Okay, so the Wizard in my group is really chomping at the bit to be able to prepare more spells every day. And in the tradition of “Being a Fan of the Players” I am trying to put together a new Wizard Move that would allow just that. I have the following two options in mind, but am willing to entertain other suggestions (so long as they aren’t just “do it RAW” or something along those lines)
Mind over Matter mark 1
[Level 6-10 Move]
You have learned to channel your physical energies to expand your mental capabilities. When you prepare spells for the day, you may prepare an additional number of spell levels equal to 1/2 your Constitution (rounding up). Doing so, however, is taxing both mentally and physically and gives you a -1 ongoing to any CON or INT related rolls for as long as you have more than your Level+1 in spell levels prepared.
Mind over Matter mark 2
[Level 6-10 Move]
You have learned to channel your physical energies to expand your mental capabilities. When you take this move, permanently reduce your Hit Points by any number up to 6. For every Hit Point sacrificed, you gain 2 additional spell levels that you can prepare each day (e.g. if you reduce your Constitution by 2 you will from then on prepare Level+5 in spells). You can only reduce your Hit Points when this Move is taken.
I actually like mark 1 little better. Having less HP is going to hurt, yes, but mostly in reaction. The moment the player rolls and misses a 10+ by 1, they’re going to feel it bad.
Possible modification would be to make it more general: Int is a hell of a stat for a wizard to take a penalty to. What about:
When you prepare spells choose zero, one, two, or all of Str, Dex, and Con. For each stat you choose you take a -1 penalty, but you may also prepare an additional two levels of spells.
That could work, but I was trying to make it hurt a bit for the Wizard to take all these extra spells. It’s a trade-off for them… Maybe switch it to WIS from INT? Undercutting their physical abilities is easy, hitting a Wizard “where it hurts” would mean targeting their mental capabilities.
I like Mark 1 as it is. The penalty isn’t permanent – if they want the benefit of a bunch of extra spells, they are weaker in casting until they’ve used up the extras. After that, they’re back to normal. That seems like a fair trade to me.
I’m not a fan of a simple -1 to stats here, as I reckon the consequences of a wizzard stuffing their head full of magical spells could be far more interesting! You could go for something like:
Mindfill
When you jam more spells into your head than you’re capable of learning safely, you can prepare half as many spells extra. Keep a note of the extra spells. When you next roll a 7-9 for Cast a Spell, you must pick this drawback:
* one of the extra spells bubbles up and escapes: resolve it against the closest target!
Iain Chantler that’s a pretty cool Move, too.. I’ll definitely put that out there as an option for the player. I’m not a huge fan of “required” moves on 7-9, but that’s pretty cool.
Yeah, choices on a 7-9 are pretty great, they keep the conversation going and make the player characters active in dealing with the weird stuff that comes up. Maybe that effect is in addition to the normal choice?
Stat penalties aren’t the most interesting, but they’re also not exaclty boring. They mean more 7-9s which means more snowballing.
Huh, I hadn’t considered that -1s would make for more 7-9 results. Whoops!
And yeah, making it an optional (or additional but non-optional) effect sounds much better.
I like Mark 2 but it shouldn’t be a one-time thing. The Wizard should get to choose how much they lower their Constitution by each time they memorize spells. When they prepare spells again, the stat goes back to normal (and so do their max HP, but not current HP) an they can choose to lower it again for more spells.
Have you thought about a magic item that provides the extra spells, but at a cost. Something like an amulet of the forgotten god of magic. It provides extra ability, but requires a periodic sacrifice, or on a 7-9 draws the attention of her followers, or on a 6- she puts some kind of penalty on casting. Just throwing ideas out – it would be an immediate benefit that could also drive story, or provide hooks for your player.
I personally like +Sage LaTorra ‘s idea concerning a -1 penalty to STR, DEX, or CON. However, I think that they should be debilities, rather than a penalty that resets with each rest period. They could be allowed to reup their commitment to the exchange each day, but they still have to recover fictionally from the exertion. I think it puts more emphasis on the body as a conduit for Arcane energies (and I would personally title it appropriate to such an idea), which has always been a favorite concept of mine. For me it evokes the image of Raistlin from the Dragonlance stories. I imagine a wizard like him consistently pushing his physical body harder and harder for more power. Who knows what long term effects something like this might have.
I like Mindfill as a move. Instead of requiring a result maybe you can reword the options to be more dramatic? These more dire results would continue until the wizard prepared normally
-2 ongoing to cast spells
lose this spell and one other
Draw dangerous attention to yourself, the GM will tell you how.
On second thought, I don’t know that I would ever take that move.
Maybe these instead?
On a 7-9 choose one:
You cast the spell but your mind is getting fuzzy, Lose this spell and one other.
You cast this spell but now your head hurts, Lose only this spell but take damage equal to its level
Your head feels as though it is about to explode, take damage equal to the spell level you just cast and one other prepared spell of equal or greater level.
I still wouldn’t take it unless the number of prepped spells was doubled…but hey, maybe your player will dig it.
Right now, we’re leaning towards Mark1.2:
Mind over Matter Mark 1.2 (requires level 6)
You have learned to channel your physical energies into more mental capabilities. When you prepare spells for the day, you now prepare Level+3 in spells. At your option you may prepare an additional number of spell levels equal to 1/2 your Constitution (rounding down). Doing so, however, is taxing both mentally and physically and gives you a -1 ongoing to any CON or INT related rolls for as long as you have more than your Level+3 in spell levels prepared
This was due to the player feeling that all of these moves required some sacrifice that most other Moves in other playbooks didn’t require. So, the Level+3 is there as the “freebie”… then there is an option to sacrifice more for more power… much like in the Fighter’s Armor Mastery moves or the Druid’s Doppelganger Moves. Though I did like the idea of just re-writing the 7-9 options… perhaps not quite as harsh as Matt Smith suggested, but something along those lines.
Love the Freebie option.