Hey folks.
I have a player who selected the Mage. They’re used to D&D-style prepared casters, so they’re kinda floundering with how open the spell casting is. On top of that, they think the choose 1 on 10+ and choose 2 on 7-9 makes them seem incompetent.
I realize the 10+ one is there to balance out how versatile the move is, but with such an unhappy player I’d like to see if there’s any way to “fix” things.
I was thinking either something based on the Bard’s Arcane Art, or finding a way to make the choose 1 optional for a small boost.
Maybe set it up such that a spell affects a single target or a small area, or the Mage can choose 1 and have it affect many targets or a large area. Maybe codifying mechanical effects would help, too.
Any ideas?
The heck? His class can do absolutely everything that the other classes can and he’s complaining that he has to select one of the things which make the Mage fun in the first place? Whenever I cast a spell I’d select the drawbacks and look excited at the GM while he told me exactly how my magic backfired and it was so fun!
Magic is meant to be dangerous and chaotic. You are playing a man who manipulates the very nature of reality, of course shit’s going to go wrong.
Have them switch to the Wizard? That’s what I’d encourage them to go for in the first place if they like the prepped spell list.
Hey, preach to the choir. :/
I’m still looking for possible changes, though.
This was a pretty active topic in the past. I believe some people have made modified versions of the mage to address this complaint – though, I agree with Elliott Ambrosetti about the actual fun that comes from it.
It’s just Cast a Spell they’re having issues with, so I don’t think the Wizard will work. :/
I’m probably going to try to go through another session with this. Part of it is, I think, a mixture of terrible luck and repeatedly ignoring soft moves. I’m going to point out he may be able to sort of game the penalties – instead of picking bullets 2 or 3, take 1 or 4, which afford more control.
Do you have any links to those discussions? I looked and I could only find stuff relating to the Black Magic move.
This is along the lines of the sort of thing I’ve been considering;
Optional Mage starting move;
Careful Caster
When you Cast a Spell, you can choose for the spell to be Careful or Reckless. A careful spell allows you to choose one fewer option from the list on a success, but will affect only a single target, a small, roughly human-sized area, or will have a very short duration, as determined by the GM. A reckless spell works as described in the Cast a Spell move, but can affect several targets, a larger area, or have a longer duration.
Advanced move: Spellweaver. Something to work toward. (When you roll a 12+ on Cast a Spell, your spell defies expectations, helping above and beyond what you intended. Choose nothing from the list.)
See if your player would be interested in playing Anthony Giovannetti’s revised hack of the Wizard class. It takes most of what the Mage does and plays better with the other classes.