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One of the best things about using
the HERO System to run a Fantasy RPG is the freedom to try out different
kinds of Magic Systems. Whether using Magic Systems provided on this
website, in the Fantasy HERO book, or that you've made yourself, the
possibilities for interesting game effects abound. |
| Designing a new Magic System
can be daunting to a new GM or Player, and even some experienced ones
hesitate to do it. |
| This series of documents sets out to help a GM consider
some concepts pursuant to designing their own Magic Systems. Links are also
provided in places to example Magic Systems that are useable both as
comparison points and as is. |
| First off, some basic terms and ideas are set forth. |
| WHAT IS A MAGIC SYSTEM? |
| Any collection of guidelines and restrictions describing a
particular style of Magic use or a coherent grouping of Magical abilities is
considered to be a "Magic System". A Magic System should include sufficient
flavor and detail to be interesting, but in the context of this document,
only the actual game-affecting elements are referred to by the term Magic
System. |
| WHAT IS A MAGIC USER? |
| For the purposes of this document, a
Magic User is any character that has one or more Magic abilities on their
character sheet with the Special Effect of Magic. Magic Users include
Characters that cast Spells, create Magical Items, are bestowed with Magical
Gifts, or have inborn natural Magical Abilities. |
| WHAT IS A MAGICAL ABILITY? |
| By definition, any ability not
normally possible for mundane people or items stems from some sort of
enabling force. There are many possible types of enablers of such abilities
like Psionics,
Technology, Chi-power or Magic, which are all merely labels or
justifications of how abilities work. |
| In the HERO System this is known as a "SPECIAL
EFFECT", abbreviated SFX. All abnormal abilities dubbed as Magic
share a common SFX and therefore may be interacted with collectively as a
group, theoretically share some common limitations and scopes of what is and
is not possible using them, and possibly even originate from a common
source. |
| Any Skill, Talent, Perk, or Power with the Special Effect
of Magic is considered to be a Magical Ability. This is most commonly a
Power Construct termed a "Spell", but might be a "Magical
Gift", or a Perk such as Spirit Contacts defined as being Magical in
nature, or any other ability that is justified as being possible because it
is Magic. |
|
Design Considerations of
Magic Systems |
| Designing a Magic System can be a
daunting task for a GM, filled with many small but potentially game-shaking
decisions. Following are some considerations that a GM might want to keep in
mind when designing their Magic Systems. |
| GAME BALANCE |
| Magic is a powerful force in most Fantasy Games as it is
a pretty open-ended access to unusual powers. In order for non-Magically
oriented Characters to remain viable, some form of control must be in effect
to maintain Game Balance. |
| There are many ways of accomplishing this, though many
methods will take a little tweaking and application to find the right
combination and strictness necessary to achieve a happy medium of fun but
fair. Usually this is accomplished by imposing one or more Control Factors
upon individual Magic Systems as part of their design. |
| CONTROL FACTORS |
| There are a number of types of Control Factors that
might be employed to bound a Magic System's potential for imbalance that are
discussed in great detail in the
Control Factors
document. |
| COST TO EFFECT RATIO |
| As part of an ongoing effort to maintain game balance, a
GM should calculate the cost to effect ratio of the Magic Systems they
design, including the costs for actual Magical Abilities as well as any
overt overhead costs such as Power or Knowledge Skills, Endurance Reserves,
associated Talents, and any other specific enablers, as well as any covert
or hidden costs such as how much END is needed for typical usage, or how
high Skill Rolls need to be for reliability, or the cost of options that are
practically needed or typical. |
| Useful points of comparison are: |
- Entry Level: the minimum cost for a Magic User of this sort; this
should also be considered in the context of the number of starting
points new Characters receive.
- Professional Level: the minimum cost for a Magic User of this sort
to be considered a competent, skilled professional.
- Expert Level: the minimum cost for a Magic User of this sort to be
considered notable, particularly skilled, impressively capable.
