LilithsThrall said:
Evil_Trevor said:
I would not want to transplant a style from other games into it.
Just for curiousity's sake, is there anyone in this thread who does want to transplant a style from other games into Conan?
...
Well, personally I don't favor the d20 system. Conan is the only d20 system I'm willing to play which speaks more to my appreciation of Conan and the Hyborian Age than anything else, though I do have high praise for the various modifications that Mongoose has made to the system. Likely my love of Conan would have been outweighed by dislike of d20 had they done a poorer job.
That said.
My favorite RPG, hands down, is Ars Magica ( shameless plug here. ).
It is a non-d20 game that focuses on wizards and therefore has a rather robust skill-based magic system. It is the natural benchmark of reference I think of when I'm comparing magic systems.
There are a few core concepts that I like about it that I feel could transfer into Conan... but would entail a complete rewrite of the magic system. Note that isn't an advocation for changing the system to something other than d20. I agree, Mongoose Conan d20 just seems to work and give the right feel to the game. Sorcery is the only area of the game I think could use some refinement, though I don't think the sorcery system as it stands is 'horrible'.... it isn't. It is certainly playable, and even wonderfully so at times ( the genericness and flexibility of the scholar class I think is fantastic for instance )... but I feel it could be refined into something better with some work.
The core concepts I like from Ars Magica that I think could be transported are rather simple.
A. ) Magic relies on knowledge. You have skills that directly reflect your knowledge of different areas of magic. In Ars this is reflected in a combination of 'Techniques' and 'Forms', so you 'Verb'+'Object' to get your skill check to cast something. A similar thing could be worked for Conan to have skills based on the various sorcery styles for instance, or perhaps something more intricate... I'm not sure. It depends on how in-depth and complicated you want the magic system to be.
B. ) Formulaic Spells. They are firmly researched/learned effects that you know exactly what your difficulty numbers are to throw and your character has spent time learning etc. This would be your standard repertoire of effects. You make your skill check, you pay your PP, and presto blamo that upstart barbarian's heart is in your hand. Well... you can let him roll a saving throw if you really want to. :wink:
C. ) Spontaneous Spells. This is a big one, but not as empowering as you might think. Basically you can use your magic skills to check and cast something you don't have researched/learned as a formulaic, but it is much much harder, and in the Conan system using PPs likely more expensive as well.
For this to work the design of spells/effects based on the magic skills needs to be clearly delineated in a generic/flexible way. So you look at the chart for what you can do with a given level divination skill for instance, make your check, pay your PPs, and presto blamo... Miss Sleek Hotness better be wearing a lead shift or you are Mr. Happy. Well. You get the idea.
The point is that a skill-based system like this could work in a d20 framework, though it would take a fair ammount of design work and take up some room in a book. There are also some thematic decisions to make based on the setup and application of the magical skills and where you get your magic skill points to buy them up. I'd favor using a seperate pool of 'Mystic Arts' points that can only be used on those and those and regular skill points are totally seperate and you can not spend one on the other. But that is just me.
Thoughts?
