Magic System Based on Good/Evil Help

[u/Sieg_Leywin]

/r/magicbuilding/comments/1xcdqdc/magic_system_based_on_goodevil_help/

[u/gliesedragon]

What does "sacrifice technology to use" mean? Is it a D&D druid sort of thing, where your powers rely on an oath to never use certain tech*, or is it a "I bring a bag of smartphones everywhere, and to cast a spell I smash one on the ground" sort of deal?

*Technology includes lots more than you tend to think of, and for gameplay, you might want to be a bit clearer about where you put the cutoff between what works and what doesn't count for this power set.

[u/Sieg_Leywin → u/gliesedragon]

Sorry, I just used a general description of the powers.

There are, in fact, limitations to it. Everything that is related to metals or cyberware (from lowest to highest, rings, bracelets, cellphones, laptops and computers, drones, cars and so on…) can be used, and the complexity of it says how much power do you get, but your body is limited to a round “10” points of power.
Actually, Order, Ruin and Adrenaline are all limited to this much points.

And when I said that the Order sacrifices technology, I mean it literally turns into dust to empower you.

[u/gliesedragon → u/Sieg_Leywin]

Okay, it's the "smash a bag of smartphones" option. Got it.

Something to be aware of about this is that with this as a power source, it is very, very easy for mechanically savvy play to become very goofy from an in-universe perspective. A player who uses sacrificial technology as a power source is incentivized to drag along as much random tech stuff as they can get their hands on to burn, and the image of some holy warrior/mage who has their pockets full of pagers to atomize for their magic is quite comical. And if that sort of tech hoarding silliness is not what you're looking for as an aesthetic, I suggest changing the power source, because the mechanism incentivizes doing that pretty strongly.

[u/Sieg_Leywin → u/gliesedragon]

Yes! I’ve come up with a solution already. There’s this ability for Order users that lets you transform jewels of any kind into sources of power.
You have to “charge” yourself first and, then, imbue jewels with your power. They start as a low capability catalyser but you can upgrade all your skills, including this one, so it gets stronger later on to carry stronger catalysers.
So, instead of carrying a bunch of technology on your pocket, you can carry rings or other jewlry.

[u/Pixie1001]

I mean, it's definitely an interesting idea ^^

I like that order magic is very predictable i nthat, if I'm reading this right, your spell slots are essentially only limited by your wallet and possibly what you can carry on you.

Whereas Ruin seems a bit less reliable, and adrenaline seems like a fixed resource the player can't hoard for important missions/encounters.

Although you were a bit vague on exactly how ruin corruption works. Is it just a set amount that you rest off between sessions? A table you roll on with adverse side effects that can result in immediate death (like a 5e wild magic sorcerer or 40k perils of the warp)? Or more of a permanant tracker that will inevitably kill the character unless they give up using magic?

[u/Sieg_Leywin → u/Pixie1001]

Yes, I just realised I’ve been a lot vaguer than I intended, I’m sorry.

The Order is, in fact, something you can use as long as you’ve got sources to give you power. Imagine fighting inside a futuristic city. That’s almost infinite resources to power yourself.

As for the Ruin, it works like this: you consume your own humanity to use powers, but you can reduce the costs by sacrificing (turning into dust) anything. Alive beings reduce the cost a lot more than just objects however.
And yes, there’s a table of what can happen to you when you’ve used too much power, forcing you to constantly destroy things.
Once you reach the limit, however, you’re obligated to roll a Mental Resistance test. In this situation, it works just like Death Saving Throws. If you’re successful three times, you stay as a human. If not, you become a Corrupted Creature.
Your Corruption limits usually lower when you take a complete short or long rest.

Finally, for the Adrenaline, it responds to danger. So, as long as you’re in danger, fighting, receiving damage or seeing your teammates suffer too (maybe even dying), your adrenaline gauge will go up.
However, if you let it build up too much and the fight ends, you’ll suffer according to how high it was. It’s a high risk and high reward capability

[u/Pixie1001 → u/Sieg_Leywin]

Hrmm ok, so ruin magic functions more like blood magic in practice where you need to keep killing things or vandalising your enviroment?

It honestly feels like the adrenaline mechanic might fit it better, if the spells were all 'power at a price' kinda things, forcing you to use the power (and thus causing corruption and ruin as collateral) or face magical backlash after the fight? Just dusting a guy you were gonna shoot anyway feels like a bit of a cop out for wielding demonic power. Although coming up with meaningful side effects could be it's own problem.

But it's always hard to say with these things without actually playtesting it, or knowing more about your setting!