Re: Foreign Magic - flavour and crunch

From: Stephen McGinness <stephenmcg_at_c6G2ZfyiBNWVi7FiPtXhTIP34eJfqrUX0vPWL4GmHxeBLYHL17YHBOyH8LPIiWOxH>
Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 09:06:18 +0100


I'm essentially using the bog standard magic system from RQ as theist magic. It seems to have been the intention. Animists are there in a form that I'm not entirely happy with. I reckon that the use of spirits will provide potentially more power with added risk. Sorcery for me will be caught up with the use of intricate paraphenalia and while will provide more power, it will restrict the movement of sorcerors - their power will fall proportionate to their distance from their paraphenalia.

Obviously a lot of these things change as the various magic users become powerful enough to begin interacting with their various otherworlds. I haven't quite worked out how yet!

Stephen

donald_at_ynrXMUEAyBa3-hW6tjHVQPH8aqDcoCWYufYBqdDj4wjEViV-2bcQYuGCluqr-d5CvEZzI9xx9wVuvZjM_MA.yahoo.invalid wrote:
>
> In message <481CE2DD.8070904_at_7H9YjyQ_R1lLKTHDeeBu9U128gLG9RNHmKX5xNNkhahSyjeXxxkZi8q_9Zzl40zgSy4cMHlX1cBKhcF5GoaeAPOBQ-axNP6U.yahoo.invalid
> <mailto:481CE2DD.8070904%40blueyonder.co.uk>> Stephen McGinness writes:
>
> >And that is why I'm trying to drill down here. The mechanics aid in
> >delivering a particular look and feel to the gameplay. I get things
> >from aspects of RQ that I do not from HQ and vice versa. What I'm
> >trying to do is get this fusion of rules right for my group. That way I
> >can concentrate on the stories I want to tell, knowing that the gameplay
> >will reinforce the messages in the narrative.
>
> I'm not sure how to implement RQ style rules to distinguish but the
> key differences are:
>
> Animists bind, befriend or bribe spirits to do what they want. If
> they can get a powerful enough spirit to do their bidding they can
> be extremely powerful. Of course the more powerful the spirit the
> greater the risk to obtain their help.
>
> Theists emulate their gods, repeating the actions of the god and
> gaining power from doing so.
>
> To achieve these things:
>
> An animist must pay what the spirit requires unless it is weak
> enough to be bound. That payment is often strange rather than
> expensive.
>
> Theists should act as their god does, should suffer if they fail
> to do so, and suffer even more if they do something the god wouldn't.
>
> IMG the more powerful the PCs get the heavier the obligations
> are to behave as expected. That's easy to achieve in HQ with
> bonuses and penalties to the relationship with god stat.
>
> --
> Donald Oddy
> http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/ <http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/>
>
>
           

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