[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 4

Note:  I owe an apology to anyone that has been specifically waiting on me to finish this read through of the Adventures in Fantasy rule books.  I actually began this blog with the intention of completing the read through as my first series of posts.  That did not happen because I got derailed and distracted by other things along the way.  I hope to rectify that soon with a minimal number of posts to do so.  

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Sorcerous Combat

This section of the rules covers combat between opposing magicians and notes that it "is conducted at a mental level" using the system detailed in the rules.  The only other restriction is that "a lawful magician will never attack another lawful magician in this manner".  Of course, there is another formula that determines the amount of damage that a sorcerer can take. 

The traditional method of sorcerous combat described in the rulebook resembles the old gun-slinger face off depicted in the typical Western movies.  There are also two modes - kill and control - described in this section and their relation to the alignment of the sorcerers combating each other. 

Other information in this chapter includes The Magician's Code, magical fatigue, and the effects of fatigue.  It seems interesting and tries to capture a quasi-medieval feel to the magical combat rules used in the game.  I am not sure how practical the magical combat rules would be in play but it would be interesting to test them out in play. 

Faerry Magic
Faerry Magic is not simply spell casting but the magic involved in the art of song and rune.  This magic can be used by Dwarves, Troll Lords, the Faerry, and Elves - with Elves being the most powerful mages of the Faerry races.  Humans may use Faerry Magic but will be severely disadvantaged unless they are Druids or raised by a member of the Faerry race.

This chapter also discusses the determination of magic points, details some restrictions about the songs and runes among the faerry races, and ends with tables listing the songs and runes followed by the description of each one.  There are 20 songs and also 20 runes; due to race restrictions only a portion of the song and runes are available for use.  The songs and runes are described adequately and are, for the most part, pretty easy to understand but there are exceptions.  For example, the Song of the Baleful Omen allows the magician to "lay on an enemy or thief...any curse intended to bring suffering or eventual death".  Descriptions such as that might bother some because there is not a lot of fine details and the outcome is likely to involve a ruling by the DM instead of hard and fast rules but this is an old school design from one of the most old school designers so it fits the period.


The Faerry Races
There are 5 Faerry races: Elves, Trolls/Troll Lords, Dwarves, Goblins, and Faerries. Unlike D&D, it is quite apparent that players are highly discouraged from using the nonhuman races in AiF: all of them are afflicted by sunlight, have a -10% penalty to hit in sunlight, and are incapable of using their Faerry Magic in sunlight.  This quick overview of the Faerry races is followed by a more detailed description of each race.  The information presented includes average hit points, movement, alignment, typical encounters with members of each race, and even details on rolling up player characters of each Faerry race.  I suspect that most players avoided the Faerry races due to the associated disadvantages.


Elementals
The final section of this rulebook covers the conjuring of Elementals.  Some of the information covered includes the alignment of the elemental, a standard elemental of each type, a more powerful elemental of each type, and controlling the Elementals. 


I am running out of steam and the college summer semester started today so I am going to wrap this up.  It seems that Arneson and Snider were aiming for a magic system that had a quasi-medieval feel to it and I think they succeeded.  I think they accomplished their goals with much less attention to detail than other games like Chivalry & Sorcery.  I am not sure that the magic system and the faerry races will appeal to wide range of players.  The spells can be downright boring - one of the spells increases crop output - and the faerry races are not viable play options due to the very tough restrictions placed on them.  Of course, this is all just from reading.  I have never played the game and I am not sure I understand enough of it play.  Maybe I can get to the point of comprehension sometime during my examination of these rules.

Up Next: the Book of Creatures and Treasures

 

      

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 3

In this post I look at the Permanent Magic section of the Book of Faerry and Magic.


Introduction
The short introductory paragraph points out a few facts about the Permanent Magic system presented in this rule book.  First, the system presented in these rules is a simplified version of more advanced rules scheduled for a future supplement; it never saw the light of day.  Second, a magician using this system may turn any spell or Faerry rune that he is capable of casting into a permanent effect.  Third, in the basic game Faerry songs can not be made permanent.

What can a permanent spell be cast on?
A permanent spell can be cast on two things - a permanent edifice (building, statue, etc.) or an artifact (weapon, ring, medallion, etc.).  The magician casting the spell must be intimately associated with the permanent edifice.  For a magician to be intimately associated with an edifice, he must have lived in or near (within 200 feet) for no less than 28 days.  If this is not possible, then the casting magician must successfully perform a ritual of purification.  For an artifact, the casting magician must have made the artifact himself out of virgin material - material that has never been forged into an artifact previously.  In other words, it must start out as raw material and then forged into a sword before being enchanted.

The permanent magic ritual
The ritual for permanent magic continues the medieval flavor set forth earlier in the game.  Put simply, the ritual requires casting of a spell over a week's time and the magician must not be disturbed during this casting.  The permanent magic will be focused on a targeted spot and will trigger when someone other than the magician approaches within 10 feet.

The effect of permanent magic
This part is pretty straightforward.  Unless otherwise noted, the effect of the permanet magic will function exactly as if the caster has cast the spell from the focal point of the permanent magic.

Limits of permanent magic
There are a few limits to the permanent magic ability of a caster. 

