Topic: Changing spell durations

[Maelstrom]

Among the various discussions regarding power level for spells, I thought of making a change that hasn't been brought up (at least that I could find) that should make spellcasters think about their spell choices when selecting spells to learn and casting spells thereafter.  I'm thinking about changing most spell durations from the common 2 rnd / rank to concentration and provide additional scaling options for concentration + duration (after concentration is ended) and the typical 2, 5, 10 rnd per rank.

This change would cover most spells that are typically not combat oriented like invisibility, fly, force bands but exclude things like bladeturn, mage armor (and equivalents), attack spells or spells like merging.

To my thinking this shouldn't affect anything in a drastic way and make spellcasting more strategic in the game, but I'd like opinions of others to uncover any oversight in my thinking.  So, what's your thoughts about the idear?

[ReaperWolf]

The short durations of utility spells does take some getting used to but when you consider how easy it is to make potions, runes, and charms such mundane magic is pretty easily had.

For as far as I'm concerned, most utility spells should include increasing duration as a scaling option and I don't see any serious consequences with adding these to most spells.

Something to consider,

>>ReaperWolf

[Maelstrom]

Thanks for the response.  For the most part there is usually the scaling option to bump duration to 5 and/or 10 rounds per rank.

My thinking for the change is to make utility spell durations slightly standardized but mostly to bring the level of magic down a notch for a more gritty world.  Haadariym isn't a world where mages "fire and forget" easily when casting spells.  I'd like magic to be more rare (but not unheard of) so making this a little harder on them isn't a bad thing.

[jurasketu]

Maelstrom-

Very early on, I allowed all utility spells with durations to scale using the CoM rules, 4PP for 5 rounds/rank, 6PP for 10 rounds/rank, 8PP for 1 minute/rank, 9PP 10 minutes/rank. I also allow the 10PP for 1 hour/rank for most utility spells. The players take advantage (but so do the bad guys). And it really hasn't caused any serious issues play balance-wise. I tend to do mostly city-outdoor type adventures where distances and time make short duration spells largely useless.

Robin

[Maelstrom]

That's the type of adventures likely to be featured in Haadariym.  At the other end of the spectrum I'm looking at changing spell durations pretty much across the board from the common 2 round / rank to concentration then provide scaling to increase it to a "fire and forget" of x rnd / rank (allowing for increasing durations for increased PP expenditure.)

I think this change will bring a little more grit to the world without making things drastically harder.