For decades, I have loved the simplicity of the Talislanta/Omni resolution system: d20+skill+stat+/-modifiers check table.
After a couple decades of running SLA Industries and D6 almost exclusively it seems that while wonderfully simple, it underwhelms me as a GM.
With SLA Industries and WEG d6, and to an extent almost all the games produced after 1990, the common resolution method has been: roll dice, add/subtract stuff vs a difficulty number.
Difficulty numbers are a very fast and easy method of resolution, so easy in fact, that even with all the different task resolution systems in existence, they almost all follow the same basic setup.
5 Easy
10 Skilled
15 Moderate
20 Difficult
25 Very Difficult
30 Impossible
(for D20 difficulty, basically add 10, some numbers have been averaged/fudged for convenience of illustrating the point over exact definitions)
For Talislanta/Omni resolution, it would basically seem to follow the same difficulty as d20, but what about the Partial, Full and Critical Success, not to mention Mishap ratings of the Omni Table? That is what really brings home variety in a game with static damage.
This is where things can get fun (and this would be easily portable to d20 also from what I have seen).
Raises, or Staging
One of the greatest things found in games like Shadowrun, World of Darkness, Deadlands, etc is the ability to do "extra" stuff depending on how well you roll, Talislanta/Omni reflect this with the Omni Table by having the above levels of success.
Sometimes this can be a bit tricky, or non-intuitive, to interpret. I prefer things to be straight forward and fast, the less time I spend interpreting the rules, the more time we all get to enjoy the game. But, I do love me some critical successes!
In keeping with the scaling above for difficulty, degrees of success would follow the same pattern. For example, if the difficulty of the task is 15 (10+5 for 'easy') and you roll a total of 25, you can see easily that you have 2 'Raises' (25-15=10, 10/5=2).
After that, it is just a matter of telling the story: "You pick the lock with blazing speed, not very many of the simple locks like that one around anymore."
For combat in the Omni system using this rule it still works.
Attacker Rating (skill+stat) = 6
Defender Rating (skill+stat) = 7
Attacker die roll = 15
Normal method: 15+(6-7)=14, a Success, normal damage is done
Difficulty method: 15+6 = 21 vs Defense of 17 (10+defenders rating), still a success, but more intuitively derived.
Okay, so what about higher levels?
Attacker Rating = 12
Defender Rating = 7
Attacker die roll = 20
Standard method, this would work out to a 25 (20+5), and be double damage.
Difficulty method: 20+12=32 vs Defense of 17, 15 higher than needed, so, 2 'Raises.'
Each 'Raise' could then be interpreted as:
a) additional +1 damage per raise (eww...that kinda sucks comparatively)
b) additional +DR of weapon (effectively double weapon damage before STR)
c) -1 Defender Defense per raise
d) a mixture of various effects
Let's look at d, because that sounds fun. The defender would take 2x weapon damage for the first raise, then also be at -2 defense on the next turn as he recovers from the shock of the blow, or is trying to hold his guts in, possibly even from hesitation thinking "Do I really want to stay and fight this guy?"
The good thing is, rolling a total over 20 is now useful, the bad thing though is the inevitable 'Death Spiral' for the defender.
"But what about the ability to successfully Parry/Evade in Omni??" you ask?
Simply a matter of perception.
Normal method is the defender will focus his action on defense and roll d20+rating and if the result is a Full Success or better, the Attacker does not even roll, Partial Success indicates that IF the attacker hits he will only do half damage.
Standard parries (ie passive) are taken into account with Defense Rating (10+ applicable skill), an 'Active Parry/Evade' would work in the following manner:
d20+Defense = opponents difficulty to hit.
Using the above Ratings, if the defender decided to Parry as an action before hand and rolled a 15, the total would have been 32, still would have been a hit, but just barely.
This works great for melee, but what about Ranged attacks?
Remember the #1 rule of ranged combat: take cover!
As mentioned, melee Defense is 10+skill rating, this is fine for fighting face to face and you can (hopefully) semi-predict your attackers moves, but at a distance you cannot tell where your attacker is aiming.
So, my current thought is that Defense against ranged attacks would only be your Evade skill (passive) or d20+Evade Rating for an 'Active Defense.'
