My wife is paying bills online, and I just threw away some paperwork from the bank.
Yesterday I ran my fourth session of Halberts with @phf, @presgas, and @frotz.
I want to talk about an interesting aspect of the magic rules. The rules provide for magic skills, but no guidance for how to use them. This is all the description available in the rules:
When I wrote the German rules, I added a page with a short introduction of the system. I wanted to talk about the benefits and drawbacks, letting people know what they were getting into. Regarding magic, I wrote the following:
The magic system is wide open and does not offer much beyond a few keywords. You need to negotiate the rest at the table and keep notes. You might for example think that you can throw D&D fireballs with Fire-3, but it doesn’t say that anywhere. Perhaps you can do it with Fire-1. Extending and negotiating the magic system must be something you enjoy doing.
More, in German:
Helmbarten ist ein kurzes und einfaches Rollenspiel mit Anlehnungen an Traveller. – Eine kleine Vorstellung von Helmbarten
Eine kleine Vorstellung von Helmbarten
During the game, Peter mentioned the fact that negotiating magic effects was part of the game and did just that. After the game, he said:
I wasn’t sure at the start that I’d like the “magic means negotiating” thing but I’ve come to appreciate that too.
It starts with little things. Peter’s character doesn’t have great magic skills, but his talents are broad:
Fire-2 Literacy-2 Necromancy-2 Transmutation-2 Doors-1 Eyes-1 Fusion-1 Plants-1 Shapeshift-1
My point has been: if you have the skill, you’ve finished your apprenticeship and you’re a competent magic user. So when Peter asks, “For how long can I keep my new shape if I shapeshift?” I’m thinking: why should there be a limit? This is the magic of doppelgängers, of werewolves. I also remember that scene at the beginning of The Clone Wars, where the shapeshifter reverts to their original form when they die. I sort of like the idea of the illusion possibly breaking down when you’re hurt, so we agreed that an extra roll would be required if he got hit in his new shape.
Now that I think back, I’d probably drop that extra check, as most of the time when you’re seriously hit, you’re going to faint anyway. Or worse.
Later in the game, he wanted to animate the dead bones presumed to be lying at the bottom of a lake and I agreed. Peter asked how many skeletons he’d get and I asked about his goal instead. He wanted the skeletons to hold the wounded beholder in place as he pulled the Moonlight Spear. I figured, no problem. A competent necromancer can move the bones back and forth and keep a dying beholder in place. And so when the spell casting roll succeeded, a wave of skulls and bones started to assemble and bury the wounded beholder beneath it.
When the time came to pull the spear, the magic user transformed from frog back into human and tried to swim back up to the surface. He asked me a question about transmutation turning water to air in his lungs and all that. I was confused and again asked him about his intent. What was the goal? He wanted to reach the surface. I said, no problem. If the spell succeeds, the movie shows your character surfacing with bubbles streaming out of his nose and mouth; no other explanation was going to be required. If the spell fails, you’ll faint…
Peter countered that he’d command some of the animated bones down here to carry his unconscious body to the surface if he fainted. Sure, I said. Peter wanted me to confirm that it was not necessary cast another Necromancy spell; the existing spell was still running. I agreed. The water-to-air transmutation failed, Peter’s character fainted, and the bones carried the drowning body to the surface.
Having lost consciousness I ruled that the shadow tendril leading the party back to Midgard had disappeared. They were lost in Myrkheim with no way back.
Magic is negotiating with the referee. I like it. The rules of the role-playing game are a kind of oral tradition: we keep notes, we write things down, and if we remember them, and like them, we’ll use the same rulings again the next time.
If you’re interested in the actual session report:
Adalmunt decided to transform into a frog and dive down into the lake. It is deep and dark, an utter blackness. All he has is his Eye magic allowing him to trace the shadow tendril. It leads him to a dying beholder who’s shedding eyes, pierced by the Moonlight Spear, an artefact that belonged to the order of the Lunar Knights from Alfheim, allowing the bearer to see magic energies and to pin them in place. – 2022-03-19 Helmbarten Session 4
2022-03-19 Helmbarten Session 4
#RPG
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That session was a lot of fun! I have really appreciated the magic system and the way the talents have been more “domain-level” than about specific spells (fire magic vs. **burning hands** or **fireball**), and the rating or level of a talent isn’t anything like spell “slots” or spell levels, but rather the level of expertise the magic-user has in that area of magic.
Unrelated to your post but definitely related to the session, it was also amazing (and frightening) that in one round of combat involving 13 participants, 2 were knocked unconscious and 6 were killed.
This has been such a fun and interesting test 🙂
– Frotz 2022-04-04 14:03 UTC
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Those fights definitely need more thought. I’m not saying they need change, but I’m wondering: would eight dwarves do a suicidal charge against a storm wizard? Maybe not. I don’t remember whether I rolled their Attack stat to decide whether they would.
– Alex 2022-04-05 06:38 UTC