From: Paul Reilly (paul@bondi.phyast.pitt.edu)
Date: Sun 03 Jun 1990 - 09:56:33 EEST
In our continuing quest for more interesting campaigns, we have come across
some changes to Sorcery and some new spells.
The first spell to be discussed is the grossest (sorcery) spell:
Damage Boosting
This spell was discovered to be just too gross in extensive playtesting. We
changed it to: Damage Boosting "stores" an amount of Death Rune Magic in
something which already contains an aspect of the Death Rune. (I.e., a weapon,
fist, etc. - not a Farmer's Almanac, but perhaps a WWII Diary...) This Death
magic goes into the target along with the "regular" Death carried by the
weapon and the spell is used up. Any number of Damage Boosts may be stored
in a single weapon, but they "come out" one at a time, starting with the Boost
of greatest Intensity.
Even with this much, much weaker version, players still wanted the spell as one of their first spells - hence the old Damage Boost was way out of line with the other sorcery spells.
New Spells:
Set Phase to A (Ranged; Temporal, Passive)
Each point of intensity allow the object to cover one SIZ point of an object.
The Object must be a single object, but may be a "symbolic" object - e.g. a
doorway painted on a stone wall counts as the weight of the stone making up the
area demarked by the doorway. A single flagstone in a floor can count as a
single object - useful in disposing of unwanted visitors. A person with all
carried equipment would count as a single object, but if he dropped one thing
he was carrying, the "object" would be "broken" and the spell would end.
If cast on an unwilling target, the sorcerer must overcome the target's magic
points with his own.
Set Phase to B
Exactly like Set Phase to A except that the phase is set to B. Objects in
phase B are intangible to objects in Phase A and vice-versa.
Phase A and B are individual to a given sorcerer as there is a freedom
corresponding to O(2) in phases. Sorcerers in Mindlink or similar contact can
coordinate their phases.
To keep track, one could call a second sorcerer's Phases C and D, for
example.
Note on Set Phase Spells: These unusual spells can be quite powerful if used creatively. In my campaign, they are Exotic. They were invented by the God Learners, and in the Third Age have been largely forgotten except by the Arkati.
A few Nysalori sorcerers know these spells, mostly in Carmania. The occasional library might have one of these spells, largely useless by itself. The Arkati in my campaign use this spell to access secret underground halls with no physical entranceway.
Sympathetic Targeting (Ritual Ceremony; Ranged, Instant) This spell must be used in a Multispell with another to have an effect on the target. It allows a sorcerer to cast a spell on a target he has never seen if he has appropriate materials or symbols relating to the target. The Targeting spell is cast while in contact with something connected to the Target by association. The better the connection is, the less Intensity is needed to target the spell. In addition to the requisite Intensity, both the Sympathetic Targeting spell and any spells "carried" with it in a Multispell must have sufficient Range to reach the target. The gamemaster must carefully gauge the relatedness of the sympathetic object to the spell's target in order to figure out the required Intensity. A sample table follows; feel free to adjust up or down according to the flavor and game balance requirements of your own campaign.
On a critical success, the Targeting works, and only one magic point is spent. The sorcerer knows that the spell worked.
Sample Resistance to Intensity Modifiers
True Name of Target -20
Public Name of Target -10, or -2 in addition to Secret or True Names
Secret Name -15, or -3 in addition to True Name
Permanent Body Part (Blood, Toe, etc.) -20 if fresh, losing 1/month to -10
Temporary Body Part (Hair, Nails, etc.) -10 if fresh, losing 1/month to -5
Additional parts: -2 for first, -1 each for more.
Phlegm& Other ejecta -8 if fresh, down to -3
Well-used Clothing, Spectacles, etc.: -6 if fresh, losing 1/month to -2
Once-used Clothing, Etc. -5 if fresh, losing 1/day to -1
Powerful contact item (sword which wounded someone, lover, etc.)
-8, losing 1/month down to -4 Personal Possession Varies with emotional investment, usually -1 to -5 (a favorite much-read paperback might be -6, a ten-year car -8) Relative -20 for identical twin, -10 for parent/sibling, -5 for uncles, aunts, etc.) Picture or Doll -3 for a normal Craft success, -6 for a special, -12 for a critical (normally incorporating hair, clothing, etc, so only one chance.)
Example: Dufus the mage has an arch-rival, Fufur. Dufus wounds Fufur with an arrow and recovers the arrow after the battle. He constructs a Targeting doll, incorporating the arrow sticking into the doll's chest. This is within a week after the battle, and Dufus writes both "Fufur" and Fufur's childhood name, "Snookums", on the doll. He makes a regular success on his Sculpt Wax Roll. He is within 10 kilometers of Fufur's fortress (Range 10) and can Multispell several attack spells with the Targeting spell. Resistance to Targeting:
Standard +40 Secret Name -15 Fresh Blood -20 Public Name -2 Arrow -8 Total -5
Thus Dufus must overcome a difficulty of -5 to Target his spells. To make sure, he casts an Intensity 5 Range 10 Sympathetic Targeting multispelled with a Venom 8, Venom 7, Palsy 6, Neutralize Magic 4 (on spell defenses), and Smother 3, each with Range 10, for a total of 93 magic points*.
Example 2:
Using a Public Name, a wax doll with hair and nails, a little shirt made
out of an old shirt of the target, and a cigarette butt discarded by the
target for the doll's mouth. The doll is crafted with a normal success.
Standard +40 Name -10
Hair -10 Nails -2 Total +10
Thus the Intensity of the Targeting must overcome a Resistance of 10.
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