Sorcery as presented in The Smoking Ruins

[Lordabdul]

6 hours ago, Joerg said:

All sorcerers like to have Fire, because Enhance INT allows them to expand their manipulation range.

This to me is more indicative of one of the problems with Sorcery. First, the spells listed in RQG are only examples, so one can imagine different ways to enhance your INT. Second, I frankly can't picture why the Fire Rune, more than the others, would help with enhancing INT. If I wanted a "water-themed" sorcerer, I would probably allow a Water-based form of Enhance INT, instead of wasting a Free INT point for a Rune that doesn't fit the character concept. Of course some rules-lawyery people might say "but that's not what RAW says!", but the whole point of a free-form magic system is... well, to be free-form.

IMHO the only Runes that will be found in all sorcerers' stats will be the Spirit and Truth Runes, because fighting and binding spirits is the basis for building up a magical arsenal, and identifying things is the basis for study and research. But past that, I can imagine, for instance, necromantic sorcerers regenerating HP in (cosmetically) horrible ways using the Death Rune instead of the Life/Fertility one.

6 hours ago, Joerg said:

Same with Rune Lords preparing for battle - what's their usual sequence for powering up, what spells are provided by allied spirits or party members...

Yes, good idea! That would definitely help.

6 hours ago, Joerg said:

I am no longer sure about this, otherwise the Arkati school (Black House of Arkat) makes their adepts start with a pointless rune.

Logically speaking, what's more likely? That 3 words in a yet-to-be-finalized PDF are somehow wrong, or that a whole paragraph in a 2 year old printed book is wrong? I'd go with the first theory, although like I already said, my actual theory is that TSR isn't wrong per se, but with Jeff possibly working on extra Sorcery rules for the GM book, some stats for rules we haven't seen might have leaked through and therefore don't make sense to us. If that's the case, though, it would be quite bad that TSR would require another sourcebook without mentioning it.

6 hours ago, Joerg said:

I could do with less pronounced finger nails.

THE RULE OF COOL TRUMPS YOUR REALITY CHECKS!     Plus, maybe Urvantan isn't so impressive as a 105 year old sorcerer because he spent the 40 years learning to manipulate beakers with his nails! (it's a skill, you know!)

7 hours ago, Joerg said:

But answering your second question should address the first one. His 24-point necklace

Thanks for the explanations -- I'll go report the erratum to the tribal edit thread if it hasn't been reported yet.

In the munchkinery thread some grognards reported how PCs accumulate dozens of crystals over the course of campaigns, though, so I think my question of "why doesn't a 105 year old wizard have multiple crystals" still holds... I would have, like, one gem-encrusted ring at each finger with 6 MP each, a couple necklaces with ~20 MPs each, a couple bracelets with a dozen MPs, a belt, special socks, magical underwear, etc. Why have 116 MP when you can have 500 MP?

7 hours ago, Joerg said:

Sure you do. Each point of inscription saves you expending one MP on intensity, which saves you 2 SR for a spell of the same intensity, or allows you to add an extra point of intensity.

Yep, good point. but there's always the 1 round of casting, no?

7 hours ago, Joerg said:

A wizard expecting to go to combat would have his Finger of Fire inscribed for a few POW, and cast it basically for free in no time at all. "I can do this all day!"

I would love if that was the case indeed, but where do you get the "in no time at all"? RQG Sorcery rules don't mention anything about inscribed spells taking any less time than memorized spells -- as you said you save on the boosting, but you still have to wait a full melee round. You can't "do this all day"... you can do it only as long as you can avoid having your limbs chopped off every other round when you're casting. It's fine for memorized spells, but that severely spoils my "sorcerer fantasy" for inscribed items (IMHO a well prepared experienced sorcerer should be absolutely overpowered).

7 hours ago, Joerg said:

Same thing with shamans or Rune Masters of considerable power.

What do you mean?

7 hours ago, Joerg said:

Ars Magica btw lives from the mix of sorcerers and practical people.

It does but you don't go adventuring with your wizard more than once every 3 or 4 adventures. My point was that there's a difference between mixing characters and mixing gameplays.

[Lordabdul]

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Spell research: Can a spell be formulated by inverting the rune and technique?

Clarity of the Logical Mind is Dispel plus Illusion. Why couldn't it be Summon plus Truth?

Elemental runes don't have exact opposites, although Fire and Darkness may act as opposites when it comes to vision.

