but you can still continue doing everything else as normal.

In this system to cast a spell you have to spend your own HP. I would say that anyone from a wizard to a warrior to a farmer should be able to cast magic, but it should be easier for those trained. Therefore a magic user would have a small energy pool that could be used to cast spells before they have to start draining their own life.

Each phrase costs a certain amount of HP to cast it, so combining the phrases to make powerful complicated spells hurts a lot more and is done at great risk. You could spend more HP in order to increase the power of a certain phrase, causing it do more damage or move something heavier.

This way makes magic as flexible as the player is imaginative, it can be very powerful but that power comes at great risk. This is just a half thought out idea which I may expand upon later, but so far I really like the concept.

Thanks for reading!


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