Need advice for a high magic, rules lite game
In reply to Gamergirl (msg # 1):
dX. That's the short of it.
Read HERO, then reverse the rounding headache and turn it into a nuanced system based on vanilla stats (about eighty of them) that to mix and match with relative power. You can make a LITERAL god, that can destroy planets, all the way down to peasant children (comma humor intended).
It takes quite a bit of starting understanding, but AFTER you start, oh boy it's easy! Leveling up isn't XP driven. There NO XP, only CP, whcih directly translate to stats. I mention HERO because that in the Yin to Yang of dX, same idea though, make ANYTHING.
If you want a catch all sorcerer who can literally do anything with magic, there is an attribute called Dynamic Powers, which allows rapid cherry-picking on the spot of other attributes, it a GREAT deal of power....but you can't make any one effect all that great. You can call on anything....but nothing is impressive by itself. Or, alternatively, you could have someone with other attribute and then say, Dynamic Powers Keys, or Cats, and then they'd be able to say, gain super skilled lock-picking skills, or negate a fall off a wall. You don't have to make Dynamic power the only source of magic though, it's good to all or nothing, but it can be alright for hedge magic to round of things like summoning comets and earthquakes, when all you want to do is warm a cup of tea and clean the dust off your clothes.
There is an alternative attribute, called Power Flux. Especially if you don't like Dynamic Powers, Power Flux allows those savvy player to have the same sphere of influence (my examples were MAgic for the expensive one; or Cats of Keys for the cheaper one) Instead of instant pulling from a hat, you can "repurchase" attributes every interval (most new GMs make it an hour, or day. It can be up to 6 months or low as a few seconds [though I know the system almost my heart and I require minimum of a minute]).
Then...after the catch all low power, high versaility, you can wall walls, summon transports, like a giant wagon, summon fiends or elementals, sense truth and enemies, teleport, imprison...the list goes on.
It's FREE TOO! LEGALLY free! The business went under (sadly) but it's still legally downloadable for free. So you have nothing but time to lose by trying it, and no player group has an excuse UNLESS their downloads are limited bandwidth (one user on here has a warning of that in his bio). Barring bandwidth limitations, no one has an excuse not to have the same book.
It's a toolbox system though. It requires you to make EVERY NPC if stats will ever come into play. THAT is the one flaw. Their catalogue of antagonists and NPCs frankly sucks. I would be glad to Rmail you my friend Anne's, and my monsters', mages', and cultists' stats though. We have close to seventy different creatures made, and I'd be glad to make you more to get you started. They're all VERY well documented so you can audit them if you so choose. It's very seldom that my stats are off by even one point.
Best of luck though!
I'm actually thinking of running a similar game is dX myself, but I'm not a dog in the manger. I'm crossing my fingers more people will eventually enjoy dX.
This message was last edited by the user at 12:45, Thu 26 Apr 2018.