design of spells

Here is one more problem i have encountered in Magic 4th.
It is about the design of new spells and the guidelines in the first or
second chapter of the book. it says that spells with effects of
advantages or disadvantages should cost energy equal to 1/3 * CP of the
advantage.
now.. take invisibility. advantage costs about 40 points. (not including
the extension that all you touch becomes invisible). you need a duration
limitation. take -40% for 1min and 1/day. that means the advantage costs
26 points. one third is 8 or 9 points. it actually costs 5 FA points.

now take body of flames. a 6pt meta-trait advantage costs a freaking 12
energy points!!!!
this MAY result from a faulty conversion of the grimoire spell. they
dumped the regeneration 1HP/min (50 pts) in fire (lets say -20%, because
you actually ignite fires or -40% if you neglect this). considering this
regeneration you come close to 36 points for the meta trait wich results
in cost of 12 FA points for the spell.

Now consider Great Haste! Altered Time Rate 100pts, -X% for a duration
of 10sec. well.. even if X=80, you would have to pay more than 6FP for
the spell.

and all this fails if you consider innate attacks, because attack spells
are treated differently in magic. just another inconsistency.

maybe you could add another -10% limitation because of attribute check
required, but it still wont work. even if you take some preparation time.

i think these guidelines are bogus.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to calculate energy costs of
spells?

Tobias

Tobias Heidelmann wrote:
> Here is one more problem i have encountered in Magic 4th.
> It is about the design of new spells and the guidelines in the first
> or second chapter of the book. it says that spells with effects of
> advantages or disadvantages should cost energy equal to 1/3 * CP of
> the advantage.
> now.. take invisibility. advantage costs about 40 points. (not
> including the extension that all you touch becomes invisible). you
> need a duration limitation. take -40% for 1min and 1/day. that means
> the advantage costs 26 points. one third is 8 or 9 points. it actually
> costs 5 FA points.
>
> now take body of flames. a 6pt meta-trait advantage costs a freaking
> 12 energy points!!!!
> this MAY result from a faulty conversion of the grimoire spell. they
> dumped the regeneration 1HP/min (50 pts) in fire (lets say -20%,
> because you actually ignite fires or -40% if you neglect this).
> considering this regeneration you come close to 36 points for the meta
> trait wich results in cost of 12 FA points for the spell.
>
> Now consider Great Haste! Altered Time Rate 100pts, -X% for a duration
> of 10sec. well.. even if X=80, you would have to pay more than 6FP for
> the spell.
>
> and all this fails if you consider innate attacks, because attack
> spells are treated differently in magic. just another inconsistency.
>
> maybe you could add another -10% limitation because of attribute check
> required, but it still wont work. even if you take some preparation time.
>
> i think these guidelines are bogus.
>
> Do you have any other suggestions on how to calculate energy costs of
> spells?
>
> Tobias
The purpose of assigning large cost to ability enhancing spells is to
prevent player abuse of a mage powering other players (or himself)
constantly with enhanced advantages that were cheaper than the points
paid during character creation for the same stat change or advantage.
This is a part of the "balance" concept.

For new spells that create such an advantage, I would tend to think
about how it will affect the campaign I running, whether or not it's
frequent use would overshadow the character creation process for future
characters, and what limitations/disadvantages could be placed on it to
create the balancing effect. I normally do this with major magical items
as well. For example: A pair of Bracers that enhanced move and dodge
(Haste) also carried a disadvantage that it attracted all missiles in a
large area (affecting both the the PC and his friends in the area- not
only do they become targets unexpectedly, but even by the missiles from
their own side!).

In designing spells and items, I try to provide limitations that keep
the energy cost in the 3-6 casting same to maintain range. Limiting the
number of casting due to time required or the number of times the spell
can be maintained can provide some balance.

Here's to Good Gaming!
Regards,
Roger