alexandraerin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alexandraerin) wrote2013-04-30 03:36 pm
alexandraerin) wrote2013-04-30 03:36 pm
Entry tags:
AWW: Spellcrafter's out, Magic-User's in.
I wasn't expecting to put out a major revision to the BCG so soon, but I've received more feedback sooner than I expected, and a lot of the early feedback has centered around the presentation of the Magic system and the Spellcrafter Quality, which is the first glimpse into that system that people get reading the manual from front to back.
One person felt the whole thing had "too many moving parts", one person thought the Spellcrafter was a weird and unnecessary throwback to D&D's eccentric handling of magic, and one person lamented the lack of a basic or entry-level wizard Quality.
I wasn't really satisfied with the execution of the Spellcrafter concept myself, so I've pulled it and replaced it with a more straightforward "utility wizard", simply called the Magic-User/Mage/Archmage. I think this version does a good job of capturing the flavor of the D&D wizard without any of the headaches that go along with stapling overtones of Vancian magic to a flexible and freeform system.
I think there's a lot of promise in the Spellcrafter concept, but it's a more complex idea and it's going to take time to get it right. So for now, it's out, and the Magic-User is in.
I'm also going to be streamlining some of the concepts in the magic system, like Magic Burn, which will require minor revisions to the Gear section. It won't change what wizardly options are available or what they do in general terms, but the allusions to how they play out in game terms will need updating.
That's for later. For now, I've just replaced the Spellcrafter with the Magic-User. If anybody out there really thinks the Spellcrafter was incredibly awesome and is disappointed to see it gone from the test, I can work on re-working it before the gameplay testing, but I think people more people are likely to be happier with the Magic-User.
(Updated PDF.)
One person felt the whole thing had "too many moving parts", one person thought the Spellcrafter was a weird and unnecessary throwback to D&D's eccentric handling of magic, and one person lamented the lack of a basic or entry-level wizard Quality.
I wasn't really satisfied with the execution of the Spellcrafter concept myself, so I've pulled it and replaced it with a more straightforward "utility wizard", simply called the Magic-User/Mage/Archmage. I think this version does a good job of capturing the flavor of the D&D wizard without any of the headaches that go along with stapling overtones of Vancian magic to a flexible and freeform system.
I think there's a lot of promise in the Spellcrafter concept, but it's a more complex idea and it's going to take time to get it right. So for now, it's out, and the Magic-User is in.
I'm also going to be streamlining some of the concepts in the magic system, like Magic Burn, which will require minor revisions to the Gear section. It won't change what wizardly options are available or what they do in general terms, but the allusions to how they play out in game terms will need updating.
That's for later. For now, I've just replaced the Spellcrafter with the Magic-User. If anybody out there really thinks the Spellcrafter was incredibly awesome and is disappointed to see it gone from the test, I can work on re-working it before the gameplay testing, but I think people more people are likely to be happier with the Magic-User.
(Updated PDF.)