How complicated is too complicated for a D&D subsystem?

[bekeleven]

Inspired by the "Books that need adapting" thread.

I have a magical system for a world in which I'm writing a novel (53k words down, ~12k to go!) I was thinking of writing up a D&D subsystem for it, since after all, I've written D&D subsystems before. The issue is the complication of the magical powers:


There are 4 magical powers. Each has a separate fuel in the body.
A character has a speciality in one of those powers, which affects a few stats like the max fuel they can maintain.
In addition to fuel reserves, each power can only be used outwardly for so long before the mage is "empty" and has to use it inwardly to refill (or vice versa). The terminology used is that of breath - inhaling and exhaling.
Mages can use any power strongly or weakly (imagine a power point system tracking the reserves of each power). However, the maximum strength of a power is inversely related to the mage's maximum fuel reserves (I'd probably drop this in an adaptation, it ends up encouraging bad behaviors)
Just to throw extra complications in, each power is associated with a mental state/process. Using one power at a time is generally not too hard, but it's so hard to maintain dual mental states that mages can only use two powers at once if one is their specialty power, and even then it places restrictions.

So: Even after dropping the rule about higher spikes = less fuel, is it too complicated to bother? Basically it comes down to this:

Pros: There's only 4 powers (each of which does something on the inhale and something on the exhale). A mage's specialty power is determined by affinity to its mental state, so the character personality hooks into the mechanics. The system has specialization without hard restrictions against using certain powers.

Cons: Each player is tracking 4 different reserves in combat as well as the fullness/emptiness of each power. Out of these 8 numbers, 2 generally change per round (the fuel reserve of the active power as well as its current breath). Also a con: I can't think of better terminology to differentiate those in an RPG. It makes sense in the story, honest!

[danzibr]

Nah, doesn't sound too complicated. Color me curious.

[bekeleven]

Nah, doesn't sound too complicated. Color me curious.

A vasilurge has the ability to give off, absorb, and partially direct “fundamental forces” of the world using their bodies. Doing so burns a fuel, which in this case is nutrients found naturally in the body. This forces a mage to control diet carefully, and makes it significantly easier to tell mages from others - The most common staple crop in the region, Corn, contains Zeaxanthin, which suppresses magical abilities for 48-96 hours after ingestion, depending on amount and metabolism of the host. Very trace amounts may dim power output instead.

Using any power requires a mage to enter a mental state. These states are not technically exclusive, but most mages maintain only one at a time. The mental states can make certain powers hard for some mages to use, and prevent one power from being used at all.

Use of a power can cause a feeling of being “filled”, requiring the mage to use its converse to balance it out. For instance, if a character lights a finger as a torch in a dark place, he will soon find himself empty of light and be required to attract light with his body until he is refilled. In a dark place, this will of course take much longer, even if absorbing with all exposed skin. Each power has an inhale and an exhale, which basically amounts to absorbing a force or giving it off.

As an advanced skill, some mages can practice circular "breathing," where they push and pull with the same power at the same time - for instance, lighting a hand while darkening a face. This will burn nutrients twice as quickly, but allow for both to remain on constantly. This is not easy to do, and most mages can do it with at most their primary power.

A mage that specializes in Light is called a Beacon. A mage that specializes in gravity is known as a Gust. A mage that specializes in electricity is called Fuzz. A mage that specializes in magnetism is called a Lodestone.

More skilled mages can manipulate what parts of the body/skin are in effect when using a power, as well as (for magnetism and gravity) what direction the power is projected. For instance, a skilled beacon could draw a checkerboard pattern on his arm with light and dark patches, while a skilled lodestone could keep a nail aloft between his outspread arms, rotate it, and move it back and forth.

The most of any one nutrient a person can use at once is constant, but this includes the amount that the body consumes passively. This means that smaller people or people with slower metabolism will be more powerful mages. However, smaller people generally can’t eat as much food.

Key mental states
Focus, Awareness of environment.
Analysis, Awareness of interaction between two known elements of environment.
Balance, Awareness of interaction between the environment and the self.
Recognition, Awareness of self.

