Magic-User Options

[Sir Bedivere]

Prescriptive = Bolt-On.. I think you nailed the reason why I use some supplements and not others.

Elaborate, please.

I like the supplements that I can just "bolt-on" to the core rules that don't neccessarily supercede them but work with them.. Constructive seems to be more of the 'We've changed the rule mechanic from the core rules so do this instead'

Also very useful feedback.

[Sir Bedivere]

A thought just occurred to me...

A magic bolt is, well, magic, right?

So it hits monsters affected by magic weapons?

Maybe, but then so do spells. To use an analogy magic-users are one key to that particular lock.

Yeah, I tend to agree, LL (though I know I need to rethink a lot of things after the discussion above).

Edit: Smoot's the one who proposed the rule so I'll go with his interpretation.

Actually, the idea has been around in various forms for quite a while. Maybe Smoot came up with it independently as well, but I first saw the concept proposed at Lord Kilgore's blog.

[SmootRK]

The general concept of an Arcane Bolt is certainly not original to me. I have seen forms of it going back to the 90's or perhaps even into the 80's... however, my own version is unique to me. When I write supplements, I may work upon a concept found elsewhere, but I generally do not reference any other source material while writing my own. This keeps me from copying much, and certainly frees me from any plagiarism concerns with respect to my actual writing.... with a side effect of giving BFRPG its own sort of flavor to such ideas. (one can see this sort of thing in the writing of the Familiars Supplement... very unique to BFRPG in its writing and the rule particulars).

A sort of personal mission when it comes to BFRPG is that of minimizing the impression that BFRPG is merely a copy of a certain sort of game and that all its additional materials are just pale shadows of stuff for those other games/editions. BFRPG is robust enough to carve its own way as a game. I can imagine other games porting our material to their use.

[LibraryLass]

I meant in the context of this particular supplement. Microlite74, my other old school game of choice, has had Arcane Bolt from the beginning.
Bedivere, I'm sorry, you did bring it up first in this thread but when I posted that fact had slipped my mind.

[Sir Bedivere]

I meant in the context of this particular supplement. Microlite74, my other old school game of choice, has had Arcane Bolt from the beginning.
Bedivere, I'm sorry, you did bring it up first in this thread but when I posted that fact had slipped my mind.

No need to apologize! I just wanted to avoid the priority argument (he said it first, so we'll do it his way), especially when you are agreeing with me.

[Joe the Rat]

I always look at balance.

The factor I'm looking at with this is ammunition - unlimited magic thrown dagger expies, compared to the archer and slinger who will be limited on their shots in a battle. Better still, there's no monetary cost involved. Some sort of limiter might be needed for balance. This would be something to look at in playtest.

Something I'd toyed with is using an alchemy/material component approach to this - little magical concoctions that provide the power or damage (from thrown packets and charged acorns to drawing energy out of small vials to launch at your enemies). Another angle on this - and one that can take the magic damage out if that's an issue - is to build off a mage hand type ability - using magic rather than muscle to throw daggers (bullets or whatever you want to allow) at your enemies. If shot limit isn't an issue, magical retrieval would work here. (Yes, I do like the image of a magic user casually opening his cloak, and having a set of knives float out an launch themselves at your enemies.)

Or (but this is probably even less desirable because it's a substantial change) I've heard of some takes on Magic Missile, from the very earliest days, lasting for one 10-minute turn instead of a single shot, allowing the caster to fire off a missile (with a save) once per round.

(my fuzzy recall was that you got the same allotment, but the missle(s) hung around for up to a turn before you had to use them all. No idea where that came from though)
Something along these lines would work well as its own spell. The trick here would be to fix the level, addressing concerns about the number of available shots (which might tie to level), and finding the right alliteration to name the baleful bundle of bullets.

If you don't cantrip it (with a 10-round limit), I'd make a multifunction spell of this (because I love added features) - The spell summons a cloud or orbiting ring of small glowing magical spheres, which follow the caster. Until expired (or the shots are used up if there is a limit), they also provide candle-to-torch levels of illumination.

[Sir Bedivere]

The general concept of an Arcane Bolt is certainly not original to me. I have seen forms of it going back to the 90's or perhaps even into the 80's... however, my own version is unique to me. When I write supplements, I may work upon a concept found elsewhere, but I generally do not reference any other source material while writing my own. This keeps me from copying much, and certainly frees me from any plagiarism concerns with respect to my actual writing.... with a side effect of giving BFRPG its own sort of flavor to such ideas. (one can see this sort of thing in the writing of the Familiars Supplement... very unique to BFRPG in its writing and the rule particulars).

A sort of personal mission when it comes to BFRPG is that of minimizing the impression that BFRPG is merely a copy of a certain sort of game and that all its additional materials are just pale shadows of stuff for those other games/editions. BFRPG is robust enough to carve its own way as a game. I can imagine other games porting our material to their use.

A good practice and a worthy cause. BTW, I'm glad to see your Familiars supplement out. I've added it to the supplements list in r3.

[Dimirag]

Maybe the Arcane Bolt must be created and carried (like arrows and daggers). You can even create different types of Arcane Bolts each having a different damage or element or special feature and its cost. If you want you can add a level requirement for its creation, so lower level MU can buy them but not create them.

[LibraryLass]

In ML74 the Arcane Bolt costs HP, but so do all their spells and a 1st level character in it is a little sturdier than a ML74 one, so I dunno if that's applicable here.

[Sir Bedivere]

Maybe the Arcane Bolt must be created and carried (like arrows and daggers). You can even create different types of Arcane Bolts each having a different damage or element or special feature and its cost. If you want you can add a level requirement for its creation, so lower level MU can buy them but not create them.

That's a great idea. I may incorporate it into r4.