v3.0 suggestions

[JoeCarr28]

Adding the Wisdom bonus to Clerical Turning and the Dex bonus to some Thief abilities is fine with me. It's the Intelligence bonus to damage I don't care for. I agree, there should be some way to promote higher INT among magic-users, but I'm not sure what it is.

It's a rather blunt instrument, and it doesn't address the INT issue specifically, but there's always the prime requisite experience bonus.

If nothing else, it's faithful to the source material.

[Sir Bedivere]

... It's the Intelligence bonus to damage I don't care for. I agree, there should be some way to promote higher INT among magic-users, but I'm not sure what it is.

Just a thought. Normally, INT adds its bonus to saves vs. illusions (Core Rules p. 53). What if we kept that for all characters, but for MUs, who are highly educated / trained in the ways of magic, they could apply their INT bonuses to all saves vs. magic? In a sense, maybe their training (EDIT: plus the intuitive leaps high intelligence gives) allows them to anticipate magical effects and gives them a better chance of dodging them.

[artikid]

Well D&D came up with a solution to make INT and WIS relevant for spellcasters, however in a negative way:
Clerics had Spell failure and bonus spells, while Magic-Users had a limit on the number of spells per level they could learn plus a cap on the maximum level of magic they could learn.
While I don't like either solution, it's the tradition.
I still think that allowing the spellcaster to add his prime bonus to Saving Throws, Range or Duration or even effect dice -like damage or number of targets affected or mirror images created- (but not "per level", and not above the maximum damage the spell could do) is the way to go: you do not have to change spell descriptions or change each single spell.
All you have to do is add a paragraph in the chapter on magic.

[Solomoriah]

A few questions. How long before V3 is ready on lulu if there is a v3. How long before some other modules are ready on Lulu? What is the difference between the two BF1s on Lulu. I know the first one is perfect bound, but what is different about the 2nd one?

Due to shipping cost I like to buy in bulk from LULU.

BFRPG 3rd Edition is little more than vague plans right now.

The other BF1 is saddle stitched.

[Solomoriah]

... It's the Intelligence bonus to damage I don't care for. I agree, there should be some way to promote higher INT among magic-users, but I'm not sure what it is.

Just a thought. Normally, INT adds its bonus to saves vs. illusions (Core Rules p. 53). What if we kept that for all characters, but for MUs, who are highly educated / trained in the ways of magic, they could apply their INT bonuses to all saves vs. magic? In a sense, maybe their training (EDIT: plus the intuitive leaps high intelligence gives) allows them to anticipate magical effects and gives them a better chance of dodging them.

AH, now this I like!

[SmootRK]

... It's the Intelligence bonus to damage I don't care for. I agree, there should be some way to promote higher INT among magic-users, but I'm not sure what it is.

Just a thought. Normally, INT adds its bonus to saves vs. illusions (Core Rules p. 53). What if we kept that for all characters, but for MUs, who are highly educated / trained in the ways of magic, they could apply their INT bonuses to all saves vs. magic? In a sense, maybe their training (EDIT: plus the intuitive leaps high intelligence gives) allows them to anticipate magical effects and gives them a better chance of dodging them.

AH, now this I like!

Isn't the Saving Throw Table already skewed to give good magic saves to MU characters?
That said, a sort of mental dexterity is a good idea, but I think all characters might get this... Perhaps for MU (with the aforementioned Magic Knowledge to avoid effects, get a damage reduction of sorts against spells?

Aside from the idea of Bonus Spells (which I like best and I am using in my own House-Rules), adjusting spells in various ways seems to be my alternate favourite mechanic mentioned so far (just don't know whether it should be decided via individual spells, or via some sort of player choice). I think in terms of using this game for my children, so having the mechanic built into the spells is easier than giving them the burden of figuring out which is best themselves.

[Solomoriah]

Isn't the Saving Throw Table already skewed to give good magic saves to MU characters?
That said, a sort of mental dexterity is a good idea, but I think all characters might get this... Perhaps for MU (with the aforementioned Magic Knowledge to avoid effects, get a damage reduction of sorts against spells?

Not doing damage reduction. But I don't see a problem with a saving throw bonus, even with Magic-Users already having relatively good saves. Remember, you can be a magic-user with just a 9 INT. This makes having a higher INT a good deal. It reflects not merely the intelligence of the character but also his or her training in the magical arts. For this reason, I wouldn't give this bonus to other classes.

We need to note that it is not cumulative with the INT bonus vs. Illusions, also.

[SmootRK]

Just trying to throw in as many ideas as can be imagined.

Wisdom Bonus might overlap this as well.

[JoeCarr28]

I agree, there should be some way to promote higher INT among magic-users, but I'm not sure what it is.

The bonus to saves vs. Spells is fine, but it's not something that a Magic-User is going to benefit from on a day-by-day basis (in the same way, for example, that a Fighter benefits from "to-hit" and damage bonuses for high strength). A couple of other ideas for promoting/rewarding high INT for MUs that occurred to me over the weekend:

1. Apply the INT bonus to the number of starting spells in a Magic-User's spell book. So an INT 18 MU would start with 4 starting spells (+ Read Magic) in their book. This wouldn't mean that they could cast 4 spells per day. Just that they have learnt additional spells (at Wizard School, or wherever).

2. Allow a Magic-User to apply the INT bonus to the number of spells of each level that they may memorise each day (but not cast - that would remain the same as it is currently, i.e. the table on page 8 of the rule book). So a high INT would NOT increase the spell-casting capacity of a Magic-User, but it would provide them with more spell-casting options.

Neither, I think, would be game-breaking, but would provide a tangible day-to-day benefit to the MU of having a high INT.

[SmootRK]

Those are both fine uses of Intelligence. I think they might become a lot more useful with an expanded list of spells (meaning more new spells, from Spell Supplement or elsewhere).

I would like to see a usage that might support other classes as well. For instance, a Strong Cleric gets some advantage to having that high strength. A high Dexterity affects more than just Thieves. Constitution affects everyone. Wisdom and Charisma have some effects in play, particularly CHA (reactions come up often), but Intelligence only seems to affect Languages... just does not seem to be enough. Certainly Intelligence should be able to better affect all characters in several facets of play, but especially aid MU in their profession.

I could see the INT score adjusting all spells versus Magic (for all characters). Magic-Users could get this, and perhaps something like Counterspell or Spell Turning mechanic could be developed. Fiction has loads of MU types meeting each other and then playing out a sort of battle of Magic/Will with the best MU coming out on top. Not sure how to implement, but it could be interesting.