Yes, people with guns and bows are a bit more dangerous than people with knives with this setup, but you have nothing to defend yourself with at range, and the attacker still has range penalties.
Just some thoughts going through my head, until next time, enjoy your game!
Showing posts with label Morrigan Press. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morrigan Press. Show all posts
Monday, September 9, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
Conversion Machine: D20 SRD spells to Talislanta 4th/5th ed Part II
In my last Conversion Machine, we looked at the differences between Talislantan magic and D20 SRD (DnD) magic as it relates to the most widely used spell, Magic Missile. We looked at converting the basics of the spell into the Talislanta framework and also a direct conversion
that had to use Sorcery elements, making this magical staple into a very
hard to cast bee sting. This time, we continue with Magic Missile and way to get not only the same sort of effect, but make it even more powerful for our beginning Cymrillian Magician.
To recap, this is the spell we want to convert:
What we are working with here is obviously an offensive, or Attack, spell. When we look at the Attack mode in Talislanta we actually have a couple of options:
In accordance with the rules in the book, we can make this a standard, single target spell, or an area effect spell. Something more along the lines of the following:
Or, for the AoE version:
Depending on description, and house rules, your Bolt spell you use for the single target effect, and your Blast spell you use for multiple opponents, I would definitely allow my players to state that the spell will only effect a maximum of 5 targets, no problem. Also, this removes the bee-sting effect and can make this simple spell a feared part of any magicians arsenal. That 3pt damage just became 9 for our Cymrillian friend with a straight d20 roll.
"Wait...he mentioned the rules in the book, what about the house rules he was talking about!"
Never fear!
There are various house rules that I have heard of regarding spells and their usage. The rules that I personally use have the Spell Level as the only thing that can be changed after learning the spell (as shown above, the Area and Range are static.) Although I prefer a more static spell, my players do not always like that idea.
For the conversions, I will be using Dynamic and Static spell levels depending on the mode and the spell itself and I will do my best to keep the feel of the spell as written. This means, of course, that there will likely be 3 or more versions of some of the spells, Magic Missile, for example.
To keep the overall feel of the spell, and not make it horribly difficult to cause minimal damage, let us attack this a different way.
We look at the qualities of the original spell:
So, we can use the following for the base:
Magic Missle
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic - meaning we can pump it for more damage)
Range: 50 feet (it halves the range, but we want to keep it as simple as possible)
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, unerring, -15
Base Difficulty: -16 (-1 per additional HP damage)
Hmm...still seems pretty difficulty, but with our +9 to cast it only comes out to a d20-7, still pretty hard for 1 HP damage. Let us bend the rules a little. So far I have been using the 'unerring' aspect of the spell as a 'Major Change' to the mode's capabilities, let me drop that to 'Moderate' which will save us -5 and make the Base Difficulty -11 instead.
That still puts our Magician at d20+9-11, or d20-2, but it also gives him the opportunity to boost the damage a little. To do 5 damage it will put him at that d20-7, and as long as he does not mishap he will hit.
But there is another way...
You can dodge an Arcane Bolt, you cannot dodge a magic missile, so we meet in the middle a little.
Magic Missle
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic)
Range: 50ft
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, Minor Change, hard to dodge, target dodges at -1/3 spell level, -5
Base Difficulty: -6
Now we have it set up a bit differently, still having to use Sorcery, but at a much lower difficulty. While still not the unfailing hit that the d20 version has, this does make it a bit harder to dodge and helps to keep the feel of the spell. But what about the additional missiles and targets?
Well, a 3rd level Wizard in DnD is actually pretty accomplished when you think about it. I believe in 3rd edition it breaks down to about 13 encounters per level, lets figure 6-7 encounters per session, so about 4 sessions.
I usually run a 'Heroic' campaign in Talislanta, so the PCs will be getting approximately 20 xp per session. A decent amount of 80 experience can be given to our young hero and we can get him casting the unerring version without too much difficulty, or we can use Qualitas again...
