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A place for random posts about painting and modelling miniatures for historical, fantasy, and science fiction tabletop games.

Monday, May 12, 2014

…..And now with even more Whizz, Whizz, Bang, Bang!


A Fist Full of Magic Items: 

Magick Talismans, Foci and Fetishes



The FFM spell casting system opens up the potential for new types of magick items and spells. I have my own ideas for different kinds of magic items and spells. One of these ideas for items is that magic can be classified into two distinct classes, expendable and durable. The items then could be sorted according to five distinct ranks.

To date I have avoided putting any setting or campaign information into the rules I have written in order to keep them generic enough that anyone can use them. With magic items, I can no longer avoid it. Others are more than welcome to change or alter these items to meet their needs.
  • Petty – The least of all the magicks, the most common remnant since The Fall. Many of the items can still be recreated today by many casters, from hedge wizards to great seers.
  • Minor – The next most common type of magicks, they are coveted by many casters. Only serious practitioners with the resources to spare can recreate these types of items.
  • Major – These types of magicks are highly coveted and are difficult to find. During the Great War, a great many of these items were used and lost. Only the wealthiest and most powerful casters can recreate these kinds of magic.
  • Grand – The great magicks of the Elder Races fashioned and formed some of the most powerful spells. Parties of treasure hunters have risked life and limb to retrieve these items. The mysteries and the skill to craft such things have been lost and no one has the ability to recreate them.
  • Exalted – The rarest of all magicks, each one of these items is unique. Some of these items fell from the hands of angels and devils during the Great War. Wars have been fought and kin have slain kin to possess such items.


Petty Magick


Potion of Purified Aethyric – This thin watery purplish mixture smells faintly of jasmine. When imbued by a caster it rejuvenates him. Regain 1d4 Power Dice up to the casters maximum.

Tapti Globe – This small sphere is made from thick glass and filled with salt water. Floating in the water is a small snail called the Tapti. If the globe is shaken vigorously and the snail shell is cracked it dies secreting a chemical that makes the water glow with a blue luminous light. The light illuminates an area of 20’ in radius and lasts for four hours.

Strike-Fire Stick – This slender wooden stick has a red tip on one end. If the red end is struck against a hard surface a small flame will appear and will last for 2 rounds. The stick can be used a dozen times before it stops working.

Blue Poppy Powder – This elven made drug if taken grants the user heightened senses. The user can see the auras of magic, of hidden things and people. It is very addictive and


Minor Magick


Talismanic Scroll of Counter-Spelling – A caster with this scroll can use it to dispel a spell that is being cast or that is in effect. It will work on a Roll of 4+ on a d6.

Potion of Condensed Aethyric – This thick purplish mixture smells strongly of jasmine. When imbued by a caster it rejuvenates him. Regain 2d4 Power Dice up to the casters maximum. The caster’s eyes will turn purple for a week after drinking.

Wand of the Nine Lores – Each wand is attuned to one of the 9 Lores of Magic. Each wand grants the caster two additional PD to use with a spell from that lore. The PD recharge at sunrise each day. (Substitute Lore for Level if not using Lores)


Major Magick


Potion of Distilled Aethyric – This syrupy purplish mixture smells strongly of jasmine with a hint of vanilla. When imbued by a caster it rejuvenates him. Regain 3d4 Power Dice up to the casters maximum. The caster’s eyes, hair and teeth will turn purple for a week after drinking.

Ivory Wand of Ling Foo – A slender wand of yellowish ivory engraved with mystic runes. It stores 3 Power Dice that can be used once a day. If the caster possesses the Jade Wand of Ling Fang the wand also generates 2 Dispel Dice that can use once a day.

Jade Wand of Ling Fang – A slender wand of milky jade engraved with mystic runes. It stores 3 Dispel Dice that can be used once a day. If the caster possesses the Ivory Wand of Ling Foo the wand also generates 2 Power Dice that can use once a day.


Grand Magick


Staff of the Dwarven Rune Lords – This staff is made from a amalgamation of different metals. Carved in to the staff are ancient runes of dwarven magick. The staff has four runes of counter-spelling which can dispel a spell on 4+ on a d6 up to four times a day. If the wielder has not used any of the four runes of counter-spelling he can expend all of them to cast the Greater Rune of Disruption. This drains every Power Dice from every caster and magic item within 100 yards of the staff.

