mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP (08/02/85)
***I just started this message, and already some of it has to be replaced.***
This may not have occurred to all you folks out there, but there is a new
twist with the Hero Games production called Justice, Incorporated. It is
possible to build all sorts of fantastic beasts and Creatures from the Outer
Dark, if you resort to the rules in Champions, but the High Priests of Those
Who Shall Not Be Named could not be built on this basis very effectively.
All sorts of kluges had to be introduced into the power-building rules to
reflect the natures of spells (usable very few times per day, required
peculiar mundane components, bizarre effects, and so on).
Well, fret no more. The recent release of Fantasy Hero has a magic system
that is quite near perfect for use in pulp-fiction settings in the '20's &
'30's. The powers listed on the spell chart are very nearly those I think
are most applicable to the early 20th century. So now one can create Priests
of the Powers of the Elder Dark on a strict point system, with a structured
set of rules on how their powers can be used. I don't know about anyone
else, but i find this terribly helpful.
Of course, as a fantasy magic system, I find it less than adequate, and my
major complaint is that the list of powers conveys an ethos I find is at
odds with my image of fantasy magicians. But I'll probably just come up
with my own (somewhat expanded) list of powers (with perhaps a deletion
or two) and carry on. Probably the best thing about the magic system is
it's buildability--you can create new spells using an established system,
and even different versions of the same spell, and so on, as appropriate
to the projected needs and persona of a character.
I just wish they had come up with something else for their magic item
enchantment system.
--fini--
Eric McColm
UCLA (oo' - kluh) Funny Farm for the Criminally Harmless
UUCP: ...!{ihnp4,trwspp,cepu,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!mccolm
ARPA: mccolm@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
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"To be, or not to be..." -Hamlet (Wm. Shakespeare)
"I think, therefore I am." -R. Descartes
"<Gleep!>" -Gleep (Robt. Asprin)