Magic Missile
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic)
Range: 50ft
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, Minor Change, hard to dodge -1/3 spell level, -5; Qualitas, additional target -1 per additional target, Minor Change, -5
Base Difficulty: -11
Still not too shabby, keeps the basic feel of the spell. Main caveat here though, is the damage would have to be split between the two targets, unless you up the additional target to a Major Change for an additional -5 difficulty.
Granted, that is starting to get very unwieldy, even for our experienced Magician. Personally, I think the best bet is to leave it single target and use a blast style spell for multiple targets just to keep it simple.
Well, I hope this little venture gave you something to think about, even though it was aimed specifically at d20 and the Talislanta system the thought objects are going to be pretty close with any kind of conversion.
How much CAN we keep from the original?
Can we make it feel the same?
What are the different ways to accomplish the same goal, and which one works best for what we want to do?
To recap, this is the spell we want to convert:
Magic Missile
Evocation
[Force]
Level:
Sor/Wiz 1
Components:
V, S
Casting
Time: 1 standard action
Range:
Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets:
Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving
Throw: None
Spell
Resistance: Yes
A
missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes
its target, dealing 1d4+1 points of force damage.
The
missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat or
has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a
creature can’t be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by
the spell.
For
every two caster levels beyond 1st, you gain an additional
missile—two at 3rd level, three at 5th, four at 7th, and the
maximum of five missiles at 9th level or higher. If you shoot
multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or
several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You
must designate targets before you check for spell resistance or roll
damage.
What we are working with here is obviously an offensive, or Attack, spell. When we look at the Attack mode in Talislanta we actually have a couple of options:
ATTACK
Damage:
1 Hit Point of damage per Spell Level
Range:
50 feet (-1 to casting roll per 10 extra feet of range)
Duration:
Instant / 1 round per level (no range)
Area:
-1 to casting roll per foot of radius
In accordance with the rules in the book, we can make this a standard, single target spell, or an area effect spell. Something more along the lines of the following:
Bolt
Base
Spell Level: 1 (Dynamic)
Range:
50 feet
Area:
0
Duration:
Instant
Base
Difficulty: -1 per additional HP damage
Notes:
Example
Spells: Arcane Bolt, Necromantic Assault
Or, for the AoE version:
Blast
Base
Spell Level: 1 (Dynamic)
Range:
50 feet
Area:
5 feet radius (10 ft diameter)
Duration:
Instant
Base
Difficulty: -6 (-1 per additional HP damage)
Notes:
Example
Spells: Geomantic Blast, Fireball
Depending on description, and house rules, your Bolt spell you use for the single target effect, and your Blast spell you use for multiple opponents, I would definitely allow my players to state that the spell will only effect a maximum of 5 targets, no problem. Also, this removes the bee-sting effect and can make this simple spell a feared part of any magicians arsenal. That 3pt damage just became 9 for our Cymrillian friend with a straight d20 roll.
"Wait...he mentioned the rules in the book, what about the house rules he was talking about!"
Never fear!
There are various house rules that I have heard of regarding spells and their usage. The rules that I personally use have the Spell Level as the only thing that can be changed after learning the spell (as shown above, the Area and Range are static.) Although I prefer a more static spell, my players do not always like that idea.
For the conversions, I will be using Dynamic and Static spell levels depending on the mode and the spell itself and I will do my best to keep the feel of the spell as written. This means, of course, that there will likely be 3 or more versions of some of the spells, Magic Missile, for example.
To keep the overall feel of the spell, and not make it horribly difficult to cause minimal damage, let us attack this a different way.
We look at the qualities of the original spell:
- It is simple
- At base it is single target
- It never misses
- Just about everyone who casts spells knows it
So, we can use the following for the base:
Magic Missle
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic - meaning we can pump it for more damage)
Range: 50 feet (it halves the range, but we want to keep it as simple as possible)
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, unerring, -15
Base Difficulty: -16 (-1 per additional HP damage)
Hmm...still seems pretty difficulty, but with our +9 to cast it only comes out to a d20-7, still pretty hard for 1 HP damage. Let us bend the rules a little. So far I have been using the 'unerring' aspect of the spell as a 'Major Change' to the mode's capabilities, let me drop that to 'Moderate' which will save us -5 and make the Base Difficulty -11 instead.
