Spell Crafting - A new Spell Casting mechanic for Fudge

Foreword

This is the second article that was supposed to be published in the Fudge Compendium. This system uses the Fudge Tasks from my previous post. I recommend reading that first to understand the actual Spell Crafting mechanic.

Yet another Magic system for Fudge? Yes, indeed. This is an open system like the Example Magic system of the Fudge SRD however it is a bit more formalized and predictable, and allows the players to also design spells and not rely only on the GM. This system also introduces 3 sources of magic, to give a bit of flavor.

Introduction

Magic in Spell Crafting falls into 3 realms: Divine Magic, Spiritual Magic and Sorcery. Divine Magic is practiced by Priests, Spiritual Magic is practiced by Animists, and Sorcery is practiced by Wizards. Unlike many other systems, Spell Crafting does not use any kind of spell lists nor even ready-made spells, instead it is up to the player (and the GM) to invent the spells. It is intended that the player will only need to know what they wish the spell to do. It is the GM who provides the mechanics of the spell i.e. how many points it will cost, etc. The player is free to provide flavor i.e. what it looks like when the spell is cast.

Fudge Tasks

Foreword

While this is not officially one of the articles that was sent for the Fudge Compendium it is the core rules of one of the mechanics for my next post. Meanwhile enjoy this generic system for dealing with lengthy actions.

Introduction - Anatomy of a Task

A task is a skill resolution that takes more than one turn. Some examples are creating artwork, casting a spell, research, picking locks and more. The GM assigns a Task Value and a Task Turn along with a Task Difficulty to the task, and the character will try to gain enough Task Points to complete the task. Every Task Turn the character can gain more Task Points.