Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)
I'm not willing to wait for Whitewolf to release the new Mage system. So
, in my spare time, I've written my attempt at mechanics to universally
represent magic.
First, the generic basics of describing magic:
All magical effects will be defined by at least three parts.
1 Noun.
1 Verb.
1 Qualifier (a sentence fragment).
Effects may have more than one qualifier. They may never have more than
1 Noun or Verb.
So, for instance, a fireball spell may have: Throw (verb) Fire (noun) at
the person I point at (qualifier). This effect would throw fire at a
single person you were pointing at. It would do that, and only that.
Your ability with any particular effect is described by Control and
Power ratings. You may have a rating in any noun, verb, noun+verb, or
noun+verb+qualifier. Your ability for any effect is calculated by adding
your rating for all words or combinations of words contained in your effect.
Power describes how much brute force you can use with that word. You
don't have to use the maximum power possible for every effect.
Control describes how precise you can be in the application of your power.
If you use more Power than you have control, the GM can add any 1
qualifier to your effect for each dot of Power over your control. If you
have more Control than you use Power, you may add 1 qualifier for every
extra dot of Control.
So, if you want to Throw Fire at _the Person behind_ the person I Point
at (2 qualifiers), you must use 1 less Power than you have Control for
the effect.
You may take time in making your effect if you add that as a qualifier.
If you do this, your effect is not resolved immediately. Instead, after
time has passed, you may add to the effect, but you must add another
qualifier (so, you can add max Power = Control -2 to the Control -1
already in the effect). You can keep doing this until you have as much
power as you want, but for less effect each time.
That's it for the generic rules. Anything else needs to be defined based
on the precise system you are using (assigning what effects require what
magnitudes, and how to determine if an effect succeeds, and how to
assign ratings). For White Wolf, I'd suggest making each dot of Power
translatable into a die rolled to create the effect, with dice lost for
circumstances and impressive effects.
FI, -1 die for every target besides yourself, -X dice for
massive/incredible effects, -1 dice for witnesses (if going for the Mage
concensus), -X dice for violating the local consensus, ect. This would
be lost from Power before comparing it to Control.
I figure experience costs would be 1*new level for Verb+Noun+Qualifier,
4*level for Verb+Noun, and 16*level for Verb or Noun.
Examples:
A Hermetic has the following ratings:
Throw Fire at the person I point at: Control 2, Power 3
Throw Fire: Control 1, Power 1
Fire: Power 1
So, his total ratings for an effect to Throw fire at the person I point
at (Fireball Spell) is: Control 4, Power 5.
In an absolutely Vanilla setting, he can Fireball with 4 dice, or do a
fancy fireball with 3 dice, or a really fancy fireball with 2 dice. He
could take an extra turn and fireball with 5 dice. Or he can fireball
with 5 dice in a single action, but the GM will add a qualifier (such as
"And yourself" or "'s clothes") to the effect.
If he's standing in front of a crowd of military research scientists and
tries to cast a fireball, the GM will impose a penalty of -1 for the
witnesses and possibly additional negatives depending on where they are.
William
I'm not willing to wait for Whitewolf to release the new Mage system. So
, in my spare time, I've written my attempt at mechanics to universally
represent magic.
First, the generic basics of describing magic:
All magical effects will be defined by at least three parts.
1 Noun.
1 Verb.
1 Qualifier (a sentence fragment).
Effects may have more than one qualifier. They may never have more than
1 Noun or Verb.
So, for instance, a fireball spell may have: Throw (verb) Fire (noun) at
the person I point at (qualifier). This effect would throw fire at a
single person you were pointing at. It would do that, and only that.
Your ability with any particular effect is described by Control and
Power ratings. You may have a rating in any noun, verb, noun+verb, or
noun+verb+qualifier. Your ability for any effect is calculated by adding
your rating for all words or combinations of words contained in your effect.
Power describes how much brute force you can use with that word. You
don't have to use the maximum power possible for every effect.
Control describes how precise you can be in the application of your power.
If you use more Power than you have control, the GM can add any 1
qualifier to your effect for each dot of Power over your control. If you
have more Control than you use Power, you may add 1 qualifier for every
extra dot of Control.
So, if you want to Throw Fire at _the Person behind_ the person I Point
at (2 qualifiers), you must use 1 less Power than you have Control for
the effect.
You may take time in making your effect if you add that as a qualifier.
If you do this, your effect is not resolved immediately. Instead, after
time has passed, you may add to the effect, but you must add another
qualifier (so, you can add max Power = Control -2 to the Control -1
already in the effect). You can keep doing this until you have as much
power as you want, but for less effect each time.
That's it for the generic rules. Anything else needs to be defined based
on the precise system you are using (assigning what effects require what
magnitudes, and how to determine if an effect succeeds, and how to
assign ratings). For White Wolf, I'd suggest making each dot of Power
translatable into a die rolled to create the effect, with dice lost for
circumstances and impressive effects.
FI, -1 die for every target besides yourself, -X dice for
massive/incredible effects, -1 dice for witnesses (if going for the Mage
concensus), -X dice for violating the local consensus, ect. This would
be lost from Power before comparing it to Control.
I figure experience costs would be 1*new level for Verb+Noun+Qualifier,
4*level for Verb+Noun, and 16*level for Verb or Noun.
Examples:
A Hermetic has the following ratings:
Throw Fire at the person I point at: Control 2, Power 3
Throw Fire: Control 1, Power 1
Fire: Power 1
So, his total ratings for an effect to Throw fire at the person I point
at (Fireball Spell) is: Control 4, Power 5.
In an absolutely Vanilla setting, he can Fireball with 4 dice, or do a
fancy fireball with 3 dice, or a really fancy fireball with 2 dice. He
could take an extra turn and fireball with 5 dice. Or he can fireball
with 5 dice in a single action, but the GM will add a qualifier (such as
"And yourself" or "'s clothes") to the effect.
If he's standing in front of a crowd of military research scientists and
tries to cast a fireball, the GM will impose a penalty of -1 for the
witnesses and possibly additional negatives depending on where they are.
William
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