That still puts our Magician at d20+9-11, or d20-2, but it also gives him the opportunity to boost the damage a little. To do 5 damage it will put him at that d20-7, and as long as he does not mishap he will hit.
But there is another way...
You can dodge an Arcane Bolt, you cannot dodge a magic missile, so we meet in the middle a little.
Magic Missle
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic)
Range: 50ft
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, Minor Change, hard to dodge, target dodges at -1/3 spell level, -5
Base Difficulty: -6
Now we have it set up a bit differently, still having to use Sorcery, but at a much lower difficulty. While still not the unfailing hit that the d20 version has, this does make it a bit harder to dodge and helps to keep the feel of the spell. But what about the additional missiles and targets?
Well, a 3rd level Wizard in DnD is actually pretty accomplished when you think about it. I believe in 3rd edition it breaks down to about 13 encounters per level, lets figure 6-7 encounters per session, so about 4 sessions.
I usually run a 'Heroic' campaign in Talislanta, so the PCs will be getting approximately 20 xp per session. A decent amount of 80 experience can be given to our young hero and we can get him casting the unerring version without too much difficulty, or we can use Qualitas again...
Magic Missile
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic)
Range: 50ft
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, Minor Change, hard to dodge -1/3 spell level, -5; Qualitas, additional target -1 per additional target, Minor Change, -5
Base Difficulty: -11
Still not too shabby, keeps the basic feel of the spell. Main caveat here though, is the damage would have to be split between the two targets, unless you up the additional target to a Major Change for an additional -5 difficulty.
Granted, that is starting to get very unwieldy, even for our experienced Magician. Personally, I think the best bet is to leave it single target and use a blast style spell for multiple targets just to keep it simple.
Well, I hope this little venture gave you something to think about, even though it was aimed specifically at d20 and the Talislanta system the thought objects are going to be pretty close with any kind of conversion.
How much CAN we keep from the original?
Can we make it feel the same?
What are the different ways to accomplish the same goal, and which one works best for what we want to do?
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Conversion Machine: D20 SRD spells to Talislanta 4th/5th ed Part I
So, for 'funsies' I decided to start converting the D20 SRD spells to the Talislanta 4th/5th edition mix that I use. 'Mix' because I prefer the modes from 4th edition but some of the changes that appeared in 5th edition.
Using the magic system from 4th edition has always been fun for me, I absolutely loved the players that would come to the table wanting to play a caster, but not wanting to take the time and energy to create their beginning spells.
This would allow me to not only have fun creating the spells, but also kind of show them what the magic in Talislanta was like. From the minor skin and hair enhancements to pillars of flame that destroyed just about anything it touched, magic in Talislanta runs the full spectrum.
At times, using the Omni/Talislanta system for more 'standard' fantasy games, the thrill of watching a player look through their brand new, custom spellbook, carefully reading what I have handed them, to hear them say, "You, sir, are a sick and twisted man." (This was stated by a player who had taken BattleMagic while looking through his healing spells. New meaning to "A pox on you and your people!")
This always did seem to put the game on hold, for at least one session, while I crept back into my hole to do my dirty work, and some players just like to have a list of spells to choose from.
This brought me back to memories of searching through the AD&D 1st and 2nd edition spell lists, and, always being a sucker for punishment, I decided to grab the D20 SRD and do some converting. Most of my players are familiar with DnD in some manner, so they would get a kick out of it.
So, a quick google search and download later, I had the spell descriptions from A-B and my Talislanta modes custom cheat sheet opened in my trusty word processor.
There are some caveats that you have to acknowledge when doing any conversions, especially when you want to stay true to the feel of one game, while using the system from another.
For example, modern magic in the Talislanta RPG system has the following rules:
Okay, so I already know there are going to be some issues with spells from DnD, no problem, all of the above can be accomplished using Sorcery from the Codex Magicus.
But then we get into the choices that MUST be made. While Talislantan magic is very personal and a creative endeavor, magic from DnD is not. This is because of the history from the two games, not the world history, exactly, the real world history of the games.
DnD sprung from miniature battles, massive scale battlefields and siege rules where wizards stood atop battlements and hammered the opposing army with magical artillery.
