New Common Magic Spells
- Thread starter Prime_Evil
- Start date
alex_greene
Guest
Yeah, but it kind of starts falling apart if you make combat spells too, well, common. Arsonists would find things so much easier if they could just Ignite their enemies, or just their homes, and imagine Disruption or Skybolt being commonplace in the streets. Jilted wives screaming down lightning or burning off their cheating husbands' sensitive bits, catfights ending up with one girl's face set on fire with a simple touch, angry parents demonstrating sudden bursts of superhuman strength and chucking the cot out the window and down the street.
Kids who sneak into the wrong room and become the worst kind of school bully because they've learned Bladesharp or Multimissile. Or Disruption. Or Fireblade.
And when every crook knows Bandit's Cloak, the spell loses its mystique and mystery. It no longer seems like the special schtick of the player characters' team thief.
Kids who sneak into the wrong room and become the worst kind of school bully because they've learned Bladesharp or Multimissile. Or Disruption. Or Fireblade.
And when every crook knows Bandit's Cloak, the spell loses its mystique and mystery. It no longer seems like the special schtick of the player characters' team thief.
Yes, indeed. I would see the combat spells of Common Magicalex_greene said:
as something which a young warrior of a culture learns for
example as a part of his initiation into the culture's warrior
elite, not as something everybody and his brother and sister
could learn at the equivalent of a kindergarten.
I would also not make all of the non-combat spells of Com-
mon Magic easily available, some of them are probably the
equivalents of guild secrets - one has to join the guild of the
masons to learn Mason's Boon.
For me the real difference between Common Magic and High
Magic is not that all Common Magic spells can be had easily,
only that one does not have to be a trained magicians of any
kind to learn them.
Yes these are all important points that I don't think the rulebook really emphasizes or explains.
If I go through with my idea I will limit what spells are available depending on background,profession,culture, and cult/guild.
RuneQuest6 is actually addressing the issues with common magic being too emphasized on combat. I am really looking forward to it.
If I go through with my idea I will limit what spells are available depending on background,profession,culture, and cult/guild.
RuneQuest6 is actually addressing the issues with common magic being too emphasized on combat. I am really looking forward to it.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
daxos232 said:
This is due to the legacy of the game system - most of the combat-oriented spells such as Bladesharp go right back to the very earliest edition of Runequest. This was back in the day when RPGs in general put a much heavier emphasis on combat and "Common Magic" was known as "Battle Magic" (which makes its purpose pretty clear, don't you think?). By contrast with the other RPGs that on the market at the time, Runequest was a quantum leap forward - the elegance of its design was widely admired (especially in the UK and Australia where it and Stormbringer outsold D&D for a brief time when they were distributed by Games Workshop). But it still assumed that combat would be a major focus of the game.
The idea that Battle Magic should be broadened out into something less combat-oriented originated during the period when Runequest was published by Avalon Hill. During this period, most of the spells that were previously classified as Battle Magic were moved into Spirit Magic and a number of new spells with a non-combat focus were added to the game. This was a step in the right direction, but it felt a bit odd to lump all of the combat spells under Spirit Magic.
daxos232 said:
To be fair to Mongoose, I think that they have done a good job of creating a system that moves Common Magic towards a form of folk magic without ejecting the iconic spells inherited from Runequest. It's a pity that they didn't go further when they rebranded MRQ II as Legend, but it looks like they rushed the core rulebook out quickly so that the system remained in print. Maybe a future book will change the focus of Common Magic in line with community expectations?
RQ 6 has the advantage of coming out after there has been a lot of discussion about the role of common magic in the game. I'm confident that Loz and Pete will do a good job in this area and may introduce some significant improvements on MRQ II.
daxos232 said:
This is the logical way to go - these spells are "trade secrets" of military orders in the same way that some of the other spells are "trade secrets" of artisan guilds and similar institutions.
There is nothing in the Legend rulebook indicating that characters automatically gain access to the entire list of common magic spells!
