Hi, everyone. Sorry about starting a new thread for this, but I figured the sheer size of the previous one might be a bit off-putting. So, perhaps we'll get more discussion on a new thread. Okay, three things. #1: Streamlining Experience. I'd like people to consider the possibility of having every status score(Characteristics, Abilities, Arts, even Virtues and Flaws and Confidence) in Ars Magica share a basic common value. That common value would be the Art experience point, renamed the experience point, or XP. I recommend that Art XP be used because the knowledge training/studying rules use this already, although the student must then divide by 5 and round up. Ability XP is already defined as being the equivalent to 5 Art XP. Conversion is simple - Abilities now require (Level + 1) * 5 XP to advance. I would recommend junking the Confidence rules, mostly because I cannot find any other place in the rules where a similar mechanic is used. Allow Players to purchase Confidence with XP, at a cost of (Level + 1) * (10 or 15). However, I would keep the rules for temporary and permanent loss of Confidence, and a new mechanism for capping Confidence might need to be devised. I would rate Virtues as being worth 30 XP. A modifier of up to 15 XP might be applied if the SG has control over how the XP or Virtue is spent(15 - 25 XP might buy a Virtue point if the SG has control over what it is, 1 Virtue might buy 35 - 45 XP if the SG has control over how they are spent). As for Characteristics, I would value them at ((Absolute Value of Level) + 1) * (20 to 40, I recommend 20) XP. I would also recommend that SGs be advised to require plenty of in-game justification for raising Characteristics, especially Stamina and Intellegence. As a final note for #1, I recommend handing out 20 XP per year of life from the ages of 1 to 20, rather than the current 10. From the ages of 21 to 30, make it 15 XP, and then 10 from then on. It seems to me that such XP is more in line with what even Grogs will be making. Note also that Speak Language 4 should no longer come free. #2: Eliminating Classes There are currently a number of classes in Ars Magica. Hermetic Magus is the most obvious one, with various types of lesser wizards filling out the remainder. I'd like to get rid of that. Let us define a new Virtue. Call it, The Gift of Magic, and value it at +6. Let us also define another virtue, calling it The Lesser Gift of Magic, and value it at +3. Now, let us assume that all magical traditions have a Virtue associated with them that acts as a Gateway of sorts, allowing further training in that tradition. The Hermetic Gateway Virtue would be a +1 Virtue that has The Gift of Magic as a prerequisite. Then convert several Virtue Points into XP, which provides our young apprentice with lotsa XP a year(20 normal + ? from the Virtues) for almost 15 years(the rate will decrease slightly when the apprentice hits 20). Ability XP for Magi is currently 45 + Age, or presumably 60 total gained during apprenticeship. That's 4 Ability XP per year, or 20 XP. In addition 10 Spell Levels and 10 Art XP are also gained each year(on average, of course). A total of 40 XP a year. Note that if you assume that grounding in each Art requires the equivalent of an Ability XP, you've now got a total of 45 XP a year. 20 or 25 of that yearly sum must come from Virtues. That's 300 XP or 375 XP, which works out to 10 or 13 Virtue points(the extra 15 XP works out to 3 Ability XP, which isn't unbalancing). 13 + 6 + 1 works out to 20 Virtue Points, which is a nice round number. Primary Characters, therefore, should have 20 Virtue points. Their choice if they buy a Hermetic Magus just after apprenticeship or not. #3: Combat Let's drop the phases of action - melee should be somewhat abstract, missile and spell combat should be blow-by-blow. One thing I liked about brawling was that you have maneouvers you can do if you get enough successes. Let's do that with melee in general. Of course, each 5 point success can be converted to a body level of damage, but let's also have stuff like disarms and feints that you can try to do. For missiles, if you have an Initiative of 24 for the round, and your bow has a fire rate of 8, then you fire at 16, 8, and 0. Anyone attacking you with melee weapons has a bonus of (his initiative - 16). You might also allow for Insta-Kill missile weapons. Sufficiently heavy bows and crossbows can go right through armor within a certain range. With a good enough aiming roll(15 higher than is needed to hit the target, perhaps?) you can hit the brain or sever the spinal chord in the neck. Okay, I'm hoping for comments/flames/job offers;)/criticism. Anyone care to fulfill those hopes? -Albert Edited 1/24/2003 3:11:58 AM ET by APNORMAN
Edited 1/24/2003 3:13:00 AM ET by APNORMAN
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