Powers
Light (metabolising fat)
A mage can make parts of his skin shine with light, or catch light, becoming a deep black.
Using Light is a form of Focus. When using light, a mage must be aware of the environment around him. This is harder, but not impossible, in pure darkness.

Gravity (metabolising protein)
A mage can fire directional pushes and pulls from their body (or parts of their body, although these are almost always pointed directly away from their center of mass). In effect, this means two major uses: Hurling characters off of the ground, and shooting gale-force winds (either to stay aloft, or to manipulate the environment).
Gravity is an indirect art: Any force projected through it will only matter to the particles touching the skin. This means that using Gravity requires a mage to concentrate on Analysis, interaction between elements of the environment.

Magnetism (metabolising carbohydrates)
A mage can attract or repel magnetic objects. Generally used directionally, as when throwing a sword out of one opponent’s hand, you don’t want to throw the swords from the hands of your allies as well.
Using magnetism is a force of Balance, and it comes from a feeling of balance, as well. Using it requires a mage to find his center, to see and predict how his changes connect to himself and what’s around him.

Electricity (metabolising organic acids)
A mage can impart positive or negative static charge to things that they touch or are near. Popular sources of this nutrient include papaya or imported lemons.
Electricity imparts a charge to the body, although it can be transferred. In order to use it, a mage must be aware of their own body, and enter the mental state of Recognition.

<Additional scrubbed powers and mental states>That's the system. I got about 2 pages into my work gamefying it but I didn't like it, so I may scrap it and start again.

[danzibr]

Man, that looks awesome. The concept. I love new magic systems (and not just in D&D). Are you going to make a post in the homebrew forum? Also, this has me interested in your book.

I have a magic system in my books, but haven't thought to D&D-ify it.

I'm also very curious a bout the mechanics (which you said you scrapped).

[SangoProduction]

A good general rule I stick to in homebrew is how long does it take to reference, decide, and give the crunch, at the table.

For martial things, if it takes more than 5-10 seconds, then your rule is too complicated. It's an orc? Then get +2 to attack. Simple, quick.

For spells/magic-type stuff, you want it to take no more than 10-15 seconds for someone to explain the gist of what's going on. I cast 4 magic missiles, each dealing 1d4+1 damage. I cast darkness, in a radius of 20 ft is shadowy light.

Outside of the table, it doesn't matter how complicated it is, as long as it is readable, and people can make sense of it (for example, having a ton of feats). Likewise, people can describe their actions and you can give fluff without affecting how complicated the crunch is. You want this crunch as light as possible, because, while it is fun during optimization, it very much should take a backseat to fun roleplay.

[bekeleven]

Out of all my homebrew I've undoubtedly put the most work into the Tome of the Holy Grail. The main class of it, however, is (relatively) simple to play. It forces meaningful decisions while leveling but gameplay never has too many options open at a time. You have to pick your options from the spirits you've contracted.

The Legacy Gatekeeper, however, is a far more complicated class to play. In any given round the player can pick from any spirit on the list, and can then choose to cast a spell or use a unique power of of that spirit's list. It's spontaneous casting from 42 different spell lists (granted, each list caps at 5 spells at level 16, but still). The tidal wave of options makes the class paralyzing. What's worse is that the options play into resource management - the class can only use each spirit once per day, and each use costs requisitions from the treasury, another daily resource. It's possible to use more than one requisition per round if going nova.

The Shifter, one of my earlier homebrews, simplifies the Master of Many Forms's decision trees, but doesn't get rid of its mechanical complexity. Classes built around Alternate Form/Wild Shape are mechanically as complex as any class should be.

This class, if built, would involve some mechanical complexity in the form of complex resource management. That's why I can't tell if it's viable. It doesn't do either to the extent of the others, but it's possible it could end up the perfect storm.

Honestly, I might drop the breath (inhale/exhale), although it's one of my favorite limits in the story. Juggling 4 expendable resources is way easier than juggling 4 expendable resources and 4 oscillating resources. At that point, the class would be rather simple: It just gives you a handful of (Su) abilities as you level, with a few wrinkles (I always gotta throw in wrinkles).