A Fist Full of Magic: Game Theory and Clarification

Some posters from Dragonsfoot pointed out some serious gaps and lack of clarification.

This is what I was hoping for. I am always looking for feedback.

From Alex: I'm sad that I just can't picture how this system works. The way you wrote it up assumes a prior understanding of the other games' magic systems it seems. Can you add some examples of a day full of spell casting? I'm having trouble with the ebb and flow of PD throughout a day of casting. Does this system end up limiting spell casting or making it less limiting? To cast a spell is the sum of pips on the PD supposed to exceed the target difficulty to cast? I thought this was modeled after Shadowrun but Shadowrun counts "successes" not "pips". Why would a caster ever use less than all his PD to cast a spell if the chance of success is greater with more dice? The way you word the system it sounds like the caster [i]chooses[/i] how many PD to use, but what is the incentive/trade-off for using more/less PD?

From Uriel: Eli, your post doesn't explain how PD are lost on a daily basis.
When a caster uses 2 PD on a spell, and fails, does he lose the PD that day? If he succeeds does he lose?

For example:My 1st level MU (middle magic), casts Magic Missile (requires a 4+). He rolls his single PD and gets a 5! Yaay, it works. Does he lose his PD that day? Or can he cast magic missile later? What happens if he fails to roll a 4+? Does he lose his PD for that day?
My assumption is yes, because he regenerates PD while resting, but I am unclear of what constitutes a loss of PD, with the exception of a critical failure.

Also, would a critical failure ALWAYS happen on a snake eyes, even with 3+ PD are used (i.e. the more PD used, the more likely you'll have a snake eyes...and...by the same token...a 12).

My Response

Thanks for all of the comments and questions. It is clear to me that I need to seriously revise the document to make it more clear.

I also should have noted that one of my primary influences was Advanced Heroquest.

General Theory

A spell caster has a limited pool of power dice that are expended as they attempt to cast spells. 

Each spell has a Target Number that needs to be meet in order to successfully cast it 

Regardless if the spell is successful or a failure, the power dice are expended.

Theoretical Example of Game Play

Ruleset: Sword & Wizardry
Magic: Standard Spell System
Setting: High Magic Setting 

Windjammer, a 2nd Level Magic-User, has had the unfortunate luck to run into a trio of hungry kobolds.

He is full rested so he has 4 Power Dice plus he has a Solar Wand (2 for level, +1 for High INT, +1 for Wand). He has learned and mastered two spells: Magic Missile and Light.

He manages to win initiative and declares he is casting Magic Missile with 1 PD.

He rolls 1d6 and rolls a 4, Success!! a magic missile strikes one of the kobolds inflicting 4 points of damage killing it. 

He has 3 PD remaining

The remaining kobolds charge Windjammer but fail to strike him.

Windjammer back pedals to avoid there attacks. He casts another Magic Missile using 1 PD. 

He rolls a 2, Failure! He now only has two PD left and the Kobolds press their attack.

One of the kobolds land a hit, injuring the mage.

Windjammer decides to cast Light using 1 PD in the eyes of one the kobolds to even the odds.

He rolls a 6, Success!!. One of the kobold screams and grabs his face as light pours out of his eyes.

He only has 1 PD but there is only kobold left. He decides to save his PD and engages the kobold in hand-to-hand combat.

Theory of Critical Failure

Alex wrote:

Urieal wrote:

Also, would a critical failure ALWAYS happen on a snake eyes, even with 3+ PD are used (i.e. the more PD used, the more likely you'll have a snake eyes...and...by the same token...a 12).

This is the one part I think I understood! Let me try to explain what I think the answer is. You cannot critically fail UNLESS you use 3+ PD and all the dice are 1s. Used only 2 PD? Impossible to critically fail! Used 3 PD? Critically fail only on { 1, 1, 1 }. Used 5 PD? Critically fail only on { 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 }. So the more dice you use, the less your chance of a critical failure, but for low-level spells that you use only 1 or 2 PD for, you never risk critical failure.

If I'm wrong, then Eli did not explain this well and I really got NOTHING out of the whole document. 

No Alex you go it right. You summed it up better than I did.

Please let me know if what I posted above makes sense.

A Fist Full of Magic: Variant Magic System for D&D (1st Draft)

A FIST FULL OF MAGIC: 

VARIANT MAGIC SYSTEM FOR D&D

When Magic-Users (including Clerics, Druids and Rangers) cast spells they call out to the winds of magic and use it to power their spells. The level of the spell caster determines the amount of power they can harness. This is measured in power dice (d6).