Talislanta came from table-top RPGs, where character development and a search for the unknown and history were active at the same time as a heavy interest in the post-apocalyptic genre. Games such as Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Earthdawn and Gamma World were all popular. In a way, Talislanta helped to usher in 'Fantasy-Punk' if you wish to use that term.
One of the big differences that these two paths differ on, is range.
Standard range for an Attack mode spell in Talislanta is 50ft+10ft per additional boost, in DnD the range is much further. The quintessential 'Magic Missle' spell, for example, is 100ft+10ft per level.
Additionally, targeting is different. In Talislanta, that magic bolt effects only a single target while in DnD you gain an additional missile every two levels (max of 5) that can be split between up to 5 targets. Also, the Talislanta bolt requires a roll to hit, the magic missile is unerring and always strikes its target.
As I said before, a lot of these differences can be ignored, or you can use the Sorcery rules from the Codex Magicus to get a more exact conversion. But how does that effect the usefulness of the spells themselves?
Let us look at Magic Missile.
First, from the D20 SRD:
This is a 'Level 1' spell for Sorcerers and Wizards, an 'easy' incantation that almost every single player I have met has in their wizards repertoire.
Now let us look at the Talislanta version using the basic rules for magic:
As you can see, the range is much lower, and you have a chance to miss. Also missing is the ability to target multiple creatures. Another realization is that while the DnD Magic Missile tops out at 5d4+5, there is no upper limit to Spell Levels in Talislanta, although I would not suggest casting a spell more than 1.5x your total bonus, that can get nasty.
Now let us look at the Talislanta version using a direct conversion:
YIKES! This simple, basic spell just became a Master-Level...bee sting.
Now, to put this in perspective we will look at what a beginning Talislantan Wizard has for his skill. I am choosing the Cymrillian Magician from the 4th Edition Talislanta book to use as an example. The reason for this choice is simple, they are supposed to be the absolute best at spellslinging.
With Magic Rating of +6, and beginning mode at +3 for a total of +9, that shows great potential. So, to cast even the most basic of the direct conversion, our awesome Magician, best you can get for a starting character, will roll d20-24 (d20+MR+Mode-Difficulty). Ouch! He just got fried, for a whopping 3-6 points of damage depending on house rules for Magical Mishaps (or, he just had the party teleported to some random dimension...).
Now, this does not mean that our Magic Missle cannot be done, it just shows how different the two schools of thought are, and pretty major genre differences.
Okay, so this leaves us with some serious thinking to do. Not to worry, I will show another way to work this next time, and it will actually make the spell more powerful, and easier for our Cymrillian friend.
Until next time, enjoy your game.
Using the magic system from 4th edition has always been fun for me, I absolutely loved the players that would come to the table wanting to play a caster, but not wanting to take the time and energy to create their beginning spells.
This would allow me to not only have fun creating the spells, but also kind of show them what the magic in Talislanta was like. From the minor skin and hair enhancements to pillars of flame that destroyed just about anything it touched, magic in Talislanta runs the full spectrum.
At times, using the Omni/Talislanta system for more 'standard' fantasy games, the thrill of watching a player look through their brand new, custom spellbook, carefully reading what I have handed them, to hear them say, "You, sir, are a sick and twisted man." (This was stated by a player who had taken BattleMagic while looking through his healing spells. New meaning to "A pox on you and your people!")
This always did seem to put the game on hold, for at least one session, while I crept back into my hole to do my dirty work, and some players just like to have a list of spells to choose from.
This brought me back to memories of searching through the AD&D 1st and 2nd edition spell lists, and, always being a sucker for punishment, I decided to grab the D20 SRD and do some converting. Most of my players are familiar with DnD in some manner, so they would get a kick out of it.
So, a quick google search and download later, I had the spell descriptions from A-B and my Talislanta modes custom cheat sheet opened in my trusty word processor.
There are some caveats that you have to acknowledge when doing any conversions, especially when you want to stay true to the feel of one game, while using the system from another.
