Dragon Age

[Marley117]

Hello everyone.

I am new to the game, and have been lurking on the boards for awhile. I have seen how helpful everyone seems and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me.

My group and I are starting a Dragon Age game using the RuneQuest rules. I am the only one who has the core book, and I'm the only one who has any idea how to play, but I am fairly confident that I can teach everyone the rules with a little trial and error. I managed to teach my group the rules to Aces & Eights. ( if anyone has played that they will know the nightmare that can be)

Anyway, I am trying to tweak the rules a bit to fit the world and the only problem I am running into is magic. In the DA universe, magic doesn't ever fail. There isn't the chance that it won't work. The risks come from other areas (demons from the Fade, corruption, etc) but they are mostly story driven, not rules driven.

Overall, if a spellcaster casts a spell, it works. First I am going to try and combine the common magic spells and the sorcery spells into one group. Just label it sorcery and have it divided into its own categories. (Primal, Healing, Elemental, etc) Each will have their own percentage (like grimoires.)

Second I am going to do the failing of magic a little differently. If they fail the roll then the spell costs double the amount of MP. So the spells always go off, but they take a bigger toll on the caster. I know this will make mages very powerful, but they are supposed to be, especially in the DA universe. They are just hated and persecuted.

There isn't really a need for either spirit magic or divine magic, as they aren't ever really seen in the DA universe. I guess I could use spirit magic as delving into the Fade and dealing with Demons. Thoughts?

I also have to figure how to use Blood Magic. That is going to be fun.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Dan True]

My group and I are starting a Dragon Age game using the RuneQuest rules. I am the only one who has the core book, and I'm the only one who has any idea how to play, but I am fairly confident that I can teach everyone the rules with a little trial and error. I managed to teach my group the rules to Aces & Eights. ( if anyone has played that they will know the nightmare that can be)

Welcome to the forum and the system!
You may find that either you need to tweak the rules, or you need to tweak the feeling of Dragon Age to make it work in RuneQuest. The reason is that in RuneQuest people get hurt badly from situations that would hurt them badly - people die easily if they're not carefull. If you want the Dragon Age feeling - where people take 2h-sword hits to the face, and only spit out a curseword - then you need to boost the players persistence and resilience scores, as well as their hit points... and I'm not sure this won't screw something up.
If however you just wish to use their cool world for a more realistic campaign, then you've got the right system.
Regardless, you should go ahead and try it out and get a feeling of it. RuneQuest 2 is an awesome, awesome system and you should try it out for real before deciding yes or no, so don't let my comment stop you

I also have to figure how to use Blood Magic. That is going to be fun.

In necromantic arts there is a sorcery spell called Sacrifice, that allows the caster to sacrifice a victim to gain Magic Points. You could introduce some spells that allow for blood magic:

- Use own blood: Needs to be combined with a spell, and will then power the spell from HP instead of MP.
- Use other's blood: Something like sacrifice, where a spell allows you to retap power by drawing CON from a victim.

or something like it.

- Dan

 

[Deleriad]

Hello everyone.

Hello.

Anyway, I am trying to tweak the rules a bit to fit the world and the only problem I am running into is magic. In the DA universe, magic doesn't ever fail. There isn't the chance that it won't work. The risks come from other areas (demons from the Fade, corruption, etc) but they are mostly story driven, not rules driven.

I must admit that I don't know Dragon Age but the magic always succeeds rule can be easily applied in RQ by making the "cast chance" simply a measure of strength.

E.g. in sorcery your grimoire skill measures both your chance of casting a spell and its strength. In Dragon Age the spell would always succeed with a strength based on your skill.

The one exception to this are spells with the resist trait (like Wrack). In that case:
The spell always succeeds unless the target 'saves' against it. Example The 'saving roll' for Wrack is an opposed roll of the target's Resilience (60%) against the caster's grimoire skill (75%). This means that to make a saving roll the target must both succeed at the Resilience and roll better than the caster.
E.g. Target rolls 71 - fail. Caster rolls 83. Fail. As the *saving roll failed* then the spell takes effect - even though the grimoire skill failed.

Overall, if a spellcaster casts a spell, it works. First I am going to try and combine the common magic spells and the sorcery spells into one group. Just label it sorcery and have it divided into its own categories. (Primal, Healing, Elemental, etc) Each will have their own percentage (like grimoires.)

That should work quite nicely. That said I would probably just leave common magic out. Most common magic spells are replicated in sorcery anyway and those that aren't can be easily made into sorcery.

E.g.
Befuddle
Autonomous, Resist (Persistence).
This spell can affect a target with up to 3 INT per 10% of the caster's skill. It doesn't work against fixed INT creatures and non-corporeal creatures like spirits. If successfully cast the target can no longer tell friend from foe etc

Second I am going to do the failing of magic a little differently. If they fail the roll then the spell costs double the amount of MP. So the spells always go off, but they take a bigger toll on the caster.

Again I don't know DA as a setting so if spells don't fail but occasionally cost more of the caster's 'strength' then your idea would work. If that's not in the source then I would just stick with auto-success.

 

[Mixster]

Hi, and Welcome to the wonderful world of RQII

Tap is a wonderful way to get extra mana points and feel like a blood mage.

Common Magic is mostly toned down versions of Sorcery so there's no real need to combine them. Sorcery can do pretty much anything common magic can do, but it requires much more experience.

Sorcery could easily be split into different groups. You could easily make some grimoires harder to cast with armour, and some not so hard to cast with armour (much like Arcane Warrior versus the "crappy mages")

I like the idea of double MP on a failed roll, perhaps also halve the power of the spell, if it's 3 Siz per 10% Grimoire then 1.5 Siz per 10% grimoire and double MP would be appropriate on a failed roll.

