Just lucidly thinking about our favourite RPG system, Rolemaster, and adding in some crunch.
This can especially be used for those developing a setting where a magical calamity or event has occurred, affecting all spellusers.
That or for a Shadow World Essænce Storm that has passed through an area and you wanna spice things up!
For the Channeling magic using professions, Channeling skill is a thing that all Channeling Realm magic users are expected to develop each level up, so they can draw upon their Divine Entity’s holy might to fuel their own spells(even having IN-Stat based Power Points isn’t enough it’s said as they technically only come from one’s “God”).
RM Channeling Players, please don’t hate me:
How many GMs keep tabs on making sure their Channeling-based PCs are taking at least a single Channeling skill rank per level, if not more for Pure or Hybrid Spell Users?!
Not many, I’d bet, just like me.
In thinking about this, it is also kind of unfair for Essence or Mentalism Spell Users not to need a similar mechanic or at least to make something mean more to these spellslingers, too...
Apologies to all other Realm spellslingers:
So, in musing about this I thought about adding the following complexity to resting and recovery of Power Points - and subsequently Hit Points - for those GMs now wanting to character sheet audit all of their Channeling Players, LOL!
New Uses for Old Skills
To even out the playing field, one can ask Essence users to develop Attunement, each or every second level, as they draw upon the energies of their environs to coax their PPs into existence.
The same idea for Mentalism users with, say, Meditation as they need a calm mind to tap their own Vulcan/Jedi ways.
Most times, these skills end up costing a single Development Point for a single rank, so it wouldn’t be a horrible drain.
The payoff is why characters would want to be dutiful in maintaining a constant rank/level expenditure(or more).
PP Recovery.
PCs in such a world where magic has been rent asunder have to fight with magical energies to come to their beck and call, and this is seen as a percentage chance based on the difference between however many ranks per level the GM decides is needed to regain 100% of one’s PPs after a night’s rest, and how many the PC developed.
If a threshold of 1 rank per level of the aforementioned skills is decided upon, do the math ahead of time and pre-calc however many Total PPs can be regained, also based on whatever other rules for Resting/Sleeping/Guarding you may use.
If wanting to crunch it up even more, make the Player roll on a Static Maneuver table, hoping to achieve a 111+(101+ for RM2/RMC) result. Make it easier using the Movement Maneuver table where one can gain a percentage amount based on sub-111/101+ results.
Is the “Good” Channeler near a holy site? Roll on the Easy column.
Is the same Channeler evil, instead? Roll on the Very Hard one.
Essence users near a Leyline or Bloodnode? Same difficulties or whatever you, as a GM, choose.
Hit Points can be the same using Body Development.
Landlubber on the high seas? Sorry, you’re puking all day(after maybe a Poison-based or CON RR).
If not wanting to make this DP punitive, one can base recovery upon stats instead, using the Temporary stats themselves as the % chance of recovery.
If wanting to take Race Boni into account, take the Total Bonus as a modifier, instead, or cross index the Total Bonus into whatever Temporary Stat one would need to achieve such a bonus(This is what I used to do to allow PCs the use of RMCIIIs “Stats Over 101+“ Abilities).
Anyway, enough brain spewage at 4 in the morning!
Do you or have you ever used something similar? What did it look like?
