Spells Question

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maulxx
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Spells Question

Post by maulxx »

I'm new to BFRPG & tabletop role playing. I'm reading the rule book & I'm just not quite understanding the part about preparing spells.

"A Magic-User may only prepare spells after resting (i.e. a
good night's sleep), and needs one turn per each three
spell levels to do so (rounding fractions up).
Spells
prepared but not used on a previous day are not lost. For
example, a 3rd level Magic-User preparing all three of his or
her available spells (two 1st level and one 2nd level) is
preparing a total of 4 levels of spells, and thus needs 2
turns (4 divided by 3 and rounded up)"


Could someone explain & elaborate on the underlined portions? In the example, how is he using 4 levels of spells?
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Metroknight
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Re: Spells Question

Post by Metroknight »

Magic users have to prepare spells which is basically studying the spell and almost completely casting the spell (going through the motions, words, and material usage) but stopping at the last moment to have that specific spell on pause or hold till when they need it then they finish casting that specific spell. All this takes time which is represented by the 1 turn per 3/levels.

A turn is 10 minutes in length so it boils down to about 3 1/2 minutes per spell level on average.

Spell levels is just a abstract representation of the complexity of the spells which is related to how knowledgeable the Magic-User at a specific level in relation to that spell.

This is how I understand it.
Caelestis
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Re: Spells Question

Post by Caelestis »

For the Spell levels it is:
1 x Level 1 Spell
1 x Level 1 Spell
1 x Level 2 Spell

So you end up with 4 if you add up the spell levels. I think that was one of the questions but sometimes I misread things :D
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Dimirag
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Re: Spells Question

Post by Dimirag »

The time needed is based on the total of spell levels prepared.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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maulxx
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Re: Spells Question

Post by maulxx »

I'm still baffled by this. Maybe I'm just slow :oops: .
I don't get the example that was given. If a PC is a level 3 magic user how do you get 4 levels of spells & two turns to prepare them? It looks like they are creating 3 spells so to me it looks like it would only take one turn. If it's "one turn per each 3 spell levels" & they're preparing 2 level 1 spells & 1 level 2 spell then isn't that 3 spells? Also, they are only preparing level 1 & 2 spells so I can't understand the reasoning here that it's 4 spell levels. I am definitely missing something here.
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Dimirag
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Re: Spells Question

Post by Dimirag »

Don't confuse spell amount with spell level or magic user level, 3 4th level spells counts as 12 spell levels, and not 3 spells. In this case he prepares 3 spells, but the amount of levels combined is 4:
1st level spell
1st level spell
2nd level spell
-----------------
4 spell levels (1+1+2)

For every 3 spell levels (not spells alone) or part thereof prepared you require 10 minutes
1-3 spell levels -> 10'
4-6 spell levels -> 20'
7-9 spell levels -> 30'
etc...

Again, the math uses the sum of the level of the prepared spells to get the spell levels used, not the number of spells being prepared
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
maulxx
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Re: Spells Question

Post by maulxx »

Thank you Dimirag for your insight. You are right. I wasn't counting per spell level as I was focused on character level & the number of spells.
Thanks to all who tried to help me out. It finally soaked in :D . I haven't played a table top rpg & I'm reading the book & trying to soak up what I can before convincing some of my friends to play. I was stumped on that so thanks again for helping me work that out.
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Solomoriah
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Re: Spells Question

Post by Solomoriah »

maulxx, might I suggest playing in an online game? One session hanging with some of the guys here who play online will illuminate you on a great number of things, and most of them don't bite. Not much anyway.
My personal site: www.gonnerman.org
maulxx
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Re: Spells Question

Post by maulxx »

Solomoriah wrote:maulxx, might I suggest playing in an online game? One session hanging with some of the guys here who play online will illuminate you on a great number of things, and most of them don't bite. Not much anyway.
As long as it's a noob friendly session I'd be down for that.
What would I need? I'd need to get a webcam for video I presume & a headset for chat?
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kerc
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Re: Spells Question

Post by kerc »

I simplify my spell system by having them work as expendable tokens between rests. For example, a 3rd level mage has two level 1 and one level 2 spell tokens. He has a specific list of spells available. He can cast any 1st level spell from his list twice, and any one 2nd level spell, also from his existing list, before needing rest.

This allows my players to use their magic in a more efficient way, and still limits casters in terms of how much they can do and keep the game balanced.
Kerc | Dice Pencil & Paper | @dicepencilpaper
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