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Fax Celestis
2007-02-06, 04:48 PM
What's your favorite alternative magic system?

Bears With Lasers
2007-02-06, 04:49 PM
Psionics. Unless Tome of Battle counts.

Fax Celestis
2007-02-06, 04:50 PM
ToB sort of counts. I'm not sure on that. It's not really magic, but it kinda is.

Omniplex
2007-02-06, 04:52 PM
Psionics, though I like the way it's done in Arcana Evolved

Illiterate Scribe
2007-02-06, 04:53 PM
Psionics, but only because it can easily be cannibalised (along with epic powers) for other formats.

Khantalas
2007-02-06, 04:55 PM
Psionics for me, hands down.

Next is Pact Magic and Truename Magic, then Incarnum, then Shadow Magic.

I don't consider martial manuevers to be magic, though. If I did, it would be right after psionics.

squishycube
2007-02-06, 05:01 PM
My fav is actually no magic...

Iron Heroes is fun :smile:

Fax Celestis
2007-02-06, 05:06 PM
Psionics for me, hands down.

Next is Pact Magic and Truename Magic, then Incarnum, then Shadow Magic.

I don't consider martial manuevers to be magic, though. If I did, it would be right after psionics.

Why no love for Shadow magic?

Khantalas
2007-02-06, 05:07 PM
Why no love for Shadow magic?

Cause my campaign setting has no Plane of Shadow.

Well, duh.

Fax Celestis
2007-02-06, 05:08 PM
Cause my campaign setting has no Plane of Shadow.

Well, duh.

//rolls eyes. :smallwink:

Pepper
2007-02-06, 05:32 PM
Voted Psionics. Personally had been waiting for that longer than anything else.

Woot Spitum
2007-02-06, 05:37 PM
Psionics. Although I think the Tome of Magic stuff is cool, I just haven't used it enough to give it the vote. If I had ToM I would probably give the shadow magic a try.

Malek
2007-02-06, 05:40 PM
ToM stuff, hands down - it has the best fluff. Incarnum would be second - it seems fun, but it's a bit unwieldy (the short descriptions of soulmelds are a bit... vauge... and make you dig through the full list). Psionics is OK, but it doesn't seem THAT interesting.

TheOOB
2007-02-06, 05:43 PM
I'll cast my vote for psionics since ToB isn't in there.

I really love the UA Recharge Magic varient, but in order for it to work the magic system would have to be built from the ground up with an entire new spell list taking the recharge system into account.

Teloric
2007-02-07, 11:28 AM
I'm not that familiar with other DnD options, but other games have some neat systems. GURPS is pretty cool, and works well. I'm also fond of the Talislanta system...

jayphonic
2007-02-07, 04:51 PM
The magic system in The Midnight Campaign Setting from Fantasy Flight Games is excellent. Here is the Setting preview that includes the Channeler class, which is the base spellcasting class: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/PDF/midnight.pdf

El Jaspero, the Pirate King
2007-02-07, 09:28 PM
Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved has a new and very elegant take on magic. Once you've used it, playing with the classic D&D system feels like caveman gaming.


My fav is actually no magic...

Iron Heroes is fun :smile:

*high five for three Awesome Tokens*

PirateMonk
2007-02-07, 09:39 PM
I'm not that familiar with other DnD options, but other games have some neat systems. GURPS is pretty cool, and works well.

Yeah. My favorite GURPS Magic system is Cantrips.

"Rabbits, chickens, cows, and ducks
Turn the lights on! Fiat lux!"

Krimm_Blackleaf
2007-02-07, 09:41 PM
Psionics for the win.

PinkysBrain
2007-02-07, 09:43 PM
I like Binding from ToM, but I can't honestly vote for the ToM option with shadowcasting and truespeaking in there.

Arceliar
2007-02-07, 09:54 PM
Psionics. It could easily replace the default magic system with very little effort too, just replace spells per day with MP or something >.> I should actually do that in a campaign sometime.........

The UA Recharge Magic system is also fun. Though it does negate the need for many lower level spells if you ask me...by 20th level your chain lightning is going to recharge long before you need to resort to magic missiles.

Winged One
2007-02-07, 09:58 PM
I like Pact magic best, but I also like Tome of Battle stuff, Psionics, and other Tome of Magic stuff, in that order. I don't have Incarnum or much experience with the Unearthed Arcana stuff, so I can't really place those.

Lord Iames Osari
2007-02-07, 09:58 PM
Psionics for me.

The Valiant Turtle
2007-02-07, 10:00 PM
I like Psionics and Incarnum alot, but I haven't really read ToM enough to comment. However, my final vote would have to go with the others who have mentioned Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved.

