It's going to be a double-Vancian system where you prepare spells for your open slots for the day, and prepare which slots you want for tomorrow.
… okay, I'm kidding, we've know pretty much nothing so far. I heard "seventy pages of spells" tossed around for the book, but that might be a pre-editing number or something.
This is one of those times when I've wished that Starfinder was going to be more like what d20 Future and Star * Drive did for d20 Modern, with maybe some Tech Guide expansion (computers and weapons) + some Distant Worlds expansion (other planets and stars) + additional rules for Pathdinder adventuring in space, rather than a self-contained sister RPG with some reprinted stuff.
|
Yea but then that wouldn't do anything to help curtail the enormous amount of material that current Pathfinder GM's have to deal with. As unfortunate as it might be that a good amount of space will be used in reprinting some material I am excited about having a clean and clear separation between the two games, at least from what a player has access to. I like that I will have the rules necessary to adapt the bestiaries.
A GM never has to allow anything in his campaign that he doesn't want to deal with. That applies even to stuff in the Core Rulebook. For example, if he doesn't want to deal with encumbrance then there's no encumbrance. If he doesn't want firearms in the game then there's no firearms. If he doesn't like synthesist summoners then there's no synthesist summoners.
The DM runs the campaign with the rules he wants to use or allow. The players can each decide if that's a campaign they're willing to play in.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Stuff like this is why I prefer Spheres of Power.
Stuff like this is why I prefer Spheres of Power.
Yes we know, you love Spheres of Power. But not particurlarly relevant.
Until we hear different, it's most likely going to be the exact same magic system as Pathfinder, probably with some changes in spells to reflect the setting.... Protection from Bullets/Lasers instead of Arrows, etc.
Stuff like this is why I prefer Spheres of Power.Yes we know, you love Spheres of Power. But not particurlarly relevant.
Until we hear different, it's most likely going to be the exact same magic system as Pathfinder, probably with some changes in spells to reflect the setting.... Protection from Bullets/Lasers instead of Arrows, etc.
I think it's entirely relevant. There's some who really think the Vancian system is stale and thematically uninteresting.
Of all the things Paizo shouldn't copy and paste from PF/3.5, its magic stuff should be one of the biggest ones.
We do know that they're using spells in the new system. There was a big push to get them all finished up a week or two ago.
It doesn't really matter what you call it, a 'slot' or a 'power point'. The issues are whether some or all power points should have a spell level maximum attached to them, and whether you can group weaker points together to make stronger ones. Right?
What if you divided the nine spell levels into three tiers. 1st-3rd, 4th-6th, 7th-9th. If you want to call them something more scientific or flavorful, you can. Terrestrial, Lunar, Solar.
You also get three tiers of power points. All Tier I spells draw from the same pool of Tier I power points. 2nd level spells cost a little more than 1st levels, and 3rd a little more than 2nd. Tier II and Tier III spells work the same way.
Power points can't be 'traded in' for higher-tier points.
While leveling up you still unlock individual spell levels. Your number of power points per tier also goes up as you progress. You don't get Tier II or Tier III points until your level is high enough to access the spells that use them.
Metamagics probably have an added point cost, without breaking out of tier. You would be able to decide at casting time if you wanted to metagic a spell. What if metamagics required an extra valuable material component that would be consumed to work?
It also, let's be honest, has no sci-fi feel to it.
Given that what we are playing is a space fantasy game with magic still being the be all and end all, and not science fiction, I find that highly fitting.
This is going to be a lot more Dragonstar than Traveller.
It sounds like we won't be getting the divine/arcane/occult divide we have in Pathfinder with these new classes for Starfinder. This article from yesterday states,
"There’s the Mystic, who’s all about the mental magic, biological magic, they’re the psychics and whatnot. You’ve got the Technomancer, who is much more sort of the wizard version of a computer programmer; they’re all about hacking reality, machines and breaking physics."
So, it sounds like there is a different sort of division and classification of magic going on for the two magic classes we are getting in the core rules. From what else is said in the article regarding religions, I am wondering if there will even be a divine magic as we know it in Pathfinder.
Whatever happens, hopefully the new classes will be playable in classic Pathfinder. I mean, they had to come from somewhere.
Whatever happens, hopefully the new classes will be playable in classic Pathfinder. I mean, they had to come from somewhere.
And who says that somewhere isn't several centuries in Pathfinder's future?
|
What about the explanation of magic, Vancian magic specifically? I forgot, is "the Web" (or however it was called, in Complete Mage I think) still around in Golarion? Having a fictional "another layer of order of matter" would allow for high-tech science to be similar to magic by accessing it on a quantum scale but with different means. Not to mention it would connect "vanilla Pathfinder" into the larger universe. Some simplifications (Arcanist mechanic) and clean-ups might be in order sure but this still leaves some room for thought.