Category: Electrum Pieces (Page 152 of 156)

Skill groups representing the schools of magic cost the same as any other Skill Group. 5/lvl.
Spells are like skills 1/lvl.

I had this on a spreadsheet to get the numbers right. The wind spell that was purchased without the Wind Skill Group costs 3 CP. It should say:

Wind Spell - Invisibility +3 TN 15 Cost 2

Forgot to say that he has 65 Mana.
My warrior example from an earlier post was wrong, he should have 18 Mana, not six.
Formula for Mana is (ENR + DIS) * 3

The spellcaster has 65 because of the Elemental Power Trait.

The bonus is +2 to the multiplier for spellcasters, making his (ENR + DIS) * (3 + 2)
The trait also provides a bonus to spells that attempt to increase damage/range/area of effect. More on that later.
NOTE: The determination of 65 mana may change. On further review it seems extreme.

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Here's a rough draft of a full-fledged spellcaster:

Campaign setting: Start with all 3s and you get 30 AP and 75 CP

Note: This character uses 24 AP and converts the rest.

Body - Mind - Para
STR 3 | PRE 6 | ENR 7
REF 5 | INT 7 | DIS 6
HLT 5 | WIL 5 | OBT 7

That give him 135 CP to use on Skills and Traits

Trait - Tahares +2 (5 points)
Trait - Elemental Power +2 (5 points)

Skill Group - Earth spells +3
* Earth Spell - Titan Strength +1(+4) TN 15 Cost 2
* Earth Spell - Open Magical Seal +1(+4) TN 15 Cost 2
* Earth Spell - Change Form - Self +1(+4) TN 15 Cost 2
* Earth Spell - Obscure from Divination +1(+4) TN 18 Cost 3
* Earth Spell - Fabricate +1(+4) TN 24 Cost 5

Skill Group - Fire spells +3
* Fire Spell - Summon Creatures +1(+4) TN varies Cost varies
* Fire Spell - Create Light +1(+4) TN 12 Cost 1
* Fire Spell - Cast Spell Through Another - Self +1(+4) TN 24 Cost 5

Skill Group - Water spells +3
* Water Spell - Levitate +1(+4) TN 15 Cost 2
* Water Spell - Slippery Area +1(+4) TN 15 Cost 2
* Water Spell - Create Dense Fog +1(+4) TN 24 Cost 5

Wind Spell - Invisibility TN 15 Cost 2 +3

That cost 70 CP leaving 65 CP for other things such as weapons, social skills, horse riding, etc. Knowledge Skills are common choices.

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One other thing that I didn't mention was that there is a type of magic that is used by non-spellcasters called Everyday Magic. It includes spells like Spice that extend a pinch of spice into 2-3 tbsp. Since folks that use everyday magic do not use Mana (they didn't purchase the trait to choose tahares or paucalus), these spells cause nonlethal damage to themselves. Success for a piece of Everyday Magic is 3+Skill+3d6 vs TN 12.

It should also be mentioned that this world has no undead. In a sense, they are no 'real' necromancers in the D20 sense of the word. There are spellcasters that use LIF taken from others to cast spells, but no turning or zombie creators. (However, there are automatons and golems that spellcasters create.)

It's the culmination of about 2 years of work to think through the mechanics of magic and how it works. One of the reasons I like A!S is that it made more sense for characters to be able to learn one or two spells to survive in a world where magic is encountered periodically.

For example, take a warrior-type knowing a spell to purify a quart of water in order to survive in the wilderness. No crazy 'dual class' stuff, just someone learning from another how to survive. (That's why spells are skills and not traits.) In this example, the warrior spent anywhere from 3 to 10 skill points for this. Two points for the trait to be a spellcaster, and 1 to 8 points on the spell in order to be able to reliably able to cast this spell. It would be listed on his sheet as Purify Water +1-8

The purify water spell is TN 15 and has a cost of 2.
Assuming that this guy spent no attribute points on magic skills, he/she has a Mana of 6.
Also assuming that the warrior decided to be a paucalus with a two point cost giving a +1 bonus to spell success.
He did not purchase the Elemental Skill Group, so he spent 1 to 8 points on the specific Purify Water skill. He cannot cast a wall, bolt, or blast.

The roll for success is 3 (Attribute is 3) + Skill + 1 (Paucalus) + 3d6 against TN15.

The fact that the spell is in the Earth (Lur) school and focuses on the "Power" Attribute is not really important to the character or the player. The Attribute isn't important because the character is all 3s in that group. The school is unimportant because the character did not purchase the skill group.

Let's say that he decided to purchase the Earth skill group. This would cost anywhere from 8 to 14 Skill points. In addition to being able to purify water, he can cast a bolt, blast, and wall against a TN12. However, he cannot spend more than 3 mana in casting them. In game terms, that give you a bolt that does 3d6 lethal/special damage, a blast that does 2d6 lethal/special damage, or a wall that provides 3d6 points of protection. He could cast two bolts, blasts, and/or walls, but that would use all his mana and the risk was mentioned in the previous post.

His skills would be:
Earth School +1
Purify Water +1 - 8 (+2 - 9)

An example of a 'dedicated' spellcaster is forthcoming.

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