- Legendary Level: the minimum cost for a Magic User of this sort to
be considered one of the best in the world, or ever.
|
| Once the GM has calculated, or at least roughed out, the
point costs at the comparison points, they should consider the total actual
potency and effectiveness of each such Characters. |
| Of course, the results of this exercise are useless in a
vacuum; the GM should do the same for other typical archetypes within their
setting, and other Magic Systems as well. In the end the GM should be able
to form a very real and informed opinion as to the relative cost to effect
ratios involved and identify any particular means to power that is
significantly above or below par. |
| RELATIVE POWER |
| Not all Magic Systems are created
"equal". Some are more powerful than others and are more appropriate to
certain levels of play than others. Power isn't necessarily graded in terms
of sheer Active Points or dice of effect; it's highly dependent upon a
number of variables including comparative Control Factors but also the
relative power level of the campaign in which the Magic System is used. |
| For instance in a fast and loose
"Super Fantasy" Campaign where characters start with 350 to 500 total points and
aren't even considered impressive until they hit the 700's, which allows
characters to buy Powers freely like Superheroes and doesn't fuss over the
details of Magic Systems overly much allowing open character design, no
Magic System is going to be very powerful within that context unless it
benefits from some heavy discounting compared to just buying Powers
directly. |
| However a Magic System designed for such as a setting
that seemed fairly lackluster could be overwhelmingly powerful in a lower
level 75+75 "Heroic Fantasy" setting with otherwise highly restricted access
to Magic. |
| Conversely a Magic System that
allowed access to Spells to be purchased as 1 point Familiarities that is
balanced to be not unreasonably powerful in the "Heroic Fantasy" game might
prove to be overwhelmingly overpowering in the "Super Fantasy" game if for no
other reason than because Characters have so many more points to spend on 1
point Familiarities. |
| BALANCE CONCEPTS |
| There are a number of Balance Concepts that a GM might
want to consider when making Magic Systems that are discussed in great
detail in the Balance Concepts
document. |
| POTENCY |
| A GM should give very close consideration for how potent
they want a particular Magic System to be within the context of their
setting in general and their campaign specifically. This is less a
consideration of what is and is not possible, and more a consideration of
what scale Magic Users operate at. |
| If a GM has multiple Magic Systems in their setting,
this may vary greatly from one Magic System to another. This might also vary
within the context of a Magic System where the majority operate at one scale
but notably capable individuals operate at a much bigger scale. |
| FINDING A USEFUL BENCHMARK |
| Not all things come down to attacks, damage, and who can
kill who; for instance how do you put a value on being able to do things
that otherwise simply are not possible such as take flight? However in practical
terms a GM can consider the typical level of attacks being used in their
campaign by non-Magic Users as a useful benchmark for gauging the
capabilities of Magic Users; particularly in the context of Magical attacks. |
| Assuming a heroic norm of 1 END per 5 AP, if it is
common to have warriors with 2d6 weapons with a 15 STR Min and a 20 STR,
then the typical attack has the equivalent of 35 Active Points; further if
such attacks cost 4 END and a typical warrior has a 3 SPEED and can also
half move before each attack you could correlate that to an expenditure of
about 15 END per Turn, which most warriors could likely sustain for at least
two Turns. |
| Working backwards from these numbers it is not
unreasonable to say that a Magic System is potentially balanced against
warriors if it allows the use of a ~105 Active Point effect as a 1 Turn
Action, the use of a ~75 Active Point effect as an Extra Phase Action, the use of a
~45 Active Point effect as a Full Phase Action, or the use of a ~30 Active
Point effect as a 1/2 Phase Action, and is sustainable for two to three
Turns. |
| Thus a Magic System that allowed a Magic User to use a
75 Active Point every single Phase would clearly be over the benchmark,
while a Magic System that did not allow a Magic User with a 3 SPEED to use
more than 60 Active Points total for the duration of a Turn would be below
the benchmark. |
| In a setting where the END cost is a more superheroic 1
END per 10 Active Points, or where Deadly Blow is common, or Characters have
higher SPEEDS on average, or where attacks do more damage the benchmark
would obviously be different, as is also true if attacks, SPEED, etc are
lower. There are also a wide variety of other variables to consider far
beyond the ability of this simple comparison to account for. |
| Nevertheless taking the time to determine this benchmark
does provide a simple litmus test; if a particular Magic System is
dramatically above or below it at the very least it serves as a clue that
further analysis or tweaking of the Magic System is warranted. |
| TYPES OF MAGIC |
| In quite a lot of Fantasy RPG source material (i.e.
other RPGs), Magic is most commonly broken down
into types and subtypes in a hierarchical and well defined fashion.