In theory, I would personally allow it to a limited degree, but with care. In most cases, however, I think those are different spells. "Dispel Illusion" repels the effects of any confusion-inducing effect from Orate/Madness/etc... it basically resets you back to "normal". Using "Summon Truth" when you already have confusion effects active would make, at best, the "truth" superimposed upon your current state (Orate/Madness/etc.) and so you're like "that person is making an excellent point about Ducks being evil, but then again I'm pretty sure Ducks have nothing to do with this matter, so, errr, I guess I'll let that Duck live but I'll still kick it in the face for good measure". You're not "cured" from the confusion, you just have bandaids on top.

Similarly, "Dispel Darkness" wouldn't let you see in a totally mundane dark tunnel... "Summon Light" would do that. But when faced with darkness magic, "Dispel Darkness" would (should?) be more helpful because you would actively fight the opposing magic on the Resistance Table. I'm not quite sure what "Summon Light" would do against a bunch of trolls trying to wrap the area in darkness, but my first thought is that it would mix light and darkness in a confusing way, like being in a room with lasers and a disco ball on steroids.

Edited December 26, 2019 by lordabdul

[Akhôrahil]

9 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

I would say... Joerg's comments are less about sorcery, and more about play-testing and editing! This is blatantly obvious when one of the NPC sorcerers has -3 Free INT to be casting with!

This seems to be a story of RQG so far. I'm not sure it's wise to make a game complex enough that even the designers can't handle it.

[Lordabdul]

11 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

I'm not sure it's wise to make a game complex enough that even the designers can't handle it.

😅

IMHO the problem is that the authors are all great storytellers and designers, but they're not munchkins or rules lawyers or game mechanics engineers, from what I can tell. Not only do they probably instinctively use the rules only within the narrative framework of Glorantha because they're so used to it, but they also very much belong to the school of thought where the GM can manipulate RAW as necessary to keep the game flowing, players happy, and story consistent and plausible. For instance, I don't think any of the authors use the SR system as written. It's not a mechanical problem per se, but it's at least a problem of expectations, because a crunchy system is often expected by players to be solid and well defined. I think RQG would have greatly benefited from having a "soft release", like an open beta/playtest for an extra year. AFAIK the RQG production went super fast. Maybe too fast.

[Joerg]

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

This to me is more indicative of one of the problems with Sorcery. First, the spells listed in RQG are only examples, so one can imagine different ways to enhance your INT. Second, I frankly can't picture why the Fire Rune, more than the others, would help with enhancing INT.

That has nothing to do with sorcery and everything with runic correspondences of the elements.

Not that the West (home of the Logic tribe) actually needs to concur, but apparently they bought the theist system.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

IMHO the only Runes that will be found in all sorcerers' stats will be the Spirit and Truth Runes, because fighting and binding spirits is the basis for building up a magical arsenal, and identifying things is the basis for study and research. But past that, I can imagine, for instance, necromantic sorcerers regenerating HP in (cosmetically) horrible ways using the Death Rune instead of the Life/Fertility one.

Once you leave normal ethics behind, MP cease to be a problem since you can tap as many as you need. When duration runs out, find some MP storages or cast a spell.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

Logically speaking, what's more likely? That 3 words in a yet-to-be-finalized PDF are somehow wrong, or that a whole paragraph in a 2 year old printed book is wrong?

It was hard enough to check the rules aspects in the TSR pdf. Checking a rules system is a lot harder, and of course there are mistakes in the RQG rules book.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

THE RULE OF COOL TRUMPS YOUR REALITY CHECKS!     Plus, maybe Urvantan isn't so impressive as a 105 year old sorcerer because he spent the 40 years learning to manipulate beakers with his nails! (it's a skill, you know!)

Yes, I know, and long nails up to a certain length are fine for lab use. But grab a too hot alembic and the horn will do some horrible thing between melt and combust, and off go your nails,, or at least become knobby and weird.

Practical experience speaking.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

In the munchkinery thread some grognards reported how PCs accumulate dozens of crystals over the course of campaigns, though, so I think my question of "why doesn't a 105 year old wizard have multiple crystals" still holds... I would have, like, one gem-encrusted ring at each finger with 6 MP each, a couple necklaces with ~20 MPs each, a couple bracelets with a dozen MPs, a belt, special socks, magical underwear, etc. Why have 116 MP when you can have 500 MP?

Unless you Tap or milk an entire farm of spirits or assistants, or lead really big worship services, it takes weeks to bottle 500 MP. His 3-point powered crystal replaces about 30 points of storage.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

Yep, good point. but there's always the 1 round of casting, no?

