Mister Monster's Workshop

Tag: Game design

  • Let’s make – ze magic!

    Let’s make – ze magic!

    So… what did I randomly end up working on this week? Because the only certain thing is, it wasn’t what I was meant to be working on!

    Yeah, it was my Mage: the Ascension port. I wrote up some more definite Paradox Effects to have a grab bag of them ready.

    Mage is one of those games that are definitely crying out for different rules. Not necessarily simpler rules, not necessarily more complex rules – just anything other than the mess it’s saddled with, which manages to be at once overly convoluted and vague and directionless. It is, accordingly, one I’ve put a lot of work into, and I’m by no means finished yet.

    The heart of the system, though, is the spellcasting rules, which rely on two separate moves, like so:

    WORKING MAGICK

    When you cast a quick spell, describe the Effect you’re after and how you will use your Spheres and Paradigm to achieve it. Then roll +Arete. 7-9, choose 2 options below. 10+, choose 3.

    • The Effect lasts until the end of the scene.
    • The Effect does precisely what you intended, no more and no less.
    • The Effect affects something other than yourself.
    • The Effect doesn’t deplete your mystical will (-1 ongoing to all Arete rolls until you get a chance to rest).
    • You don’t need to mark Quintessence.

    When you perform an elaborate ritual, describe the Effect you’re after and how you will use your Spheres and Paradigm to achieve it. Then roll +Arete. 7-9, choose 2 options below. 10+, choose 3.

    • The Effect lasts for as long as you need it to.
    • No hard-to-replace resource is lost, destroyed, or used up.
    • The ritual doesn’t take a long time.
    • You don’t need to mark Quintessence.
    • The Effect is especially strong, adding +1 to the mechanical effects (i.e., it does Damage-2 instead of Damage-1, clears 2 wound boxes instead of 1, gives +2 ongoing instead of +1 ongoing, etc).

    Take -1 ongoing to rolls to create a magickal Effect for each Effect you currently have active. Note that an Effect only have to be maintained if it either affects a living being (who inherently exert spiritual pressure to return to their natural form) or if its continuation is considered impossible under Consensual Reality. Thus, witch-light hovering in mid-air must be maintained, but if you use a spell to set a piece of wood on fire, the wood will keep burning on its own once ignited.

    The main power of magick is to change or explore the fiction. If you use magick to create a hole in the ground, then now there’s a hole in the ground; if you use magick to read someone’s mind, the GM tells you what they’re thinking about. Magick rewards creative thinking and clever approaches, not brute force. However, if it really comes down to the nitty-gritty, a magickal Effect can do the following things if the caster can explain how:

    • Create a Damage-1 (Damage-2 for Forces) weapon for its duration.
    • Clear 1 wound box.
    • Give a weapon Damage+1 (Damage+2 for Forces) for its duration.
    • Give a weapon the AP tag for its duration.
    • Grant someone Armour+1 for its duration.
    • Grant +1 ongoing to specific actions for its duration.

    PARADOX

    When you work magic carelessly, Paradox can result. Mark Paradox for each condition that is true:

    • The Arete roll failed.
    • The Effect was vulgar, i.e. obviously magical; couldn’t have been reasonably mistaken for coincidence, a trick of perception, cutting-edge technology, etc. Effects that could be plausibly explained away are called coincidental. This condition never applies in the Umbra or in a sanctum dedicated to your Paradigm. Note that repeated uses within a short period of time can make a coincidental Effect become vulgar; one strange coincidence might be accepted, whereas several in short order can itself be seen as a sign of supernatural power.
    • The Effect was vulgar and at least one Sleeper who is not a sincere believer in your Paradigm observed the Effect take place.

    A character has 15 Paradox boxes divided into Paradox rows of three Paradox boxes each (or 20 boxes in rows of four if the character has Background: Familiar). When the GM makes a Paradox Move, the severity of the move depends on how many rows are fully filled in.

    Paradox is the Consensus punishing you for your temerity in defying it, so to banish it again you must show that you can play by the rules even when it’s inconvenient. Thus, every time you fail an Attribute (not Arete) roll, you clear 1 Paradox box.

    Arete, for comparison, starts at +0 and can rise as high as +2 at the end of a long campaign, but you also take +1 to any Arete rolls that fits your Avatar Essence, and another +1 for any attempt to cast a Rote you have previously memorised. Combined with the way you’ll often have to choose to take penalties to Arete, and the way that Paradox builds up over time, it makes magic something that starts out very powerful as a mage steps fresh into the scene, but gets increasingly iffy as a situation drags on – which feels like how it should be.

    All in all, this system is working out reasonably well in playtests so far, and gives me plenty of opportunities to both make my players feel powerful and to mess with them – both of which are things that I, needless to say, especially enjoy…

  • It’s a Miracle!

    It’s a Miracle!