Emerald Ring of Tor El – This ring is carved entirely from a single emerald. It grants the wielder 12 Power Dice to the user to cast one of the following spells
  • ·         Emerald Bolt (4+) – A blazing shard of emerald shoots forth (up to 50’) striking an opponent for 1d6 damage.
  • ·         Emerald Fire Wheel (8+) -  A spinning wheel of emerald fire five feet across shoots forth (up to 60’) causing 2d6 damage to all in the path.
  • ·         Emerald Shard Storm (16+) – A giant emerald appears in the sky. It explodes in a fiery explosion everything in 30’ radius takes 6d6 damage.


Exalted Magick


Sacred Ordnance of the Supreme Mega-Death – One of the most feared weapons from the Great War.  Used by the warriors of the heavens to reduced cities and armies to pillars of salt. There are rumors that some may still exist. If it is exploded everything within 5 miles is turned into salt.


The Epistle of the God Who Laughed - Written by a long departed prophet of a dead god of mirth, this small book contains the greatest joke ever written, also known as the Killing Joke. Whoever reads this book will die laughing, literally. There is no save for this.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Eye of Nougat, Toe Tag of Frog, and Wing of Dingbat

A Fist Full of Magic: Spell Components

One of the old bugbears of the Standard D&D Magic systems is whether to require physical materials for spells. It takes a certain kind of player and a special kind of GM to pull it off and make it work. One of the biggest issues I have always had with spell components is the ad-hoc manner in which it was applied to spells. There seems to be little rhyme or reason as to how it was applied to a spell if it was applied at all.

What is the point behind them anyway? Add Flavor? Way to suck money off mages? Assign a cost to a spell?

Reaching into the dusty cupboard of my brain, I remember in the RPG Shadowrun, they had a magic system that used material components in a novel way. They had expandable and permanent fetishes that aided in spell casting. They were not required, but if used they could really aid a caster.
Another idea comes from Advanced Hero Quest, a very cool board game/RPG. Spells are grouped into similar themed groups. All of the spells in a particular group required a select group of items and/or materials to cast. There were not many to track and there were prices from all of the items. They could be found as treasure also.

In my previous post I described an alternative spell casting system called A Fist Full of Magic (FFM). In the section about casting I made an optional rule if a spell component was used, the casting number was reduced by 1.  This is completely option; players and GM don’t have to use it. It is there to aid players who want need to the best chance they can to get that spell off.  It can also be another way for players to spend their hard earned loot or make some money if they harvest components while adventuring
But what is the required spell component? Good Question. 


Spell Components

This section is about the optional rule for using spell components. When sued they can help reduce the Target Number of a Spell making it easier to cast.

Spell level
Requirement
Reduce Target # by Up To
1-3
1 Spell Component
1
4-6
2 Spell Components
1 to 3
7-9
3 Spell Components
2 to 5

FFM SPELL COMPONENTS


A spell component is going to be composed of materials classified as Animal, Mineral, Vegetable or a Mixture. Roll 1d4 for Each Component:
1.      Animal
2.      Plant
3.      Mineral
4.      Concoction (Roll 2 More times, ignore result of 4)

D6
Animal
Plant
Mineral
1
Horn of ****
Seed of ****
Dust of  ****
2
Hoof of ****
Sap of ****
Crushed ****
3
Fur/Feather of ****
Leaf  of ****
Piece of ****
4
Claw/Talon of ****
Fruit of ****
Liquid of ****
5
Fat/Slime of ****
Root of ****
Forged ****
6
Blood of ****
Bark of ****
**** Item

Each material will have a rarity of Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare or Unique. Roll 1d4 for each component to determine Rarity (Cost)
·         -1 to roll of Spells Level 1-3
·         +1 to Roll of Level 7-9

Roll
Rarity
Cost
Modifier
1
Common
(1d6 x5 GP)
.5
2
Uncommon
(1d6 x 10 GP)
1
3
Rare
(1d6 x 100 GP)
1.5
4
Very Rare
(1d6 x 1,000 GP)
2
5
Unique
(Quest Only)
3