 

Plus the DEX SR. (But then, theoretically the casting starts on it in the previous round, too.)

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

I would love if that was the case indeed, but where do you get the "in no time at all"? RQG Sorcery rules don't mention anything about inscribed spells taking any less time than memorized spells -- as you said you save on the boosting, but you still have to wait a full melee round.

If you have an inscription of a 2 point spell with say 8 POW, you cast an intensity 7 version of it on the Dex SR of the next round, then move away or ready your next item/spell. Otherwise, the 6 extra MP would delay the spell for another melee round.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

You can't "do this all day"... you can do it only as long as you can avoid having your limbs chopped off every other round when you're casting.

A ring of wall of flames and a ward against weapons do wonders. Appearing on a roof rather than in the streets reduces the number of melee attacks that can reach your sorcerer considerably... A ring of bodyguards (aka party members) works fine, too, although tame earth elementals forming walls that open on demand are probably better protection.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

It's fine for memorized spells, but that severely spoils my "sorcerer fantasy" for inscribed items (IMHO a well prepared experienced sorcerer should be absolutely overpowered).

A well prepared sorcerer can have long duration spells of his own neutralized with equally long duration low intensity Neutralize Magic, and then have an assistant dispel these Neutralize spells as required using the spirit magic (from a matrix, command a spirit, whatever). Near-instant magic effects. It takes some luck to get such a Neutralize Magic to work, but given enough time, it is not a question of odds.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

What do you mean?

Mixing a magically powerful character with normalos always creates the problem that either the powerful character isn't challenged or the normalos become collateral damage.

 

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

It does but you don't go adventuring with your wizard more than once every 3 or 4 adventures. My point was that there's a difference between mixing characters and mixing gameplays.

It's the same with your priest or community shaman character. Magic power comes with taking magical responsibilities, and those result in 90% of your time being used for purposes other than your adventuring.

[Lordabdul]

11 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Yes, I know, and long nails up to a certain length are fine for lab use. But grab a too hot alembic and the horn will do some horrible thing between melt and combust, and off go your nails,, or at least become knobby and weird.

Practical experience speaking.

On the one hand, you're thinking about this too much... on the other hand, my mental picture of what you look like is becoming more far-fetched by the minute  

11 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Unless you Tap or milk an entire farm of spirits or assistants, or lead really big worship services, it takes weeks to bottle 500 MP.

That guy is 104 years old. AFAICT, recharging a POW-storage crystal only takes a day, no? (you dump your MP in them, and go sleep?)

11 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Plus the DEX SR. (But then, theoretically the casting starts on it in the previous round, too.)

Yep, so the sorcerer still need to be careful. I think your other tactical comments are correct -- the sorcerers are basically not on the frontlines, they're behind the shield walls, or behind his bodyguards, or up on the roof, laughing maniacally.

11 minutes ago, Joerg said:

It's the same with your priest or community shaman character. Magic power comes with taking magical responsibilities, and those result in 90% of your time being used for purposes other than your adventuring.

See also: Netrunners in Cyberpunk. It's an old game design problem. RQG tries to get around it by having seasonal gameplay, so the characters can indeed get back to their community and spend time on that stuff for 90% of in-game time (but 2% of table time). Ars Magica got around it by popularizing troupe play.

Edited December 26, 2019 by lordabdul

[Joerg]

3 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

On the one hand, you're thinking about this too much... on the other hand, my mental picture of what you look like is becoming more far-fetched by the minute  

Cave troll in a lab coat, strumming a guitar, right?

Well, I don't regenerate damage...

3 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

That guy is 104 years old. AFAICT, recharging a POW-storage crystal only takes a day, no? (you dump your MP in them, and go sleep?)

Yes. For 500 MP storage , you would need 50 10-point crystals (if you have that many, 10 points will be your average). Even if you manage to fill 2 per day, that's almost four weeks of bottling and sleeping only.

3 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

See also: Netrunners in Cyberpunk. It's an old game design problem. RQG tries to get around it by having seasonal gameplay, so the characters can indeed get back to their community and spend time on that stuff for 90% of in-game time (but 2% of table time). Ars Magica got around it by popularizing troupe play.

The spirit-heavy encounters in TSR make a player-controlled or allied shaman almost a basic necessity. But if you think of discorporate shamans and assistants or other discorporate company vs. the rest of the group, it is netrunning vs. standing guard.

Or you have an arsenal of spirit hounds that you can send against the incoming spirits and act as the commander in a battle rather than as a participant.