For example, modern magic in the Talislanta RPG system has the following rules:
- Cannot return the dead to life
- Cannot create life
- Cannot affect time or causality
- Cannot control two Powers at once (Fire and Earth, for example)
- Cannot cast more than one spell at a time or blend two spells together (ie, use two modes at once)
Okay, so I already know there are going to be some issues with spells from DnD, no problem, all of the above can be accomplished using Sorcery from the Codex Magicus.
But then we get into the choices that MUST be made. While Talislantan magic is very personal and a creative endeavor, magic from DnD is not. This is because of the history from the two games, not the world history, exactly, the real world history of the games.
DnD sprung from miniature battles, massive scale battlefields and siege rules where wizards stood atop battlements and hammered the opposing army with magical artillery.
Talislanta came from table-top RPGs, where character development and a search for the unknown and history were active at the same time as a heavy interest in the post-apocalyptic genre. Games such as Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Earthdawn and Gamma World were all popular. In a way, Talislanta helped to usher in 'Fantasy-Punk' if you wish to use that term.
One of the big differences that these two paths differ on, is range.
Standard range for an Attack mode spell in Talislanta is 50ft+10ft per additional boost, in DnD the range is much further. The quintessential 'Magic Missle' spell, for example, is 100ft+10ft per level.
Additionally, targeting is different. In Talislanta, that magic bolt effects only a single target while in DnD you gain an additional missile every two levels (max of 5) that can be split between up to 5 targets. Also, the Talislanta bolt requires a roll to hit, the magic missile is unerring and always strikes its target.
As I said before, a lot of these differences can be ignored, or you can use the Sorcery rules from the Codex Magicus to get a more exact conversion. But how does that effect the usefulness of the spells themselves?
Let us look at Magic Missile.
First, from the D20 SRD:
Magic Missile
Evocation
[Force]
Level:
Sor/Wiz 1
Components:
V, S
Casting
Time: 1 standard action
Range:
Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets:
Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving
Throw: None
Spell
Resistance: Yes
A
missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes
its target, dealing 1d4+1 points of force damage.
The
missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat or
has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a
creature can’t be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by
the spell.
For
every two caster levels beyond 1st, you gain an additional
missile—two at 3rd level, three at 5th, four at 7th, and the
maximum of five missiles at 9th level or higher. If you shoot
multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or
several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You
must designate targets before you check for spell resistance or roll
damage.
This is a 'Level 1' spell for Sorcerers and Wizards, an 'easy' incantation that almost every single player I have met has in their wizards repertoire.
Now let us look at the Talislanta version using the basic rules for magic:
Magic Missile
Attack Mode
Level: 1+
Components:
V, S
Casting
Time: 1 standard action
Range:
Medium (50 ft. + 10 ft./additional -1 to casting roll)
Targets: 1
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving
Throw: Evade (yes, in Talislanta, you can dodge offensive magic)
Spell
Resistance: Yes (lets face it, resistance to magic is pretty universal)
Base Difficulty: -1 per Spell Level
A
missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes
its target, dealing 1 point of force damage per Spell Level.
As you can see, the range is much lower, and you have a chance to miss. Also missing is the ability to target multiple creatures. Another realization is that while the DnD Magic Missile tops out at 5d4+5, there is no upper limit to Spell Levels in Talislanta, although I would not suggest casting a spell more than 1.5x your total bonus, that can get nasty.
Now let us look at the Talislanta version using a direct conversion:
Magic Missile
Attack Mode
Level: 3+
Components:
V, S
Casting
Time: 1 standard action
Range:
Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets:
Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving
Throw: None
Spell
Resistance: Yes
Base Difficulty: -33 (Qualitas, unerring -15; Qualitas, additional missile per additional 2 levels max 5, -10; minimum range -5, Spell Level 3 base)
A
missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes
its target, dealing 3 (avg 1d4+1) points of force damage.
The
missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat or
has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a
creature can’t be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by
the spell.
For
every three spell levels beyond 3rd, you gain an additional
missile—two at 6rd level, three at 9th, four at 12th, and the
maximum of five missiles at 15th level or higher. If you shoot
multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or
several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You
must designate targets before you check for spell resistance or roll
damage.
YIKES! This simple, basic spell just became a Master-Level...bee sting.
