Working through a Magic Example…

20. December 2008 by Fitz.

Image via WikipediaHey all…

Ok, so I’ve been working on some different things on paper, including the difficulties of a Reality Check vs. a Skilled Opponent (i.e. someone skilled in Magic Defense or a School of Wizardry).

Let’s take an example from historical fiction… Myrddin (Merlin) the Wizard.

He has a couple of magic skills and some spells.

• Skill: Transformation Magic (Per/Con)Spells: Transform to Fish, Transform to Hawk, Transform to Ant, Transform to Owl, Transform to Goose, Transform to Badger
• Skill: Prescient Magic (Per/Wis)Spell(s): Clairaudience, Claircognizance, Clairsentience

Let’s walk through some different situations…

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Situation 1: Myrddin casts “Transform to Fish” on self

Basic setup is d12 + skill level - challenge rating = qualified roll

The challenge rating would vary on size of fish. The closer to human size, the easier the transformation. So going from human to Dolphin (for example, and yes I know a dolphin isn’t a fish) would be simpler than from human to Blue Whale or to a Goldfish. The higher the difficulty, the higher the Challenge Rating.

In this case, let’s say he’s transforming into a Bass. A good sized Bass is 5 pounds, and if Myrddin weighs roughly 125, that’s 1/25 his size, which wouldn’t be trivial. As a GM, I’d employ a scale something like 0 - 10… 0 meaning it’s a piece of cake and 10 meaning it’s pretty much impossible, and a 5 meaning moderately difficult.

As a GM, I’d rate this based on the experience of the wizard (we’re talking Merlin here) and the difficulty of shifting into a body 1/25 his size and give it a moderately difficult rating of 6.

If Myrddin’s “Transformation Magic” skill is at level 8, and the player rolls a 6 on a d12, you’re looking at [d12]6 + [skill]8 - [challenge]6 = 8.

No contest. It goes off without a hitch. Anything over a 1 would be a success.

Situation 2: Myrddin casts “Transform to Ant” on an Unwilling Target

Basic setup is d12 + skill level vs. opposed skill roll.

S2, Variation 1: Unskilled Opponent Is Partially Lucky

If Myrddin’s “Transformation Magic” skill is at level 8, and the player rolls a 6 on a d12, you’re looking at [d12]6 + [skill]8 = 14.

Let’s say the opponent’s RC is a 5. The player rolls a 3 on a d20, making his RC roll. He then decides to Dodge, and has Gymnastics at level 4. He rolls an 8 on a d12, so he’s looking at [d12]8 + [skill]4 = 12.

Myrddin has a 14, his opponent has a 12. Myrddin wins and his opponent turns into an ant for the duration of the spell.

S2, Variation 2: Unskilled Opponent Is Very Unlucky

If Myrddin’s “Transformation Magic” skill is at level 8, and the player rolls a 6 on a d12, you’re looking at [d12]6 + [skill]8 = 14.

Let’s say the opponent’s RC is a 5. The player rolls a 10 on a d20, not making his RC roll.

With Myrddin’s successful roll (i.e. not a 1), Myrddin wins and his opponent turns into an ant for the duration of the spell.

S2, Variation 3: Unskilled Opponent is Very Lucky

If Myrddin’s “Transformation Magic” skill is at level 8, and the player rolls a 6 on a d12, you’re looking at [d12]6 + [skill]8 = 14.

Let’s say the opponent’s RC is a 5. The player rolls a 3 on a d20, making his RC roll. He then decides to Dodge, and has Gymnastics at level 4. He rolls a 12 on a d12, so he’s looking at [d12]12 + [skill]4 = 16.

The opponent’s roll is a 16 and Myrddin’s roll is 14. The opponent deftly dodges far enough out of the way of the spell to make it miss him.

S2, Variation 4: Opponent skilled in Magic Defense

If Myrddin’s “Transformation Magic” skill is at level 8, and the player rolls a 6 on a d12, you’re looking at [d12]6 + [skill]8 = 14.

Let’s say the opponent’s Magic Defense skill is at level 5. He rolls a 10 on a d12, so he’s looking at [d12]10 + [skill]4 = 14.

The opponent’s roll is a 14 and Myrddin’s roll is 14. Tie goes to the target (always), so he successfully avoids being turned into an insect.

Notes

This implies a few things here… 1) Concentration of the wizard can be broken if the target moves in some cases. I think this is a good assumption. 2) The unskilled opponent still has a chance of beating a spell. 3) The skilled opponent has a better chance of defeating a spell. 4) Simply by casting a spell on an opponent, does the Challenge Rating come into play, or is the aspect of the opposed roll enough without introducing it?

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Input? Comments? Thoughts? Criticism?

–Fitz

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The Beginnings of a Magic Framework…

9. December 2008 by Fitz.

Image via WikipediaHi all…

Ok, first of all I have to say we’re having a VERY cool discussion on the last post.

