Changing Magic Characteristic to Lore

[HedgeWizard]

SkinnyOrc referenced a thread recently which got me thinking.

http://arion-games.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=737

In it Stuart made the proposal to change the Magic characteristic to Lore and start off with 4 points as with Skill. I think this is a great idea.

Instead of testing for knowledge based actions against skill you test against Lore + relevant knowledge based skills. Knowledge based skills (including magic obviously) would then be restricted to maximum half of Lore rather than half of skill. This makes more of a difference between knowledge based characters who are not necessarily wizards (e.g. Doctors, scholars, lawyers etc.) and other more physical types. Magic works just the same as before but is obviously only available to those with the necessary skills.

[Lorian]

I like it!

[Ruffnut]

SkinnyOrc referenced a thread recently which got me thinking.

http://arion-games.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=737

In it Stuart made the proposal to change the Magic characteristic to Lore and start off with 4 points as with Skill. I think this is a great idea.

Instead of testing for knowledge based actions against skill you test against Lore + relevant knowledge based skills. Knowledge based skills (including magic obviously) would then be restricted to maximum half of Lore rather than half of skill. This makes more of a difference between knowledge based characters who are not necessarily wizards (e.g. Doctors, scholars, lawyers etc.) and other more physical types. Magic works just the same as before but is obviously only available to those with the necessary skills.

100% using this!

[HedgeWizard]

I've been using this and saw that magical characters obviously get an advantage when setting up. So I suggest the following:

If using the usual creation method then adding one point of Lore costs two points in the beginning topping out at 7 as with the Magic points before. If using the 0 Level characters as proposed by slloyd (as I do all the time). Then give 4 points in Lore to all except intellectual characters such as clerks and witches which get 5 Lore and 4 skill (instead of the usual 5 skill and 4 Lore).

All advancements and increases using XP are then as normal.

[SkinnyOrc]

There are some probs fitting this into the points buy char gen system. The simplest is probably to say you can base knowledge tests on either SKILL or LORE, whichever is higher, and then leave char gen as it is with MAGIC/LORE starting at 0. You can look on this as a SKILL based knowledge test being street smarts while a LORE based one is academic smarts.

[Lorian]

Good idea.

[HedgeWizard]

There are some probs fitting this into the points buy char gen system. The simplest is probably to say you can base knowledge tests on either SKILL or LORE, whichever is higher, and then leave char gen as it is with MAGIC/LORE starting at 0. You can look on this as a SKILL based knowledge test being street smarts while a LORE based one is academic smarts.

When I first read this I thought "But that's just the rules in the rulebook." But I've reflected a bit more. In a world where most people don't get any academic training (school will just be basic literacy and numaracy as in the middle-ages) but then saying that some people cannot pass academic knowledge tests isn't too ridiculous

Alternatively: Put Skill and Lore at 0 and give 12 points with max Skill and Lore being 7

[Ruffnut]

There are some probs fitting this into the points buy char gen system. The simplest is probably to say you can base knowledge tests on either SKILL or LORE, whichever is higher, and then leave char gen as it is with MAGIC/LORE starting at 0. You can look on this as a SKILL based knowledge test being street smarts while a LORE based one is academic smarts.

When I first read this I thought "But that's just the rules in the rulebook." But I've reflected a bit more. In a world where most people don't get any academic training (school will just be basic literacy and numaracy as in the middle-ages) but then saying that some people cannot pass academic knowledge tests isn't too ridiculous

Alternatively: Put Skill and Lore at 0 and give 12 points with max Skill and Lore being 7

I like it!