Now, to put this in perspective we will look at what a beginning Talislantan Wizard has for his skill. I am choosing the Cymrillian Magician from the 4th Edition Talislanta book to use as an example. The reason for this choice is simple, they are supposed to be the absolute best at spellslinging.
With Magic Rating of +6, and beginning mode at +3 for a total of +9, that shows great potential. So, to cast even the most basic of the direct conversion, our awesome Magician, best you can get for a starting character, will roll d20-24 (d20+MR+Mode-Difficulty). Ouch! He just got fried, for a whopping 3-6 points of damage depending on house rules for Magical Mishaps (or, he just had the party teleported to some random dimension...).
Now, this does not mean that our Magic Missle cannot be done, it just shows how different the two schools of thought are, and pretty major genre differences.
Okay, so this leaves us with some serious thinking to do. Not to worry, I will show another way to work this next time, and it will actually make the spell more powerful, and easier for our Cymrillian friend.
Until next time, enjoy your game.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
GM Notes: Talislantan/Omni Magic
House Rules are always a GMs favorite tool. Today I am going to talk about the house rules for the Talislanta setting and Omni system that are going through my head.
Magic is such a large part of any fantasy genre game that special attention must be paid.
First, I use a combination of 4th and 5th edition Talislanta. I use the modes from 4th edition, with the changes from 5th edition for the calculation of spell levels, range, etc.
Per my standard house rules, characters receive a number of spells in each mode equal to their Mode Rating, or Skill Level in that mode, plus an additional number of spells equal to their Magic Rating. The bonus spells from Magic Rating do not have to be in any particular mode.
For example, Azadim, a Cymrillian Magician has the following modes: Attack +3, Influence +2, Defend +3, Alter +4, Heal +3 and a Magic Rating of +5. This gives him a starting spell list consisting of 3 Attack, 2 Influence, 3 Defend, 4 Alter and 3 Heal spells. The bonus starting spells he receives from his +5 Magic Rating he decides to put 2 into Alter (total 6 Alter), 2 into Attack (total 5 Attack), 1 into Heal (total 4) and the last into Influence (total 3). Altogether, this gives our intrepid adventurer 18 spells in his repertoire. Not too bad, really.
Now, I have to make a choice. Flavor text describes Talislantans as always being on the lookout for new spells, especially Archean (ancient) spells that do not fit into the modern magic system. Another section talks about how Talislantans have hundreds of spells. Even another section describes players coming up with spells on the fly.
Yeah...not so much my cuppatea.
I have already limited the number of spells each character has, now its time to put them to work. If we look at magicians in our standard way, and realize that this is a post-apocalyptic setting, then it would not be too far of a stretch to say that magicians do not spill all their secrets.
So...the choice is Dynamic vs Static spells, or Dynamic vs Semi-Static spells.
Common practice dictates that anything that is bound to Spell Level is scalable. So for the Heal mode, you would only need 4 spells: Heal, Harm, Cause Disease and Cure Disease.
And to make matters worse, with scaling involved, you would only need a few of each mode.
Attack: 3 spells; Bolt, Blast and Melee
Alter: 4 spells; Increase Attribute, Decrease Attribute, Increase Skill, Decrease Skill
Conjure: 2 spells; Conjure by Mass, Conjure by Area
Defend: 4 spells; Aura, Flat Barrier, Cone/Cylinder Barrier, Dome/Sphere Barrier
Heal: 4 spells; Heal, Harm, Cause Disease, Cure Disease
Illusion: 1 spell
Influence: 1 spell
Move: 1 spell
Reveal: 3 spells; Reveal, Scrying, Conceal
Summon: 2 spells; Summon, Banish
Transform: 5 spells; Trivial Change, Minor Change, Major Change, Radical Change, Complete Change
Ward: 2 spells; Ward, Hex
But, if all the spells are the same, and there are only 32 distinct spells...what about all that searching and secrecy that wizards are known for?
How about if only the Spell Level effects are scalable and everything else is static, like range or number of targets? Okay, that helps a little, but still leaves us with basically 3 attack spells and 4 heal spells. Still seems rather weenie in the grand scheme of things.
