Meddling with Wizards - Designing Magical
Worlds
Magic - what is it?
Magic. The very word can send a tingle up the spine. It holds the
potential for incalculable good or limitless evil, and this is just
as true for the enjoyment of a role-playing game as it is for the
fantastic world that game portrays. More than any other facet, how
the magical interacts with the mundane will shape the development of
any game - whether it be wizards and knights struggling to decide the
destiny of kingdoms, or vampires stalking the darkened streets of a
modern metropolis. However a poorly conceived magic system can also
ruin the game for players and GM alike (Read this
to see why I think so) . That is why, in any game in which magic
plays an important role, both players and GM must understand how
magic works - at least in the context of their game world.
The following pages contain some guidelines to help the GM design
a magic system that conveys the flavour of the world he wants. It
also includes some discussion on the effects different types of magic
will have on a game world so that the two will fit together to form a
vital whole. The most important decisions when designing a magic
system are how easy magic is to learn or wield, and how powerful it
is. In a world where magic is easy to acquire and use, you might
expect to find many spell casters. On the other hand, in a world
where magic is easy to use but hard to control, mages are likely to
be far less common and people's attitude to them will probably be
different. In either setting, how much impact spell casters will have
on the world depends on how powerful magic can be.
To decide how common magic is, you should probably decide first on
the flavour you want your game world to have. Gritty fantasy, where
rogues slit purses or throats in darkened alleys, can still be a
world of powerful sorcery, but it will likely not retain that gritty
flavour for long if players have ready access to wizardry. Likewise,
a world where warriors carve their destiny with a reddened sword, or
clashing armies decide the fate of empires with axe and pike is not
likely to be a world where magicians are plentiful and powerful. A
powerful wizard can cook whole battalions of ordinary soldiery in
their armour and in a world where such characters exist, thrones are
likely to hang rather on the actions of heroes rather than armies.
So, unless you want magic using characters to dominate or at least
dictate the action, some form of restraint will be desirable.
So, how do you design a magic system?
The same rules apply to designing magic systems as designing any
other aspect of a game world. There are certain guidelines which any
good game designer (or GM!) should know. These are:
- Any rules should be there for a purpose. "I'm designing the
system and what I say goes" does not constitute a valid purpose!
There are multiple reasons for this, but basically, the fewer new
rules you add, the less chance of creating an abusable loophole
you didn't see in advance. The fewer new rules, the less extra
stuff you and your players have to learn, which means a faster
moving game and more fun all round.
- Don't treat rules casually. They are the "physical laws" of
the game universe. Again and again, I've watched GMs exempt
themselves (or their NPCs) from game rules. And again and again,
I've seen them be surprised when their players get angry.
Remember, that players invest energy in their characters, and they
design them and plan their actions in the game based on what they
know about the game world. If you mess with the rules, you are
messing with their perception of the world. Sometimes that's fun
to do. Just don't do it without a good excuse to mollify annoyed
players
- Remember that players hate to be forced to do things,
but will accept most anything as long as it's reasonably
consistent and has a halfway decent explanation attached. In other
words, design your house rules to encourage good play. Don't
expect to be able to enforce good play. It never works, and it
always induces tension between players and GM. That's a sign of a
game with a short life-expectancy.
In other words, - USE the game system to encourage or require the
kind of behaviour you want to see - don't expect players to act that
way just because you want them to. So with that in mind , below
you'll find below my suggestions for designing magic systems that
work.
To maintain the time-hallowed balance between swordsman and
sorceror, it has been suggested (in the Fantasy Hero rules), that GMs
set a maximum limit on the active points a magic using character
could wield, basing them on the powers available to non-magic-using
characters. Thus in a game where swordsmen can deal out a maximum of
2d6 HKA, then a limit of 30-40 points may be appropriate. In a modern
fantasy game, where the fearless monster hunters have access to
assault rifles capable of 2 1/2 d6 autofire RKA, a spell caster
capable of casting spells of 60 active points will not dominate
combat. This is a viable option and easy to enforce, but it has some
major problems. First off, there is the disadvantage that many
effects which may be desirable in the game cannot be easily simulated
within these fairly arbitrary limits. Alternatively many of the
powers that DO fit inside these limits are potentially unbalancing
anyway. Magic-using characters often will have access to non-combat
abilities that their more mundane companions will not, and a limit
based entirely on combat ability does not take these extra abilities
into account - and therefore isn't going to be terribly balanced
anyway. Finally, there will come a time (usually pretty quickly) when
you as a GM want to use magic at a higher number of active points
than your players have access to. They'll notice (trust me on this).