Consider adding the chance that a demon appears on a fumble, which would screw over mages when they are reckless with their spells.

Doesn't the Crusader get some Divine Magic like abilities? I remember someone getting something to heal themselves and stuff, this could be the only part were you include divine magic and spirit magic.

These are all just suggestions, use what you want and what you like.

 

[Marley117]

In necromantic arts there is a sorcery spell called Sacrifice, that allows the caster to sacrifice a victim to gain Magic Points. You could introduce some spells that allow for blood magic:

- Use own blood: Needs to be combined with a spell, and will then power the spell from HP instead of MP.
- Use other's blood: Something like sacrifice, where a spell allows you to retap power by drawing CON from a victim.

I was actually thinking about something like this, though I didn't know it was already in a book. I was just going to make something up, like they could sacrifice life for mp. If they sacrificed a person, it would create a pool of MP they could pull from and would boost their power, since that is what blood magic did.It also allowed them to control people, so that is the only way I'd allow the spells that control other people.

I must admit that I don't know Dragon Age but the magic always succeeds rule can be easily applied in RQ by making the "cast chance" simply a measure of strength.

E.g. in sorcery your grimoire skill measures both your chance of casting a spell and its strength. In Dragon Age the spell would always succeed with a strength based on your skill.

The one exception to this are spells with the resist trait (like Wrack). In that case:
The spell always succeeds unless the target 'saves' against it. Example The 'saving roll' for Wrack is an opposed roll of the target's Resilience (60%) against the caster's grimoire skill (75%). This means that to make a saving roll the target must both succeed at the Resilience and roll better than the caster.
E.g. Target rolls 71 - fail. Caster rolls 83. Fail. As the *saving roll failed* then the spell takes effect - even though the grimoire skill failed.

I like this idea. I was going to do something like that anyway, especially with spells that dealt damage. I just wanted there to be an actual consequence to failing the roll, IE double MP.

Consider adding the chance that a demon appears on a fumble, which would screw over mages when they are reckless with their spells.

I was totally going to do this. Fumbling a magic roll would attract demons in the fade. Next time the mage slept they would come to them and try and seduce them with power. I am either going to just rp this or call for a persistence roll. They can learn magic, blood magic, or become possessed, depending on what happens.

Some other classes do have small things, but they are never given from a divine setting. I could say they are putting their mind into using these abilities, but I'd have to find a different way for them to get their 'spells' back. For things like Templars, I was thinking of just allowing them to buy heroic abilities that would mimic the abilities found in the world.

E.X. Dispel Magic
The Templar projects his will, dispelling one point of magnitude for every 10% he has in persistence.

Or something similar. I am not 100% on those little details yet.

 

[Deleriad]

I was totally going to do this. Fumbling a magic roll would attract demons in the fade.

One thing I'll say about that is that in actual play a player will spend a Hero Point to re-roll rather than accept a fumble. Especially if the stakes are that great. I've been playing RQII for a while now and none of my players have let a fumble stand unless it was for a largely irrelevant roll.

An alternative might be for criticals (as well as fumbles) to have a chance of drawing attention. Players are going to be a lot less willingly to re-roll a critical.

 

[Marley117]

That is a good point, as both a severe magical mishap and a severe magical power surge could draw their attention. I like that a lot, seeing as magic is going to outshine everything in this game.

 

[Ultor]

I was totally going to do this. Fumbling a magic roll would attract demons in the fade.

One thing I'll say about that is that in actual play a player will spend a Hero Point to re-roll rather than accept a fumble. Especially if the stakes are that great. I've been playing RQII for a while now and none of my players have let a fumble stand unless it was for a largely irrelevant roll.

An alternative might be for criticals (as well as fumbles) to have a chance of drawing attention. Players are going to be a lot less willingly to re-roll a critical.

Interesting. In our Glorantha campaign I don't think anyone has ever rerolled a fumble. They've generally found it an entertaining part of the system.

 

[Jujitsudave]

It depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking forward to a gritty and realistic version of Thedas, you are at the right place. I believe that for magic however, you may have to scrap the RQ magic system as a whole.
You could keep the MPs, yet treat each type of magic (spirit magic, shapeshifting, blood magic, etc) as a separate advanced skill. After so many increments of points in that skill, the character gets a new spell and there would be skill minimums to gain certain ones. This could keep the Dragon Age feel using the RQ rules. In addition, MP could be called "stamina" for non-casters and various combat styles couldbe treated in similar ways.
Had Mongoose gained the rights to this fantastic setting, I think the tabletop would be far more sucessful than Green Ronin's lack of investment in new material.

 

[Marley117]

Yes. I have the Green Ronin version, and I am not at all pleased with it. It just isn't...I don't know. There just isn't much to it, and I don't like the feel of it. That is what made me consider RQII for the rules.

I am going for the dark and gritty. It is described as a dark fantasy. That is the feeling I want to get across. I don't want to replicate the game completely, just the feel. It is the setting and the story we all love anyway. I don't think they will mind the game being deadly. The group that I am playing with is transitioning from CoC anyway, so they are used to dying.

 

[Jujitsudave]

I think that if it were marketed at game stores along with the game, it could renew interest in tabletop with a younger generation.
I won't judge the GR version as I haven't seen it, but what I do know is that it is woefully undersupported. I love the MRQII system and have been playing it for a few months and I have to say that it is the best tabletop system I have ever seen. If any system should be worthy of Dragon Age, it's this one.