So let us take a look at the flip side, NOTHING is dynamic and the spell creation system is just that, a way to create static effect spells. Now we have something to go on: a bunch of not-too-happy players.
Well, we never want unhappy players.
There is a middle ground. Scalable effects, those that effect Spell Level only, can only be scaled up or down a number of levels equal to the Magic Rating of the caster from the base spell.
Hey! Now that sounds like a good plan! The GM is happy because he sees the wizard PCs scrambling for new spells and the PCs are happy because they get to do some cool scaling effects.
I have not playtested this yet, or mentioned it to my players, but you can expect me to test it before too long.
Enjoy the game!
Magic is such a large part of any fantasy genre game that special attention must be paid.
First, I use a combination of 4th and 5th edition Talislanta. I use the modes from 4th edition, with the changes from 5th edition for the calculation of spell levels, range, etc.
Per my standard house rules, characters receive a number of spells in each mode equal to their Mode Rating, or Skill Level in that mode, plus an additional number of spells equal to their Magic Rating. The bonus spells from Magic Rating do not have to be in any particular mode.
For example, Azadim, a Cymrillian Magician has the following modes: Attack +3, Influence +2, Defend +3, Alter +4, Heal +3 and a Magic Rating of +5. This gives him a starting spell list consisting of 3 Attack, 2 Influence, 3 Defend, 4 Alter and 3 Heal spells. The bonus starting spells he receives from his +5 Magic Rating he decides to put 2 into Alter (total 6 Alter), 2 into Attack (total 5 Attack), 1 into Heal (total 4) and the last into Influence (total 3). Altogether, this gives our intrepid adventurer 18 spells in his repertoire. Not too bad, really.
Now, I have to make a choice. Flavor text describes Talislantans as always being on the lookout for new spells, especially Archean (ancient) spells that do not fit into the modern magic system. Another section talks about how Talislantans have hundreds of spells. Even another section describes players coming up with spells on the fly.
Yeah...not so much my cuppatea.
I have already limited the number of spells each character has, now its time to put them to work. If we look at magicians in our standard way, and realize that this is a post-apocalyptic setting, then it would not be too far of a stretch to say that magicians do not spill all their secrets.
So...the choice is Dynamic vs Static spells, or Dynamic vs Semi-Static spells.
Common practice dictates that anything that is bound to Spell Level is scalable. So for the Heal mode, you would only need 4 spells: Heal, Harm, Cause Disease and Cure Disease.
And to make matters worse, with scaling involved, you would only need a few of each mode.
Attack: 3 spells; Bolt, Blast and Melee
Alter: 4 spells; Increase Attribute, Decrease Attribute, Increase Skill, Decrease Skill
Conjure: 2 spells; Conjure by Mass, Conjure by Area
Defend: 4 spells; Aura, Flat Barrier, Cone/Cylinder Barrier, Dome/Sphere Barrier
Heal: 4 spells; Heal, Harm, Cause Disease, Cure Disease
Illusion: 1 spell
Influence: 1 spell
Move: 1 spell
Reveal: 3 spells; Reveal, Scrying, Conceal
Summon: 2 spells; Summon, Banish
Transform: 5 spells; Trivial Change, Minor Change, Major Change, Radical Change, Complete Change
Ward: 2 spells; Ward, Hex
But, if all the spells are the same, and there are only 32 distinct spells...what about all that searching and secrecy that wizards are known for?
How about if only the Spell Level effects are scalable and everything else is static, like range or number of targets? Okay, that helps a little, but still leaves us with basically 3 attack spells and 4 heal spells. Still seems rather weenie in the grand scheme of things.
So let us take a look at the flip side, NOTHING is dynamic and the spell creation system is just that, a way to create static effect spells. Now we have something to go on: a bunch of not-too-happy players.
Well, we never want unhappy players.
There is a middle ground. Scalable effects, those that effect Spell Level only, can only be scaled up or down a number of levels equal to the Magic Rating of the caster from the base spell.
Hey! Now that sounds like a good plan! The GM is happy because he sees the wizard PCs scrambling for new spells and the PCs are happy because they get to do some cool scaling effects.
I have not playtested this yet, or mentioned it to my players, but you can expect me to test it before too long.
Enjoy the game!
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