My Take on Words of Power

[Baron_Sandshrew]

I want to share my homebrew spellcasting system for ICRPG with this community. This is by far the most substantial piece of my own content that I’ve shared. I’m proud of what I’ve made but I have not been able to play test it and have had very few eyes on it up to this point. Also, it’s my first time ever trying to do layout design. I whipped this up on a trial membership of Affinity Publisher but I know there are some oddities to the layout. I’m trying to learn more about how to smooth that out. If you decide to check it out and notice anything strange feel free to let me know in the comments and I’ll try to make updates.

I want to give special thanks to @OldBen and @The_Merlitron for giving me feedback on an earlier version of this.

Without further ado, please enjoy this version of WORDS OF POWER

[Jaune]

Hi, and thanks for sharing this here, I’m glad I saw the V1 on Reddit

I read the V2 and it’s still promising, it sounds like a lot of fun to use with a little learning process at the beginning probably.

Part 1 : Feedback

Globally I really like the ideas there and how they become mecanically interesting. However, it can be quite wordy, and I think a few drawings or schematics here and there (like Volt/Ampere/Watts) would help a lot to understand the whole package.

The post it are good as well, I’d like a few more if its possible (and that other people feel like it would add something as well)

Part 2 : Your thought on Words value

Have you considered words of different “value” ? Like adjective on a side and nouns or the other or something like this ?

I’m working on an open form of magic where characters unlock concepts as they progress in magic, so let’s say you start with Blood.
There’s 2 types of magic :

• the “establish” one, spells, where they have a specific effect and a specific cost, like “blood cloud” that make anyone in it bleed and obscure vision.
• the freeform one, where you could use the concept “Blood” and “Spike” to use your own blood by piercing your skin, but it hurts you, or using any pool of blood outside of your body to do a spike without hurting yourself.
  Following this example, you can have a “Piercing” concept to add on top to have your spikes to make them not pierce your skin, but rather go out of your arm before doing the spike.

The idea is to be able to blend magic school as one. My main player like the idea of blood + elements so being able to merge Blood, Fire, Cloud or things like that would be awesome for them.

But here, there’s a big shift in power and meaningfulness between the “Blood”, “Spike” and “Piercing” concepts : Blood is a primary type, you can’t have a Spike of “Nothing”, and Blood alone can be used to move blood around and do some stuff.
Similarly, Piercing is more conditional than Spike, and feels “lesser”.

And I’m here stuck at this crossroad of thought, and too busy lately to properly think of a solution, so if you thought about something similar in your Words of Power concept, I’d gladly take it !

[Baron_Sandshrew]

Thanks so much for the feedback @Jaune ! I like your twist on spell crafting as well.

it can be quite wordy, and I think a few drawings or schematics here and there (like Volt/Ampere/Watts) would help a lot to understand the whole package.

That’s helpful to hear. I need to re-read this with a fresh set of eyes and see what fat is left to trim off. I never thought of diagrams! That’s a fabulous idea and I’d love to develop those. One of my goals is to add some art too but I’m not much of an artist. Here’s a little piece I doodled up that I want to include in the ‘Finding New Words’ section.

I’d like to add more of the post-its too. That’s more of a challenge with layout and knowing how to set them up easily I was getting pretty stuck on moving the bits around instead of ironing out the content but if more people say they’d like more of those author interjections I’ll prioritize it.

Have you considered words of different “value” ? Like adjective on a side and nouns or the other or something like this ?

So I touch on some concepts similar to this in my piece.

"CASTERS can typically trade among the various elements of a SPELL’s
effect within a POTENCY level. A SPELL that hits one target will deal
more Effort than the same SPELL at the same POTENCY being applied
to multiple foes. BINDING 1 foe is easier, and therefore should last
longer, than BINDING many foes.

WORDS can tilt what is possible at a given POTENCY. Typically a
POTENCY 1 SPELL will deal 1 Magic Effort but if a CASTER is in combat
and their SPELL is HARMING, EXCRUCIATING, or DEVASTATING, a
bonus to their effort should be awarded. The same can be applied to
Range, Duration, etc. Casting SUMMON SWARMING SHADES-2 should
create more minions than SUMMON SHADES-2 despite having the
same potency."

I haven’t included anything about making a spell more POTENT by inflicting some kind of harm to the caster. that’s definitely an idea I would want to expand upon. I’m not sure if I would include it in my core system but would at least include in among the optional content.

My main player like the idea of blood + elements so being able to merge Blood, Fire, Cloud or things like that would be awesome for them.

I have a mechanics for blending words of power in one spell while also being able to add additional words of influence. FLAMING CLOUD of BLOOD if definitely a spell that is supported in my system!

Blood is a primary type, you can’t have a Spike of “Nothing”, and Blood alone can be used to move blood around and do some stuff.

“A WORD OF POWER can create trifling magical effects on its own but these are somewhat formless.”

“These minor tricks do not require the rolling of dice and cannot deal Effort.”

“All spells must contain at least one WORD OF POWER.” All on page 2 of my supplement

It really feels like we’re coming at this from a similar starting point! Specifically applying my mechanics to your example. The Blood mage could start at the beginning of a game with the WORD OF POWER BLOOD and two WORDS OF INFLUENCE. They might pick SPIKE and PIERCING, choosing one form and one effect is a good practice but not required.

Because they have Mastery 1 of BLOOD. They can only cast spells with one additional word, e.g., BLOOD SPIKE or PIERCING BLOOD. They can decide that the spell deals extra effort, beyond what is typical for a potency 1 spell, at the expense of their own HP. If they find the word CLOUD as loot then they can cast the BLOOD CLOUD spell you described in your post.

Once they earn their second Mastery in BLOOD they can now cast spells with a more words. Now they can cast PIERCING BLOOD SPIKES, SPIKES OF PIERCING BLOOD, etc. The effects are still up to the Caster. If you know you’re going to be casting this often it’s good homework to iron out the basic effects in between sessions.

Talk about me being wordy! This was just a cool example and it was a great chance for me to test my mechanics against someone else’s ideas and not just my own. I hope that was helpful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such an interesting and detailed feedback.

[Jaune]

Nice doodle, and thanks a lot for the extensive answer, there’s plenty of good ideas there!