magic Fixed Magic

[Surrealistik]

Having played two magic using characters, it's definitely come to my attention that the magical theories in the core book are not at all balanced with each other; obviously this needs fixing:

 

Magical Theories:

Oxford Method: Easily one of the worst theories, featuring a disproportionately harsh downside that rendered fairly impractical the use of 2 AP spells outside of the AP reduction Immuto, I've changed it like so:

Oxford Method Talent: During Dramatic Time, the character may increase the final AP cost of any Spell cast by 1 (after making any adjustments for Immuto). If he does, that Spell's Duels can either have 2 suits of the player's choice, , or a chosen suit and . Outside of Dramatic Time, the character may spend 10 minutes casting a Spell to gain this benefit. Spells the character casts that do not have this benefit gain to its Duels.

Why? Captures the flavour/characteristic of Oxfordian magic being slower, more formalized, deliberate and complicated in exchange for greater control and power without featuring a downside that makes it nearly unplayable, or virtually locks the player out of taking/using 2 AP spells. Also provides a significant enough benefit that doesn't get overshadowed by a talent like Calm and Collected. Outside of Dramatic Time the casting time for the benefit is increased substantially because AP cost is almost irrelevant in that context (Oxfordian Mages become much more efficient under pressure!).

 

The Whisper Talent: Fine.

 

Darlin Theory: Unplayable mess out of the box. Starting characters will either be completely unable to use magic at the beginning, or at best, be severely restricted in what they can cast assuming they spend all 10 starting script on their pneumatic device.

Darlin Theory Talent: The character must have a pneumatic device of some kind to manifest any magical effect; a new character who begins with this theory may start with such a device, investing any amount of their initial/starting scrip into its value. When a Spell is cast, if the pneumatic device's scrip cost (per its street value) is lower than the TN of the Spell, that Spell's Duels gain .

Creating a Suitable pneumatic device requires one hour and an Artefacting skill equal to a tenth of the device's value, and scrap parts worth the device's final value (which is readily available for sale). When such a device is destroyed it becomes scrap (unless the GM deems otherwise) worth the cost of the device (and it may therefore be used to create a new device).

In addition, the character gains the Construct Genus Immuto as a Mastered Immuto, and applies a -2 TN modifier to any Spell that targets only Constructs (even if it can target something else; Constructs that classify as other types of targets still count). This may be combined with the Focus Object Immuto (and it often is).

Why? Keeps the theory highly Construct focused while letting even a starting player cast spells with TNs above 10 without having to repair their pneumatic focus every time. Also prevents corner case gamey applications of the TN reduction when including non-Construct targets along with Constructs. Giving Darlin Theory the Construct Genus Immuto plays to its theme and allows a player with it to consistently enjoy the benefit of its theory without devouring precious and scarce Immuto slots.

 

Thalarian Doctrine: Probably the least OP of the ones that are, but OP nonetheless.

Thalarian Doctrine Talent: The character reduces his Sorcery, Necromancy, and Prestidigitation skills to 3 (if they are higher) and may never have any of those skills at a rating above 3 without special dispensation from the Guild (or becoming a heretic). All Duels made with these skills without such special dispensation and instruction from the Guild (such as that which might be given for Witch Hunters or Death Martials) gain. In addition, the character gains on any Spell that has a target with a Magical Theory Talent other than the Thalarian Doctrine. Unless deemed a heretic by Guild authorities, the user may practice magic freely in Guild territory within the confines of its law.

Why? Mechanically reinforces and makes salient the taboo nature of non-Counterspelling/Enchantment magic per the Thalarian Doctrine theory. Though the penalty may initially seem outsized relative to the mechanical benefit, it's worth keeping in mind the huge narrative benefit of not having to worry about arrest, execution or worse from the Guild. Without this change the downside of the Thalarian Doctrine is rather limited vs its benefits in the sense that Enchantment is one of the strongest spell schools in the game, and that a skill level of 3 still affords an excellent probability of success for most spells; meanwhile, even if you _do_ exceed the threshold of 3 to become a heretic/outlaw, all this means is that you merely take on the con suffered by every other Theory, which also have additional material downsides.

 

Court Procedure Talent: Fine.

 

Balanced Five: More like the Unbalanced Five. The downside is practically negligible as written.

Balanced Five Talent: The TN for Spells without at least one Elemental Immuto applied to it that has a material effect on that Spell increases by +2. However, the character may apply up to two Elemental Immuto to a single Spell (instead of 1).

Why? Keeps a Balanced Five mage concretely focused on elemental magics via a material carrot and stick without excessively penalizing him in areas outside of his expertise.

 

Hedge Magic: Needs a minor tweak to prevent unlimited stacking of Elemental Immuto effects which is clearly degenerate.

Hedge Magic Talent: The character chooses an Elemental or Genus Immuto. The character may only cast Spells that can have the chosen Immuto applied to it, and the character must apply the Immuto to every Spell he casts.

However, the Immuto is always treated as being in the character's active Grimoire, and the TN of any spell that Immuto is applied to is reduced by 4.

Why? Stops degenerate stuff like insta-paralyze Cold Immuto spells, unlimited damage Fire Immuto spells, infinite Blind Darkness Immuto spells etc..., while making Immutos with lower TN increments attractive vs ones with higher TN increments.

 

Tradition Magic: Way too min/max; the downside is usually negligible, as a player usually only specializes in one or two magical skills.

Tradition Magic Talent: The character chooses one Magical Skill. All Duels with the chosen skill gain. All Duels with other Magical Skills gain.

Why: Generally a player only specializes/focuses on one or two magical skills so providing a benefit to the one the player specializes in at the cost of penalties to all others presents a fair tradeoff despite on the surface seeming particularly harsh. This cements Tradition Magic as the premium choice for a specialized caster.

