[RQ-Rules] RE: Wizardry

[Peter Brink]

Hibbs, Phil skrev:
 > I think to do D&D style wizardry in RQ, you have to get away from
 > magic Points. D&D wizards are more like channeling wizards whereas
 > magic points are essence, to steal a term from Rolemaster (although
 > that system bottles out on the concept completely, as essence and
 > channeling have access to identical power levels). D&D wizards get
 > more spells as they advance in skill, not as they acquire more magic
 > batteries. Maybe this progression could be simulated by having a
 > relatively high MP cost (comparable to spirit magic), but have the
 > spell cost only 1MP if a special success is rolled, and zero for a
 > critical. The justification here is that the power for the spell
 > is supposed to come from the material components.
 >

Another way of doing it would be to adapt the concept of formulaic 
spells from Ars Magica. A formulaic spell is a spell that the mage has a 
description of (e.g. in the form of a recipe) and has studied (that is 
the mage has learned how to cast the spell without any mnemonics or 
props, although such things may increase his chance of successfully 
casting the spell). As long as the mage successfully casts spells which 
he can control, i.e. he has sufficient mastery of the skill(s) required 
to cast the spell, there is no magic point loss. If he fails he must 
"pay" the cost in magic points of the spell, if he fumbles he must "pay" 
double the cost. If he is casting a spell which he really can't fully 
control then he must pay the usual cost to cast the spell, double the 
cost if he fails and triple the cost if he fumbles. Fumbling a powerful 
spell that he does not fully control may kill the mage.

The method to find out *if* a mage can control a spell is made up of two 
steps, first you calculate the effective spell casting chance, then you 
calculate the energy used. Each school of magic (conjuration, 
enchantment, etc) is a separate skill and each level of difficulty 
subtracts 5 percentiles from the chance of casting the spell. The base 
energy cost is equal to the difficulty level plus any additional range, 
volume, duration or damage the mage wants the spell to have. Use the 
tables in RQ Sorcery for calculating costs of range, volume and 
duration. Use the fire damage intensity table for the cost of increasing 
the damage. If the total cost is less or equal to a fifth (20%) of the 
effective spell casting chance the mage can fully control the spell, if 
the total is more than a fifth of the of the effective spell casting 
chance then the mage is casting a spell he has trouble controlling.

An example: A Fireball spell is a level 3 evocation spell. The mage must 
subtract 15 percentiles from his evocation school skill. The base cost 
for a fireball that does 1 point of damage at 10 m range is 3 mp. The 
mage's evocation skill is rated at 60%. His effective skill is 45%, so 
he can control a fireball spell worth 9 magic points. He could increase 
the damage to 3d6 by spending another 3 points, and he could increase 
the range to 40 meters by spending two more points and increase the 
radius of the explosion another meter by spending one point. The total 
would then be 9 points, which the mage would be able to control. If the 
mage was in a tight spot he could add another point on the damage 
intensity and two more points to increase the radius to four meters, but 
then he would have to pay up 12 mp to cast the spell (at 45%) or 24 if 
he failed (which very well might kill him).


/Peter Brink