The Death Cookie

I'm currently working on the ritual magic system for Hobomancer. We included rules for ritual magic in Weird Times at Charles Fort High and The Adventures of Sindbad, but there are a few things I don't like about it, so I decided to try take the basic idea of that system, simplify it, and get rid of a few things I didn't like for Hobomancer. The rough draft of the resulting system, which I'm calling the "Five by Five Magic System," is provided below.

A few design notes:
The Fort High/Sindbad systems requires characters to use Yum Yums to cast spells. While this in theory keeps magic in check, I feel like it's unfair to wizards. Super-heroes, kung-fu masters, and international men of mystery don't have to spend Yum Yums to do over-the-top, unrealistic things, so why should mages? 

Although there are a ton of tables here, the intent is that you don't actually need them during the game (at least once you've got a feel for the game). They're just meant to serve as guidelines.

In addition to getting rid of the table that controls all magic from the previous system, the new system eliminates the weird row shifting.

Making magical items has been more fully integrated into the core system, which eliminates the need to worry about whether an item is a magical item or a material component or focus of the spell. I think it also models fiction and real-world magical traditions a little better.

Overall, this system probably allows wizards to do more powerful magic more easily, but it's designed for a game where everyone's a magical hobo, so that should be fine.

I haven't actually built any spells with the system yet. Feel free to try to build some of your own, playtest the rules, and let me know your opinion on what works and what's broken (you can give me feedback in the forums).

Step 1: The player describes what he wants to do and GM sets Base Difficulty Number
When a player decides that his hobomancer is goig to use ritual magic, the first thing he needs to do is let the GM know what he wants to accomplish with the spell. For example “I want to cast a spell that will help me find something to eat” or “I want to raise Born Again Ben from the dead.” Once the GM has a basic idea of the spell’s intent, he should set a Base Difficulty Number for the spell. Guidelines for setting Difficulty Numbers are provided in the “Difficulty Number Guidelines” section below.

Step 3: The Player describes any situation-specific ritual elements and GM adjusts Difficulty Number.
All magical traditions include some basic ritual elements that are used nearly every time a spell is performed. Shamans dance and chant and wear funny outfits, or stare into the fire while taking illicit drugs; Demonologists draw magical sigils on the ground, light candles, and speak in dead languages; Evangelical faith healers speak in tongues, praise Jesus, and sweat profusely. These sorts of actions are assumed to take place whenever a character casts a spell (if the character’s movement or ability to speak is hampered, or he doesn’t have his collection of funny hats and magic wants, he should suffer a penalty to his spellcasting roll). However, every spell is unique, which means that the caster will always be including ritual elements that are specific to this particular spell and casting. During this step in the casting process, the player gets a chance to describe how he’s tailoring the standard rituals to the specific magical effect he wants. If he does a good job of it, the GM should lower the spell’s Difficulty Number (some examples are provided in the “Difficulty Number Guidelines” section).

Step 3: Determine casting time.
A spell’s casting time is determined by it’s final Difficulty Number. If the DN is 4 or less, it can be cast in 1 round. A spell with a DN of 5-10 take a number of rounds (or minutes, if cast outside of combat) equal to the DN. The ritual for spells with DNs of 11 or greater take DN-10 hours to perform.

Step 4: Resolve Spellcasting
If the spell’s target is an unwilling creature, the target may attempt to resist by making an appropriate roll. The exact roll used depends on the nature of the spell For example, the target would roll Body (or a combat-related Job) to dodge a fireball, Brain to see through an illusion, and Nerve to resist mind control. If the target is a spellcaster, he can choose to attempt to resist or can try to counter the spell by making a Job roll. The caster has to beat the DN or the target’s successful resistance roll, whicever is higher. If the caster succeeds, the GM determines the effects of the spell based on the caster’s Success Degree.