You'd better have an answer when they want to know why other mages
can use high active-point spells and they cannot. These kinds of
problems are inevitable in a game where magic is defined merely by an
arbitrary points limit.
Another route, therefore, is to use limitations to define the way
magic - all magic - works in your game. In other words, tailor the
limitations associated with magical power to give the results you
want. If you don't want magic-users to dominate a game, instead of
decreasing their power, you may make spells difficult to cast, or
dangerous to use - or both! If spell casting is a long and difficult
process, then the balance in combat shifts towards a quick and
decisive warrior - a good reflection of the situation in many fantasy
novels. Alternatively, magic that depends on external sources such as
gods or demons, may be severely limited in the situations in which it
can be employed. As long as you can provide reasons for these
limitations (not too hard to do when you have all of fantasy to call
on) and the players know what to expect, you will find that your
players will go out of their way to act as you would like magic-users
to act. After all, their actions are largely dictated by the game
rules - the "physical laws" you have defined.
And thus, the first step in designing a magic system is to define
how "magic-influenced" the game setting will be. There are several
sample "world magic systems" given here
to show how these suggestions are put into practice.
The place of magic in the world
In mundane worlds magic is rare, to the extent that many people
doubt its existence. This is the norm for many adventures set in
modern or quasi-historical worlds, and in games where doughty
adventurers combat the incursions of loathsome creatures from beyond
the human ken. In such a world, magic may be quite powerful, but it
is more believable for spells to be subtle. Mind control or
weather-altering spells are thus more appropriate than lightning
bolts. It is also appropriate for many spells to take the Invisible
Effects advantage. Moreover, magic must be difficult to learn or use,
otherwise, there would gradually be many magic-users and the secret
would leak out. The difficulty may reflect the fact that only certain
favoured people can learn spells - those who are "born to power", or
that magic may only be usable under certain limiting conditions such
as in the dark of the moon, or at special sites such as where ley
lines cross. Alternatively it may require enormous expenditure of
energy, so that spell-casting drains the caster's vitality. The
rarity of magic will give magic-using characters a distinct advantage
in worlds of this type, and unless the game revolves around these
favoured types, there must be compensating limitations.
In most of the fantasy worlds portrayed in literature, things are
much as we know them, but with an extra element added. People realise
that magic is real, or the gods may interfere with mortal's lives,
but on the whole, people conduct their day-to-day business in a
fairly normal fashion. In fact, the main difference between this and
the mundane world is simply that magic is more overt. It need be not
be common or powerful. In such worlds, magicians may be mighty
characters, but they will not overshadow heroes who earn their living
with a strong arm. This type of setting favours adventures in the
vein of the classical world - Greek or Norse heroes, or Arthurian
knights. Certainly there are sorcerors and dangerous monsters, but
nothing that can't be dealt with by a stout heart and a quick
blade.
Sorcery becomes more common in worlds which are the usual setting
for fantasy role-playing games - a place where wizards and monsters
coexist with common folk. In this setting, trepidation is a more
appropriate response to a display of magic than astonishment. Magic
may not be more reliable in this setting than in those already
described, and it can also be quite limited in scope. It is just more
common. Nonetheless, it can easily be more spectacular. A magus
summoning demons or raising walls of fire would not be out of place.
In worlds such as this, a hero without access to any kind of magic
may sometimes find himself out of his depth, but magic-using
characters should not dominate the game. On the other hand, magic
should not be too dangerous to wield, and it is likely to end up in
the hands of player characters on a regular basis.
The most magical of all are the worlds of High Fantasy. Here,
magic is commonplace, and may be very powerful. Those who can wield
magical power are likely to grasp for secular power as well. Any sort
of magical effect and a wide range of powers are quite appropriate
for this sort of game. It is likely that all, or most characters will
have some type of magical power, unless it comes with some fairly
serious limitations. Magic is powerful and pervasive, more or less
replacing technology in the modern world. Magic-users may be
commonplace, working their spells in the marketplace, or they may be
rare, living in mountaintop palaces. There may be many ordinary folk,
but they will nonetheless live their lives under the continual shadow
of magic, and magic will dominate the game. A simple swordsman is
likely to have little place in a world where flying castles and
talking statues are commonplace. Such a game can remain viable if
played at a higher (superheroic) points levels and reflects truly
epic fantasy.
