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The great debate: Spells Slots vs. Magic Points
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this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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Broke: spell slots
Also broke: mana
Bespoke: magic is free and flexible but also extraordinarily dangerous to the caster and everyone around them
This works fine for books but I hate it for TTRPGs. Anytime an RPG wants to punish you for using the cool powers it has provided I roll my eyes. There are a few settings where this works well, Unknown Armies comes to mind, but in general if the RPG says "Here are some cool powers but be careful not to use them!" I say OK and then close the book and reach for a different RPG.
For clarity, the game I had in mind there is Magicka. You're not directly punished just for using magic, but all spells carry risk through something like area effects, ricochet, trapping yourself behind obstacles you place, mis-typing input combos, idiosyncratic targeting mechanisms, trying to cast electric/fire magic while you're soaked with water/oil, etc.
Trying to hit the lich with a thunderbolt? Congratulations, you just exploded your party's archer because you forgot they were at the highest elevation of any character in range.
Also for clarity, I don't think this system is appropriate for a ttrpg. It really needs time constraints to work properly, or harder-to-avoid risks that start to verge into "direct punishment" territory, which itself has a high risk of just not being fun. I think the latter option is generally best saved for the most devastating (or just eldritch/necromantic) spells. You can summon an army of beholders, but the material component is your character's own eyes.
Personally I quite like them, but I feel like they should be long-term effects rather than just "you rolled a 1 so you miscast and hurt yourself." The long-term effects can add a lot to RP potential for characters that I think makes it interesting.
Like, as an example, say magic ages people faster, so every time you level up you also age a few years. Or, to take from Dark Sun, magic gradually transforms you into various magic creatures, taking away the caster's humanity. Both could lead to some interesting RP that isn't super common in most games. (Or, well, the former isn't, the human/inhuman thing comes up in WoD stuff all the time)
Obviously in such a case you would require a different system to limit magic use for balance though, so we return to the question of slots or mana ~~or scene abilities like in 4e or Lancer~~
Magic is an input combo system where there's only a handful of basic spells, but you can literally "spell" bigger spells using those basics in certain orders
Spell slots but it's a tetris inventory
Spell fatigue system where it's technically unlimited but you accumulate temporary penalties/injuries
I'm actually kinda liking this dumb idea, imagine if every level you could increase the X or Y dimension of your inventory, so if you wanted to eventually cast some W I D E spells you'd have to focus on columns and give up the ability to cast TALL spells that need lots of rows to fit. Or you could forgo both and just go for the maximum-area square full of generic moderately-shaped spells.
Sounds like you should play Backpack Hero.
I realized halfway through describing this that I was just describing Jump Super Stars lmao
Give me the GEP Spell
Noita: All 3
:spaceman-two-buttons: :mina-sweating:
My friend has derailed 3 investigative encounters in Dark Heresy by causing psychic phenomenon with his mutant psyker powers. The power only conferred a buff to the next test.