Wizard's work continued: ANIMALIA

Artist Matt Cavotta

Following up on the post from last week, I though it would be good to provide a short and broad snapshot of how this Black Magic spell system could work.

First I'll start with the ANIMALIA spell concepts. There are two basic header columns to start. The first is a TYPE and the second column is the EFFECT.

The TYPE choice will be limited/ impacted by the sorcerer's IQ.  Insects and rodents require a low IQ to manipulate and it gets harder to effect (requiring higher sorcerer IQ) these animals as the Animalia types get smarter and or larger.

So the base ST of a spell is 1 ST to cast. Then it becomes more expensive with the spell shaping (range, time, power of effect).  You can cut the cost and time of casting by writing it all down in a scroll or spell book and then casting from it, but of course scrolls and spell books can be stolen or destroyed. That sort of arcane knowledge would be very valuable...the work continues.

ANIMALIA
TYPE	EFFECT
Insect	Calm
Rodent	Enrage
Avian	Shrink
Aquatic	Grow
Bovine	Banish
Reptile	Summon
Canine	Speak with
Feline	Silence
Equine	Control
Ursine	Sense
Pachyderm	See like
Simian	Shape Of

Wizard's work

May or may not be actual photo from my writing and game room

Well I hope with your BLADES you have done a little FROSTCRAWLing. Behind the scenes I have been noodling the BLACK MAGIC.

Some very fine suggestions have been sent to me regarding looking at some unique magic systems that offer some creativity to spell casting.  Notably the ZERFS system, but I also looked at Fantasy Hero which sort mimics CHAMPIONS for Fantasy.

Herein lies the struggle though, as to my knowledge none of the "make your own spell" systems have had much traction.  Absolutely they have fans and are good and creative systems--yet with the standard set by D&D and its follow on clones--it seems more player friendly to simply pre-create the spell lists.

This has all been in my mental blender for months and I have read multiple RPG book magic systems to the point where my lovely wife is finding 4 or more RPG books open on the kitchen table at a time like place settings for warlocks.  Except it is just me jumping chair to chair reading them and scribbling notes.

In the end I think I have determined I like both concepts.  I think it is necessary to have a predefined list of ready made (common) spells.  I also like the creativity of the player in the moment giving rise to something unique--and thus memorable.

I can hear it now, "Okay fantasy heart breaker game dumb-ass nerd--how do you plan to do it?"

Glad you asked! (Though your manners could use a little refresh my friend!)

First I am looking at there being 3 broad schools of magic (working names not final):

Animal (spells targeting/effecting natural living creatures: growth, speed, healing, increased ST, etc)

Elemental (spells using & effecting water, fire, wind, earth, wood and metal)

Spectral (spells effecting the strange, undead and space/time like teleport, raise dead, speak to dead, mutations, etc.)

In BLACK MAGIC a Sorcerer can learn and use spells from all 3 schools--BUT One spell school is advantaged when rolled to cast, one is normal and one is disadvantaged when rolled to cast.

A Mercenary could learn a spell from any school, but all rolls are always done (regardless of school) as disadvantaged.

Within each school is a list of common spells, plus a list of power words or power symbols for a sorcerer to get creative with in conjuring their own unique spells.  The cost of casting a unique spell is based on a combination of power words used and desired effect (time/range/power)

I am working to make this as EASY and fast playable as possible and not devolving figuring out the cost to cast a spell "on the fly" into a Squad Leader consultation of charts, tables and modifiers. I know that some of you LOVE that idea, bless your hearts, but that's not what I am making.

So for better or worse, that's where the magic system currently stands in structure. Filling in the details is the challenge, but nothing good came from anything easy--so the work continues.

As always your feedback is welcome--even if you think I am way off base, that's no problem

Side note: My lovely wife is working on her own covers for both BLADES book and for BLACK MAGIC book--and has a unique idea for a cover for the eventual "one book to rule them all" BLADE + BLACK MAGIC hardback

When Black Magic is finished and up for purchase then both of her covers (BLADES book + BLACK MAGIC book) will be made available simultaneously.