 

 

Magica/Immuto:

Magica:

Teleportation (Entry Modified): During Dramatic Time, this Magica's range is reduced to 10 yards.

Why? Ridiculously strong during Dramatic Time at 30 yards which is close to the entire length of a standard Malifaux combat area. As starting value of 30 feet also makes it hilariously easy to increase its range to sight for teleporting troublesome opponents into the horizon, or escaping with trivial ease.

 

Physical/Mental Enhancement (Entry Modified): For each character affected in addition to this Spell's target (such as via the Pulse Immuto), increase its TN by +3. Each time this Spell has been cast (successfully or not) by a character since the last sunrise or sunset, increase its TN by +3 for that character. This Spell's effects last 1 Minute and cannot have its duration increased beyond 1 Hour.

Why? Prevents brokenly spamming this spell with the Pulse Immuto as needed to make a group of Fated into de facto gods, while making it impossible to extend pretty much indefinitely using the Increased Duration Immuto.

 

Summon X (Entry Modified): Monsters summoned by this spell are summoned with damage equal to half of their maximum wounds (rounded down) that cannot be reduced.

Why? As a bottomless source of meatshields this spell is in serious need of limits on the health of monsters summoned; this is also in keeping with Malifaux summoning convention of most summons being conjured in a damaged condition.

 

Bury (Entry Modified): If this Spell's duration is increased, during Dramatic Time, its target makes an Opposed WP Duel against the caster at the end of each turn to escape, returning to reality on a success as specified by this Spell. During Narrative Time time it does this every Hour instead with a cumulative +2 bonus to its Duels to escape for each Duel made in this way during Narrative Time beyond the first.

Why? Prevents Bury from being insanely overpowered via destroying enemy action economy wholesale, especially when used in conjunction with the Pulse and Increased Duration Immutos. Also synchronizes the effects with its tabletop counterpart.

 

Telekinetic Push (Entry Replaced): The target is pushed a number of yards up to this spell's Range in a direction of the caster's choice. If the target's movement is interrupted by an obstacle (such as another character or object other than the floor) by colliding with it, the push ends, and the target and interrupting obstacle each take 1 damage for every 5 yards the target has yet to move (maximum 4 damage) and must make a Toughness + Resilience Duel with a TN equal to 8 + 1 for each point of damage taken in this way or be knocked prone. A character other than the target that can move can make a Walk + Acrobatics or Evade Duel with a TN equal to half the target's remaining push movement (maximum TN 13) to avoid such a collision on a success. A target may be pushed into the air with this Spell to a maximum of 30 yards, but each yard the target is moved in this way counts as 3 yards for the purposes of determining how far it can be moved.

Why? The spell is basically useless without this change, and not nearly worth a precious and limited Magica slot.

 

Immuto:

Cold (Entry Replaced): Any character that suffers damage from the Magia also gains the Slow condition. This Magia may be taken any number of times. If taken twice, a character that gains the Slow condition from this Immuto also gains the Paralyzed condition if it fails a TN 10 Resilience + Toughness Duel. The TN of this Duel increases by +2 each time it's taken beyond the second.

Why? Guaranteed paralysis at the cost of +6 TN is blatantly overpowered. Gets even worse when combined with duration extension and Focus Object Immutos.

 

Delay (Entry Modified): This Immuto increases Spell TN by an additional +2 for each existing Spell the caster has active using the Turns option, and by +5 for each of these Spells using the Defined option.

Why? Prevents indefinite and arbitrary stacking of delayed Spells which is obviously broken (imagine keying a teleport spell, 10 elemental bolt or summon spells to key off being punched in the face!).

 

Pulse (Entry Modified): This Immuto increases Spell TN by an additional +1 for each character that would be affected by the modified Spell beyond the fourth.

Why? Helps keeps the impact of a Pulse modified Spell in proportion to its TN.

 

Focus Object (Entry Modified):

Replace: When this Immuto is learned, the Focus Object is also chosen, and cannot be changed later on.

With: When this Immuto is learned, the Focus Object is also chosen, but may be changed later on by attuning to a new object over the course of an hour.

Replace the Portability and commonality segment with the following:

The TN reduction is based on the commonality and value of the Focus Object, and whether or not the Focus Object is portable without much effort.:

Portability:

TN -1: Any object that is easily man portable.

TN -3: Objects that are effectively immobile without much effort, such as an engraved summoning circle or large iron cauldron.

TN -4: Objects that are completely immobile and fixed; a giant statue or carving, a massive altar, etc...

Commonality:
-0 TN: Extremely common object that can be readily purchased for under 10§, such as a length of rope or a pistol.
-1 TN: Object with a few requirements but that is reasonably available, such as a certain make/model of pistol, or a wand made from oak.
-2 TN: Object that must be specifically crafted by or for the caster (requiring at least 2 hours of work), but that can be replaced, such as a special staff, or a customized weapon/pneumatic limb.
-3 TN: Objects that are irreplaceable. If the object is lost or destroyed the character is just out of luck!

Why? Not nearly as important a fix as most other Magic fixes, this one nonetheless addresses some needless gradients that enable too great a TN reduction relative to the difficulty of acquiring/using an object, while allowing flexibility in the Focus Object, permitting it to change with the character.

 

More to come.

[Surrealistik]

Updated Hedge Magic such that it reduces the TN of all spells cast with the chosen Immuto by 4 and removed the clause that states it never increases TN which allows for effectively infinite applications of certain elemental Immuto and therefore infinite Burning/Blind/Poison/guaranteed paralysis which is broken as hell and obviously problematic.

EDIT: Apparently this was the one theory that got errataed. I still prefer mine as my solution doesn't incentivize more expensive Immutos over others.