Is this balanced?

[Arcturus]

Is this balanced in a low magic world?

A character can be a mythos sorcerer. They lose 75 skill points and 1 point each of Strength, DEX, CON and CHA, and in return gain the ability to cast a number of mythos spells (of their own choice) equal to half (rounding up) their INT characteristic.

[NickMiddleton]

Is this balanced in a low magic world?

A character can be a mythos sorcerer. They lose 75 skill points and 1 point each of Strength, DEX, CON and CHA, and in return gain the ability to cast a number of mythos spells (of their own choice) equal to half (rounding up) their INT characteristic.

No - assuming you are making use of the mythos spells from Call of Cthulhu and its numerous sourcebooks.

The bold bit is the problem. Depending on which source(s) of mythos spells you use there are some grotesquely powerful spells available. I would STRONLY recommend vetting the list of spells to weed out the most egregiously over powered ones.

Also, what are you planning to do about SAN loss for casting mythos spells?

If you are using just the BRP "BGB" then there are already guidelines for creating characters with "powers" that produce reasonable characters.

Cheers,

Nick

Edited May 21, 2013 by NickMiddleton

[Arcturus]

Do not the most powerful spells have large san loss, so can be very rarely cast?

SAN loss is normal, with standard effects.

Using 5th ed Call of Cthulhu rulebook.

[Dyvim Matt]

I'm with Nick here.

Even with the penalties you mention, there are still some very overpowered spells. As a grossly exaggerated example, let's say one misguided player chooses Call Azathoth. Of course, the associated SAN loss is prohibitive, but the day Mr Player decides he has enough balls to cast it, all the SAN loss in the world won't change the fact that Azathoth is here to stay. Of course, I picked the worst possible example, but magic in Call of Cthulhu is designed to be the province of madmen, and for good reason.

In fact, back when I ran my CoC campaign, I kept saying, all in jest of course, that some of the players spent most of their time learning spells they were too afraid to use. The group's official "magic expert" (Cthulhu Mythos around 50%, and a whopping two spells) could not agree more.

Speaking of Nick, I would suggest you follow the Uncounted Worlds link in his signature. Issue Two has some good advice on running sword-and-sorcery games straight out of the Call of Cthulhu core rules.

[fmitchell]

If you are using just the BRP "BGB" then there are already guidelines for creating characters with "powers" that produce reasonable characters.

I'd recommend "Sorcery". Not only does it work a lot like CoC magic (minus SAN loss), and the spells are a bit more balanced, there are spells for summoning demons. Change demons to minor Mythos entities, and make greater Mythos spells a matter for research, and I think you'll have what you want.

[vagabond]

I'd recommend "Sorcery". Not only does it work a lot like CoC magic (minus SAN loss), and the spells are a bit more balanced, there are spells for summoning demons. Change demons to minor Mythos entities, and make greater Mythos spells a matter for research, and I think you'll have what you want.

I would check out the Corum supplement to Stormbringer if you want a risk factor associated with sorcery as the spells/summonings create/contact more powerful spells/entities.

Ian