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Arkrim's Room.

Posted by CuteSueFor group 0
CuteSue
GM, 251 posts
Sat 26 May 2012
at 14:31
  • msg #1

Arkrim's Room


*Does a little magic*
Arkrim
player, 1 post
Sat 26 May 2012
at 20:01
  • msg #2

Re: Arkrim's Room

Woohoo! Magic!

Topic one: Magic. High, medium, low or non-existent in your preferred gameplay?
Nuric
player, 63 posts
I'm here occasionally.
Will be back eventually.
Sat 26 May 2012
at 21:32
  • msg #3

Re: Arkrim's Room

Answer:  Yes.


*waves*  Hello Arkrim.

I love magic in games, as long as there's some organization, or rules.  When it's too vague, it gets more frustrating than anything else.
Arkrim
player, 2 posts
Sat 26 May 2012
at 21:50
  • msg #4

Re: Arkrim's Room

I agree. But I've always been a fan of medium to low-magic settings. However, the problem with these settings is most games have character options which gear towards high magic and these sort of break the game for the GM who has to constantly account for a player's ability to snap their fingers and conjure whatever they want. Stories are much more intriguing when players DON'T have piles of magic at their disposal.

So yeah, I always like to have some limitations. When I run d20 games on tabletop I tend to houserule that no one can be a full caster class. If they want to cast spells, they have to be half-caster half-anything else (multiclassed, for those of you who know what I'm talking about).
CuteSue
GM, 252 posts
Sun 27 May 2012
at 13:02
  • msg #5

Re: Arkrim's Room


ah, I'm a freeformer, but yes, no high-amount of magic, that would be unfair...

But all my freeform characters magic is flawed, as in use too much, and they go berserk, or sleep for 24 to 48 hours in a sort of coma...

But yeah, freeformers have different ways of measuring 'too much' also...
Arkrim
player, 3 posts
Sun 27 May 2012
at 18:14
  • msg #6

Re: Arkrim's Room

Freeforming is a bit, well, "free" to declare what magic is available and what isn't. It's pretty easy to deal with just saying your magic is only X strong. But you'll probably still need a numerical scale at some point to inform your freeformers what their limits are (such as saying telekinetics can only lift about 1,000 pounds not an entire building or pyrokinetics can only burn up to about a typical room-sized area and not an entire city block).

Well, that or you just have the GM popping in and saying "no you can't do that" every time a player godmodes. >_<
CuteSue
GM, 253 posts
Sun 27 May 2012
at 19:52
  • msg #7

Re: Arkrim's Room


yeah, you see, this is why I always start my people with training threads, their powers are in baby-shoes, and when I get a PM from GM, that it's too much, I back it down, or make the character go berserkish...

after that, I have a power ruler
Nuric
player, 64 posts
I'm here occasionally.
Will be back eventually.
Sun 27 May 2012
at 21:02
  • msg #8

Re: Arkrim's Room

Yes, there needs to be rules, or else the game needs to be something where rules don't matter.

Something like Amber, where massive powers can run wild, but still not break the game, or else a game where powers are strictly regulated.

I'm in a game where I tried to have a "spell list", but it quickly became clear that everyone else just had "magic" and did whatever spells they needed.
I was very frustrating.
Arkrim
player, 4 posts
Sun 27 May 2012
at 21:26
  • msg #9

Re: Arkrim's Room

Yeah, if and when I do play freeform I like to limit magic based on themes.

For example, one character can be a FIRE mage and can only do things which we would expect a pyromancer to do.

Anyone who selected "generic wizard" can have all the powers they want, but they're half as powerful as everyone else and thus in any 1v1 competition, they lose almost every time (even though what they are capable of is vastly more versatile).

Of course, even when I free form there's always a "maybe you can, maybe you can't, flip a coin". Anyone who wanted to be more versatile than their allies (wizard instead of pyrokinetic, superman instead of hulk) flips two coins and takes the worst result (but only when utilizing their powers against other people's powers, in normal contests they flip a coin normally and in contests of powers vs. non-powers they automatically succeed just like their allies). So I guess I never really go 100% free form but that's pretty damn close.
Nuric
player, 65 posts
I'm here occasionally.
Will be back eventually.
Sun 27 May 2012
at 21:38
  • msg #10

Re: Arkrim's Room

Interesting.  Not a bad idea.

My view is that the best freeform games are ones that aren't about power, but about the characters and the plot, so that the character's power levels should be irrelevent.

And I've never liked player vs player scenarios, but that's just me.
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