• A permanent spell cast on an edifice is limited to a total equalling the caster's Magic Ability.  For instance, if a magician has the ability to cast a total of 20 points of magic spells then the caster can use a total of 20 points in an edifice for his lifetime.  If the magician improves his magic ability to use 24 points he can now cast a 4 point permanent magic spell on an edifice.
• If the permanent magic is put into an item or artifact then the toal is per year instead of over the caster's lifetime.

How to determine permanent magic ability
At this point, the book describes how to determine the magic ability of a magician with a formula that involves the experience level and magic points per level.  This section also covers the limits above but does so in an easier digested manner.

Permanent magic duration
It is generally assumed that permanent magic will last forever; even the death of the caster will not affect the magic.  There are, however, a few ways for it to end. 

• If the magic is dispelled.
• The terms of the spell are broken. (Applicable to artifacts, items, etc.)
• Breaking of the item/focal point of the spell. (There are repercussions.)

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That concludes the Permanent Magic chapter of the AiF rules.  It is interesting to see a magic system inspired by medieval beliefs that is not bogged down by a ton of rules, charts, and cross referencing back and forth between several different locations in the book.  Other systems have gone overboard in trying to replicate the medieval feel by tacking on rule after rule.  While that route may give a much truer and authentic feel, after a certain point it just becomes redundant. 

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 2

Let's dig into the Basic Magic portion of the Book of Faerry and Magic on this examination of Adventures in Fantasy.


Basic Magic
The introduction to Basic Magic informs the reader that the magic rules are "an effort to recreate, as simply as possible, the actual manner in which Sorcery was thought to be accomplished".  On one hand, this sounds very interesting because the way magic was believed to work in the medieval period of real history.  On the other hand, this sounds burdensome for the very same reason.  Magic in the medieval times was very formulaic and ritualistic.  A spell would probably involve gathering a complex list of ingredients, performing an exacting ritual, and observing a strict timeline of events.  In other words, medieval magic would make a good scary story but it would not be fun to play.

Apprenticeship
There are three conditions of apprenticeship for a player character to be a magic-user.  First, it takes a minimum intelligence score of 43 to use basic magic.  Intelligence determines the number of Magic Points and the possible spells learned during the apprenticeship.  Second, the master that teaches your player character must be higher than level 8.  Third, an apprenticeship requires a full year of study.  This time must be completed in a consecutive block of time.  If it is interrupted then all training is lost.

Spell Alignment
The spells available to magic-user player characters fall into one of three categories: Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic.  Each magic-user will also be one of these alignments depending on spell selection.  There are restrictions that come with each alignment; Lawful magic-users are prohibited from learning Chaotic spells and the reverse is also true, Lawful and Chaotic magic-users use Neutral spells with half effectiveness, and   Neutral magic-users can use spells of one of the other alignments at half effectiveness.


Spell List
The list of spells is split into 4 categories: Non-Alignment, Chaotic, Neutral, and Lawful.  There are 28 Non-Alignment spells, 17 Chaotic spells, 25 Neutral spells, and 17 Lawful spells for a grand total of 87 spells.  In all honesty, some of the spell names are "less than inspiring" when you read the list.  They might be accurate in relation to medieval times but this is a heroic fantasy game so is there really a use for spells such as agriculture, create music, curse crops, and gambling?

Spell Descriptions
All of the spells are arranged in alphabetical order and they are not separated by alignment.  The descriptions are pretty straightforward and in addition to the effects also lists the alignment and magic point cost to use the spell.  Some of the spell descriptions need to be fixed.  For example, the agriculture descriptions reads "this spell will increase the yield of one acre of land by 25%" at the beginning of the description but ends with "effect doubles yield of the field".  The spell description for commotion does not list the alignment or the magic point cost so you have to reference the spell list to find the information.  Not a huge deal, just an inconvenience.

That's it for now.  The examination of the Book of Faerry and Magic continues with Permanent Magic.

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 1

Next stop on the AiF examination is Book II: Book of Faerry and Magic.  As usual, I begin with a quick flip through of the manual and see what grabs my attention.  I did notice three things about this rule book. First, there is no indication on the cover that this is book 2 but there is on the title page. Second, the ink inside of the book is green like the green cover. Third, the very low amount of art in this book.

The Cover
The cover art depicts a magical duel between two wizards.  One appears to be an elf and the other appears to be something like an orc or hobgoblin.  It's a pretty straightforward piece but it serves to show the magical powers in command by the two wizards in battle.

The Introduction
The authors point out in the introduction that this book covers two systems of magic - one for man and one for faerry.  The magic of man involves rituals and gods while the races of faerry tap into and mold the "essential force that exists in all matter".  This manual is only an introduction and the basics of the magic system.  The introduction also mentions that there will be two expansions to the material presented in this book.  One expansion will cover the magic system of man and the other expansion will cover the races of faerry in great detail.

Table of Contents
A quick glance at the table of contents shows there are various topics besides just magic spells.  In addition to Basic magic and Faerry magic there are also sections on permanent magic, sorcerous combat, restrictions on magicians, magical fatigue, songs of the faerry, runes of the faerry, the faerry races, and elementals.

Artwork
There are only 4 pieces of art in this whole book.  The artwork that is present is appropriate to the subject material but I believe that more artwork would be helpful to set the tone.  Images of some of the spells being used, the faerry races, runes of the faerry, or the elementals would be useful to the players.

That's enough for now since I just wanted to offer a very basic outline of the Book of Faerry and Magic.  I will begin with Basic Magic in my next AiF post.