Author: Bear (Page 35 of 212)

    Two quick updates:

* Completely revamped chart-based spellcasting
* Got another color finished for Color-Based Magic

You may be thinking All the words are English, but the meaning is uncertain.

I know, despite being an English major, I write like a breathless eight year old. I guess I'm showing my regression in mental age. 🙂

Color-Based magic is a project to categorize spells by a color. Each color represents a group of spells that share one or more common themes. The colors are not like D&D spell categories. For example, there isn't one color to represent all evocation spells.

Chart-Based Spellcasting is a project to change how spellcasters in The Black Hack cast spells. Instead of memorizing spells from a book, these spellcasters reference a self-made chart. Each chart provides access to five or six spells, but due to their homemade nature, there is a chance the spell will fail.

In the setting I am working on for the month of November, these spellcasters scour the world for alien devices to make the charts. Through a stone-like buckler strapped to their off-arm, they access the charts they make to cast spells.

    In making the spellcasting charts, I looked for resources to help me choose colors appropriate for various types of color blindness.

I'm using the basic 7 color pallette for my charts, but I share the link hoping it is useful for others.

http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/colorblind/

    Quick unrelated note: wonderful weekend in Sioux Falls, SD.  Makes me want to move there.

Okay, more on task:Chart based spellcasting. Link points to the original post about it a couple years ago.

The main issue with this chart was that the dice are very rare and there's not a really good way to fudge them. I thought about setting up a d666 table, but that's really clunky looking up a result from a list of 216 entries every time you cast a spell.

Since success for casting a spell is going to rely on looking up a result somehow, I was torn between a d66 table and a simple d20 roll.

In the spirit of get stuff done before the end of November I chose the d20 and changed how the charts work. The closest comparison I can make is that an individual chart acts like a rune, granting you access to various spells. Those spells are listed as Damage, Utility, or Protection spells. Roll a d20 for the spell to see if it is successful.

What is different from a rune-based system, though, is that two or more charts will have the same spell, but some charts grant more success than others for casting the same spell.

Once a spellcaster can make scrolls, though, they can import spells from a specific chart to generate their own chart. Yes, the idea is that they use the best chart available for the spell they desire.

Next post will have an example or two.

Chart Based Spellcasting