After determining the rarity of each component add up the modifiers, this is the total deduction from the Target Number of the Spell making it easier to cast.
Animal Component Example 1
Common
Uncommon
Rare
Very Rare
Horn of Elk
Horn of Gargoyle
Horn of Wyvern
Horn of Unicorn
Hoof of Stag
Hoof of Hippogriff
Hoof of Nightmare
Hoof of Ki-Rin
Fur of Bear
Feather of Harpy
Fur of Hell Hound
Feather of Phoenix
Claw of Weasel
Fang of Giant Snake
Talon of Roc
Claw of Sphinx
Shell of Tortoise
Slime of Carrion Crawler
Fat of Devilswine
Piece of Gelatinous Cube
Blood of Dove
Blood of Lion
Blood of Basilisk
Blood of a Dragon

Plant Component Example 1
Common
Uncommon
Rare
Very Rare
Oak Acorn
Pomegranate Seeds
Yellow Mold Spores
Seed of Shimmerweed
Pine Sap
Honeysuckle Honey
Sap of Assassin Vine
Kingsfoil
Basil Leaf
Lotus Petal
Blood Orchid Petals
Black Lotus Petals
Mulberries
Saffron
Heart of Shambling Mound
Fruit of Death’s Head Tree
Arrow Root
Root of Birch
Root of Moly
Simbelmynë
Sycamore Bark
Cinnamon
Bark of Hangman Tree
Bark of Mallorn

Mineral Component Examples 1

Common
Uncommon
Rare
Very Rare
Iron Filings
Garnet Dust
Diamond Dust
Mithril Shavings
Crushed
Crushed Pearl
Crushed Sapphires
Powdered Stygium
Glass Marble
Carved Jade
Piece of Meteor
Calcified Gorgon
Coal Oil
Quicksilver
Muride (Bromine)
Hot Magma
Glass Len
Copper Bowl
Platinum Wire
Iron Golem Head
Brass Bell
Silver Tuning Fork
Gold Astrolabe
Orichalcum Censer

Monday, May 5, 2014

Monstrous Magic and Ghastly Means



A Fist Full of Magic: Monster Spell Casters and Magical Abilities

When I wrote up FFM I failed to address the issue of Spell Casting Monsters and the magical abilities of various some monsters. I am only going to address the monsters listed in the S&W Complete Rulebook.

Please note this is just a rough guide for a GM to use and they should feel free to ignore it, tweak it or completely change it if they so wish.

Banshee - 0 Power Dice / 8 Dispel Dice
Centaur Spell Caster - As Druid of Same Level
Demon Prince - 3 PD per 1 HD / 3 DD per 2 HD
Demons (5th Cat.) - 5 PD per 3 HD / 1 DD per 1 HD
Demons (4th Cat.) - 2 PD per 1 HD / 1 DD per 2 HD
Demons (3rd Cat.) - 3 PD per 2 HD / 1 DD per 2 HD
Demons (2nd Cat.) - 1 PD per 1 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Demons (1st Cat.) - 1 PD per 2 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Djinni - 20 PD / 12 DD
Doppleganger - 1 PD / 8 DD
Dragon, Black - 1 PD per 4 HD/ 8 DD
Dragon, Blue - 1 PD per 3 HD/ 8 DD
Dragon, Gold - 1 PD per 1 HD / 12 DD
Dragon, Green - 1 PD per 3 HD/ 8 DD
Dragon, Red - 1 PD per 2HD / 10 DD
Dragon, White - 0 PD / 6 DD
Dragon Turtle - 1 PD per 2HD / 10 DD
Efreeti - 20 PD / 12 DD
Dryad - Charm Person Successful on 2+, 10 PD / 2 DD
Dwarf Spell Caster - 1 PD per 4 HD / 1 DD per 2 HD
Elf Spell Caster - 1 PD per 2 HD / 1 DD per 4 HD
Giant Spell Caster - 1 PD per 3 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Gnoll Spell Caster - 1 PD per 2 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Goblin Spell Caster - 1 PD per 1 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Harpy - Charm Person Successful on 2+, 8 PD / 2 DD
Hobgoblin Spell Caster - 1 PD per 1 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Lich - as Magic User
Lizardmen Spell Caster - 1 PD per 3 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Merman Spell Caster - 1 PD per 2 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Naga All - as Magic User
Nixie - Charm Person Successful on 2+, 10 PD / 2 DD
Ogre Mage - 20 PD / 10 DD
Orc Spell Caster - 1 PD per 1 HD / 1 DD per 3 HD
Titan - 40 PD / 30 DD
Unicorn - 10 PD (healing spells) / 10 DD
Vampire - 0 PD (Blood Magic) / 8 DD