That's the basic idea, yes. But it's much cooler than maths, because you get to blow things up with fireballs ;)
> Sounds like real scientific resaerch to me :-)
> It fits well with this magic being a kind of proto-science.
Well, if zzaburites aren't religious, the scientific approach seems appropriate.
> I can imagine discussion in windy towers, late at night, between
> zzaburites discussing the merits of applied or theoretical magic :-)
Theoretical magic? Well, if you're researching gorp-enhancing spells, "just for fun, theoretical, you know..." <g>
> >An average
> > zzaburite has at least a couple of various grimoires, if not on
> > different subjects, at least by different authors. The HP price
> > of increasing a Read Grimoire -ability should depend on the
> > complexity of the theories listed.
> And it means the student can generalize (develop its own spells)
> only at 1M2 ?
Whenever they can breach the adept plane barrier. I suppose modifiers could be used for especially easy / difficult spells. Even at two masteries, you'll need good augmenting skills and a HP to spend, plus some luck.
> What about not a new spell as in your example, but variations of a
> known spell (a corrolary ?)
> That should be easier or at least cheaper ?
>
> Light Candle,
> Light Torch,
> Light Candelabra,
> yes, master, but what about the Fiery Conflagration of ...
> Shut up, and listen to me, I'll now teach you the dreadful spell of
> Light Cooking Fire...
Hmm, you've got a point here. It does seem more appropriate to have various spells like these instead of just a generic Evoke Small Flame -one. Pay (1 / 2) HP to create a corrolary spell, and all of these count as a single spell for Read Grimoire -incerases. Light [Candle, Torch, Candlebra, Cooking Fire]
For something like this, breaching the adept plane barrier could be ignored. It's more like tweaking the spell, not creating something completely new. Narrator's call, I'd say.
With appropriately witty names for spells, multiple possible uses can be possible. The spell should be rigid, but the uses shouldn't.
> It still is very mechanical, and not as 'dynamic' as feats and
> affinities ...
Absolutely the point.
> And, without a master, there are limits to the generalizations you
> can reach, I suppose.
I'd imagine not having a master around telling you what's possible and what isn't, a zzaburite is more likely to research new spells. The master could help in the reasearch, of course, as can other students.
> >a complete failure should result in either a magical
> > catastrophe or the realisation that the desired effect is
> > completely unattainable with the grimoire in question.
> Yes. Or, to continue the mathematical parralel : a Godelian Spell,
> more or less proving it can't exist.
I'd say no spell is inherently impossible, it just might require a
completely different approach. Like trying to integrate something,
when in fact you've got a series, not a formula to work with.
Just won't work.
(My English vocabulary concerning maths is very iffy.)
> Hmm. I can imagine paradoxical formulas, dealing with way of
> thinking not done for a normal mind (fragment of the Blue Book ?).
> Maybe strange grimoires written by illuminated persons or Moonie
> Mages. But I think that a complete failure (or learning a spell
> coming from a complete failure)
I thing a complete failure shouldn't yield a spell - the attempt was totally unsuccesful, the theories are slipping from your grasp and you cant focus your thoughts. The pieces just don't fit.
> should get the mage some strange
> new mental flaw (and here is why they are all so loony). After
> all, magic is dangerous. And how would you know that the very
> last spell your kind dead master scribbled in his book isn't
> like that ?
Why not - after all, if the player want's to buy it off, it won't be all that expensive. And if they like it, it can be boosted...
Flaw: Mind-boggling explanations 5W2 ;)
> I suppose that when acquiring a new grimoire, a zzaburite may scan
> it briefly to see if there is anything dangerous in it...
A grimoire in itself can have incorrect formulas, but just as well they might be right, and the student has just misunderstood them. Besides, why is it dangerous if this'd be possible?
> But for some really powerful grimoires, there may be no way around
> this dilemma : you know that, trying to use Brithini grimoire (for
> example) tend to make you rigid and logical (at least from time to
> time) In game terms : you get a mental flaw, at 12-13. It may be a
> way to give a grimoire and/or spells to your favorite characters
> with a lower cost on the short term (say, half cost, but a flaw)
> but with a normal cost (5/10) on the long term (after buying back
> the flaw)
I wouldn't decrease the cost. If reading Brithini grimoires is dangerous in this manner, it doesn't mean it's any easier. If the studen't isn't used to the Brithini way of thought, it might well be harder! In addition to giving you the Rigid-flaw at 12, that is. And whenever you increase your read grimoire-ability, your flaw increases as well. For example.
I'd leave all this to a case-by-case narrator decision.
> > Grimoires can be of varying sizes
> That's a idea I like very much ! I was wondering how to give some
> new grimoire to the sorcerer in my game, but feared the resulting
> boost in power. I could indeed give him a little grimoire, but
> which helps casting some other kind of spells or gives a bonus
> to enter the adept plane.
Yep, plus small grimoires can give sorcerers much more variation in specialisation. What's the point in being an eccentric mage if you've got exactly the same spell list as all your classmates? :)
Charles Corrigan wrote:
> Nice effort. I would not bother with edges unless prepared to
> run a full extended contest every time a sorcerer wished to
> research a spell.
I don't think creating new spells is all that common. Edges seemed
like a nice way to represent material components like alchemic
liquids etc.
However, giving a straight bonus would on second thought be better.
And on second thought, a simple contest should definately be used,
not an extended one. Many people seem to have trouble envisioning
AP exchanges in normal swordfights, but describing a scientific
research contest would be far too difficult to be fun.
-B
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