Magical power levels
As discussed above, design of magic is best simulated by deciding
beforehand what feel you want the game to have, and then laying down
specific limitations which magic-using characters will be built
around. Not all of these limitations need be used in any one setting,
and additional ones could be used as well, but those listed below
should provide a springboard for the GM's imagination. Advantages and
limitations more relevant to designing "specific" magic systems are
provided in the section "Designing
spells"
The following assumptions are often true of magic in both mundane
or fantastic worlds. The more of these you choose to use, the
less common magic is likely to be in your world.
- Magic is difficult
- Magic is dangerous
- Magic is evil
- Magic is rare
- Magic is unpredictable
To help the gamesmaster design a magic system with the desired
characteristics, below is a list of ways to simulate the magical
conventions listed above.
Magic is difficult
One of the easiest ways to simulate this convention is the use of
limitations on the powers that are used as magic. These are discussed
in detail elsewhere, but
limitations that can enforce this convention include; Assistant,
Concentrate, Extra time, Requires a Skill Roll.
Assistant (-1/4 or -1/2). This limitation is detailed in the
section "Customising Spells".
Briefly, the spell caster requires an assistant or apprentice to
carry out the required activities to cast a spell, or possibly the
assistance of another magus knowledgeable in the spell to be cast. If
used, this limitation will have the effect of reducing the
effectiveness of magic in combat, since it will require the attention
of two characters, and this will make it much less attractive to
player characters. It is appropriate if you wish magic to be used
mainly out of combat, and if the image of covens gathered in lonely
spots to work magic appeals to you.
Concentrate (-1/4 to -1). Like the other limitations listed here,
this makes spell casting in combat more difficult. If it is combined
with the Extra Time limitation, it makes it particularly unappealing,
since the spell caster is much more vulnerable while concentrating. A
magus protected by allies can still be a formidable foe however. If
spells are used mostly out of combat, this limitation is not very
restricting, so GMs may wish to control its use.
Extra Time (-1/2 or more). This limitation does not make
spell-casting more difficult, but it certainly reduces the situations
in which it can be used. More than the "full phase" level of this
limitation will effectively remove it from most combat situations.
Likewise, magic that takes more than one turn cannot be employed as
usefully in most adventuring situations. This limitation is certainly
appropriate for a game where magic is conducted in laboratories or on
sabbat nights rather than being used "in the field".
Requires a skill roll (-1/2 or -3/4). This limitation reflects a
power that is only activated when the user successfully makes his
skill roll, and generally reflects such things as the concentration
of Ki, or the casting of a complicated spell. The chances of success
are reduced by 1 for every 10 active points in the spell.
Alternatively, the GM can designate some or all spells as
"difficult". Difficult spells take a penalty of -1/5 active points.
Usually the the skill in question is magic-related (magery, or
sorcery, for example). However, it is possible that specific skills
might be required. For instance spells that affected animals might
require a skill for "animal magic" or even a specific skill for
different types of animals. In the same vein, summoning lightning
bolts could require skill in meteorology as well as magic. Requiring
more skills to wield magic will have two effects on the design of
magic-using characters. Mages are likely to specialise more, since
this will limit the amount of points they have to spend on auxiliary
skills and mages with a broad range will be much less powerful. It
will also limit the opportunity for "dabblers" - characters who know
some magic but function primarily in other ways, if the investment in
skills that are necessary but not directly useful is high. Requiring
additional skills helps create the traditional image of the sorceror
(whether a grey-bearded mage, or a cultured dilettante purchasing
ancient books of forbidden lore) as a font of hidden knowledge. If
you wish to encourage this attitude, rather than requiring it, you
can allow knowledge skills in an appropriate field to act as
complementary rolls. This works best if magic use itself requires a
difficult skill roll, since it increases the incentive to buy and
enhance complementary skills. Finally, you may wish to allow mages to
gain a bonus to their spell rolls by taking extra time over casting
spells, or by using magical apparatus. Both of these are appropriate
for a game where magic is conducted mainly in magical laboratory
settings and the latter provides a rationale for would-be sorcerors
to accumulate the cauldrons, alembics and strange items with which
the mages of literature are so often richly provided.
Magic is Dangerous
Limitations that can be used to define this world view
include:
Side Effect (-1/4 to -1). The GM may require that all spells take
the Side Effect limitation. This normally requires that some way of
triggering the Side Effect is defined. To successfully cast, a spell
may require a skill roll, or in a world where magic is a dangerously
chaotic force it may simply have an activation roll. Skill rolls are
normally reduced by 1 for every 10 active points in the power used.