In a way, sorcerous spells are magic constructs like temporary spirits - hence the "MP in the spell vs. POW or intensity" rolls.

[Akhôrahil]

44 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

IMHO the problem is that the authors are all great storytellers and designers, but they're not munchkins or rules lawyers or game mechanics engineers, from what I can tell. Not only do they probably instinctively use the rules only within the narrative framework of Glorantha because they're so used to it, but they also very much belong to the school of thought where the GM can manipulate RAW as necessary to keep the game flowing, players happy, and story consistent and plausible. For instance, I don't think any of the authors use the SR system as written. It's not a mechanical problem per se, but it's at least a problem of expectations, because a crunchy system is often expected by players to be solid and well defined. I think RQG would have greatly benefited from having a "soft release", like an open beta/playtest for an extra year. AFAIK the RQG production went super fast. Maybe too fast.

No, I agree, this clearly seems to be the case - they probably know what they want to accomplish, but they don't properly engineer the rules (also, the rule-book seems to suffer from being a Cut&Paste-job), and don't seem to understand them on a fundamental level. I can't imagine they're happy with the quality of the rules editing.

Many of the overarching ideas for the rules are perfectly fine (great, even!), but the attention to the nitty-gritty rules details simply isn't there.

This can become a problem, as I would say there seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to applying a BRP-like rules system. One is that the GM constantly intervenes and makes rulings and fixings (probably making secret rolls and "fixing" problematic outcomes to insert the desired dramatics - the technical term is "Illusionism"), and from this perspective, it's not too bad. But I like to use the RQG rules in a different way, as being the oracle (to use an RPG theory term). When the players go into a combat, I want it to be harsh but fair, rolling all the dice openly, and applying the results, while also allowing them to use the system to full effect for their aims and goals. I want them to feel that they will be neither saved nor damned by GM Fiat, and that once in a fight, whatever the outcome is, they brought it on themselves (or were perhaps mobbed by the dice). This kind of play really suffers when the rules are unclear, contradictory, and poorly balanced, because that means I constantly have to make rulings, which undercuts what I'm trying to achieve by forcing me to constantly insert myself in the flow of play. 

The good parts of RQG are really good, but the bad are also really bad, and the quality of rules design and editing doesn't feel like what I expect from a big company product in 2018. It's a game where only time constraints stop me from rewriting large chunks of it for my own use. (For instance, I feel that there probably is a perfectly decent action-economy system possible for Strike Ranks - it's just not the one in the rule-book.)

Edited December 26, 2019 by Akhôrahil

[Tindalos]

32 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Yes, I know, and long nails up to a certain length are fine for lab use. But grab a too hot alembic and the horn will do some horrible thing between melt and combust, and off go your nails,, or at least become knobby and weird.

Practical experience speaking.

Since appearance matters so much, and caste restrictions would be in place... maybe those aren't his real nails and each morning he casts Create Image to make it look like he has incredibly long manicured nails.

[Crel]

3 hours ago, David Scott said:

I'm not sure where you've got this from. The Magic Rune Box on page 382 sets it out as the only Condition Rune (so far) used in Sorcery. It's a separate rune and as it's the only one of its type, so gives no insight into others of its type (until Mastery, Infinity, luck and Fate based sorcery becomes available). 

Tindalos pretty much answers my point of view. To my reading (and re-skim) of the Sorcery chapter, there's nothing which indicates a sorcerer can master the Magic Rune; I've previously read that sidebar as indicating it is a Rune not typically studied. This reading is augmented by the section Tindalos referenced, which indicates the Magic Rune as a placeholder, and importantly does not use the game jargon "insight."

I'm broadly approaching Urvantan (and the other sorcerers in The Smoking Ruins) as necessitating rules outside the core rulebook for the "how," and that the text basically just is providing the gamemaster with the "what" of what they do. So, in my prior statement I was providing a hypothesis of what unpublished sorcery rules may contain; no certainties involved. After all, RQG's Sorcery is explicitly incomplete.

This is paralleled with the use of unpublished heroquesting rules (especially in "Grove at Green Rock").

Also a small nitpick now that I'm re-reading the passage: "A sorcerer must have an affinity with the Rune or Runes used in the spell..." (Emph. added) should be "must have the Rune or Runes mastered" or equivalent, since an adventurer's Rune affinities (their ratings tied to cults & personality) don't impact what Runes they can sorcerously master, per page 381.

