Quote:
Originally Posted by C.W.Richeson
Thanks for the review, The Unshaven!
Could you speak a little more on the magic system? Specifically, how adaptable is the spellcasting? Is it possible to regularly cast spells without being in danger of acquiring new Insanities?
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No problem, and that's a good question.
Essentially, spellcasting is something that takes time. It's not something that can be done on a combat scale - although there are spells which will invest items with magical capabilities which
can be used on a combat scale of time.
In terms of Insanities... an Insanity check is made when reading certain Occult Tomes, as you might expect, and an Insanity check is made when
learning the spell. After that, you do not make further checks when
casting.
However, casting does open opportunities for Critical Failures, and as you can imagine the chart for Consequences to Magical Botching, otherwise known as the euphemistic 'Mishap' chart, is as horrible and hilarious as you might expect.
Some of the consequences of a magical Mishap involve further Insanity checks.
I will note that the kind of people who are going to be into casting magic are going to have quite solid Tenacity, which will be used to resist Insanity checks.
As for how flexible magic is as a system... As noted, the long time required to cast spells, and in many cases the multiple checks required, mean that 'on the fly' spells are out the window. However, the rules provide quite a good source of inspiration for people to pitch their own spells and for GMs to be able to tell if they're pulling something - and correspondingly for players to say "But the difficulty of N is only Y, and it takes Q hours!" if the GM is being too harsh.
Since the same core rules and dice mechanic apply to spellcasting as anything else in the game, that might also streamline the learning process for player groups.
Is that helpful?
- The Unshaven.