Amaril
2017-10-11, 12:24 PM
I love Torchbearer--it's become easily my favorite system for that good old-school dungeon fantasy. Still, there are a couple little things about the rules that bug me, or that I wish were more flexible.
For example, the way elves use magic. Especially in the setting I'm working on for the system, but also in general, I don't like the idea of elves doing it exactly the same way as wizards, spellbooks and all. I think elven magic should be more natural, possibly innate, or maybe the product of oral tradition. Think of Tolkien--when Sam asks Galadriel whether her scrying pool is magic, she says she doesn't know what he means. To elves, magic isn't a discipline you study, with formulae and notation, it's something you just do, something that suffuses every part of their lives. Of course, that could easily come with a downside--they draw on the same powers as wizards, but their lack of focused study makes them less broadly capable in doing so. Wizards vs. sorcerers in D&D, basically.
So, for my setting, I'm thinking of including this houserule for elven rangers:
You neither need nor carry a traveling spellbook. Such crude methods are the necessity of mortal wizards--sidhe magic is more natural, a mix of innate capability and oral tradition. Enjoy your extra pack space.
However, you can't learn new spells from books or scrolls. You may choose to learn a new spell and expand your mental inventory when you gain a level, as normal; you can also learn new spells from a mentor, but your mentor must be sidhe, and they will not teach you for free like a magician's mentor. These are the only ways you may learn new spells.
You have no library. All the spells you know, you can prepare from memory.
You can't scribe scrolls, or cast spells from scrolls.
Far as I can tell, this should leave elves with a smaller spell repertoire than a magician of the same level, but balance that out with two extra pack slots from not having to carry a spellbook. From my experience with Torchbearer so far, that seems like a pretty solid tradeoff; even if it does weaken elves some, I'd hope that wouldn't be too big a deal, since the book outright says they're the most powerful class by default. Can anyone with more system mastery evaluate this for me?
For example, the way elves use magic. Especially in the setting I'm working on for the system, but also in general, I don't like the idea of elves doing it exactly the same way as wizards, spellbooks and all. I think elven magic should be more natural, possibly innate, or maybe the product of oral tradition. Think of Tolkien--when Sam asks Galadriel whether her scrying pool is magic, she says she doesn't know what he means. To elves, magic isn't a discipline you study, with formulae and notation, it's something you just do, something that suffuses every part of their lives. Of course, that could easily come with a downside--they draw on the same powers as wizards, but their lack of focused study makes them less broadly capable in doing so. Wizards vs. sorcerers in D&D, basically.
So, for my setting, I'm thinking of including this houserule for elven rangers:
You neither need nor carry a traveling spellbook. Such crude methods are the necessity of mortal wizards--sidhe magic is more natural, a mix of innate capability and oral tradition. Enjoy your extra pack space.
However, you can't learn new spells from books or scrolls. You may choose to learn a new spell and expand your mental inventory when you gain a level, as normal; you can also learn new spells from a mentor, but your mentor must be sidhe, and they will not teach you for free like a magician's mentor. These are the only ways you may learn new spells.
You have no library. All the spells you know, you can prepare from memory.
You can't scribe scrolls, or cast spells from scrolls.
Far as I can tell, this should leave elves with a smaller spell repertoire than a magician of the same level, but balance that out with two extra pack slots from not having to carry a spellbook. From my experience with Torchbearer so far, that seems like a pretty solid tradeoff; even if it does weaken elves some, I'd hope that wouldn't be too big a deal, since the book outright says they're the most powerful class by default. Can anyone with more system mastery evaluate this for me?