So here are some means I use to make the revolutionary but overpowered MAGE class playable ( I mean seriously, unchecked it takes over nearly every other classes job, rivaling nearly everything except maybe the fighter, because at minus 1 he can do literally anything except three banned tags.). But here they are.
1. Have the player only cast spells that fit into what they specialize in. To compensate, you could let the player pick two fields of expertise such as both stars and winter at level one to balance it out. I also noticed gandalf is like this, specializing in fire/lights and healing. This I think is a simple fix to a big problem.
2. Is you want to have more costly magic, you could put an xp cost on each spell casting (I prefer to use this method instead of the vancian spells per day in the wizard and cleric class to make it more free form but limited. )Here is how a move would work. Roll 2d6 plus stat. 10+ means that spell only costs 1 xp. 7-9 means 2 xp. And 6- means you gain 1 xp as standard but bad stuff happens. Overall I think this makes play and magic use more organic and allows the mage to fill a very powerful flashy but balanced with other classes niche. My sister plays a winter and stars mage with both above methods in play and is happy with how the system works. How do you handle the mage if at all?
This is crucial to understanding The Mage: The Mage can’t “use magic to solve a problem”. The Mage can “use magic to HELP solve a problem”.
Something has to be between the magic and the problem to actually do the solving, and the magic is shoving it forward, all “let’s you and him fight”.
I don’t remember the that wording but it would help. The virtually unlimited possibilities no built in limits seemed overpowered me though even if helping.
Well, unlike normal moves, The Mage’s spell still has a downside even on 10+. That makes the -1 more of a big deal.
And, of course, every time The Mage uses that spell, you have an immediate excuse to cut over to whoever is actually going to solve the problem, and they get the spotlight of actually solving it. Or making a go of it, anyhow.
Paul Arezina you seem to be reading more into the phrasing “On a 10+, your spell helps to solve the problem, but choose one” than I would. For instance, if you have a Dragon Mage casting Fireball, on a hit presumably it still does direct damage, yes? Fireball sets your enemies on fire—that’s what it does.
The spells have their descriptions, so as far as I can see, they still do what they do. If what they do solves the character’s problem, then how do you prevent a Mage from doing it?
Unless there’s another version of the Mage out there than the one I’m reading?
Yeah, I’m pretty sure there must be another version. The Mage playbook I’m looking at can’t deal damage with Cast a Spell; that would fall under the purview of your Black Magic.
Paul Arezina yeah I’m talking about the mage class that came with the priest, Templar ,and artificier class.
Yes the wording on the mage I have says: “When you weave a spell to help solve a problem, describe it and roll +INT. Spells cast this
way can never deal damage directly.”
I havn’t had any players play the mage, but I’m a bit afraid of foci like, the clock by stopping interesting play by casting timestop all the time.
Anyone had a player take the clock or the tower?
What do you think about the moves on my version of the mage? (ignore the customizations that deviate from DW)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5jdAtOX33jHQVc0NmVXTk0wWEE
Still too versatile? BTW I don’t have clerics in my game, so the mage can get a healing move.
It’s excellent in versatility and flavor but I think needs a spell per day or xp cost limit for spellcasting so the character feels like they might want to choose another method than magic all the time.
The cost is similar to how DCC handles spells: you can cast an unlimited amount of spells, but -1 to the roll or corruption or “immediate attention” (read you got aggro) are risks every single time you cast. The -1 is especially severe because it is cumulative and lasts until you get some sleep.
Play report on the Mage:
It worked beautifully… with one minor change. I implemented conditionals for Black Magic: *unexpected collateral damage, *loss of control, *pay the price
10+ player chooses one,
7-9 GM chooses another.