Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Rerun941]

I wanted to give the spellcasters in my campaigns a bit more flexibility in how they can use spells, so I came up with the following variation:

Trained vs. Untrained spellcasting
Spellcasters can cast spells which they don't know. (i.e. Spells that they didn't allocate when the AB was chosen or purchase with the New Power Edge.) But do so at -2 to their spellcasting roll. The spell is at an additional -2 for each Rank difference between the spell and the caster. (e.g. if the Novice caster is attempting to cast a Seasoned spell, the Spell check is done at -4.)
Untrained Balancing Options:
Option 1: All untrained Spells cost 1 additional Power Point to cast, and can never be reduced below 1 due to raises.
Option 2: All untrained Spells cost -1 Fatigue (regardless of success or failure)
Untrained Backlash Options:
Option 1: Untrained Spell backlash causes a Wound instead of a Shaken effect. This cannot be healed except with Natural Healing.
Option 2: Untrained Spell backlash causes -1 Fatigue in addition to the Shaken effect.

Essentially, this represents the caster "stretching" their abilities or straining in desperation. They've seen a Blast spell cast, but don't know all the intricacies. Or a Priest is on their knees BEGGING their diety for help when the chips are down.

I haven't had a chance to playtest this yet, but please feel free to provide feedback. Let me know if you've tried something similar, and how it worked.

[Sushi]

I've done this. Here are the "improvised magic" rules I've been using:

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Improvised Magic
Allows a magic user to attempt any power that exists or that they can talk the GM into letting them try. This can also apply if trying to use an existing power in a nonstandard way or with different limitations.

Improvised magic is difficult. The casting roll (sorcery or spellcasting) is made at a penalty proportional to the rank of the power, as follows (at minimum):
Novice: -2
Seasoned: -3
Veteran: -4
Heroic: -5
Legendary: -6

Improvised magic is costly. The PP cost is doubled.

Improvised magic is dangerous. When casting improvised magic, failing the power die roll always results in using the power die mishap table even if the (doubled) PP cost was less than the player’s power die (NOTE: the "power die" is my setting-specific version of No Power Points. Instead, you can just double the chance of mishap/backlash on the cast).

If a player wants to attempt improvised magic for which no power exists, the GM makes a ruling for rank and PP cost as if the power did exist, then applies the casting penalty and PP doubling. There may also be an extra TN penalty for unusually complex spells.

If a player ends up using the same improvised magic often, they should consider buying it as a new power instead. This represents honing and practicing the technique, and negates the penalties involved.
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I haven't tested this massively: I had one player use it extensively in one campaign, and a couple of other players who have done it once or twice. Overall, I (and my players) were pretty happy with how it worked, although I've since decided that some kinds of improvised magic attempts could be better handled as dramatic tasks instead of creating a new power just for that scenario.

[The Dread Polack]

Allowing casters to use powers beyond their rank gives them the potential to be over-powered. Allowing them to use powers they don't choose with their AB gives them the potential to be overly-useful.

Neither of these are necessarily game-breaking, especially if non-casters have access to useful items, whether it's magic or tech.

About your balancing Options:

[ogbendog]

My first question would be, how do I recover the fatigue?

an hours rest?
a day?

[Rerun941]

[canology]

There *isn't* a standard fatigue recovery time in Deluxe, which is why I am assuming he was wondering about it. Each type of Fatigue recovers at a different rate.

[Sushi]