A hazy idea for a new OSR magic system






2 thoughts on “A hazy idea for a new OSR magic system”

  1. Perhaps spellpower should be based on wisdom score (not modifier) plus level? This gives you fairly fine-grained control over the relative penalty that various spells inflict, and makes the misfire roll fairly simple: roll a d20, and if the roll exceeds the caster’s spellpower, the spell misfires (either 1 or 20 should always misfire to make casting have at least some risk for experienced casters). This means that an individual of average wisdom and no magical experience has roughly a 1/2 chance of actually succeeding at a ritual, which makes it risky but not suicidal.

    1. Perhaps I could add a spell specific risk factor. Easy spells get a bonus to the misfire check so that experienced sorcerers have to be at the end of their endurance to risk failure, while elaborate rituals have a penalty that makes them dangerous even for the best sorcerers and outright suicidal for dabblers.

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