Magic Systems - Making a TTRPG From Scratch [Episode 36]

We're doing resource management systems today! I mean inventory systems... Wait... Magic systems! Well, technically it's all the same in my game and with good reasons. Firstly, I like my current inventory system and I think that extending the mechanic to the magic system gives a lot more freedom to how you cast spells. Stay tuned.

[gustavesoucy-breton]

you deserve a million subs, this is awesome

[dmwagner]

I just now discovered this video (and by extension, this channel).

It's very intriguing, and I am planning on going back and starting to watch the 'Making a TTPRG' playlist from the beginning. Thanks for sharing!

[Grunwulf_Videos]

just started watching, and I have to say this is a pretty awesome idea for magic. I think for different 'aspects' you could class them by school similar to dnd's magic schools (Evocation, Necromancy, Illusion etc). The Iron Priest also sounds like an awesome class with an equally awesome name which reminds me of the Witchers and their silver swords used for killing monsters.

[onyxseverin]

So I got a few ideas for spell casting, the classes, and for types of magic.
Spell casting
These ideas are nebulous so add them in however you will and to whatever part.
Exploding dice (if you roll the max value you roll again), maybe artifacts let you roll a extra dice and cause it to explode as well or maybe cretin class features cause your dice to explode
Splitting dice: some class features or items might let you split your magic dice which means you roll more dice but they are less powerful, instead of 1d10 you roll 2d4
Class ideas
From what I know iron was not the only metal to be used against supernatural beings and some metals were better than others. Steel is the worst since its iron and carbon which dilutes the steels power. Iron is the next best since it is pure. Silver is the best and most powerful against spirits.
Types of magic
I think there are two ways you could go about doing this either (A) a set list or (B) not set list
With a set list you should keep it to 8 or less and keep them broad (eg light, dark, fire, illusions, etc) so that they can be applied to many situations
With a non set list you should have new aspects be made as you go and they should be fairly specific (flying, illumination, swords, etc)

[BeardClipper]

So to answer your first question; I loved the camera movements. They were just enough, smooth and not jerky, and it was really cool particularly when you swoop round and in. So yeah, keep that up for me.

Secondly I really like this mechanic and I'm looking forward to seeing how you develop it.

Nice one!

[c.d.dailey]

Wow. That is really creative. Keep going. I think consistancy is a good thing. There is a specific thing that comes to my mind. If magic fighters get spells than martial fighters should get spell-like abilities. Without such anilities, martial foghters can get underpowered especially at higher levels. There is even a trope for this, Linear Warriors Quadratic Wizards. I noticed this problem in DND 5E. I haven't played the game enough to get a feel of the relative strength of classes. However I do think the martial classes got shafted due to the lack of spells alone. World of Warcraft, Pokemon and even DND 4E are examples of games that treat martial classes more fairly. They give spell-like abilities. This video takes the idea of of consistent mechanics to the next level. I didn't think that magic reasources can be like inventory reasources. Neat.

The reasource for magic is new. I am so used to the mana system that World of Warcraft has. Then when I got into DND, I learned about the Vancian system. That has spell slots instead of mana as a magical reasource. Magic the Gathering has its own unique management system with the deck and the lands as reasources. This video has items as magic reasources. That is unique, and it makes magic more grounded. The councept works well. In real life, magicians used all sorts of paraphenalia. There are even consumables like herbs, candles, oils and incense. Even churches use candles and incense. Churches can also use holy water as a consumable. Perhaps consumables can be used in place of mana or Vancian reasourse. More durable items can give permanent bonuses. This can be things like wands, staffs, cauldrons, brooms and crystal balls. A priest can use a holy item like a cross or roasary. I do like the idea of gathering magic consumable items in the environment. I have a lot of fun with this in Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. Item hoarding is not an issue for me. I am confident in my item use, because I know I can get more later. I use nice items on weaker kinds of enemies. I am not even bothered by weapon breaking. There is a tradeoff which makes thinkgs fair. In order to get the items, one needs to spend time hunting for these items.

[Luna_Kobold]

ive been developing a mausritter hack with a very similar idea for magic :D! this was a lot of useful ideas! wanting a soft magic system where players could take traits from components in some manner to create magic

[junglejoe]

I see magic systems like playing music; some people only play other's songs and some are composers. although more difficult, making your own spells from various magic aspects is lots of fun. in my own magic system, I use different Magical Energies which have 3 -4 unique aspects. The Magical Formulae is.... Magical energy + aspect + Form (shape) = magical effect. Ex: Radiant Energy + Warding aspect + Shield Form = "Shield of Radiant Warding".

A Magical Energy's aspects can also be combined with another magical energy's aspects for all sorts of effects. Such as Fire Energy's volatile & burning aspects + Air Energy's Movement (or carrying) aspect + Sphere Form = fireball.

Magical energy also determines how powerful the spells can be. I use a ranking system combined with power points but component slots could be used as well. Like if you have 2 ranks in Shadow Magic, then you can only use up to 2 component slots to power your spells using Shadow magic aspects.

as far as components... i classify them as Magical Assets (along with incantations, gesturing, holy symbols etc.), and to cast a spell there needs to be at least 3 Assets present, otherwise the casting difficulty will be harder. But you have me thinking... maybe other Assets could also use component slots, like a powerful incantation your renegade magus found in some deep, dark forgotten ruins, could be used to power the artifact level component slots (1d12). And gestures or somatic components, if you have learned and mastered the basic hand gestures and body postures for an aspect, then maybe these gestures could always occupy the lowest levels of component slots. of course then burning component slots wouldn't always be about replenishing ingredients, which seems to be a big "component" of your system. That could be a special perk (or feat) magic types can gain so their last component slot is always full, this way magic types could eventually always be able to cast at least 1d4 spells for known aspects.



It's cool to see someone creating their own flexible magic system and nice to share ideas. I really like your idea of slots for inventory.

[vladimirnovy]

The camera is quite ... Trippy... But i like it ngl

[LunarFoxfyre]

I have a question, may I use this in my game?

[orionar]

I don't like that rolling low with the components snowballs