I’ve been rattling around some thoughts about how to set these rules in motion… One of the comments that didn’t make it into the comments (gotta love technical glitches) was that if this is more of a framework book (and that *IS* the goal here), it needed to go beyond the traditional fantasy approach to magic. What about technology? What about modern/futuristic settings? And just providing the rules isn’t enough - there has to be enough info/examples that a GM could run a one-shot to figure out how the rules work or just play.

So bumping this up to a higher vantage point, I thought we’d approach this from a very vague guideline and then provide a number of example implementations. My brain has been going insane with some of the many things we could do (from magic in a fantasy sense, to psychic powers, to mutant abilities, to cybernetics and beyond).

That said… Let’s kick this off…

A new field of wizardry (whether arcane, divine, natural, technological, psychic, etc.) is merely a skill for the character to obtain. In some cases (for example with a magical item or a new cybernetic implant), the skill is gained for free and the player can spend XP to enhance specific spells or abilities associated with the skill. In other cases, the player can spend XP to enhance the skill or specific spells.

Each field of wizardry must have a number of qualities. Is it external or internal to the caster? For example, does the magical energy come from force of will, from a set of magical ingredients, or from a higher power?
Once that is decided, we must determine the amount of energy involved.

If it comes from ingredients, how much energy do the ingredients hold? Is it quantity or quality that counts? What’s the difference between a rock used for a spell and a flawless diamond?

If it comes from a higher power, how much power gets filtered down to the vessel (caster/priest) on the material plane? Is it a powerful god? A benevolent spirit? A philosophical ideal? The embodiment of nothingness? A disembodied spirit or the soul of a living being? Weight this on a scale of 1 to 10. This would be an exponential scale.

If it’s the naked will of the caster, how do you measure that? Is it their Reality Check? With a higher RC, they have a better grasp of the reality of what they are doing with magic. An RC of 10 means you could model entire universes (small ones of course) in your mind, while an RC of 1 implies that you don’t even believe it when someone picks your number in line at the deli (the one you chose that they circulate through starting at 1).

Then we have to decide how much of that energy the caster can actually wield before “burning out”. For technological things, this would be like burning through a battery. In the case of a caster, this would be measured by the amount of magic (points/pool) the caster could use or how many spells they could use a day (possibly RC per day? number of spells = skill level or combined # of points in the skill and spells?). For a priest, he or she is guiding a huge amount of the higher being’s power through themselves as a vessel (possibly) and will also get tired. How do we gauge that? Faith + Conviction per day?

Note that these are all very preliminary and incomplete thoughts, so take from them what you will. But I thought I’d dump them out there as food for thought.

I’m interested in, mechanics aside, rough guidelines on how to provide balance. Yes, a well placed bullet or arrow can always kill a focused mage, but that’s not always the best answer.

Thoughts? Concerns? Criticisms? Throw it up here in the comments and let’s see what sticks!

–Fitz

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What is magic?

4. December 2008 by Fitz.

Hi all…

This is the beginning of a series of articles/discussions that will ultimately result in publishing a new Moebius Adventures book that includes rules for magic as well as magical races such as elves or dwarves.

Image via WikipediaAt a very high level, magic is simply an observable instance of the usage of forces existing in a particular world, belief system, universe, or plane of existence. Magic may be used by nature, gods, wizards, priests, spirits, or anything or anyone else naturally or skillfully adept at using a particular type of magic in a particular context.

For example, let’s take the ever popular “ball of fire” spell. This could manifest in a number of ways, but I’ll just list three here for discussion purposes.

1. A person might be born with the innate ability to draw heat from the air around them to ignite a small fire and control it long enough to throw it short distances. Sort of a Pyro (X-Men) kind of approach to fire abilities.
2. Perhaps an alchemist has managed to find a recipe for a small bag of combustible materials to be lit and tossed at a target.
3. Or maybe it’s not a person at all. Maybe in a particular desert during a particular time of year, conditions are so hot as to ignite the very sand. Winds can then blow such a fire storm across the lands, leaving trails of glass in its wake.

What I want to avoid doing is assuming that all magic works the same. Initially in Moebius Adventures, we went the common route of creating 100s of spells in a variety of different schools of magic. This is great if you want a laundry list of possibilities, but not great for having a fluid, more adaptable and creative magic system.

The goal for the revised magic system is to provide methods for defining what the goal is to be (i.e. setting fire to something), a context (i.e. a wizard, alchemist, or magical naturally-occurring storm), and a method (i.e. willpower, knowledge and ingenuity, or the randomness of nature).

How we make these fit together into a coherent whole is a topic for another day.

That said, I’m interested in what YOU think. How should magic work? GMs and Players often have very different views on this topic.

Leave me a comment and let’s get the discussion rolling!

–Fitz

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Magic Book in the Works…

25. November 2008 by Fitz.

Hi all…

Thought I’d let those few of you still following Moebius Adventures know that I’m starting work on a book of magic rules for the game.

