Magic Words

[purposiveness]

Roleplaying games, having a long history intertwined with fantasy, have, probably quite predictably, a rich and varied approach towards magical powers.

Rather than going into an exhaustive list of what kind of stuff is out there and why none of it quite scratches that itch, I'm going to list a handful of rules or axioms that I'd love a magic system

Comments

[queex]

Hmm. One thing that could enact points 2 & 3 would be if characters, once they gained knowledge of magic, cannot help but use when an applicable task check comes by. For example, once a magician can fly, he must fly if he moves under his own power. If this is coupled with a mechanic that has a small chance of a magical botch every time it is used, it becomes almost self-regulating. A wizard will use the threat alone, if he can, and surround himself with ordinary people who can do every tasks for him without the risk.

[purposiveness]

Hmm, I'm not sure. It seems somewhat inelegant to me.

It's certainly not the feel I'm going for - essentially I'd like to play something that a) is about Magicians (in an Urban Fantasy type setting) - so something like Mage or UA but b) isn't about the Horror (whether those aforementioned games do it well or not) and c) works based on the paradigms I've provided rather than UA's Adept/Avatar system or Mage's sphere system.

I want Magic to be isolating but not in a UA "nobody gets it, and I'm a freak" way, but rather because Magic is an addiction and one day the price might be something you don't want to pay. So ironically, Mages pay the price of Isolation in order to practise well.

I feel like I'm not pinning this down well. I've got a picture in my head as to what it might look like but it doesn't appear on paper so good...