Just listened to Mr. Bulmahn's interview and I must say: I am now really excited for the Words of Power playtest, about which I was hitherto unenthusiastic.
Is this system going to make Pathfinder magic more scalable without throwing out the awesome traditions of Vancian magic?
Will we have 10-foot fireballs? Blindness-bolt? Black tentacle (sing.)?
Just what on earth awaits us in round two of the playtest?!
I thought the same thing when I heard it two weeks ago. Hopefully it will show up this week. We will just have to wait and see. I wonder if I will have to kill my summoner off when it shows up.
It appears that any character who has a spells-per-day mechanic will be able to access the system. The impression I get is that these are "half spells" or "spell parts" that can be combined to form plain-old spells, but since they are modular the actual cost in resources will be slightly higher than the well-known spells.
I can easily see how they plan to make the staple evocation areas and damage dice scale across all levels (although I'd love to know the details)... what's got me curious is how they're going to handle the myriad other mechanics which are less obvious. Take dispel magic...
Wild speculation, but think if you could take the area of lightning bolt and the effect of dispel magic and prepare that in a 7th or 8th level wizard or cleric slot! Sure, that's a highly situational spell, and at a much higher level than either of the components, but damn there are some situations where that would be useful.
My brother, playing the abjurer, wants to know if he could fashion a spell that stuns a caster on a successful dispel (counterspell).
I think this is a fascinating concept, and I can't wait to get more details!
Well, he did also say that some spells just can't be "built" using the Words of Power system, so I guess we'll see its limitations as well.
This is one of those things that sounds really awesome, but I'm concerned that in play its going to be a nightmare due to the time sink involved. Not only could it take a while for someone to build their prepared spells, but I'm really wondering how quickly a sorcerer or oracle could build spells on the fly.
I guess we'll see how quickly it can be put together . . . soon . . . ish?
KEJR points out the problem I've had with my own work on such a system.
The point I've gotten to (on paper as opposed to simply in my head) is the various levels at which each "component" starts at and how they combine (or not) into a spell and what level such a spell should be.
Overall I was a little less ambitious than paizo is being -- I was just figuring out some spell design mechanics for creating spells to be used at game time (instead of creating spells during game time and using it then).
Will be looking for the Words of Power, and how it might apply to Druids.
Also will be looking for a Spontaneous caster option for Druids, and/or Nature magic in general.
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This is one of those things that sounds really awesome, but I'm concerned that in play its going to be a nightmare due to the time sink involved. Not only could it take a while for someone to build their prepared spells, but I'm really wondering how quickly a sorcerer or oracle could build spells on the fly.
With a system like the Ars Magica system, or the Trinity freeform system, or ENWorld's Elements of Magic system (which is awesome, btw), the basic concept is certainly do-able, but I fear that with the standard D&D spells, which were not all designed in such a way to be reverse-engineered in this manner, it would be something of a nightmare to compartmentalize in this fashion.
Almost every spell (with exceptions like chain lightning and delayed blast fireball and the various 'mass' spells) is it's own unique beast, designed in a vacuum, with no real thought as to how it expands off of or could develop into a different spell, or chain of spells.
I'm a huge tinkerer, by nature, and the ambition of this sort of undertaking is a little bit breathtaking, and I'm worried that it will be either horribly clunky, or terribly underwhelming (much like, IMO, the concept of metamagic feats turned out to be)...
Well, he did also say that some spells just can't be "built" using the Words of Power system, so I guess we'll see its limitations as well.
I'm not getting my hopes up that there will be a long list of possible effects. Damage, healing (maybe), summon, movement and defense will likely be there, but anything really exotic I'm skeptical about.
I've been lokking for a magic system like this for a while. I liked the magic system in Black Company, but man was it bookkeeping-heavy.
I hope this one is as flexible but easier on the dead trees :P
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Well, he did also say that some spells just can't be "built" using the Words of Power system, so I guess we'll see its limitations as well.
This is one of those things that sounds really awesome, but I'm concerned that in play its going to be a nightmare due to the time sink involved. Not only could it take a while for someone to build their prepared spells, but I'm really wondering how quickly a sorcerer or oracle could build spells on the fly.
I guess we'll see how quickly it can be put together . . . soon . . . ish?
Depends entirely on how many words exist and how they are combined.
One can assume that you will have basic words for the following things.
Fire
Ice
Lightning
Acid
ect ect
Then words that modify such as
Ray
Burst
Orb
Bolt
Then words that define duration and such. Allowing you to build a spell based on the components of a spell description.
If you have a ton of words known... you'll have a hard time building spells. But if you have relatively few involved in each spell it will still be decently easy fill your slots.
To be honest, I'd pretty much consider the regular spell system and the Words of Power system to be two entirely separate schools of thought.
Sure, they would have some similiarities, like each having specialists in a school of magic (evokers, illusionists, etc) or elementalists, but the Tradionalists wouldn't be able to use the Words of Power system without intensive training, aka multi-classing.
I could see a Wizard (Traditionalist) 5 / Wizard (Words of Power) 5 working out as a feasible character.
Mybe it's as simple as:
2 words Fire + ball = Burst effect of fire.
or Lightning + bolt = Line effect of electricity
Wall + force = well, a wall of force
become newt
flesh stone
become tree
:P
The wizard gestured at the raging barbarian in front of him, casting his spell, "Nrut hself ot enots!"
The barbarian slowly began turning grey, his movements becoming stiffer and stiffer until he stopped. The enemies main fighter was now nothing more than a lawn ornament.