In many settings, magical knowledge is jealously hoarded and those who have access to it will be reluctant to share it with outsiders. Keep in mind that there is no universal education system in a pre-modern setting - people acquire knowledge relevant to their profession during an arduous period of apprenticeship within a cult, guild, or military order. And even if you're an acolyte at the local temple, the high priest is unlikely to teach you the secret techniques of the cult until you have proven your commitment to the organization. So don't let players bully you into giving them access to all of the common magic spells available - many of them are closely-guarded trade secrets that characters can only learn through membership in an appropriate organisation. In low-magic settings (including swords and sorcery settings) the majority of the population will have no access to common magic at all - a typical man-at-arms is unlikely to know combat-oriented spell such as Bladesharp, but a warrior who has been initiated into a military cult or a chivalric order might have picked up the spell as part of their training. As a rule of thumb, I tend to assume that about 80%-90% of NPCs have no access to common magic while the remainder know only 1d3+1 spells - and most of these will be mundane spells such as like Repair. There are exceptions to these guidelines, but they tend to be rare - professional adventurers tend to pick up a broader range of spells that the average person over time and sorcerous orders teach an interesting selection of common magic spells to adepts as they rise through the ranks.
Think of it this way - most rural villages will have a hedge wizard or wise woman who knows a handfull of spells. To the peasants who make up the bulk of the population in ancient and medieval times, common magic is a part of village life but is not something that they encounter every day. Furthermore, the local practitioners of folk magic will tend to focus on those spells that are useful in the context of rural life - a spell that eases the pain of childbirth is far more useful to the local wise woman than something like firearrow because she can use it to make a decent living. Large towns and similar settlements may have a number of professional spellcasters - most of whom are affiliated with a guild, cult, or sorcerous order - but they still only make up a small percentage of the population. I tend to assume that professional spellcasters are about as common as other skilled artisans. If you compare them to weaponsmiths or stonemasons, it is likely that most towns will only have a handful of full-time practitioners. It's still possible to make a decent living with just a few common magic spells though. And because the educational opportunities that exist in urban areas are greater than those that exist in rural areas, there are a greater number of people who know a smattering of common magic spells - maybe one person in every ten will know acouple of simple spells. People won't be startled when common magic is used in their presence, but it's still not something that is ubiquitous.
As a setting specific example of how I use the Common Magic spells,
the Keru of my Kerumar setting are fishermen and sheep herders ru-
led by the noble Kerum family.
The members of this noble family are the only ones who know any of
the Common Magic combat spells, because this exclusive knowledge
is most useful to protect their position as rulers. They might perhaps
teach one or two combat spells to an especially trusted guard, but it
would be an exceptional decision to do so.
The Lord Kerum's steward is the only one who knows the Abacus spell,
which he uses to count the community's sheep herds and to determi-
ne the taxes the herders have to pay to the Lord Kerum. The spell co-
mes with the office and, like the office, is guarded jealously.
Once a fisherman has enough experience, skills and status he can be-
come the captain of a fishing boat. This is when he is taught the Slip
spell mentioned in an earlier post, and in a way the knowledge of the
spell is what makes him a captain, so he will not teach it to any other
member of his crew.
In a society of this kind, knowledge is an element of power, and power
is not shared willingly, except when there is a "need to know" that co-
mes with a specific role in the society. Once someone has made it to a
position of power, he is unlikely to give the potential competition for his
position a helping hand by teaching them the knowledge required for
the position.
the Keru of my Kerumar setting are fishermen and sheep herders ru-
led by the noble Kerum family.
The members of this noble family are the only ones who know any of
the Common Magic combat spells, because this exclusive knowledge
is most useful to protect their position as rulers. They might perhaps
teach one or two combat spells to an especially trusted guard, but it
would be an exceptional decision to do so.
The Lord Kerum's steward is the only one who knows the Abacus spell,
which he uses to count the community's sheep herds and to determi-
ne the taxes the herders have to pay to the Lord Kerum. The spell co-
mes with the office and, like the office, is guarded jealously.
Once a fisherman has enough experience, skills and status he can be-
come the captain of a fishing boat. This is when he is taught the Slip
spell mentioned in an earlier post, and in a way the knowledge of the
spell is what makes him a captain, so he will not teach it to any other
member of his crew.
In a society of this kind, knowledge is an element of power, and power
is not shared willingly, except when there is a "need to know" that co-
mes with a specific role in the society. Once someone has made it to a
position of power, he is unlikely to give the potential competition for his
position a helping hand by teaching them the knowledge required for
the position.
alex_greene
Guest
In effect, your setting makes Common Magic magical skill an Advanced Skill, most likely requiring training to improve as well as the usual Improvement Rolls, and training definitely required (and possible faction membership and advancement in rank in order to qualify) to learn specific Common Magic spells.