This makes the power of magic self-regulating to some extent, since
larger spells will invoke progressively larger Side Effects - and are
more likely to do so! The gamesmaster may make magic more dangerous
simply by defining the skill roll to be difficult (-1 per 5 active
points, a -3/4 limitation) or by making the activation roll higher.
In worlds where the gamesmaster wishes magic use to carry an
especially heavy price, magical powers may be required to have the
Side Effect limitation, without a triggering roll. This means that
all spells will cause the caster some form of harm and is most
appropriate for games with a darker atmosphere, where magic will be
severely restricted. Designing Side Effects should also be given some
thought. Bear in mind that Side Effects which inflict simple damage
will probably eventually cause the demise of the spell caster
(especially at the -1 level) since the person affected by the Side
Effect gets no defences. This will of course reduce the casting of
magic in trivial situations and is reasonable for worlds where magic
is both rare and dangerous. If you wish a slightly less draconian
approach, other potential Side Effects are listed in the section
"Customising Spells".
Magic is evil
This possibility is a common one in fiction, but is rarely used in
fantasy role-playing games since it severely restricts the use of
magic by player characters. Since player characters tend not to pay
much attention to moral judgments ("Whaddaya mean I can't cast a
spell because it's evil? I'm a GOOD wizard, etc., etc.") this needs
to be enforced in other ways. Obviously the first is the reaction of
people around the characters - and of the authorities. If spell
casters are feared and hunted down, then player-character mages will
tend to be more circumspect in their spell use (or they will try to
leave no witnesses, thus further reinforcing the stereotype of the
evil wizard).
More directly, if the source of magic is corrupt - for example,
demons - then requiring player characters to wheedle their spells
from an amoral and psychotic monster should give the desired "feel" -
especially if there is a chance of the power getting loose due to
spell casting. What if the wizard's patron demon refuses to power his
spells unless he provides a virgin sacrifice?
Finally, you may afflict wizards directly. If magic is evil, then
using spells may irredeemably warp the caster. Requiring a side
effect that transforms the caster into a loathsome spawn of chaos, or
gives him "evil" psychological limitations will also get the message
across. Of course, such a side effect should not be too draconian,
unless you don't want ANY player character spell casters. If the side
effect is a transformation attack, occasional spell use would let the
caster use some spells, but heal back the transformation damage as
long as he was sparing. But the temptation to use more magic when
things got rough will always be there, leading most mages to
perdition...
Magic is rare
All of the limitations of magical power described in this section
will make magic rarer. Another option that can be used is to restrict
the number of people able to use magic. You may wish to define the
ability to use magic as a gift. People could be born to the gift, so
that only those of certain bloodlines could use it, or it could be
passed from mage to mage. In the former case, the number of people
able to use magic is likely to gradually increase (unless magic users
are persecuted). In the latter case, especially if the gift of magic
is lost by the donor when passed on, it will gradually decrease,
perhaps being a relict of an olden age when magic was more common. In
either case, if magic-use is a limited gift, it should be treated as
a perk, with players paying 5 or even 10 points for the ability to
use it. If magic-use is an innate ability, you might also like to
require that this perk is bought when the character is created. That
way, either you have the power, or not. Of course a character could
start without any spells or even magical ability. As long as he had
the perk, he could acquire them later.
Other ways to limit the use of magic is to make it dependant on
other factors. If magic is inhibited
by the presence of iron, for instance, it would be difficult to
do much spellwork in modern cities, and magic would be of limited use
in the presence of iron-armed warriors. If magic requires the use of
some expendable energy (mana) then in areas where magic had been used
to any great extent, it would become less and less easy to cast
spells. Larry Niven's book "The magic goes away" explores precisely
this possibility. Even if the resource needed to power magic is
renewable (life-force, for instance) the need for a sacrifice to
power every spell would greatly restrict the ways and places in which
it could be used.
Finally, magic may only be usable at certain places or times (on
the site of ancient faerie mounds, or when the red star is
ascendant). In the former case, magical places of power are likely to
hotly contested by those mages who know of them. In the latter case,
times when magic can be unleashed are likely to see great outpourings
of magical energy as different spell casters make use of what time
they have, and will probably feature heavily in portents and
foreseeings.
