Author Topic: Discussion  (Read 868 times)

Offline TheGeometer

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Discussion
« on: January 01, 2022, 08:29:36 PM »
Alright, here we go! Light magic!

I like the concept a lot - I always felt that psionics never fulfilled its promise of being all that different from spells. The point system would've allowed for interesting budgeting of resources, but in practice, it almost never makes sense not to augment up to your maximum. This system tries to fix that. The base effects are all at will, so in a sense, when you run out of energy, this system reduces to a Warlock-like limited group of abilities. Until then, it functions like a limited form of psionics, where you have to be careful not to waste energy in combat, and have to weigh each action against how much you'll need later in the fight.

Also, I kept accidentally coming up with cool, light-themed abilities, and they didn't fit into any of my other systems.

As always, comments are welcome. Let me know if there are any mistakes or things that seem unbalanced. This system will be more clear when I post the list of radiances, but the chapter intro hopefully explains the mechanics well enough already.

Offline Versatility_Nut

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Re: Discussion
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2022, 09:42:31 AM »
My own issue with Psionics is the dearth of multiple augment options that invoke the question of which way to augment. Even if a full Manifester rarely has reason not to augment to full, being confined to ML with even just two things to do still invokes decision making. This could also have been done with Metapsionics. I actually made that the "point" of one of my GiantITP contest entries, which ended up involving an Incantatrix-style post-facto augment to work around "Similar Effect" restrictions.

As it pertains to this, the thing would be double-checking for overlap and seeing how different the functions are. Having a dozen different blasting Radiances should probably not be a thing, only so many forms of raw damage that are relevant. Also, I would suggest having the recovery rate and stages be columns of the table rather than in the catchall "Special" so that it's clear, the same way Psionics has Maximum Power Level, so that the progression transparency is clearer.

Offline TheGeometer

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Re: Discussion
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2022, 12:30:39 PM »
My own issue with Psionics is the dearth of multiple augment options that invoke the question of which way to augment. Even if a full Manifester rarely has reason not to augment to full, being confined to ML with even just two things to do still invokes decision making. This could also have been done with Metapsionics.
Yeah, that sounds like it would definitely be another good fix.

I would suggest having the recovery rate and stages be columns of the table rather than in the catchall "Special" so that it's clear, the same way Psionics has Maximum Power Level, so that the progression transparency is clearer.
Good call, I'll add that in.

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Discussion
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2022, 10:26:44 PM »
Still around and looking for feedback?

Offline TheGeometer

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Re: Discussion
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2022, 10:30:23 AM »
I check in occasionally. Sorry I'm inactive on this at the moment, I'm working on something bigger (an entire new system! I couldn't find a sci-fi TTRPG I really liked, so I'm making my own. It might go up on this site when I'm done, but it's mainly for my own gaming group). I wouldn't expect progress on Light Magic for at least another 2 months or so

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Discussion
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2022, 05:35:56 PM »
Fair enough!  Feel free to ping me when you want some feedback.

Also Starfinder is pretty great.   ;)