New Spell Testing - Example

I've been trying to work on a spell system for my game as the people I've tested it with have not liked the current spell system.
I wanted to find/make something easy enough for them to understand, while at the same time making it at least partially versatile or modifiable for the casters.

Below is what I have so far if anyone is interested in giving an opinion as I don't know when I'll be able to get an opinion from actual game play at the moment. I've got the basics written up, and two example spells so far.

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Spell casting is a mental and physical challenge. Mana is determined by combining your Constitution score with your Intelligence score then multiplying that by 6 (i.e. 2CON + 3INT = 5D6 = 30 Mana).

All spells have a base mana cost, duration, target, casting time, and an effect; along with the ability to modify the spells attributes with an increase to mana cost.

Just as INT contributes to how much mana you have, it also affects how much mana you can manipulate while casting a spell. When you cast a spell normally or with manipulations the amount of mana you can put into a spell is equal to your INT times 2 (i.e. if you have 2INT then you can only put a total of 6 mana in one spell casting attempt at a time (2*3=6)).

Casting time is split between short spells and long spells.

Short spells are capable of being cast quickly, meaning you can cast them on your normal initiative roll without any penalties. This means you can move up to your normal speed and still cast the spell easily enough.

Long spells however require more concentration; when you cast a longer spell you have to focus on the spell, meaning you can’t move from your current position without interrupting the spell. Moving while casting a long spell incurs a penalty of 5 black dice for every 5 feet. Also when casting a long spell you take a small penalty to your Initiative roll which is dependent upon the spell being cast (on your initiative turn you state what you are attempting to cast, and then apply the penalty to determine when the spell takes affect).

 

Spells

Elemental Weapon

Cost: 3
Duration: 1rd per INT
Target: 1 weapon touched, or 1 clip of ammunition
Casting Time: Short
Effect:
You form an energy field around the end of the weapon that radiates some form of elemental energy. When cast you choose: Acid, Cold, Fire, Force, or Shock. When someone strikes something with the weapon or ammo you touched it deals an additional 3d of damage of the element you chose when the spell was cast.
Modifications:
Double duration: 2rd per INT. +1 cost.
Double Target: 2 weapons touched. +1 cost.
Increase damage: +1d. +1 cost.

Skill Boost

Cost: 5
Duration: 1minute per INT
Target: 1 person touched
Casting Time: Long -5
Effect:
You touch a creature and give them a +5 boost to one skill that they currently have 4 or more ranks in. When you touch a creature or person you temporarily unlock their future potential with a  skill granting a bonus for a short time.
Modifications:
Increase Duration: 1hour per INT
Increase Bonus: +1rank. +2 cost

News-Magic-Time

School is finally over and I'm trying to get everything situated now so I can sit down and work on my Silver Divinity project some more. I've got some things planned for it, and some changes to make; and I've asked my brother-in-law to help me with the weapons in the game. He is a veteran and loves to play any kind of tabletop RPG, and I'm hoping he can help me make the weapons work right (i.e. range, damage, ROF, etc...).

Everything has been busy even after school as I am now having to rush to finish working on a couple of websites I've been asked to make for people.

The magic system itself I've not worked up on how it is going to function exactly, but the things I do have in mind are fairly basic and simple.

I'm wanting to have two typed of casters. One type studies to learn how to cast magic spells (like a wizard would), and their spells generally take longer to cast but tend to do more damage since they are generally more focused and refined. Their spell list is going to be defined, although the possibility of creating your own spells will be there I think.

The other caster type mimics a Sorcerer in D&D. They are going to be a free-form (I hope) caster type. Their spells are quicker to cast and they are more versatile in situations but the damage of their spells is going to be slightly lower than the other caster type. Although I'm not positive yet I think I would like to call the more sorcerer style caster Conduits (Silly I know but I like it).

I'm going to try to get something on these worked up soon, along with the last of the racial descriptions.

New Year's update finally

I figured I would try to put out an update since I haven't posted lately.
Hopefully the next thing I post is either the Feline or Canine race description. I've got them worked out in my head, just need to sit down and type them up now.

I've gotten a lot of the basic game information done already and have gotten to test it with a few people. So far they have seemed to like the game play and setting, which I'm excited about. I'm wanting to upload a copy of the basics on here, but I need to redo it and organize it before I do that. I typed it out and organized it in Excel, which is handy although doesn't always transfer over well to PDF afterwards for me, and isn't as easy to update and keep looking decent.

I've gotten the magic system pretty well reworked I think, although I haven't gotten to test it out yet. It is more of a free form system which I think will work well with the Silver Divinity setting. Planning on talking a couple of people into helping me test it out soon to see how it works.

I hope everyone had a good new year.

Spellcasting Changes and Thoughts

Although this is a time consuming process at times, I'm planning on redoing the spell casting system for my game.

At the moment in order to cast spells you have to take an appropriate spell casting Talent, which opens up the appropriate skill. There are two talents at the moment and each opens up one of two skill associated with it.
The skills determine what spells you can actually cast.
The first talent is Thamaturgy, which lets you choose between the skills Enchanting, or Thamaturgy.
In essence these are Arcane casters.
Enchanters are the buffers, their spells have to be cast on someone or something.
Thamaturgy are a combination, their spells are more attack oriented, although they do have minor buffs and a very minor version of heal.

The other Talent is Faith, which lets you choose between the skills Channeling, and Devotion.
These are the Divine casters.
Channelers are similar to clerics, they have one attack spell to choose from, while the rest of their spells focus on healing damage, curing diseases, removing poison, and a few minor buff spells.
Devotion casters are interesting to me. They are the only caster type that has access to all of their spells. Whenever they cast a spell it is more along the lines of praying for an affect, but the affect that occurs may not be exactly what they want, it is up to the deity they worship as far as what spell takes affect. They do not have any attack spells, but the spells they do have access to are very powerful compared to the other casters.

Although I do like the way it is set up, the times I have gotten to play it has not been received quite so well. Not only that the different talents giving access to different spells in essence seems to create a magical class system in a game where there are technically no classes. Also with the more I think about it, the more I realize that not all, but most stories I read with spell casters, there are not usually distinctions between them, and someone who can call down fire and lightening can also potentially heal at least slightly. Although this is not always the case, I like the feel of that better for my game.

I am still working on the specifics, but what I would like to do is make one spell casting talent
that grants potential access to all the spells for players. As far as figuring out how to regulate how they are at actually casting a spell is part of what I am still working on.

Eventually I would like to work on a more free form spell casting ability, although I do know that the majority of the people I normally play with will never play a more free form spell caster.