| From: | Glenn Munro <eazy@*****.COM.AU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: [SR3] Magical Magic |
| Date: | Mon, 7 Jul 1997 23:52:17 +1000 |
>OK, I'm getting some good feedback. Here's Survey Question #3...
>
>One comment I've heard a lot of is "magic in Shadowrun should have more of a
>mystical/magical feel to it than it does now." I'm curious about the idea,
>since I don't quite understand it. Since SR magic is currently (IMHO) based
>on about 80% real-world magic theory and 20% fantasy magic (fireballs and
>such) it feels pretty "mystical" to me. I'd like some feedback on the issue.
>Is SR magic "magical" enough? If not, how could it be better?
>
>The one caveat I will have to put in is please, please don't tell me "the
>magic system should be more like Ars Magica, or Mage, or Earthdawn..." or any
>other role-playing game. The basic concepts of SR magic aren't going to
>change, but we might be able to fix some of the "feel" of it.
>
Perhaps this is more a GM thing.
Dove: OK I cast fireball
GM: Fine. Boom. Roll Dice.
There's not much in the rules to get players to be more creative than this
either. For the Shaman there is but it seems glanced at. IIRC there are
mentions of chanting and dancing and the like. (Don't have BBB with me to
check and haven't played a mage either so please forgive any ignorance)
I think for many people the mystic part comes from arcane symbols, complex
gesturing, secret unpronoucable languages and rare ingredients. Also
there's the spell length...all spell are whipped off at the speed of
thought (or thereabouts). Sure there's ritual sorcery but nothing in
between. Some may argue that having variable length spells will make mages
even worse in combat but this is not the point. Why should all should
spells take the same amount of time to cast?
The mechanics of the magic system seem to dominate discussions in BBB as
well. This makes magic feel more scientific than mystical (esp with the
reference to scientific methodology being used by some mages).
again forgive any ignorance on my part. I think its been a year since
reading that section in BBB and have not played a mage (maybe its time I
did. It would annoy our token Munchkin esp if I outdid him without
reverting to powergaming :)
QuickFix