Monte writes some great rules, but I don't like his settings or adventures that well. If he'd get someone else to create a settings for some of his ideas (maybe even The Giant) I think they would gain some real traction.

daggaz
2007-02-08, 06:41 AM
I voted 'other,' for Harry Potter magic. To cast a spell, players have to arbitrarily shout out some broken pig-latin within a 6 second time frame. If the majority of other players cant guess what it is/what it does (or the DM cant be convinced), then the spell fails.

'Explodunus Flatulescence!'
'Tentacallius Edvardos Invadium!

or the worst curse of them all...

'Oedipusius Compellesciance!

Subotei
2007-02-08, 11:17 AM
I like the old Runequest system - I much prefer a magic-point system to spell slots - seems more realistic (if that can be said of fantasy magic).

Hoggmaster
2007-02-08, 11:27 AM
I like the magic system in Iron Heroes/True Sorcery...custom spells, danger to cast, good stuff. Also the magic in the Conan rpg...very dark ritualistic magic, stuff to be scared of...

Yuki Akuma
2007-02-08, 11:28 AM
Incarnum for me, please.

Second I'd have to choose the magical Tome of Battle maneuvers (about a third of them are magical, don'cha know).

Piccamo
2007-02-08, 12:08 PM
Pact Magic. It seems better balanced than other types of magic. In the campaign setting I'm making it will be the only type of magic.

mikeejimbo
2007-02-08, 12:12 PM
I'm not that familiar with other DnD options, but other games have some neat systems. GURPS is pretty cool, and works well. I'm also fond of the Talislanta system...

My favorite non-D&D Magic system is that in Mage: The Ascension.

bosssmiley
2007-02-08, 12:14 PM
XPH Psionics.

I finally had the "Ah! So *that's* how it was intended to work, that's clever..." epiphany after 3 editions. I wish to be buried with my XPH.

Jade_Tarem
2007-02-08, 12:22 PM
I kinda liked the BGII system - and BGII is kinda based on AD&D with a few notable exceptions.

Anyway, I'm not sure of the precise algorithm used, but it seems that the more powerful the spell, the longer it takes to cast. Interestingly enough, it doesn't seem to be solely level-dependent, either. The somewhat cheesey spell grease actually takes longer to cast than knock, a higher level spell. Magic Missile, of course, is nearly instantaneous just to add that "BAM!" factor to the spell. At higher levels spellcasting goes quicker. To update to 3.5, there would probably just be feats that you could take to diminish the time.

It creates an interesting flavor as well as making more sense. The incredibly complex Wail of the Banshee takes longer to cast than magic missile? Who'd have thought? Also, it adds an "oh crap" factor for those that can't identify the spell being cast: "He's been working on that spell for the last 7 rounds, it's gonna hurt!" What's more, it does a decent job of balancing the classes, or so I found. When the Fighter can dish out 6 attacks in the time it takes a wizard to cast hold person, playing the BDF seems a little more palatable to mechanically-minded players. The wizard isn't going to waste his 3-round fireball on one or two enemies, either, but is likely to allow the fighter to show them his "great cleavage" and save it for a real crowd, due to the horrible damage efficiency.

To prevent it from being too bitter a pill for casters to swallow, it would also help to raise the DC of the spells. If you spend 5 rounds on Dominate Person it really ought to dominate something. Also, spells with multiple parts, like magic missile, really ought to have multiple rolls versus spell resistance. Regardless of the fact that it's all one spell, the creature is being struck 5 times, and the fact that resistance to the first equals immunity to all is a non-sequiter.

Maybe I'm just being silly and this couldn't possibly work, but I'd like to try it sometime.

Tweekinator
2007-02-08, 12:32 PM
I haven't really looked at the other systems of magic, but I have played a one-shot using an Incarnum character. While I was able to at level 10 have my AC at 43, I was otherwise fairly ineffective. Maybe I didn't do something right, but I still dislike the Incarnum system.

Pronounceable
2007-02-08, 09:02 PM
I'm almost (but not completely) sure that that's the original adnd way of casting spells. Spells have a "casting time number" that adjusts caster's initiative. A wizard with init count at 14 casts a spell with 7 casting time on round one. The spell goes off on 14-7=7 init. count on round 2, and wizard acts on init count 7 from now on. Negative counts loop back to 20 on the next round.

There are spells with number rounds or 8 hours (Identify I think) casting time too.

I think that's a bit too complicated to keep track of, so most people dropped it.


That aside, my favorite magic is that of Discworld. What is NOT to love about Discworld anyway?

reorith
2007-02-08, 09:32 PM
tome of magic. you should have seen the look on the wizards face when the bbeg unnamed him

PirateMonk
2007-02-08, 09:38 PM
My favorite non-D&D Magic system is that in Mage: The Ascension.