[David Scott]

7 minutes ago, Crel said:

there's nothing which indicates a sorcerer can master the Magic Rune; I've previously read that sidebar as indicating it is a Rune not typically studied.

It says in the boxed text on the Magic Rune on page 382:

Quote

It is studied to master the art of magic.

Your interpretation may of course vary, the presence of the rune in the spell lists  in addition to the above quote indicates to me it is mastered.

[Kloster]

24 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Cave troll in a lab coat, strumming a guitar, right?

Well, I don't regenerate damage...

I didn't knew for the guitar.

[Lordabdul]

4 minutes ago, David Scott said:

It says in the boxed text on the Magic Rune on page 382:

But that's just flavour text, not a rule. Which is why I'm leaning towards Joerg's comment that the Magic Rune is basically a free pre-requisite you get at character creation, similar to The Gift in Ars Magica, or the Magery Advantage in GURPS.

29 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Cave troll in a lab coat, strumming a guitar, right?

Only your lab is in the back of a car, as you drive piles of obscure ancient RPG books from convention to convention. At this point, someone needs to make a canon NPC out of Joerg, frankly.

30 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Yes. For 500 MP storage , you would need 50 10-point crystals (if you have that many, 10 points will be your average). Even if you manage to fill 2 per day, that's almost four weeks of bottling and sleeping only.

Yep, but realistically, you didn't stumble upon a stash of 50 crystals. You acquired them over the years, so no need to fill them all at the same time. If I was a powerful, century-old sorcerer, I would have half of those crystals on me, and half hidden in my secret tower. As I spend them, I switch them for full ones, and either leave my assistants to fill them up, or fill them myself over the next few months, as downtime allows. No need to strain yourself when you have 50 crystals lying around.

But I'm still suspecting some weird house rule the authors have been using for a long time... something, like "you need to be attuned to a crystal to suck MP from it". I can't imagine that so many NPCs only have 1 POW storage crystal for no practical reason.

35 minutes ago, Joerg said:

The spirit-heavy encounters in TSR make a player-controlled or allied shaman almost a basic necessity. But if you think of discorporate shamans and assistants or other discorporate company vs. the rest of the group, it is netrunning vs. standing guard.

Or you have an arsenal of spirit hounds that you can send against the incoming spirits and act as the commander in a battle rather than as a participant.

Delegating spirit combat is a possible way, but AFAIK the general way to deal with these situations is to either have 2 battles (or at least action scenes) in 2 places to keep the whole table engaged (shaman fighting in the spirit world, while the other PCs are defending the shaman's body against mundane world threats). Otherwise, resolve spirit combat quicker by not going into detailed round-by-round.

[Akhôrahil]

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

The spirit-heavy encounters in TSR make a player-controlled or allied shaman almost a basic necessity. But if you think of discorporate shamans and assistants or other discorporate company vs. the rest of the group, it is netrunning vs. standing guard.

I don't know, didn't we establish that a Humakti with Truesword simply tears through spirits, far moreso than any shaman?

[HreshtIronBorne]

11 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

2 hours ago, Joerg said:

The spirit-heavy encounters in TSR make a player-controlled or allied shaman almost a basic necessity. But if you think of discorporate shamans and assistants or other discorporate company vs. the rest of the group, it is netrunning vs. standing guard.

I don't know, didn't we establish that a Humakti with Truesword simply tears through spirits, far moreso than any shaman?

Enchanted Iron helps a lot too. Also, Spirit Block is Common Divine magic. 

[Kloster]

1 hour ago, Akhôrahil said:

I don't know, didn't we establish that a Humakti with Truesword simply tears through spirits, far moreso than any shaman?

Yes, rules are quite clear on this.

[Lordabdul]

3 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

I don't know, didn't we establish that a Humakti with Truesword simply tears through spirits, far moreso than any shaman?

It helps but I would say there are a lot of caveats, no? First, the spirit combat must be happening in the visible mundane world -- if the shaman is currently discorporated, the whole combat is happening in the spirit world and out of reach for physical people. Second, the spirit must be reachable -- some spirits might be hovering above the characters, some naiad might be in a river, etc... which means I would apply some penalties to physical attacks (but it's hard to say, I can't see anything in the rules about how far 2 spirit combatants can be... and, on the other hand, if the enemy spirit is too close to another PC, there might be other penalties to not hit a friend).

It might be a good group tactic, however, to use the shaman, or some bound spirits, to lure any enemy spirits to a place where the Humakti can swing at them.

