(TFT) Re: Wizardry Talent

["Mack Brewer" <mbrewer@psphalifax.ns.ca>]

<snip>
>   I think a fair cost for Wizardry might be 4 IQ points.  That would allow
>a fighter-type to know a spell for 5 IQ points (Wizardry (4) + Spell (1))
>and a full-blown spellcaster could still have a decent number of spells in
>his repertoire: An IQ 10 wizard could have up to 6 spells after buying the
>Wizardry overhead -- not too bad.


Not a bad idea at all but will probably need some extended playtesting
to see how it really affects gameplay.  I really like the idea that the
mages
have an actual "talent" for magic, not just the statement that "I'll be a
wizard"
and can therefore start "buying" spells for no previous training cost.
With all spells costing the same measly 1 IQ point regardless how high level
or how powerful they are, I really think "Heroes' get short changed with the
cost of many of their talents.
ex/ Can you really tell me that the IQ-16 Megahex Sleep spell is as simple
to
learn as the IQ-8 Detect magic spell? or that the IQ-8 Image spell should
cost
the same as the IQ-14  4-hex Illusion spell? I don't think so.
I'd really think we should make pre-requisites for all these spells just
like some
of the better talents have lower talents as preq's for them.
ex/ Can't learn any multi-hex spells unless you have learned the 1-hex
spell version first.

...back to Wizardry as a talent;

In the live roleplaying rules our society created/adapted from TFT many
years
ago (called FFTS) we shortened all the talents to those that we could
effectively
roleplay well in a 1-day game setting.  We also broke these talents down
into 3
main areas:  Knowledge(misc) talents, Combat talents, and magic talents.
Everyone could learn the Misc talents at normal cost.
Heroes also learned all combat talents at normal and paid 2x for magic
talents
Mages learned all magic talents at normal and paid 2x for any combat
talents.

  This let us freely mix and match talents to create either our Warrior
Rogues
or our Magical Thieves. (for example)  We also revised the spell lists to
charge
more for the more powerful spells, with spell study costs ranging from 1 pt
to
4 pts for the very powerful Lightning Storm or raise Dead spells.  I still
find the
very low point cost for the higher IQ power spells to be very unbalancing
but I
think adapting something like the suggested "Wizard talent" for 3-4 points
could help balance things out somewhat.
On that note I think we should make the initial decision between Hero/Wizard
actually cost and mean something.

"Heroes" MUST buy the Warrior talent in order to learn combat talents at
normal cost. We remove the ST preq on it entirely and it still stops it's
regular
1 pt from all attacks.

"Wizards" MUST buy the Wizardry talent in order to cast and learn spells at
normal cost and in order to eventually qualify for magical research of any
kind.
Without this talent they are merely "spell casters" who learned a spell thru
simple
memorization of the words (at 2x cost) and really have no true magical
knowledge.
 They in this case perform like parrots, mouthing the words to get results
without
understanding what they are saying.  (it doesn't stop their spells from
hurting you
but forever bars them from doing any research or item creation)

This choice has to be done initially as only Heroes will be able to "buy"
the
Warrior and Veteran talents and only Wizards will ever be able to buy
"Wizardry".
Otherwise thay can mix and match abilities at will as long as they are
willing to
pay the 2x cost penalties involved.
This way you could end up with a starting Wizard learning more combat skills
and a starting Hero picking up some spells and eventually the two could have
nearly identical characters, albeit from different beginnings. The hero
could
eventually learn to cast the same spells as the Wizard but it'll take longer
and
he'll never be entirely comfortable with them as he really doesn't
understand
magic. The Wizard could eventually aquire the Warriors talents with weapons
and armor but could never be considered a veteran warrior (either talent) as
his main studies lie elsewhere. So, they may look the same initially from an
outside observer, but the Warrior-Mage will always be better in melee and
the
Wizard-Warrior will always have the edge in spell-casting.

Both "trees" or paths will produce many Rogues and Foresters and there will
be just as many mercenaries and bodyguards in each profession.
Damn! but I think I'm going to end up completely revising my "House Rules"
for character generation clearly defining these new pathways. I've talked
myself into it.

Mack

=====
Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"