Come Together, Coven Me

It's not uncommon. People are social animals. It stands to reason that magic will be a social event for people. Sure there will be loners, there always are, and as with any social context the morality of the majority or at least the strongest personalities will prevail, forcing some to reclusion for their nefarious deeds. There are many advantages to gather multiple spell casters together to work on a shared goal. We've already mentioned pooling points, magical essences, or mass quantities of will focused together as one reason. This is something that can even involve non-casters as well, depending on the setting. So, what are the other reasons for the joining of mystical forces? As with most things the first and easiest answer is logistics. These can be logistics of a martial type, but they can also be a matter of non-violent nature.

The first logistical need anyone might have is coverage. How much of an area does a spell cover? Even boosted the scale has to be less if cast by only one person. Aside from the raw size of the area multiple participants can achieve different shapes or configurations of coverage. The areas need not even overlap; the desired effect may be to affect multiple locations at the same time. Time itself can be another strategic obstacle overcome by more than one caster, especially for prolonged effects. This time-restraint may be a matter of fatigue in the short term or sleep in the long term. It may also be a matter of focus and attention that is mitigated by separate participants in a lengthy casting or ritual. Either the area or time factors are a matter of scale so don't forget to cover truly epic scales, or at least as epic as the setting allows.

Focus and attention are not limited to being maintained for long periods of time. One mind can only handle so many details at one time. Here is an opportunity to craft spells that are really impressive, like the Swiss clocks of spells. Again, consider the epic scale, dozens upon dozens of effects or a handful of effects on numerous targets. This can be devastation or construction, detriment or enhancement. Nuance is a good thing here. Layering might be a consideration as well as the tweaking of effects as they are created. Here the skill of the participants becomes important with less skilled casters doing the simplistic parts and the more skilled ones doing the tweaking, and certainly orchestrating it all. Where normally the novices would be given the grunt work only the more experienced members may have to power to shoulder the power requirements. It all depends.

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Magic Power Point Presentation

When it comes to the mechanics of magic in a role-playing game two options rise to the top of the list as far as importance. The first is the number of points with which a character has access to for the casting of spells. The second as discussed last week is the time it takes to cast the spell. The points portion of the mechanics can be broken down into several factors that must be considered and balanced. It can be difficult to discern what to deal with first. There is the need to determine the number of points required to cast each and every spell. There is also the number of points to which any single character will have access. It makes sense to determine the spell costs first. Doing that requires starting with the low-end costs and building up to the more costly and thus more impressive and powerful spells, but how to weight them?

The cost of one spell compared to another should be based upon many different factors. These factors can include how long the effect of the spell lasts, how far the effect can be cast away from the spell caster, how large of an area the spell affects, and just how powerful is the effect? What determines how powerful or impressive a spell is? Does it depend on game factors like damage? Is it more powerful if it affects multiple people? Does it matter if it is flamboyant or a spectacle to see? Is it a matter of how much it bends reality and defies the known laws of physics? Is it about the way it can change the playing field and alter the storyline? This last is hard to quantify. Death is a game changing matter when it comes to the players, the protagonists of the story. How does a powerful spell affect the setting if too many can cast it?

Once at least a rough baseline is set for the cost of spells then a look can be taken at how many points to which a single character or player should immediately have access. Factors for consideration include how many spells in rapid succession should a player be able to cast? This will also require knowledge about the other types of characters available so that the spell cast does not run out of options long before his companions. How powerful is a starting spell caster? How should they progress in power? Both of these should be compared to other character types as well, to maintain fairness and promote players to choose a spell caster. From a points standpoint there is an advantage to having more than one spell caster in the player party. Leaving points aside are there other advantages to multiple casters?

Mood: eclectic.

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The Strength of Magical Times

The use of magic in role-playing games has an additional requirement, beyond those discussed already, that must be dealt with in the mechanics to give it a sense of realism. Stick with us, even if you're not a gamer, because this has as much to do with creating the setting and the effect of magic on that mood, and the mood of any scene or scenario where magic is involved as it does games, numbers, or rules. As with so many other situations this requirement for magic and verisimilitude involves time. It's not just about creating an air of reality though; it's about dynamics and the implications that are spawned by setting out the rules, the physics, of magic and what is involved in its use. The mechanics are a factor of time because magic takes time, how much dependent upon the dictates of the setting which of course are set out in the rules.

In our more realistic setup for magic the ability to cast a specific number of spells per time period is off the table. Instead magic points are used, with each spell requiring a certain number of points to cast. It takes time to regain these points. How quickly they are used is more important game-wise than how long they take to recharge, but for fiction writing the significance is about the same unless magic only takes as long as the time to cast it--there is no need to figure it takes anything more than will and knowledge. The time required to cast spells and the recharge time can affect the pacing of your timeline if not the pace of the story. Often there are also methods by which a spell caster can gain and use additional points, such as rituals with multiple members, and sacrifices. Both of those right there add flavour and mood to the magic, and impact the setting.

There is yet another option for gaining magic points that involves an external source. Some settings have places of magic such as locations where mystic temples were built, lines of magical force that criss-cross the globe called ley lines, and places that are just plain magical whether because of a bleed-over from another dimension, the influence of magical beings like faeries, or at the decree of deities. Beyond that, these locations and others may have increased magic at specific times of the day, month or year, or when certain celestial alignments come about. These places and times can cut short the time required between spells, and allow for stronger spells to be cast than normal. All of these of course change the dynamic of the story or the game without even getting into the nitty-gritty of them. The exact mechanics and number crunching flow from the story elements.

Mood: relaxed.

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