Edited December 26, 2019 by lordabdul

[HreshtIronBorne]

It says in the spirit combat chapter that a spirit MUST become Visible to initiate Spirit Combat with a mortal that is in the Material World.

[Akhôrahil]

16 minutes ago, HreshtIronBorne said:

It says in the spirit combat chapter that a spirit MUST become Visible to initiate Spirit Combat with a mortal that is in the Material World.

That was my thought as well - without a shaman, you can't hunt down any spirits, but you can certainly do self-defence.

[g33k]

But AIUI "Spirit Combat" us a sort of melee-like affair -- spirit and foe must be able to see one another, and they must be proximate -- touching distance.  A spirit outside of swords-reach cannot engage in spirit combat.

Have I misunderstood this?

OTOH... there is nothing to prevent a spirit from keeping some distance, and spell-casting (if they know relevant spells) at the Humakti.

There is nothing to prevent a spirit from slipping back and forth between visible and invisible, attacking at speed, from unexpected directions (behind, overhead, flank, maybe even rising from underground?).

There is nothing to prevent spirits from coordinating... Imagine a screen of lesser spirits beyond swords-reach, such that there is ALWAYS a threat at his back, ALWAYS a visual screen obscuring the REAL threat that's coming back momentarily...

Etc.

[Akhôrahil]

I’m sure those things are stuff you’re ready to handle when you’ve pushed your sword skill to 200% or so through Sword Trance... at this point, even the Bad Man is just a nuisance when your skill is higher than his and you hit far harder.

(This is one reason I think the entire thing is misguided. I can see why Humakti should be able to cut ghosts, but making them into spirit-killing juggernauts?)

Edited December 27, 2019 by Akhôrahil

[Marc]

17 hours ago, Joerg said:

Sure you do. Each point of inscription saves you expending one MP on intensity, which saves you 2 SR for a spell of the same intensity, or allows you to add an extra point of intensity. Unfortunately we don't learn how inscribing a spell for extra POW works, as Urvantan has put the only such device into the Protective Circle, the last spell we would see in a combat situation.

Where in the rules does it say this?  Looking at the text on page 390, it says:

Knowledge of a sorcery spell can be inscribed into an item—
such as a scroll, book, piece of jewelry, weapon, or some other
small token—through ritual enchantment, instead of using
a point of Free INT. The enchanter, who must know the
spell, must sacrifice 1 point of POW to create the inscription.
For each point of POW added to the inscription, the
base strength, range, or duration of the spell is increased by
1, without requiring any manipulation by the sorcerer. This
enables the sorcerer to create spells with a greater intensity
than their Free INT would allow.

 

The way I read that, all the initial inscription does is allow you to cast the spell without tying up a point of Free INT.  Additional points of POW added to the inscription allow the sorceror to add additional levels of intensity for strength, duration or range, without requiring manipulation at the time of casting, and therefore allowing you to cast the spell with the "baked in" manipulation not using any of the caster's Free INT. I don't see how that gets the caster out of providing the required magic points, and the strike ranks they take.

 

 

 

 

[HreshtIronBorne]

21 minutes ago, Marc said:

I don't see how that gets the caster out of providing the required magic points, and the strike ranks they take.

This was my interpretation. Even with the ability to have increased 'base' strength, duration, or range through an inscription, you would still need to provide the MP and all of the other pieces of the spell (rituals, items, days, times, depending on spells and all that jazz).

[Richard S.]

This makes me wonder if Grimoires will be handled as books of inscriptions. It'd be a nice way to handle it imo, plus it would kinda tie into HQG's interpretation of sorcery as hyper specific spells, since once an inscription's been made you can't change the parameters on the fly.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Richard S.

[Shiningbrow]

11 hours ago, lordabdul said:

In the munchkinery thread some grognards reported how PCs accumulate dozens of crystals over the course of campaigns, though, so I think my question of "why doesn't a 105 year old wizard have multiple crystals" still holds... I would have, like, one gem-encrusted ring at each finger with 6 MP each, a couple necklaces with ~20 MPs each, a couple bracelets with a dozen MPs, a belt, special socks, magical underwear, etc. Why have 116 MP when you can have 500 MP?

Well, that would be silly! 

Why have a crystal with 6MP, when you can bind a spirit into it that has 20? And you get two added benefits - 1), no need to recharge yourself, 2) you can sic them on people. Maybe a third if they can also cast spells... 

 

OTOH, I've always wondered how big a crystal is supposed to be... And if you can cut and shape them without losing their powers.