It originally started out as a collection of all the various schools of magic and spells we’d created over the years, but it took a left turn somewhere along the way and now includes much more open-ended rules.

My hope is to post snippets of the book in article form here to encourage feedback and playtesting, and then release the book sometime next year.

So stay tuned!

–Fitz

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Closing the Moebius Adventures forum…

28. August 2008 by Fitz.

Hey all…

Yes, it’s been a very long time since I’ve posted anything about Moebius Adventures here. My apologies.

Moebius Adventures is not dead, merely suspended until such time as I have time, energy, and resources to spend on the books again.

As such, I’m going to close the Forum for now. It’s just attracting spammers at this point and that’s not really helping anybody out. With the lack of actual traffic, I doubt it’ll annoy too many folks.

One final note, we did sell one e-book copy of the Core Rules book after all of those that were given away last Thanksgiving. Thank you to our lone customer and the hundreds of people who downloaded the book during the giveaway last year.

I hope that this isn’t the end of Moebius Adventures, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Thanks

–Fitz

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Raging debates…

20. February 2008 by Fitz.

Hi all…

As a one man shop, I’m starting to consider my options going forward. Though I think Covert Directives is probably a good bet that would sell better than the Core Rules book (more crunch there), I’m having a tough time keeping interest in it.

I’m sure Sean would understand if I switched to a different product I felt more passionately about, such as Immortals’ Wake. So I think I’m going to flip over and work on that as the next product. Completely blows my plan out of the water, but since I haven’t had much luck getting anybody to look at or review the book, I’m going to change gears and go back to a topic I love and can get engaged in again.

Hopefully this doesn’t disappoint anybody out there. But there’s only so much bandwidth I have and if I don’t feel passionate about CD, it’s not going to turn out well for me or anyone who wants to read it.

So let me know what you think. If you think this is a bad idea or not, I’d be interested in your opinion.

Thanks in advance!

–Fitz

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Great List of Roleplaying Websites at Dungeon Mastering…

6. December 2007 by Fitz.

Hi all…

Thought I’d post a link to this amazing list of resources over at Dungeon Mastering… The top 50 (or 52, but who’s counting) RPG websites.

It includes some of my favorites, including:

• Roleplaying Tips
• Critical Hits
• The d20 SRD
• Wizards of the Coast
• White Wolf
• Treasure Tables
• RPG.net
• Jamis Buck’s Random Dungeon Creator

But it also includes many I hadn’t seen and will now be visiting frequently like:

• Evil DM
• The Escapist
• Order of the Stick
• The Great Geek Manual
• and many more!

Be sure to check it out!

–Fitz

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Upcoming projects…

28. November 2007 by Fitz.

Hi all…

I thought I’d post about some of the upcoming projects from Moebius Adventures in the next few months.

The big one is of course Covert Directives (CD). CD is the first world book and supplement to the Core Rules book for the Moebius Adventures Roleplaying Game. CD adds rules and setting for a modern and near-future world. Rules for firearms, bio- and genetic-engineering, vehicles, cybernetics, and so on. It’s a cool mix of James Bond meets the Bionic Woman.

We’re shooting for June 2008 for a release for Covert Directives, so keep an eye out for more information as we get closer.

Beyond that I hope to get out three small projects (50 pages or so) between now and the release of Covert Directives. These include:

• Blue Steel - A cops and robbers application of the Core Rules book to show how modern weapons work, how to add modern backgrounds, and so on. It also will have an adventure that can be played from either side — from the side of the cops chasing the robbers or the robbers attempting to get the goods and run.
• Touch of Magic - Adds magic and the fae to the world begun in the Core Rules along with a few new monsters to make things interesting.
• Killer Moon - A futuristic/space-based addition to the Core Rules book that takes place on a lunar colony plagued with an alien discovered during an excavation. This will add robotics, some advanced weapons, and new alien species to keep things hopping.

So there are things on the horizon!

And as always, I’d love to hear what you think of the Core Rules book — good, bad, or indifferent. Nothing is set in stone. I’m still also working on a way to speed up and streamline character development for rapid play.

Hope you’re enjoying the run up to the end of the year!

Have a great day!

–Fitz

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Comments… Argh!

28. November 2007 by Fitz.

Hi all!

It came to my attention this week (on another blog of mine) that folks may not be leaving comments because they’re forced to log in first. Doh! I’ve now turned off that switch in Wordpress. If anybody’s actually reading the blog, would you mind leaving me a comment so I know it’s working properly now?

Thanks in advance!
–Fitz

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Starting to get some reviews…

15. November 2007 by Fitz.

Hey all!

We’re starting to get some reviews for the Moebius Adventures Core Rules book. Some good comments, some bad. No game is designed for everybody, but we hope that the Moebius Adventures rules will offer folks another alternative to the other systems out there.

I’ve added a new category to the forums for reviews and will be posting them there as they arrive. So be sure to check it out!

Have a great day!

–Fitz

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