The level of granularity involved in a particular campaign setting depends largely on the preference and
needs of the designer of the setting or game system. |
| At a minimum, most game systems make a differentiation
between Arcane and Divine Magic, and some go quite a bit further than that,
breaking Arcane Magic into subtypes, and Divine Magic into still more
subtypes. |
| Personally I prefer to genericize and consider Magic in
terms of Personal and Granted in a general
sense, using the terms Arcane and Divine only within the context of a
particular setting where such meanings might be significant. |
| GRANTED MAGIC |
| This type of Magic is typically, as
the name implies, granted to a Magic User by some other entity or force. The
Magic User typically does not themselves understand the nature of the Magic
at their disposal, did not study to develop their powers, and do not
practice to improve their capabilities directly. Their abilities are doled
out to them as-is and are often subject to some restriction or use based
upon the preferences of the granting agency. |
| Thus, a major characteristic of this type of Magic is
that it is generally static and the Magic Users are effectively sterile --
they do not create new methods of using Magic. Typically all Magic abilities
possible with this type of Magic exist on a set list of explicit Power
Constructs. Alternately the abilities themselves are not finite, but the
types of effects possible is instead tightly defined as a system of
restrictions on what kind of Power Constructs or general effects are
permissible. |
| A minor characteristic (one that is
common but not necessarily always in effect) is that there is usually
restrictions on this type of Magic in the form of behavioral or activity
restrictions. The granting agency of this type of
Magic User's abilities normally have the prerogative to shut off access to
the Magic they grant if they are unsatisfied with the Magic User or if some
contractual obligation is broached. This is often expressed in the HERO
System as a Power Limitation "Only While Serving Interests Of [Granting
Agency], -1/2". |
| Granted Magic is usually called
"Divine Magic" in most Fantasy Settings, and the granting agencies of this
type of Magic are typically "Deities" or "Malefic/Demonic"
entities. However,
other options are possible; other granting agencies that are not
supernatural entities are certainly imaginable. |
|
Example Non-Divine Granted Magic Systems
|
| HEALING MAGIC |
| As a hold over from D&D or some other
FRPG, most games also have a high level mandate that states
only "Divine" Magic Users can use Healing Magic, but
correspondingly have much weaker combat-effective Magic available to them.
In the HERO System there is no mechanical reason to mirror this trope, but
it is certainly something a GM can set if it helps them achieve their
desired "look and feel" for a setting. |
| PERSONAL MAGIC |
| In contrast to Granted Magic,
Personal Magic does not come to a Magic User from some external granting
agency, it is either an inherent trait of the Magic User or actively learned
via research, study, mentorship, or all the above. |
| A major characteristic of this type
of Magic is that different practitioners of the same Category of Magic often
have a different selection of Magic Abilities. Since Magic Abilities are gained by individual
Characters via personal development, it follows that there will be at least
some variation in the Magic abilities each individual will choose to pursue.
As a corollary to this it is commonly possible for practitioners of
Personal Magic to create their own custom Magical abilities. |
| BEHAVIORAL RESTRICTIONS |
| Unlike Granted Magic
Users, there isn't much of a rationale for most types of Personal Magic Users to suffer
from any sort of behavioral limitations on their Magic use and they usually
do not. However some types of Personal Magic Users may have a
belief system in place or a setting might have enforceable restrictions that
force even a Personal Magic User to comply with certain behavioral code if a
GM so desires to design a Magic System as such. The classic example would be
something similar to the Oriental "Wu Jen" which are often depicted as
having strange behavioral codes. |
| LEARNED vs. INTRINSIC PERSONAL
MAGIC |
| Personal Magic can be further split
into two more groups, Learned Magic vs. Intrinsic Magic. Learned Magic is
Personal Magic which is sought out and intellectually mastered, and sources
of new Magical abilities are externalized. Intrinsic Magic is a
trait inborn into a Magic User and developing new Magic abilities is more
of a process of personal growth. |