The cost of magic

[Pex]

First,
Sorry, that I started this thread and than didn't participate.
Life just hit me hard.

Second,
Lots and lots of really good arguments and ideas here, even in the derails. I can't possibly react to everything.


Back to the topic,

I realized early in the discussion, that, what I consider a cost of magic, may be hard to implement in a class- and level-based system.
All systems (with the exception of the Warhammer systems) I had in mind are point-buy and organic leveling.
So perhaps that's a big part of it?!

What I don't really get is the argument, that, if magic has a chance of failure, it makes mages "un-fun" to play, because the core-ability of the Archetype should just work.
The thief can fail at picking locks, the warrior can fail at hitting enemies, the face can fail at influencing people... Why should the mage be an exception?
Now, I don't say, that death, crippling injury and/or madness should be common consequences (or even at all).

That's why I do agree with the last few posts, that the possibility of balancing risk and result is needed, if you want to implement more serious costs.
In my experience, in most games, that is the case. You can find ways around the consequences like death, but at a cost.
That may be lower power, it may be investing more resources, e.g. skill points, or...
And here I think, that organic/point-buy leveling has it easier.
The cost of magic will be manifest, by either a great risk or by having not being able to invest in all the other stuff (skills, feats, special abilities...) you could get for your character building/developing ressources.

There's nothing wrong with magic failing. In D&D that's missing the attack roll or opponent makes the saving throw. In GURPS it's rolling above the target number. In Ars Magica it's rolling below the target number. That's not unfun. What's unfun is making the player miserable for doing what you said he could do. Cast a spell you die is not a fair balancing factor. Doesn't matter how mitigating you can make it by lowering the power. You said the player can do that high power big boom spell, he does it, and now he has to make a new character. That's the adding insult to injury. That's the unfun. If you don't want the player to do that high power big boom spell, then don't have it in the game at all.