Limit to number of common magic spells

[superc0ntra]

Is there a limit to the number of common magic spells a character can learn?
I found a limit on the magnitudes but not on the number of spells, maybe there isn't any and I just recall something from the old Chaosium RQ days.
:shock: (Yes I am that old)

 

[DamonJynx]

Not that I recall. I know sorcerers can only hold in memory a number of spells = INT

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I think some kind of limit would be reasonable. A person can only memorize so many things...

Using # Spells = INT seems like a reasonable place to start.

 

[superc0ntra]

I must have mixed common magic and sorcery but agree that INT would be a reasonable limit

 

[Bifford]

Page 34 of the Core Rulebook, under "Final Stages: Magic" says:

"If Common Magic is freely available, then the spells that an Adventurer has at the start of the
game depend on his Cultural Background. In such games every Adventurer begins with 6 points to spend on Common Magic spells, as described in the Common Magic chapter. The following limits apply to all Adventurers:
• 1 point is equal to 1 point of Magnitude (thus Bladesharp 2 would cost 2 points)
• No spell can exceed Magnitude 3
• Spells must be chosen from the Cultural Background Magic table

Thus, Alaric could begin with up to six Magnitude 1 spells, three Magnitude 2 spells or two
Magnitude 3 spells."

That is the rule as written, but you are free as GM to alter that.

Sam / Bifford

 

[alex_greene]

It doesn't say how many you can hold: only what you get at chargen.

What about during play? The rules do not say, except as regards their impact on Sorcery in the Sorcery writeup.

If X Magnitude of Common Magic spells occupy X of a character's INT, then it does seem to me that the character can hold no more than his INT's worth of total Magnitudes of Common Magic spells.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Alex, I like that limit even better. So a player has to decide between a few strong spells or a lot of less powerful spells.

Player Choice for the win!

 

[DamonJynx]

If X Magnitude of Common Magic spells occupy X of a character's INT, then it does seem to me that the character can hold no more than his INT's worth of total Magnitudes of Common Magic spells.

Makes sense to me!

 

[Prime_Evil]

My own house rule works like this:

• An adventurer can learn a number of common magic spells equal to INT x 2. This means that an Adventurer with an INT of 12 can theoretically learn up to 24 common magic spells.
• However, an adventurer cannot cast common magic spells with a Magnitude exceeding their POW divided by three (rounded up). This means that the maximum Magnitude of a common magic spell cast by an Adventurer with an POW of 12 is 4.

This approach allows characters to learn a wide variety of spells, but places an upper limit on how powerful each spell can be. I use both INT and POW to ensure that the mileage that characters can get out of common magic isn't dependent upon a single attribute. It also means that characters who specialise in spellcasting will have a significant advantage over other characters in this area, at the expense of other areas of development.

 

[jux]

I think, it is up to GM, which spells are available to which cult(ure). Legend is settingless.

 

[Prime_Evil]

True, but players are often interested in the reasoning behind GM decisions that place a cap on the power level of their characters. For this reason, it's a good idea to have a convenient explanation prepared in advance

 

[Hopeless]

I was thinking limiting access to common magic to their 1pt per 10% in that skill but when i last ran Legend I used pre-gens supplied there which was slightly powerful magic wise unlike the first game which required them to have a spellcasting class to even be able to cast magic in the first place.

Always viewed Legend as low magic but this rule was never really tested in that first game unlike the second!

I think they all has low power scores for their characters and only the blacksmith had access to a spell scroll to learn a specific common magic spell which was depicted as more lore based than anything.

Was wondering about what limits there should be to common magic spells, liked that one about Power/3 being the highest magnitude it can go.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I always recommend linking limits to the character's attributes, but I'm wary of linking too many of them to a single attribute or one attribute will be far more valuable than the others. That's why I base the limit on number of spells that can be learned upon INT, but the limit on the magnitude of each individual spell upon POW.