mage- a game of magic and attitude

[Phillip]

Please check out my latest game, mage

It basically uses a system of stones to represent manna of different colors that mages can spend to do magic.  Each magical feat has a minimum mana.  You can succeed with lesser color manna, but you get black manna which causes bad things.  You can spend more color manna to get white manna to offset the black manna, but if you get too much you succumb to a sort of magic high.  Tell me what you think of it.

[Mike Holmes]

You are aware of the WW game with the same title, right? So this is just a working title?

Also, have you seen the posts here on the Crux system? Sounds very simular to what you have in some ways. Could be good to check it out for various reasons.

What sort of feedback are you looking for? You'll get a better response the more precise the questions you ask.

Mike

[ethan_greer]

Suggestion for title: Magitude.

[Phillip]

Mike Holmes wrote

What sort of feedback are you looking for? You'll get a better response the more precise the questions you ask.

Basically I just want to see if the basic system as given is sound, or if I left anything out that may need to be included, at least to flesh out the basics of the rules.  Also, I wanted to see if people thought if I captured the basic attitude I was trying to get across and if it fits with the style of the game.

[Lance D. Allen]

misposted

[simon_hibbs]

That's actualy a pretty nice little game. It's simple, consistent and atmospheric.

The only potential problem is needing all those coloured stones, since nobody I know is heavily into trading card games. I could get round that by using playing cards and mapping the colours to suits. You'd need something else for white and black mana though.

Some examples of play or a cameo is always a good idea for a new game, to get people realy into the game style.


Simon Hibbs

[Phillip]

Thanks for the positive comments!

I decided on the colored stones for style.  Your idea of card suits works just as well.  You could just keep track of black and white manna on your character sheet.

I basically banged this game out in one day.   I should probably go back and add some examples of play and perhaps an example mage.  BTW, what do you mean by 'cameo'?

[Mike Holmes]

As far as tone, it felt to me like a cross between the games Eldritch Ass Kicking, and Octane. I think that, if it lacks anything (besides some polish), it's some sort of seeds for creativity. As it stands all we have are a couple of magic items and the four groups of magic. That's fairly sparse. Do you intend to expand on that at all?

What would really help would be lots of examples for the character stats like Bans, Totems and Quests, etc.

Mike

[Phillip]

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, as I said in my response to Simon, I plan to go back and expand with some example mages and add some effects to the color list, and an example or two of how manna is spent and recovered.

[John Kim]

Basically I just want to see if the basic system as given is sound, or if I left anything out that may need to be included, at least to flesh out the basics of the rules.  Also, I wanted to see if people thought if I captured the basic attitude I was trying to get across and if it fits with the style of the game.

Well, I'm not sure quite what you're trying for.  The magic seems to most resemble "Magic: The Gathering" with freeform effects -- you should probably mention this in your influences.  Personally, I'm bugged by your usage of "manna".  In English this means the miraculous food given to the Israelites in a Bible story.  I think you mean "mana" which is a Polynesian term for spiritual power that has been mis-used by some other games.  Do you have a reason for using this term other than being like M:tG and GURPS?  

To be a complete set of mechanics, I think you need to give more guidelines on how much mana one needs to spend and how to tell if a spell succeeds or fails.  As I understand it, god sets a minimum cost -- let's say 2.  I spend 3 and get one white mana.  god then rolls a die.  Now god sets a different number from 2 to 6 for how important the spell is to me -- let's say 4.  god then rolls a die and if it is less than that number the spell fails.  Otherwise it succeeds.  Is this right?  Or are spells an exception to the normal die roll process?  

On the other hand, I think I'm not your target audience.  On the face of it, I'm not interested in playing either a sadistic god or a mage in a world with a sadistic god.

[failrate]

Seems pretty Narrativist, right?  Like basically you just created a limiting framework for some creative juices.  The Dogme school of film suggests that people need some kind of restriction to really focus themselves on creative work.  That is, if the producer or god just said, "You can do whatever you want." then nobody would do much of anything.  SO, if that is your intent, then it seems plausible.

[Phillip]

Personally, I'm bugged by your usage of "manna". In English this means the miraculous food given to the Israelites in a Bible story. I think you mean "mana" which is a Polynesian term for spiritual power that has been mis-used by some other games. Do you have a reason for using this term other than being like M:tG and GURPS?

I need to quit relying on the Frontpage spellchecker so often...  Changed it.

The magic seems to most resemble "Magic: The Gathering" with freeform effects -- you should probably mention this in your influences.

Never really played it, but familiar with the game.  That wasn't one of the influences; it was really more Matt Wagner's Mage comic with the different color magic that the mages use.  BTW, I changed the name to 'maje' because I can't come up with a better one, and I don't wish to get into trouble with White Wolf.

To be a complete set of mechanics, I think you need to give more guidelines on how much mana one needs to spend and how to tell if a spell succeeds or fails. As I understand it, god sets a minimum cost -- let's say 2. I spend 3 and get one white mana. god then rolls a die. Now god sets a different number from 2 to 6 for how important the spell is to me -- let's say 4. god then rolls a die and if it is less than that number the spell fails. Otherwise it succeeds. Is this right? Or are spells an exception to the normal die roll process?

Spells are an exception, because the premise is that mages are special and not subject to the whims of god.  God only rolls a die when the mages are not using magic.  God can decide a minimum mana cost from 1-6 however he wishes.  Say it's 2.  If you spend 1 mana, you gain black mana and have the crazy shit whenever it gets equal to your crazy.  If you spend 3, you earn one white mana which could lead to happy funk.  No dice are ever rolled.

[Phillip]

Seems pretty Narrativist, right?  Like basically you just created a limiting framework for some creative juices.  The Dogme school of film suggests that people need some kind of restriction to really focus themselves on creative work.  That is, if the producer or god just said, "You can do whatever you want." then nobody would do much of anything.  SO, if that is your intent, then it seems plausible.

True, very true.  It is supposed to be minimalist narrativist rule set, but it still needs a little polish and some more examples to be complete to help players and god focus a little.  I am going to be doing this over the next few days.

[Spooky Fanboy]

Okay.

The system itself is fine, seems like Mage with a looser (and for that, better) framework.

But the style borrows from Kill Puppies for Satan, and it doesn't jibe. KPFS was perfectly written for depicting it's theme of twisted losers, their inability to cope with the world, and their warped, insular sense of cameraderie. It's an ugly game because it depicts an ugly world.

But magic is a way out, it can change that. Players can do kewl and uplifting things with their gifts, which the characters of KPFS cannot do. Mages have no need in this game to be isolated social maladroits, hating God and the world He created. So why the bitterness? Why hate God? Why keep their talents hidden from the masses? Why not rage openly against God and the Machine?

The style doesn't fit the theme of people with the world at their fingertips. It reeks of bitterness and helplessness instead of empowerment and the desire to change things. Perhaps some examples of God oppressing the players more, or a reason for despair and cynicism, would make this game feel like a coherent game unto itself instead of pieces of games assembled at random.

Sorry if I sound harsh; I like the basic game and I'm naturally a sucker for these magic-intense rpgs. But somehow this gamee isn't feeling like a work in it's own right.

[Phillip]

I see your point entirely.  I didn't think that the style did not mesh with the theme of the game until now, when you pointed it out.  I think by 'style' you mean both the style of the writing and the style of the game theme itself.  I need to change at least the theme of the game to more capture 'god is against everyone and they are doomed, but you can fight back.'  

You know, this game is getting a fair bit of attention for something it only took me a day and a half to conceive and write, and another game I worked on for months that I posted here earlier has gotten no responses...  I guess good ideas are not bound by time.