Official ICE Forums
Systems & Settings => Rolemaster => RMC/RM2 => Topic started by: Terry K. Amthor on May 18, 2021, 08:33:29 AM
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Is it strictly by Power Points (e.g., you can cast as many Firebolts as you have points) or limit one of each spell per day. How would you treat enhancers?
While many RM spells have uses, it seems silly to me to limit the Spell User to one each per day, then stuck with a bunch of utility spells...
And do you require the user to have some sort of book to remember the spells each day or once learned they are permanently known?
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For me it is strictly by Power Points.
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Just power points. It gives casters more flexibility, and it's less accounting.
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Just power points. I think of them kind of like magical exhaustion points.
Vancian casting -- with slots of different types -- is a lot more complicated and harder to explain than just casting from a pool of magical energy.
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We've always done it by the book: just power points.
Also, once they know the spell they just know it. They can burn the book and be just fine if they want, though they're better off selling it if they can find a buyer. :)
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Like the others, just power points.
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Ditto, ditto, and ditto. Strictly PP. The caster learns the list portion and doesn't need a book to cast the spells. As a sort of meta-game, we all assume the caster has the scrolls/notes/books containing the spell list portion they are currently learning and would be studying during downtime without having to declare it.
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I don't like Vancian magic, although it's more flexible. I just use power points. Easier that way.
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Power points only, and once known the spell is permanently known.
For every block of 5 spells (or if it's a new list) they'll have to get some training or read a book before they can progress further with the list. it's easiest if another party member already knows that block, otherwise they'll have to pay up and go find a magical library or a spellcaster willing to teach them.
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Yes, our group assumes that casters first learn to cast the spells as rituals or from runes before they can cast them normally. But personally I rarely enforce rules about mentors -- I feel it kind of sucks to not be able to progress in a spell list just because you're in the middle of a desert and can't find a teacher. That's just my own playstyle of course (if the opposite works for you, all power to you!).
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Just power points.
Availability is limited to mentors or libraries outside of base lists. Everyone carries with them some means of learning their base lists as a B pick at least.
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Like the others, strictly by PP. And yes, once a spell is known, it can be cast if the Spell User (or Telepath, since the SM Psion rules are the same) has enough PPs. As for learning, yeah it's nice to roleplay the whole "find a teacher/book/other spell source"; but for their base lists, I've always assumed that they have a stock of spell books to learn from that they got during their initial adolescence training & that they take time each day to study new spell blocks. For non-Base lists, I'd have them have to go find a teacher/book/source in order to learn something new.
Nightblade ->--
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As a sort of meta-game, we all assume the caster has the scrolls/notes/books containing the spell list portion they are currently learning and would be studying during downtime without having to declare it.
This is how I do it now. In the past we've required the books to be bought. I don't remember the exact prices. I think it was 10gp per spell level. It was also a high-income game so that wasn't a problem after a few levels. Then again, it might have been 1gp per level with higher costs for levels above 10.
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Definitely power points, using the level-block system and individual spell development, and once you know them you know them
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Power points but also some rules from Atlas, you can borrow PP's from the future, ratio of 2:1 for tomorrow, 4:1 for the day after, and follow the geometric progression, each point spent from the future also costs 1 pt of temporary Con that is recovered with resting at a rate of 1 x hour.
Also if I want to make the game more magic oriented I allow the skill Power Point development.
E.g. Simon is a 5th level magician with 15 PP that must fight a group of Murlogi that just killed his comrades. He decides to create two walls of fire (-4 x 2 = 8points). Later he casts Fog (2 points) and flees through the only free corridor, and makes himself invisible (4 points). He only has 1 PP left and finds why murlogi do not go that way.
It's a nest of H’taan (big spiders that do not spin webs) and a deep, dark abyss. Simon notices that the 5 beasts can detect him without seeing so he concentrates and casts a new wall of fire in front of them, he had 1 PP left so he must take 3 points from the day after and killing 3 H'taans. He hears the murlogi approaching from the other side so Simon must cast a Levitation, that requires 4 points more. He walks the abyss and arrives to a terrace in the other side where he can rest, feelign not really well as he has lost 7 Co points.
Simon has used all his PP of the day plus 7 from tomorrow, also he has that means that after resting 8 hours he will be better, recovering CON, but will only recover 2 PP until he can rest again.
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We use PP also.
But we talk alot about the way that especially semi spell users ( melee oriented ) get stupid amount of combat bonus for very small PP spend.
After a certain lvl, they cant spend their PP. Because their combat spells last a year ( almost )
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Power points only for usage, no limits on number of types of spells per day.
Most of our group allows as many non-offensive instants around as you like (however I also ensure the party understand they aren't going to be able to rest up after each encounter - so they know they can't just blow their wad in one fight and be safe). There are some differences between us in how we structure our rounds however.
To learn a new spell list you need a teacher (someone who knows the list a few levels above you) or a few scrolls for the first few levels (and I'll make you use the scroll just to learn the spell). The 'few' is the number of spells before they start to duplicate (increase in power) in most cases. Often the first four or five. Advancing in a list you already know is allowed during level ups.
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Strictly power points when I use them at all. Enhancers are as stated (+X items add free spell "slots", while multipliers are on PP base).
No books required once a list is known.
Source (trainer, texts, magical place, ancient artifacts, whatever) required to learn a new spell list. Once the acquisition of knowledge has started, actual DP spending can occur "on the road" as needed (this is because my games use continuous timelines instead of distinct "adventure-downtime" format, which makes downtime really unpredictable).
I've also experimented with PP-less magic (basically, spellcasting result vs spell difficulty, modifiers and external conditions determine whether the spell cast is "free" or results in fatigue. Fatigue is cumulative and results in all activities being more difficult... including spell casting. Kind of a snowball effect but less predictable than PP spending and provides capability to cast low-level spells almost free in safe conditions. Tuning that is a pain and it obviously favours casters of all kinds, but my games are caster-heavy anyway (even NSU often learn spell lists, and most PCs are at least SSU), so it doesn't harm balance. However, you have to be able to cope with a team of fully buffed, invisible and flying characters when they have initiative (and the reverse, of course, when they don't). Another side effects is that combats are *fast*, even if mop-up might take time - full preparation makes the initial strike that much more impactful, and combat outcome is usually decided after a couple of rounds.