And we come back to chirurgeons learning Becalm, Cauterise and Heal, hunters making use of Endurance and Clear Path (but not Beast Call - that's what shepherds use with their dogs and flocks), entertainers learning Co-ordination, Dragon's Breath, Entertainer's Smile, Glamour and Golden Tongue, and people who have to work outdoors a lot paying a fortune for Warmth Common Magic enchantment matrix handwarmers or learning the Ignite spell.
I think that if someone's coming up with an Open Source document collecting all of the spells listed in this thread, the document will also need an article describing who knows which Common Magic spells, and why - and also ideas on when to throw in an anomaly, such as a medic who knows Disruption (how and where did he learn that?) or an officer of the Night Watch knowing Bandit's Cloak and Darkwall (moonlighting as a thief, or former poacher turned gamekeeper?)
And we come back to chirurgeons learning Becalm, Cauterise and Heal, hunters making use of Endurance and Clear Path (but not Beast Call - that's what shepherds use with their dogs and flocks), entertainers learning Co-ordination, Dragon's Breath, Entertainer's Smile, Glamour and Golden Tongue, and people who have to work outdoors a lot paying a fortune for Warmth Common Magic enchantment matrix handwarmers or learning the Ignite spell.
I think that if someone's coming up with an Open Source document collecting all of the spells listed in this thread, the document will also need an article describing who knows which Common Magic spells, and why - and also ideas on when to throw in an anomaly, such as a medic who knows Disruption (how and where did he learn that?) or an officer of the Night Watch knowing Bandit's Cloak and Darkwall (moonlighting as a thief, or former poacher turned gamekeeper?)
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
alex_greene said:
Ask and ye shall receive
I've been collected all of my spells into a document that is available here:
Spells of Legend (Version 2.0)
I've added your spells to as per our previous discussion
If anybody else wants to release the spells that they have created in this thread as open game content, let me know and I'll add them to the document.
My goal is to gradually build up a selection of new spells that people can use both for their own home campaign.
If anybody else has any cool spells that they are willing to release as Open Game Content, please let me know!
Whatever I post on a public forum is public domain,Prime_Evil said:
so you are free to use it if you consider it useful. :wink:
A spell that could be interesting for other settings, too:
Purify
Instant, Magnitude 1
This spell purifies an amount of water up to the content of
a usual waterskin. The Keru fishermen use it on long voya-
ges to turn salt water into fresh drinking water, a usually
less welcome side effect is that the spell can also be used
to remove all alcohol from beer or wine (but not from any
stronger alcoholic drinks). The spell can only remove com-
mon substances, and therefore will not remove most poi-
sons.
Rikki Tikki Traveller
Cosmic Mongoose
You can add my spells as well. Any of them posted here (or in the future) are OGL as far as I'm concerned.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
Thanks! I'll update the document accordingly.
Please let me know how you would like to be credited.
Please let me know how you would like to be credited.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
rust said:
A couple of questions:
Can this spell be used to destroy magical potions?
What about using it to neutralize acids?
Does it have any effect on unusual liquids created by alchemists?
The answer in all three cases would be "no", at least in my settings.Prime_Evil said:
The spell removes only common impurities from water, it does not
remove unusual substances or change other liquids into water, the
sole known exception is the removal of alcohol from beer and wine.
The mage who created the spell wanted a spell which makes dirty
water and salt water drinkable. In my setting the development of a
spell is a rather chaotic process of trial and error, not a scientific
process, and so almost all spells have minor unexpected or unwan-
ted side effects, too - effects the mages who created the spells ei-
ther did not recognize or considered too time consuming to elimina-
te. Once a spell does what it is intended to do, the development nor-
mally ends, the spell is used, and unless the side effects it still has
cause serious problems there is no attempt to improve the spell or
make it perfect by removing all of the side effects.
As for the credit, should you use any of my spells, there is no need
for a credit, because I probably have subconsciously borrowed the
spells from someone else's work anyways.
Prime_Evil said:
Be free to add the spell I posted here- and those which will follow- to your document.
By the way I would like to be allowed to translate this document to french(with the aproval of the authors) and share It with my player and on another forum (a french one). Of course, a link to this thread will be provided and the name of the original creators quoted.
alex_greene
Guest
Sounds cool. I'd appreciate a copy of the French translation if you go ahead with it.
Another typical Keru spell with a side effect:
Haul
Duration 1, Magnitude 1
The spell enables the caster to pull on a rope with five times his
normal strength for one minute. During this time the caster can-
not let go of the rope.