There's a GURPS M:TA. There's a GURPS everything, really.

Khantalas
2007-02-09, 04:18 AM
I'm almost (but not completely) sure that that's the original adnd way of casting spells. Spells have a "casting time number" that adjusts caster's initiative. A wizard with init count at 14 casts a spell with 7 casting time on round one. The spell goes off on 14-7=7 init. count on round 2, and wizard acts on init count 7 from now on. Negative counts loop back to 20 on the next round.

There are spells with number rounds or 8 hours (Identify I think) casting time too.

I think that's a bit too complicated to keep track of, so most people dropped it.

Ah, good ol' AD&D. We miss you so, with your unusable psionics systems and -10 AC and your THAC0. Yes, that's a 0. Not an O. For those who are too young to remember.

Winterking
2007-02-15, 12:28 AM
Having played a GURPS one-shot using cantrips*, I have to say it's my favorite magic system, hands-down. For about five hours the six PCs hurled couplets, limericks (dirty, of course), quatrains, and even sonnets (I wrote three, admittedly awful, in attempts for my character to undo the restraints his siblings--the other PCs--had put on him)

*magic is based on rhyming phrases while you cast the spell

Lemur
2007-02-15, 01:54 AM
I chose psionics, since it was the only thing on that list I have any real familiarity with. However, I think the system for the One Power, from the Wheel of Time D&D setting is pretty interesting too.

starwoof
2007-02-15, 01:56 AM
Psionics. Even though it isnt magic. At all.

Im also a huge fan of pact magic.

CockroachTeaParty
2007-02-15, 05:30 AM
It's gotta be psionics for me, boys and girls. Blame my video game MP system familiarity, but there's something about making heads explode with a stare that makes me giggle.

I wish I was Tetsuo.

kamikasei
2007-02-15, 05:47 AM
Psionics.

"How about the power to kill a yak, from three hundred miles away... with mind bullets?!?"

Soepvork
2007-02-15, 06:14 AM
ToM for me.

Although I like the MP system of psionics, I find it lacking flavor. To me, most powers seem to much like the "psionic version of [insert arcane spell name]".

martyboy74
2007-02-15, 09:22 AM
That's WotC's fault, not the system's. If you don't like it, then just make new powers and switch them in. Anyways, Death Urge rules.

Indon
2007-02-15, 11:02 AM
My favorite non-D&D Magic system is that in Mage: The Ascension.

Same here, in particular the technocratic flavor of it.

The Prince of Cats
2007-02-15, 11:45 AM
Four By Five Magic (http://wiki.greywulf.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Macropedia?search=%22FourByFiveMagic%22) from Microlite20

My wife hates magic, well... it would be better to say that she hates limitations to magic. She keeps quoting real-world rules, so I quote thelemite or kabbalistic stuff, she calls BS on me and I don't get any sex unless I tell her I don't believe in faeries.


My favourite magic system is the one from Wujick's Amber Diceless system. It takes about an hour to prepare a spell, then you prepare a few lynchpins (words that define certain parameters) and 'hang' the spell until you want to cast it.

Fax Celestis
2007-02-15, 11:51 AM
My wife hates magic, well... it would be better to say that she hates limitations to magic. She keeps quoting real-world rules, so I quote thelemite or kabbalistic stuff, she calls BS on me and I don't get any sex unless I tell her I don't believe in faeries.

Story of my life.

Saithis Bladewing
2007-02-15, 11:51 AM
I like the UA(I think?) Spell Points system. It's in the SRD, here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/spellPoints.htm).

Piccamo
2007-02-15, 11:52 AM
Psionics. Even though it isnt magic. At all.


It would be mechanically the same no matter what you called it and transparency practically states that it is magic.

Piedmon_Sama
2007-02-15, 11:55 AM
Went with psionics, but I also -love- Magic of Incarnum and think it's tremendously underappreciated.

Indon
2007-02-15, 11:56 AM
My favourite magic system is the one from Wujick's Amber Diceless system. It takes about an hour to prepare a spell, then you prepare a few lynchpins (words that define certain parameters) and 'hang' the spell until you want to cast it.

Flavor-wise, isn't this about what wizards in D&D do? Though, it was much more evident in 2'nd edition, where spells took longer to prepare based on their level.

In 3'rd edition, they just want spellcasters to get all their spells every day, so they pretty much gloss over preparation.

Druid
2007-02-15, 01:00 PM
Psionics, fallowed by pact magic. True name magic would be cool if the system had been pulled off better, and shadow magic is allright. Other than that I don't have much experience with any of these systems.