Magic is unpredictable
Unfortunately, it is difficult to keep an air of mystery in a game
where the mages are completely familiar with the limits and casting
requirements of their spells. To inject some uncertainty, GM may wish
to keep the precise effects of spells to himself, allowing player
wizards to know only the spells' names, the obvious casting
requirements and a general idea of the effect. Thus, a lightning bolt
would be described as causing "lots of damage" rather than as a "2d6
area effect (cone) RKA". This involves some more work on the GM's
part, but helps enormously with atmosphere. Eventually, astute
players will work out what the rough limits of their powers are, and
a GM who wishes to shroud things further in mystery, may require some
or all spells to take the Variable Advantage and Variable Limitation
power modifiers, so that the power will vary depending on the desired
effect. Alternatively, power modifiers normally applied to a spell
can be made subject to Activation rolls or Skill rolls. This approach
will alter the effect of the spell in a positive or negative fashion
when the activation or skill roll is made. In such a case, the mage
using a spell will never be quite sure what effect he will get (and
if the power advantages Explosion or area Effect are used, each use
of the spell could be a dangerous experiment!). To indicate how this
works, consider the spell below:
INCINERATION STRIKE
The powerful spell creates a column of intense flames in the
target hex. These flames are hot enough to incinerate normal flesh,
and will cause iron objects to glow red.
Power: 3d6 RKA (Fire)
Specific Modifiers: Penetrating (+1/2), Area Effect (hex, +1/2);
Extra Time: Full phase (-1/2), Doesn't work in rain or underwater
(-1/4).
Active Cost = 90 points; Real Cost = 51 points; END Cost: 9; Magic
Roll: -9; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Normally this spell has the advantage Penetrating. If Penetrating
was put on an 11- activation roll (a -1 limitation), the extra points
required for this advantage (+1/2 or 22 points) would be reduced in
cost to 11 points and active cost would then be 79 points, real cost
45 points. More importantly, every time the spell was cast, it would
only have the Penetrating effect when the 11- roll was made.
Likewise, if a similar limitation was placed on the Area Effect
advantage, the spell caster would never have the reassurance that he
only need hit the hex to fry his target. Using the alternative
approach described (Variable advantages or limitations) would mean
simply applying a variable +2 advantage to the basic power. Most of
the time this would give the advantages listed (Penetrating and Area
Effect, 1 hex). From time to time, the effect might be
Armour-piercing instead of Penetrating, or Area Effect, Radius
instead of both normal advantages, or even Indirect (the flames come
from another direction than expected). Similarly, the -1/2 limitation
for extra time could be taken as a -1/4 variable limit. Usually the
spell takes a full phase to cast, but sometimes it may take only take
a half phase and invoke a side effect instead (probably an unpleasant
occurrence!) If the variable power modifiers are not under the
player's control (that is, they are truly arbitrary) the positive
modifiers should be limited themselves with the No Conscious Control
limitation, which will at least reduce the cost somewhat. This
approach requires some expertise in modifying powers in Hero system
(See the section on Partially Limited Powers, in the rules book). If
the GM prefers to make such rolls himself, it will make it very
difficult for a spell user to calculate the exact effect a spell has
had on a target. Even if he allows players to make these rolls, it
will be impossible to estimate beforehand how a spell will turn out.
If a GM does decide to limit spells like this, be aware that it will
involve (a lot of!) extra dice rolls, and therefore more time as well
as a significant degree of extra work. A GM who is not extremely
comfortable with the Hero system would be well advised to work out
what advantages and or limitations apply to spells and keep them at
hand if they take this route.
A simpler way to make magic less predictable is simply to requires
the limitations Activation, or Requires a Skill Roll. Both
limitations reflect the possibility that a wizard may not always get
what he wants.
Requires a Skill Roll has been discussed above, and all that needs
be added here is that it adds to the uncertainty only inasmuch as the
magic user can never be sure if his spells will work. Using Side
Effects will increase the unpredictable nature of magic, especially
if the GM uses different side effects when a spell skill roll is
failed, rather than using the same one all the time.
Activation (-1/4 to -2) plays much the same purpose as Requires a
Skill roll, but differs mainly in that it is more difficult for
characters to overcome for powers at lower active point levels, and
may be kinder for powers with higher active points. Since Activation
rolls do not depend on the character's skills, they are only
recommended when the GM wants to invoke a sense of true caprice into
the use of magic.
If you use these conventions, you can simulate different settings
fairly readily. Moreover, since the conventions affect the way the
players' powers work, they will automatically adopt the mindset the
GM is trying to encourage, so that magic use is "controlled" without
the GM having to justify apparently arbitrary decisions on what is
and what is not acceptable. This avoids the potential for arguments,
which bog a game down. I have listed several
potential game settings, with their magical descriptions to show
how this works.