⭗ REDIRECTIONS: XXXVI ⭗

 

⭗ DRUMS & FEATS ⭗

I love the random spell generation tables of systems like Knave and The Electrum Archive. I think they are not only super cool because of the narrative agency they give to characters, but because they add so much more uniqueness to the magic of a given setting. Instead of every magic-using character wielding some variant of a damage bolt or a healing spell, the matrices from Knave and Electrum Archive create writing prompts that players and referees can utilize together to create a unique synthesis. Players can actually get excited finding scrolls, tomes (or puzzle boxes) with unique spells in them because instead of just getting another “magic missile” they know that they could get anything from "Blast of Hindering Sun" to "Repelling Mask" (Two results from Electrum Archive I actually rolled up while writing this.)

The only potential downside I can see to this system is for players (and referees) who prefer more crunch than this largely narrative approach can offer. As such, I posit a compromise: the Defined + Random Universal Magic System (DRUMS) and Form + Effect + Amplifier + Trouble System (FEATS). It’s extremely basic, more of a thought experiment to add crunch and definition to random magic generation systems, but I think it has a lot of potential. At its core, DRUMS & FEATS is composed of a pair of tables that allows about 100 potential random spells to give to players. When you add in the Amplifier and Trouble modifiers, the potential goes up to over 10,000 unique, randomly generated spells that characters can find or encounter in their travels.

I’m not sure if this is a wholly original idea or not, so if someone else has come up with the same idea, I can only apologize for my ignorance. I’ve read a lot of books in the OSE / OSR but I haven’t read them all. There’s certainly room for improvement in this list, (or refinement for use with specific TTRPG systems) but I think this is a solid start. Use as you please, and feel free to link back to this page if you work it into your own system.

⭗ THE TABLES ⭗

Forms:

1. Ray (Line of Sight, a beam of up to 30 meters.)

2. Sphere (Line of Sight, any area up to 6 meters in diameter.)

3. Touch (A single target, touched.)

4. Word (Centered at caster. Everyone who hears it becomes a target.)

5. Cloud (An area up to 3 meters, travels from caster at 1 meter/sec for 30 seconds.)

6. Flash (Centered at caster. Everyone who sees it becomes a target.)

7. Wall (Caster draws a line with touch, extends up to 60 sq meters in any direction.

8. Trap (Caster sets the magic as a trap, to be set off by a target.)

9. Bond (Caster may create bonded objects. Everyone holding one is a target.)

10. Deflection (Targets can only be those targeting the caster with spells.)

Effect:

1. Of Healing (Light healing effect to targets.)

2. Of Shielding (Light damage protection effect to targets for 5 minutes.)

3. Of Shock / Ice / Fire (Light elemental damage to targets.) 

4. Of Phasing (Teleports targets up to 6 meters in any direction.)

5. Of Detonation (Object or piece of gear cracks or shatters.)

6. Of Wisdom (Light bonus to all checks / talents to targets.)

7. Of Darkness (Targets are blinded.)

8. Of Haste (Targets get a free turn this combat.)

9. Of Binding (Targets are immobilized.) 

10. Of Amelioration (Targets are satiated and cured of poisons, diseases, etc.)

Amplifier (Placed first, or after the “of” on the spell effect):

1. Bolstered (Effects are intensified significantly.)

2. Lingering (Spell continues to take effect for an additional round.)

3. Spreading (Spell spreads and affects twice as many targets.)

4. Concealed (Spell has no material, somatic or verbal components.)

5. Instant (Spell can be cast with no prep and does not use a turn.)

6. Charged (Spell enchants objects, storing the FAT (Form + Amplifier and Trouble, if applicable,) into the object. Object contains only a single charge.)

7. Unmooring (Pushes targets up to 3 meters, each in the direction of your choice.)

8. Phantom (After casting, the caster gains an illusory double for 5 minutes.)

9. Focused (Spell is nearly impossible for targets to resist or save against.)

10.  Roll up two random Amplifiers and tack them both to the spell (no limit to how many amplifiers a spell can have when rolling this.)

Trouble (Used either before, or in place of an Amplifier):

1. Rebounding (Affects the caster as well, regardless of precautions.)

2. Delusional (Effects are entirely illusory. They feel and look real but are not.)

3. Acidic (Adds a caustic effect to the spell that eats away at objects / equipment.)

4. Tandem (Spell gains a second Effect that affects all targets.)

5. Recurring (Spell damages the fabric of reality. Targets are affected rarely and randomly over time.

6. Inebriating (Caster becomes falling down drunk.) 

7. Abyssal (Spell fills any area -up to 100 meters diameter sphere- with a layer of hot ash.)

8. Vital (as Abyssal, but with lush grass and flowers)

9. Hateful / Lusty / Terrifying (Targets feel an intense and lasting emotion toward the caster.)

10. Dancing (Targets immediately start dancing and cannot stop for several rounds.)

⭗ WHAT ARE REDIRECTIONS? ⭗

My goal with REDIRECTIONS is to add my own contribution to the Psychedelic / Heavy Metal / Ligne Claire art RPG space.  Much in the way that people inspired by Tolkien’s style helped give birth to the modern genre of High Fantasy, the style of Jean “Moebius” Giraud (and others like him) seems to be spawning a sort of genre of its own right now, and I want to expose more people to the wonders of it. I want to share it. I want to be a part of it. Most of all, I want it to grow.

    REDIRECTIONS is a collection of wondrous places and resources presented in story format (as a game in play, specifically traversing the universe of UVG (Ultraviolet Grasslands) but it is also kept more general for your own RPG characters to visit and explore regardless of the system you use. Each place is unique and wholly original, with a bevy of interesting stories, plot hooks and characters to color your experience. 

    If you like these posts and find them useful, let me know! 

    While the images (not the text) of prior posts in this series have been created in collaboration with AI, I have been working to learn how to draw and so all of the images in this post were ones I drew by hand. I still enjoy collaborating with AI to make pretty pictures, but I also I greatly respect the skill of people who work with pen and pencil and have the skill of hand to make things from scratch. I’m still learning myself.

    This is a series, and each entry is numbered. If you like things like this, please support the true artists whose works are part of the genre, such as the works of Moebius, Luka Rejec's Ultraviolet Grasslands, Luke Gearing's Acid Death Fantasy and Raw Fury's game SABLE.