Wednesday 18 February 2015

On spellbooks and Pink Floyd

Let's say you have your typical homebrew game (d20, Pbta 2d6 + mods style, d100, etc). You make some stats covering the important facets you like and that. And then you need some spelllist for the wizard players; but you don't know what to pick. Well, then, why don't you ask your players to bring some good album to the game?

The rules are:
1 The wizard must choose an album. Then, every track on it is a spell. Whenever the character learns that spell, the GM describes it's effects, using the song title (if this cannot be possible, use the song theme or feeling).
2 The wizard earns a spell per level, following the strict album's order.
3 The wizard can only know 4 max spells (like in the pokemon games). When he/she tries to learn a fifth, another spell may be forgotten; or the new spell withers away and is crossed from the list (this is for preventing players from abusing the system by picking a Rancid or Bull of Heaven album)


I'll make an example there using a classic: Pink Floyd's Wish you were here. (Note: the descriptions are system agnostic. I can not help tending more into the narrative style)

Tracklist/Spellbook:

1 - Shine on you, Crazy Diamond: Anyone touched by the wizard emits a subtle, white glow; while his/her feet subtly detach from the ground; as gravity no longer pulls him/her down. Swimming in the air is possible as there is friction. Requires ongoing concentration by the wizard.

2 - Welcome to the Machine: The arcane technomancer wizards can bind the soul of a recently dead person into an engineered golem. It can be made of any kind of material; but the whole construct must share a key trait with the hostage personality or previous body.

3 - Have a Cigar: This spell can lit anyone in flames as long as the wizard is shaking hands with him. This picture (album's cover) illustrates it nicely:



4 - Wish you were here: By drawing a circle and praying, the wizard may attempt to summon a soulmate; always granted that he/she/it is willing to help. Dead people may also come; as ghosts or spectres.

5 - Shine on you, crazy diamond (Part II): This spell can make anybody affected by the spell #1 to burst in flames spontaneously, by a snap of the wizard's fingers.

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