Of Might and Magic

Before I getting going with the campaign proper I thought it might be a good idea to give you some more of the rules. Specifically, I want to go over Combat and Magic. 

Combat

Starting with some really basic thoughts:

• •Theater of the Mind with quick rounds*. No grid, minis, or any of that needed.
• •Initiative: Roll 2D and add Agility + Luck or just go in dramatic order.
• •Damage is narrative...sort of. You take Hits; after taking half your total you are stunned and hurt. Target Numbers go up to the next difficulty level. At zero Hits, the character is unconscious and their overall situation may worsen. Player Characters can only die in unavoidable situations or by player choice. However, they may suffer a permanent injury, lose a hand, lose an item, or that sort of thing. Starting Hits = Body + ½ Luck.

Characters do ½ their Body in Damage on a successful unarmed Attack.

When using a Weapon, the Damage is ½ Body + the Weapon's Damage. 

As noted in the first post on the basic mechanics, certain successful rolls can result in more damage or special effects. 

As noted in the previous entry on rules, Light Weapons do 1 Damage, Medium Weapons do 2, and Heavy Weapons do 3. Most Light Weapons can be thrown. Heavy Weapons require two hands to use.

Armor provides Protection, which reduces the Damage taken from most Attacks.

This is true for PCs, NPCs, and Monsters. No Armor, natural or otherwise, means no Protection.

Basic Armor is at -1 but you can exchange an Agility Penalty or Gold or increased Protection.

Critical Successes and Failures in Combat cause Physical Fatigue. Characters subtract -1 from their Body when this occurs and function with the resulting number until they can rest. On the Character Sheet I record Physical Fatigue separately from Body because after resting Body returns to normal. That's easier for me but I might change it in the future to avoid confusion. 

Magic System 

Anime-Flavored Magic is flashy and costly. Roll Spirit + Magic Knack + 2D6.

• •Low-Cost Spells: Utility, Buffs, Attacks with no Damage (They Confuse, Distract, etc.). Only costs Spell Fatigue on a Botched Check Roll.
• •Big Spells (Dragon Slave! style): Powerful but they drain Spirit (an effect called Spell Fatigue) or cause side effects (hair turns odd color, scent attracts monsters, etc.). -1 Spirit to cast, -2 on a Critical Failure.
• •PCs can take on extra Spell Fatigue to make Spells more effective. 
• •Learning Magic: New Spells are obtained by learning and practice. Must be taught or found in Spellbooks or on Scrolls. Progression feels like Frieren - slow, meaningful mastery that occurs over time.

One's 'Magic Knack' could be be Alchemy, Arcane Spellcasting, Illusion Magic, Summoning, Witchcraft, or anything else you can think of as long as its appropriate to the genre. These are categories without a difference mechanically though, except in a narrative way. You decide on a specific definition for your type of magic but within that your are welcome to get creative. 

For example: Raelyn Riversprite has Animal Magic and Elemental Spellcasting. 

Animal Magic enable her to take on one aspect of a non-magical creature for one scene. It could be Strength of a Bear, Speed of a Cougar, Vision of a Hawk, etc. Yes, a Cheetah might be faster than a Cougar but I don't know that Raelyn's ever heard of a Cheetah based on where she's from in this Medieval Europe-themed setting.

Trying to duplicate a second animal while already having the aspect of one increases the difficulty of the roll by +5. She normally sticks to one creature at a time, though she might be able to do two aspects of the same animal at a lower difficulty. Maybe +3? Say she had the Strength of a Bear and wanted to give her unarmed attack a 'Bear Claw Strike!'; that's very Anime and I could see that being viable. 

Elemental Spellcasting allows her to focus the traditional four Western elements of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water to performs various attacks, defenses, or feats. Raelyn is largely self-taught and doesn't usually cast anything too complex. She favors blasts of water and wind, walls of rock and soil, and wreathing her sword in fire for added damage. People think she's a 'Battlemage' but the truth is these sorts of spells are just easier to cast. 

Things she can't do: Shoot of bolt of pure Mana, create a Force Shield, turn Invisible, or Shapeshift. These just don't match how her [albeit vague] magic is defined. 

Since we're on the subject...

Magic Weapons

Most enchanted weaponry are unique; one-of-a-kind items created upon special request or commission and likely for some specific purpose. There are no +1 Swords lying around that do not else besides being +1. 

Magic weapons will certainly have 'to hit' bonuses but they always come with other features. It's these 'other features' that appeal to me most. Possible enchantments and enhancements could be:

• ·        There are +1, +2, and Roll with Advantage Weapons.
• ·        Damage may be +1. +2, or even a bonus 1D6! Whoa. That’s powerful!
• ·        In addition, the item might grant the wielder an additional Attack, Invisibility, the ·        ability to Strike Ghosts or any number of other mystical abilities. Many have a few ·        minor powers related to a theme such Slaying Dragons or Vanquishing The ·        Undead. 

I'm sure there is more I could say on these subjects and indeed I probably will when they come up during the course of play but this should suffice for now. I was hoping my next post would be from the start of the actual campaign but this weekend has become rather busy and I may not have time to do that. Instead, the next entry on the subject will likely cover the world itself, as I've finally decided on one and made a map. 

Look forward to sharing it soon,

Later,

AD

Barking Alien

My apologies if some of the formatting of this post is a little off. Sometimes Blogger just decides that the thing it has done the same way a 100 times before is going to work differently the 101st time just because.