Since magic is by definition dangerous and uncontrollable, a failed spell can have unintended consequences. If the spellcasting roll succeeds but is under the DN (or target’s resistance roll), the spell simply fails to work. If the spellcasting roll fails, the magical energy of the spell is still released, but the caster fails to properly channel it, resulting in completely unintended effects. The details of such miscasting are left up to the GM based on how badly the roll fails and the nature of the spell being cast. On a Bad Break, the caster suffers a magical backlash that harms him in some way. A few possibilities include:

• If the spell was intended to hurt someone, the caster suffers the effect.
• Caster takes damage (equal to the rolls’ Failure Degree) due to uncontrolled magical energy ripping through his body.
• Caster passes out for a number of rounds equal to the Failure Degree of the roll.
• Caster’s mind is damaged by the magic. His Brain Number is reduced by the spell’s Failure Degree. Lost Brain points are regained at the rate of 1 point per day.
• Caster has a mental breakdown. His Nerve Number is reduced by the spell’s Failure Degree. Lost Nerve points are regained at the rate of 1 point per day.
• Caster is permanently “marked” in some way (his hair turns white, grows horns, or ends up with golden eyes with hourglass-shaped irises that only see death, for example).

[Sidebar: Optional Rule: When the effects of the spell are similar to everyday situations, the target may resist using the full appropriate number. However, when the spell’s effect is something the target is simply not used to dealing with, his roll is halved. For example, a character could use his soldier job to dodge a magical missile, but would roll ½ Body to resist a spell that literally makes his blood boil, since he’s got no frame of reference for dealing with such a situation.

If this rule is used, the GM may also rule that characters have to make a default resistance roll against beneficial spells with bizarre effects, since the character’s mind and body naturally recoil from the weirdness of it all. For example, a character can choose not to resist a “blessing” type spell, since it doesn’t have any obvious magical effects (he just feels a little more confident and capable). He’d have to make a resistance roll against a spell meant to turn him into a wolf (even if the transformation is voluntary), though, because shapeshifting is too far beyond his normal experience for his mind to easily accept.
[End Sidebar]

Difficulty Number Guidelines
The tables below provide some guidelines for determining spell DNs and modifiers for ritual elements by rating several specific factors of the spell effect or ritual. These intended as helpful references, not checklists that need to be gone down every time someone casts a spell. You can use when you’re preparing a spell in advance and as “training wheels” until you’re comfortable with the magic system, but hopefully after a while you’ll be able to come up with DNs and ritual modifiers on the fly without referring to the tables.

Base DN
To determine the Base DN, assign a rating of 0-5 for each of the five factors below.

How overtly magical are the spell’s effects?

How powerful are the effects of the spell?

How long does the spell last?
There are three ways to the define the duration of a spell. If a spell’s effects are intended to last for a discreet block of time whose actual duration may vary (for example, “one battle”), use the first table. If the spell lasts until certain conditions are met or a particular task is performed, use the second. If the spell lasts a number of units of time based on the caster’s roll, use the third table.

*As a general rule, if a spell’s effect is permanent or semi-permanent, but could be accomplished through normal means in a single round (with or without a roll), it’s considered instantaneous. For example, lighting a candle would be an instantaneous spell. Turning a candle into a sword would not.

*If the caster does anything that requires a roll, takes damage, or is otherwise distracted, he must win a resisted Nerve roll against the cause of the distraction (his own successful roll, the amount of damage taken, or the roll of the person or Cruel Forces of the Universe causing the distraction to avoid having his concentration broken.

How far-reaching are the spell’s effects?

How well-defined are the spell’s effects?

*The difference between these two are fairly subtle. The more precise version protects friendly characters who aren’t necessarily the character’s friends (rival heroes, prisoners, ex-wives, etc.) as well as whatever flammable inanimate objects happen to be lying around.

DN Modifiers for Ritual Elements
As with Base DN, the modifiers for spell-specific ritual elements are determined by rating each of the five categories below from 0 to 5. Please note that the character only gets one modifier for each category, not for each specific element (though more elements will usually increase the modifier for that category).

Symbolic Elements

Knowledge

Material Elements

Setting
Note: This category usually only applies when the caster is preparing a spell in advance. The only exception is if setting elements appropriate to the spell have previously been established. If conditions that are unfavorable to the spell have previously been established, the DN is unaffected but the player may suffer a penalty to his roll.

Requirements

Creating Magical Items
The only special rule that should be required for creating magical items under this system is for items that have a set number of charges. For these, use the duration of the effect to determine DN. The number of charges is equal to the caster’s Success Degree (more charges may be added by casting the spell multiple times.

It should noted that the item only takes on the ability to grant effects of the spell. It doesn’t become prettier, more durable, or less prone to breakage. So if you want to keep your magical sword from rusting, you need to either cast a spell on it that makes it impervious to rust or keep it out of the rain.