If I implied otherwise, I didn't mean to. That is, I've always assumed that most elements of character creation were somewhat optional in terms of the player being forced to acccept them. That is, they can't take more than the limits, but they can always take less if they feel that it better emulates their character (and can explain why). This is explicit in the sections on personality traits - so I apply it elsewhere as well. But, yeah, common magic is also explicitly optional for the character.
My only question was when to charge for it.
>I rather like that particular way of setting it. I view common magic
>as something like "folk magic," the stuff that most people know a bit
>of and use as a matter of course, as part of their culture. A few
>people specialize in it (your classic "hedge witch" or "village wise
>woman" type thing), but most heroes use grander stuff.
Hmmm. Are you implying that one could specialize in, say, Flesh Man? Another place that I was not sure about this was the labeling of the section "Sample Common Magic Religions." If those are samples, then are there others amongst the ones listed that could get keywords? That is, if these are all of the Common Magic Religion Keywords that are likely to be available in the area delineated by the book, then why would you say "sample"? Seems to imply to me that others could be worthy of having keywords. (Another reading is that there are common magic religions that just aren't listed, some of which could be worthy of keywords - but if that's so, wouldn't players be right in demanding them?)
The problem, of course, would be that then if these are "free" that many players will want to generate them to attach to their characters, I'd assume.
OTOH, if you mean to say that someone can just specialize in Flesh Man, but it doesn't get a keyword, then I'm not sure what advantage that would imply.
Or maybe you were just referencing Donandar and Lanbril and the like? Doesn't sound very Hedge Witch, that sounds local.
Or by "specializing" do you just mean that they learn a lot of that religion's common magic?
>(Note that someone specialized in common magic
>who manages to get advanced experience in their common magic key word
>has the potential to cheaply and easily be competent at a vast array
>of magic....say you have common magic 1W, it takes only a handful of
>HP to be able to stop bleeding, shape bronze, seduce, cook tasty
>food, and scare enemies, all at a competent level. They just can't
>raise a large number of magical abilties to impressive levels easily,
>their advantage is breadth, not focus)
If they concentrate, then it's pretty cheap to advance, and they can use the abilities actively. I agree that it's not as potent as other types of magic, but it's nothing to sneeze at. This is precisely the rout that I was trying to take with another character of mine from a game or so back. I was inspired by the "Magician" from the game Magic Realm. Lot's and lots of nifty tricks, but no showstoppers.
Mike
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