Magic Tweak Idea

[Lloyd Dupont]

Just an idea I had, sharing for those who are looking for tweak ideas.... and want to do tweak comments
(Note my current ideas are about Revolution D100, i.e. when I talk about Size class it's a Revolution D100 number, but most of it apply to any D100 system).

Some magic power leave me somewhat unhappy....

Not because they are OP or deadly. It doesn't make much difference against a normal human opponent (when using localisation) to do 5D6 or 8D6 of damage. One is dead either way if one fail to dodge and really survival often boils down to how many fate points / luck point the adventurer has.
No, it bother me because it makes a mockery of normal equipment. And I like normal gear and weapon to be on a (relative) par with magic (hey this is a personal preference here.. most D100 players seem to like rare and OP magic, I like it less OP and more common and I try to GM it that way)

Magic often has number that can be paid with channelling point (often limited by skill%/10 or INT/2). Sometimes it's 1 for 1. But I imagine a slower scale where it could be different, like

The slower scale:
- 1 channelling: 1 might
- 2-3 channelling: 2 might
- 4-6 channelling: 3 might
- 7-10 channelling: 4 might
- 11-15 channelling: 5 might
- 16-21 channelling: 6 might
.....

I imagine spell like project [energy], absorb [energy], protection, enhance damage (to name the most obvious) should use the slowed scale. Maybe Haste and Hinder movement speed change as well.

Cool idea that goes with the slow scale:
- just like there is SIZ class we could have a POW class that add a flat might bonus (or malus)
- we could imagine stunts that increase the might of a specific spell (specialisation)
- we could imagine magic items that increase the might of a few spells
- spell could be spammed more readily since their effect is milder

One obvious problem here, is that Dragon are again unkillable... Though project [lightning] with a channelling of 7+ gives 4 might, and +1 in might from stunt and +2 from magic staff would give 7D6, -2 (for heavy scale) = 5D6 of damage against 15 toughness (armour doesn't count, just subtract 2 might, right?) so dragon can be wound down with magic + good gear (and specialisation).

I might try something like that for my upcoming scifi campaign (with psionic powers). Probably going to couple it with simpler duration and range values.

Edited December 17, 2019 by Lloyd Dupont

[RosenMcStern]

Hi Lloyd,

I am afraid that posting this here may generate some confusion. There is a post about the limits of psionic powers (of standard BRP) just below and if you read both at the same time you might not get they are two totally different variants of the rules.

Anyway. 

Such a modification could backfire spectacularly in a sci-fi environment. The reason is that elemental magic is superior (in terms of raw damage, but not other parameters) to ancient and medieval gear, but once you reach the 20th century (and possibly the 19th) things start to become different.

Surviving a hit from a cold war era assault rifle is not easy. Even a good old Winchester is a one hit one kill device if the target is unarmoured. Since WW2, most troops carry hand grenades that do 15d2 damage (average 22,5 points, between a 6d6 and a 7d6 hit) ignoring armour. Yes, a pyrokinetic attack is deadly, but it is more or less the same level of damage as an RPG, and nowadays even third world militia has access to this kind of weaponry.

Enter scifi weaponry. The average laser rifle does 3d8+1d8 on an impale (and fires bursts), a heavy laser does 4d8+1d8 (22,5 again ). Both fire at a faster rate than any psyker can shoot beams. Any beam weapon heavier than a laser does between 2d10+1d8 and 4d10+1d8 . Energy grenades can easily do 10d6 to 20d8 damage depending on the energy. In other words, everyone uses weapons capable of insta-killing. 

If you apply the above limitations, the magic powers a good magician can wield are nerfed to become the equivalent of a blunderbuss. This may sound balanced if everyone around the power user has access to bows and crossbows... but when phasers and blasters are common, then power users become laughing stock.

 

 

[Lloyd Dupont]

Hey Paolo!
Mmm... I didn't study that too carefully (yet) but .. Revolution D100 damage rating (for advanced weapon) is not the same as BRP, it goes much higher!  
Thanks for the refresher I am going to look at it....

Anyway I was not quite sure about this particular scale idea and this morning I just though it was just too slow. I think I am going to go for a flat 2 for 1.
I don't mind if it's weaker than gear, it's still good and it's not for fulltime class but an additional bonus power to some races or lucky adventurer. 

But that whole discussion gave me an idea. I could imagine psionic gun that could fire the power at full strength (i.e. 1 for 1) and base their damage on the psionic strength of the user. While "unarmed" power will remain weaker.

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by Lloyd Dupont