The Keru fishermen use the spell to haul in a net with an especi-
ally good catch, but they have also found other uses for it, from
moving heavy objects to cheating in a tug of war.
However, the use of the spell requires some judgement. When
the object at the other end of the rope is too heavy to be pulled
towards the caster with five times his strength, the caster is in-
stead pulled towards the object with this same strength.
So using Haul when a giant shark got caught in the net can be a
fatal mistake, and "so dumb he would cast Haul on a rope tied to
a tree" is a Keru saying to describe a really stupid person.
Haul
Duration 1, Magnitude 1
The spell enables the caster to pull on a rope with five times his
normal strength for one minute. During this time the caster can-
not let go of the rope.
The Keru fishermen use the spell to haul in a net with an especi-
ally good catch, but they have also found other uses for it, from
moving heavy objects to cheating in a tug of war.
However, the use of the spell requires some judgement. When
the object at the other end of the rope is too heavy to be pulled
towards the caster with five times his strength, the caster is in-
stead pulled towards the object with this same strength.
So using Haul when a giant shark got caught in the net can be a
fatal mistake, and "so dumb he would cast Haul on a rope tied to
a tree" is a Keru saying to describe a really stupid person.
alex_greene
Guest
Until the day one character does just that, and pulls himself out of the deadly sucking quicksands round the back of Dobrath's farm ...
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
OK...here's another idea for a spell that fits into the notion of folk magic. I'll be interested to know what people think of this one, since it extends Common Magic into the area of minor enchantment:
Talisman
Magnitude 1, Progressive, Touch, Trigger
This spell enchants a protective talisman to provide a bonus to a single Resilience or Persisitence roll against a specific condition. A different talisman is required to protect against each condition that triggers a Resilience or Persisitence roll - possibilities include a Talisman Against Disease, a Talisman Against Poison, a Talisman Against Drowning, a Talisman against Demonic Possession, a Talisman Against Being Swindled By Merchants, etc. The condition must be fairly specific - it is impossible to create a talisman that protects against all possible hazards.
The talisman is activated as soon as the wearer encounters the specified condition - the wearer cannot choose to delay the protective effects until a later time. When the talisman activated, it provides a +10% bonus per point of Magnitude to the first Resilience or Persistence roll required by the triggering condition. After it has discharged, the talisman may glow faintly or feel warm to the touch for 1D4+1 rounds
A talisman must be worn to be effective - it provides no benefit if it is carried in a pouch or backpack. However, a character can only carry a single talisman at any given time - if two talismans are carried at the same time, their magical fields interfere with each other and both temporarily lose their virtue (even if only one of them is actually worn). Furthermore, characters cannot quickly swap one talisman for another when they become aware of a potential hazard - the character must wait 1d4+1 rounds until the new talisman becomes attuned to them.
Talisman
Magnitude 1, Progressive, Touch, Trigger
This spell enchants a protective talisman to provide a bonus to a single Resilience or Persisitence roll against a specific condition. A different talisman is required to protect against each condition that triggers a Resilience or Persisitence roll - possibilities include a Talisman Against Disease, a Talisman Against Poison, a Talisman Against Drowning, a Talisman against Demonic Possession, a Talisman Against Being Swindled By Merchants, etc. The condition must be fairly specific - it is impossible to create a talisman that protects against all possible hazards.
The talisman is activated as soon as the wearer encounters the specified condition - the wearer cannot choose to delay the protective effects until a later time. When the talisman activated, it provides a +10% bonus per point of Magnitude to the first Resilience or Persistence roll required by the triggering condition. After it has discharged, the talisman may glow faintly or feel warm to the touch for 1D4+1 rounds
A talisman must be worn to be effective - it provides no benefit if it is carried in a pouch or backpack. However, a character can only carry a single talisman at any given time - if two talismans are carried at the same time, their magical fields interfere with each other and both temporarily lose their virtue (even if only one of them is actually worn). Furthermore, characters cannot quickly swap one talisman for another when they become aware of a potential hazard - the character must wait 1d4+1 rounds until the new talisman becomes attuned to them.
I like it, but I think it is a bit too powerful for a Magnitude 1 spell,Prime_Evil said:
because it actually combines two effects, protection and detection.
If I would introduce it to my setting, I would probably handle it as
a Magnitude 2 spell, and I think I would change the time required
to attune to another talisman to 1d4+1 hours.
