8. OD&D Wizards

[bryce0lynch]

Man, I pushed hard all weekend and basically didn't sit don at all. I'm dragging ass when it comes to to my level 4 map. There's just been no time. (And still isn't, a week later, I just started a 'new' job.)

I wanted an OD&D vibe in Maw. The non-standard. So you get things like scrying the dungeon, virtually walking it, with a 33% chance of Despair damage. Or Lady Denuda and her 2d4 Crackle Lightning ability.

Imagine there were infinite "schools" of magic and magic systems in the world. Basically every magic system ever developed for any RPG ever, and multiply that by 100. The magic system outlined in the PHB (whichever PHB, doesn't matter, the one the PLAYERS are using) describes just one of them but it's the one that the players have to use for their characters. All of those baddies and sorcerers and necromancers, etc get to use another system, all different. IE: the DM can do whatever the fuck he wants.

 

[Gus L.]

Yeah that works. It is also one of the conciets of the best Old School product ever - ASE.

 

[squeen]

Imagine there were infinite "schools" of magic and magic systems in the world. Basically every magic system ever developed for any RPG ever, and multiply that by 100. The magic system outlined in the PHB (whichever PHB, doesn't matter, the one the PLAYERS are using) describes just one of them but it's the one that the players have to use for their characters. All of those baddies and sorcerers and necromancers, etc get to use another system, all different. IE: the DM can do whatever the fuck he wants.

This is the thinking laid out by Finch in Swords & Wizardry---magic is unique and special (particularly at high levels) but the listed spells are the more "common" ones available to the PC at the start of a campaign. High level spells (beyond 5th) are more rituals than Vancian spells-from-memory.

If you assume that PCs roll-up as 1st level, it could be argued that only the 1st-level spell list is relevant, because everything else must be found within the campaign world. That's pretty much the approach I've taken, and I've made sure to strategically place a least a few Wizard Guild/libraries etc.

For quite a while, finding a scroll with a new MU spell was a huge treasure reward. Also, every NPC magic-user has a spellbook somewhere in their lair. As a result, our PC magic-user has acquired a fairly complete library of spells via a totally non-transportable collection of spell books (with lots of duplicate spells: e.g. read magic).

With this approach, it was also very easy to slowly introduce new and unique spells by giving them to the baddies. I even have multiple variants of some spells with minor (often irritating or unexpected) differences. e.g. enlarge, strength, fly, spider climb, etc. with the thinking that fundamental spells get "tweaked" or revinvented over time and then diverge.

What has been a bit more problematic for me was how to handle new spells for clerics. Without spell books, it's unclear to me what the canon method is for a PC cleric to learn a new spell. Solely by reading scrolls/spiritual-texts or via training?