    I actually managed to work a little on Starlight Dreams (or whatever it’ll turn out to be called) this week. I’ve gotten some distance through sketching out the rules for Miracles. So far, I’ve only gotten two out of the five “Harmonies” that auturges can wield written out, but I think I’m starting to get a feel for it. Here’s what’s up so far:

    MIRACLES

    Players can perform Miracles by spending Esteem. A Miracle is a way to immediately create a Fancy, without the need for any kind of roll or even for a description of how it’s done – the Fancy just comes into being through an exercise in divine will. The kind of Esteem spent depends on what the Miracle is intended to do. The Guide is the ultimate authority on what the Esteem cost of a particular Miracle should be, and complex Miracles may require a combination of different parts of Esteem. The following is a guideline:

    • Righteousness Esteem is spent to harm, move, or enhance something.
    • Charity Esteem is spent to heal, protect, or control something.
    • Beauty Esteem is spent to create, hide, or beguile something.
    • Serenity Esteem is used to heal, enhance or protect yourself.

    The amount of Esteem needed to perform a Miracle depends on how impressive the Miracle is intended to be. The following is a guideline:

    • 2 Esteem: a tiny flicker of divine power, enough to create a Passing Fancy.
    • 4 Esteem: a sturdy magical work, enough to heal or inflict a point of Stress, or create a localised Enduring Fancy.
    • 6 Esteem: a display of true godhood, like the creation of a single Whim of distinct personality and agency or a specific location within an existing Sphere.
    • 8 Esteem: a breathtaking act of greatness, enough to awe an entire population or create a temporary Sphere-spanning effect.
    • 10 Esteem: the permanent creation or fundamental alteration of an entire Sphere.

    A player can only perform Miracles that fit the theme of yts Harmonies. Thus, a player needs the Harmony of the Body to heal wounds, the Harmony of Growth to make a forest sprout from the ground, the Harmony of the Abstract to make two feuding parties immediately make peace, and so on.

    Harmony of the Abstract:

    • Righteousness: terror and fury. The auturge ignites negative feelings, then blows on the sparks until they become an inferno. Enemies can be struck with fear, and allies can be infused with zealous hatred that grants strength to their arm. Whims created through Righteousness and the Abstract tend to be dark, spectral creatures, more living nightmares than solid beings, who exist solely to whisper horrors in people’s souls.
    • Charity: hopeful gospel. The auturge spreads feelings of hope and love, of sanctity and purity. Yt can cause hatred to fade away and bitter feuds to be dismissed as a passing madness, forge bonds of heartfelt friendship and weave tapestries of deep reverence for what has been blessed. Whims created through Charity and the Abstract tend to be pristine angelic figures that embody the gentlest of virtues.
    • Beauty: just law. The auturge lays down edicts that will shape nations, dictating the actions of Whims. Populations can be divided into tribes without any other alterations of their inherent natures, and different behaviours can become either unthinkable or mandatory for any Whim who regards ytself as virtuous. If Whims are created through Beauty and the Abstract, they tend to be stern judges or lawkeepers, existing to guide the just and punish the guilty.
    • Serenity: esoteric lore. The auturge creates layers of knowledge that, if studied, grants ability – whether to control the world, or to master the self. While wise magi and master warriors cannot be conjured out of thin air, a pathway for regular Whims to become such eminent beings can be laid through Serenity and the Abstract. While this can provide an auturge with powerful servants and populations that grow and improve on their own, it also holds risk; Whims who stray from the true path can easily become dangerous Glooms.

    Harmony of the Body:

    • Righteousness: tooth and claw. The auturge causes ytself or another creature to grow fearsome natural weapons; slashing claws, rending fangs, horns and stingers and talons. Alternatively, yt can grant brute animal strength to ytself or yts chosen, making them capable of greater physical feats. Whims created through Righteousness and the Body are, naturally, likely to be ferocious predators of whatever sort.
    • Charity: creature comforts. The auturge heals open wounds in ytself or others, or grants biological nourishment and protection like warm fur, thick scales, nutritious milk, or even the taste of yts own living flesh. Whims created through Charity and the Body vary greatly in their appearance, but they are almost always in some way cuddly and lovable.
    • Beauty: feral grace. The auturge grants ytself or another creature the ability to move unhindered in the environment, whether that means racing, climbing, digging, flying, swimming, or any other means of getting from one point to another. Alternatively, yt can provide other means of adapting perfectly to the environment; camouflage or the ability to thrive in great heat or cold are some examples. Whims created through Beauty and the Body tend to be vibrant and graceful creatures with colourful plumes, glistening scales, magnificently patterned fur or other splendid adornments.
    • Serenity: animal instinct. The auturge sharpens yts own or another’s senses to impossible levels, or bestows quick instincts in areas where careful thought is more a hindrance than an asset. Whims created with Serenity and the Body tend to be skittish and observant, often with great arrays of eyes and feelers that let them perceive all that is going on around them and to react with lightning quickness to it.