[Rq-rules] Grimores

[Stephen Posey]

Leon Kirshtein wrote:

> I have been playing that sorcery spells could not be
> placed in an INT spirit or familiars INT.
> 
> In order to give sorcerers more flexiability with
> their spell selection, I borrowed the rules from
> Stormbringer and D&D for wizard spell books.
> 
> Basically, a sorcerer can write down a spell he knows
> into his spellbook and then forget it. At a later date
> he can relearn the spell (in 1 hour) if he needs to
> cast it. Does anyone use anything similar?

That's more or less the way things worked in the Magic World 
module of "Worlds of Wonder"; which I've used as the basis for a 
more general "sorcery" system for BRP.

Here's the relevant passages:

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Levels of Effet / Time to Cast Spells
=====================================
Each spell on the list of spells can be made more powerful by 
adding POW to the casting of it. This means that the magician 
spends the time to concentrate his energies and put more POW 
behind the spell. The exact effect of these extra levels of POW 
  is described in each spell description.

Summoning the magic to add extra levels of POW takes time. Each 
level of POW in the spell substracts one from the sorcerer’s DEX 
for the melee round. Thus, if Sangor’s DEX is 15 and he wishes to 
cast a second level Fire/Frost, the spell will happen at DEX 13 
(15-2).

No sorcerer may use more spell levels than one-half his INT 
(round up). Thus Sangor the Sorcerer, with an INT of 15, can use
no more than 8 levels of any spell he knows. The DEX substraction 
for levels of spells can go into minus numbers within the mele 
round, preserving the order of play.

If a sorcerer with a DEX of 6 wishes to cast an eighth level 
spell, he must cast his spell at DEX rank minus 2 in that melee 
round.

Memorization of Magic
=====================
A sorcerer must have spells memorized to use them quickly. A 
sorcerer can only memorize a certain number of spells. This limit 
is determined by the INT of the character.

The sorcerer character may memorize half his INT in spells (round 
up). Thus Sangor the Sorcerer, with an INT of 15, may have eight 
spells ready in his mind. Any other spells he may know he must 
carry in his spell books. It takes an hour to memorize a spell, 
and if the sorcerer already has memorized his limit, the player 
must choose a spell for the character to forget.

A spell my be used directly from the sorcerer’s book, but this 
will take one full melee round per level of effect desired. A 
sorcerer may use another sorcerer’s spell book if the character’s 
player makes a roll of the character’s INT as a percentage for 
each spell he attempts to use. Otherwise, the codes and 
handwriting of the strange spell book will not be comprehensible 
to the character.

Reading the strange book may be attempted every time a 
character’s litteracy increases by 5% or more.


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It appears to me that the 1/2 INT rules for memorization and 
spell levels was the predecessor of "Free INT" in RQ3 Sorcery.

Stephen Posey
slposey at concentric.net