Power Dice per Level (Middle or High Magic Campaigns)

Class	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
Magic-user	1	2	4	5	7	8	10	12
Cleric	0	1	2	3	4	6	8	10
Druid	1	3	4	5	6	7	9	10
Ranger	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Class	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th
Magic-user	13	15	18	21	25	26	28	30
Cleric	13	15	18	21	24	27	30	0
Druid	12	14	17	22	27	28	29	1
Ranger	1	3	4	6	8	10	11	13

• Magic-users with an Intelligence of 13+ gain 1 extra power dice.

• Druids & Clerics with Wisdom of 13+ gain 1 extra power dice.

Power Dice per Level (Low Magic Campaigns)

Class	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
Magic-user	1	2	3	3	3	3	3	3
Cleric	0	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
Druid	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	3
Ranger	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Class	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th
Magic-user	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	6
Cleric	3	3	4	4	5	5	6	6
Druid	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	6
Ranger	1	2	2	3	3	4	4	4

• Magic-users with an Intelligence of 16+ gain 1 extra power dice.

• Druids & Clerics with Wisdom of 16+ gain 1 extra power dice.

All Power Dice are (re)generated after 8 full hours of sleep. If a full 8 hours of rest is impossible, then 1 Power Dice is regenerated for every two hours of full rest. There are potions that can grant additional power dice. There are also magic items that can grant additional power dice for casting certain types of spells.

Middle or High Magic Campaigns: In dire circumstances, a caster can convert one point of Wisdom into 3 Power Dice. This can only be done once per spell. The Wisdom lost is temporary and is recovered at the rate of 1 Point per week.

Low Magic Campaigns:  In dire circumstances, a caster can convert one point of Wisdom into 3 Power Dice. This can only be done once per spell. The Wisdom lost is permanent, but can be restored using certain magic.

Spell Casting

Each Spell has a Target Number that must be rolled in order for the spell to be successful cast. The number of power dice that the caster devotes to each spell is deducted from his pool of power dice.

• High Magic Campaigns: Max Power Dice 5 per Spell

• Mid-Level Magic Campaign: Max Power Dice 4 per Spell

• Low Magic Campaigns:  Max Power Dice: 4 per Spell

Standard Spell System

Spell Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
Target #	4+	5+	6+	7+	8+	9+	10+	11+

Winds of Magic System

Spell Level	Petty	Minor	Major	Greater	Exalted
Target #	4+	6+	8+	12+	16+

A spellcaster declares what spell he is casting and how many power dice they are using for the spell. They then roll the power dice. If the total rolled is higher than the target number of the spell, it is successful cast. If it is less than target number the spell fails. The target number can be lowered by using rare spell components or certain magic items.

Absolute Power: If rolling more than two dice and all 6’s are rolled the spell is cast with absolute power and cannot be counter spelled.

Optional Rule: If spell causes damage or heals, it does the maximum.

Critical Failure: If rolling more than two dice and all 1’s are rolled the spell is failure. The DM then needs to roll on the Critical Failure Table.

 

Critical Failure Table

Roll 2d6	Normal Campaign		Roll 2d6	Dark Campaign
2-3	No Effect		2	Spell Fails
4-6	Lose  Additional 1 PD		3-4	Lose 2 PD
7-9	Lose Additional 2 PD		5-6	Lose 4 PD
			7-8	Lose All PD
10-11	Lose Additional 3 PD		9-10	Lose 1 Point Wisdom**
			11	Suffer A Random Mutation***
12	Lose 1 Point Wisdom*		12	Void Vortex Opens

* This is a temporary loss

** This is a permanent loss

Void Vortex – The spellcaster has torn a whole in the fabric of reality and a swirl vortex has appeared sucking the spellcaster and everything within 20 feet of him into the Void where they die horribly, there is no save for this.

Random Mutation – The spellcaster’s body is corrupted by the magic he has failed to control. Mutation will be DM’s preference; I am using the Mutation table from http://talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com/2012/03/random-magical-mutations-table.html

Counter Spelling

All spellcaster have the ability to counter another spell casters spell. All casters have a number of Depower Dice equal to their level/3 (round up) + INT (M-U)/WIS (Cleric) Bonus. This pool of dice refreshes at the end of an encounter. 

How to Counter Spell

When a spell is cast and the power dice are rolled note the score rolled. This is the number to beat to counter the spell. The counter-caster if he has not performed an action this round may declare an attempt to counter the spell and can use up to 3 Counter Dice per Spell.

How to use a Counter Spell Scroll

These special magical scrolls have a 1-in-3 chance of countering any spell cast. These are highly sought after.