The Laundry

[pansophy]

is out and can be purchased at RPGnow.com - so, who bought it and can tell me something about it?

[Jason D]

is out and can be purchased at RPGnow.com - so, who bought it and can tell me something about it?

I wrote the rules sections. Any specific questions?

[Chaot]

Oh, I've got one. In another thread you mentioned that magic points were removed. Could you give a brief description of what kind of magic system the Laundry has?

[Trifletraxor]

is out and can be purchased at RPGnow.com - so, who bought it and can tell me something about it?

Cool! PDF made it out before the dead tree copy then! Review!

SGL.

[fmitchell]

In another thread you mentioned that magic points were removed. Could you give a brief description of what kind of magic system the Laundry has?

I'm just reading the Magic section now, but from my quick skim the power for spells comes from having the right ritual (or hardware/software) and enough time to perform the ritual (or run the computation). In the Laundryverse, magic comes from specific types of mathematical computations, which resonate across the multiverse and open a gate between our universe and some other, far stranger one. Information goes in, and energy that creates the magical effect comes out ... or possibly a brain-eating horror from Beyond, depending on the spell and how badly you screwed up.

[Chaot]

How is it tied to the system mechanically? Skill roll? Just a set of spells with no mp cost? Something else?

Edit: and thanks. This book is one my very short list of to-buy. I've been looking forward to it.

[pansophy]

I'm interested how much of The Laundry is different from the Golden Book. I guess the magic system and some skills have changed.

Is it more a game aimed to be funny, or is it a dead serious game?

Somebody should do a review please

[fmitchell]

How is it tied to the system mechanically? Skill roll? Just a set of spells with no mp cost? Something else?

The Sorcery skill represents how much magical theory you know, and which level of common spells you can cast. Level 1 includes minor entropic effects like masking a private conversation with white noise. Level 5 includes summoning "weakly godlike" entities to destroy the world.

One or more other skills determine whether you performed a casting correctly: Computer Use (Magic) for spells run on a computer, Science (Mathematics) for computations run by hand, the lower of Sorcery and an appropriate performance skill like Language (Aklo) or Knowledge (Occult) for old-school ceremonial magic, and a Difficult roll against Sorcery to run the spell in your own brain. (The last method also involves rolling to see how badly your brain gets fried.) If you fumble the casting roll (or merely fail performing Mental Magic), you roll on a fun Spell Failure Table.

Note that spells cast from dedicated hardware, or well-tested software applications, always work. (Writes the man whose MacBook Pro crashed last night.)

EDIT: All spells have a POW cost, but the POW comes from the casting technique, not the user. For example, a new laptop or desktop has POW 14, enough to comfortably run spells of Level 2 and below ... most simple effects. If the user need more power, there are ways to enhance the casting, some of them extremely unwise.

Edited September 21, 2010 by fmitchell

[Trifletraxor]

The Laundry now has its own discussion thread in the Supplements & Monographs section. Please continue the discussion there: http://basicroleplaying.com/showthread.php/2083-THE-LAUNDRY

SGL.

[Jason D]

Thanks, fmitchell, for explaining things so well.

I didn't work on the magic system (that was John Snead's handiwork) and didn't want to comment until I had the time to double-check.

[Trifletraxor]

The Laundry now has its own discussion thread in the Supplements & Monographs section. Please continue the discussion there: http://basicroleplaying.com/showthread.php/2083-THE-LAUNDRY

Cheers!

SGL.