4 ms·
I always liked the magic system in Maelstrom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maelstrom_%28role_playing_game%29#Magic_System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maelstro
by WalterSear 11y ago
I always liked the magic system in Maelstrom:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maelstrom_%28role_playing_game%29#Magic_System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maelstrom_%28role_playing_game%...
Essentially, the DM judges the difficulty of a particular spell based on how unlikely it is.
So a lightning bolt in the middle of a cloudless day would be more difficult than accidentally finding a weapon on the street in the middle of a fight, which would be more difficult than your opponent stumbling and dropping their weapon.
- undertow 11y agoI guess it takes some considerable imagination to create possibility ratings for impossible or unprecedented events. If something like a hypothetical transparent force field invoked by thought, words or gestures, that can stop bullets, blades and fire in mid-air isn't actually known to be possible and might warp reality, would it warp reality more than time travel, which might be possible on paper, in certain ways, although not readily understood?
- WalterSear 11y agoWell, fwiw, the game's mileu is historical fiction, so the system isn't intended to deal with high fantasy magical effects - just a little nudge of reality, here and there.
- zyxley 11y agoThat seems silly to me. If the rules are just "do whatever you feel like, I guess, with the GM deciding what works", why even have rules? Compare to, for example, Nobilis, which allows assorted flexible impossibilities but is crafted to encourage certain effects on both theme and the actual flow of gameplay.
- pavel_lishin 11y agoIn the end, what the GM decides is what happens anyway - so it's more of a matter of how restrictive you want your rules - suggestions - to be.
- WalterSear 11y ago>If the rules are just "do whatever you feel like, I guess, with the GM deciding what works", why even have rules? If the DM can't make an entertaining story without 'rules', then why even have a DM? I've hosted RPGs with nothing but a pencil, paper and some dice.
- zyxley 11y agoThe point I'm trying to make is that the rules should, in some way, actively encourage results in line with the game's thematics. For example, Dogs in the Vineyard encourages/threatens players with the risks and rewards of escalating conflict, Nobilis tries to get you to reenact a game version of the Sandman comic, and Vampire: the Masquerade rewards you for treating normal humans like pawns and playthings.
- WalterSear 11y agoFwiw, the Maelstrom system did exactly that. It's essentially a historical fiction role playing game, so high fantasy tropes and the like are meant to be discouraged. Magic-as-luck-manipulation allows just enough freedom to be entertaining, while maintaining the milieu of the game. It also makes for very creative magic, since you are essentially handing the magician player an opportunity to effect the plot directly, in however they so imagine (and the DM and the dice permit), rather than giving them a gun with so many bullets in it, ala D&D.
- a-saleh 11y agoI have yet to play a DM-less RPG, but so far I have heard good thinks about the implementation in NightWiches :) On the other hand it seems to be quite scripted.
- TheLoneWolfling 11y agoMagic as probability manipulation is about the best system I've seen. See also David Drake's Northworld Trilogy. Though that's more science fiction than fantasy. And Keepers Chronicles by Tanya Huff.