steve@siemens.UUCP (05/31/85)
I'm pretty sure this never made it so I'm re-posting. Conjuring Demons ---------------- A magic user can bind a demon to a symbol he draws (or carves, etc.) and charge it to carry out its spell when certain specified conditions are met. The magician may not bind a demon to a symbol that already exists; he must create the symbol at the time he conjures the demon. If the symbol is destroyed the demon disappears quietly. However, the condition for carrying out the spell may be destruction of the symbol; in that case the demon will do the spell before disappearing. Any spell that is triggered when some conditions are met requires a demon (to determine when the conditions are met). Conversely, in this universe a demon by definition is no more than a magical thing that watches for some condition to be met and then carries out a spell. For a basic (ie typical) spell of level n, Conditions Actual Spell Level immediate effect n simple condition n + 1 each add'l simple condition add .5 (round up) each alternate course of action add 1 Example: Magic Mouth by definition already includes one simple condition. A Magic Mouth that yells "Bad guys are coming!" if someone it doesn't know approaches and "Welcome!" if its caster approaches would be a spell of level 4: Magic Mouth is level 2, plus 1 for the alternate course of action, and plus 1 for the two extra simple conditions. The three simple conditions are 1) someone approaches, 2) someone (who is approaching) is unknown, and 3) caster approaches. It is important for the DM to count simple conditions correctly. A simple condition has a subject and a verb, and possibly an object. The subject and verb must be as simple as possible; the subject can specify a unique thing, person, or whatever, or it may specify a very broad class. "This red handkercheif" is OK because it specifies a unique particular object. A qualification of something already mentioned counts as a simple condition; 2) in the previous paragraph is. "A red handkercheif" is actually a simple subject and a qualification: "A handkercheif" and the qualification "The handkercheif is red.". Generally, any article-followed- by-noun is an allowable subject, and any verb is OK. The only object allowed is the symbol or something already mentioned as the subject of another simple condition. The action of the spell cannot refer to something not mentioned in the condition part. One might wish to conjure a demon to cast a lightning bolt at whoever opens a particular door. This would require two simple conditions: "The door opens" and "Someone opens the door" in order to have the "someone" to cast the lightning bolt at. Alternatively, one might have the demon cast a lightning bolt at a fixed location (the doorway) when the door is opened; this uses only a single simple condition but it is a little less reliable; the person who opens the door might not be in the doorway. The point of being so picky about simple conditions is that very reliable demons must be expensive. Usually, MU's should be forced to compromise somewhat as in the previous example with the door. Unfortunately, any time an MU cannot remove any more simple conditions from his spell and he has an odd number, he can add another one for free because the .5 is rounded up anyway. A more general spell point system would fix this. Other methods to follow soon. ...princeton!siemens!steve or SCLARK@RU-GREEN
steve@siemens.UUCP (05/31/85)
Spell-Storing
-------------
There are two forms of spell-storing magic: writing the spell on a scroll
and storing the spell in a device enchanted especially for that purpose.
A magic-user must study scroll-writing (as if it were another method) for
one level in order to write scrolls; to progress further he need only study
general spell-storing. Finally, the one level of study of scroll-writing
is not useful for storing spells in magical devices.
Levels of Study Level of Proficiency
Scroll General Scroll General
0 n 0 n
1 n n+1 n
(n >= 0)
Any magic user can release a stored spell, although a spell-storing device
may not be immediately recognizable as such. Material components are
required for writing scrolls (not just any parchment and ink will do);
other devices must be enchanted; this will be explainedin the description
of the particular spell.
Enchanting Magic
----------------
To enchant something permanently, or even just for more than one use, it is
necessary to have some proficiency in Yellow (time). For a basic spell
of level n, the actual spell level and required proficiency in Yellow are:
Level Yellow
enchant for one use n 0
enchant for 2-8 uses n+1 1
enchant for 5-50 uses n+2 2
enchant permanently n+3 n+3
The number of uses an item has should not be readily known to the magic
user. It should require some fairly detailed detect magic spell.
Here is an example: To enchant a sword to +3 damage permanently, first
it must already be +2 permanently. The basic spell of Weapon +3 damage
is 3 + 1 = 4, but to be permanent it will be 4 + 3 = 7. The caster must
have a proficiency in Yellow of 7 as well as proficiencies in Red and
Enchanting of 7. (The spell Weapon +n damage is non-standard in the
proficiencies it requires.) A magic user with 17 intelligence
would have to be at least 10th level to have the proficiencies required
to cast the spell and it would require expending 23 fatigue points per
level of spell * 7th level = 161 fatigue points to do the enchantment.
This would take about two to three weeks, depending on how many fatigue
points per day he could expend.
A quick detail of why he would have to be 10th level to have the
proficiencies: each level from 1 to 4 he increments his primary color
(which will have to be Red or Yellow; say Red) and two others, Yellow
and Enchanting. This leaves him at Red-4, Yellow-4, and Enchanting-4.
Thereafter he increments his proficiency in Red (his primary color) and
only one other per level; if he alternates between Yellow and Enchanting
he will have, after increasing six more levels to 10th level, Red-10,
Yellow-7, and Enchanting-7. This magic-user would be able to do little
other than enchant weapons, by the way, because he is so highly specialized.
Brewing Magic
-------------
The mechanics of brewing magic are pretty uninteresting. Virtually all
brewing magic spells are standard in the proficiencies they require.
Anyone may use brewed magic items, which are things like ointments, potions,
gases, salves, polishes etc. A brewed magic item must be consumed to
be activated. ("Consumed" in the sense of "used up", not necessarily
"ingested".)
Brewed magic items require material components; most of the other kinds
of magic do not.