by Peter » Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:34 pm
You people need to read Discworld. Good Ol' Pratchett somehow took D&D-style magic (or something vaguely similar, it's hard to tell, sometimes... and that's just the Unseen University, there's whole other kinds of magic out there.) and make it bewildering, terrifying, hilarious, and awesome. One of the big things he did was to take and work with magic like it was nuclear and quantum physics- to keep tomes full of the most powerful spells safe and locked away, they are chained in rooms lined with lead penta-, no, Octagrams. Wizards still sling fireballs around on occasion, but there's always the chance that things go wrong, and trying to levitate something without applying a similar force elsewhere must be done carefully lest the counter-force by applied directly to the brain.
However, it's not exactly suited to the H&H universe, but it's a good place to look to to see how it's done.
I for one kinda like the "undocumented features" approach to processes in this game. Take fishing or cheesemaking, for instance. Sure, people experimented with fishing and such to determine what makes what, and while this IS fun, it only lasts for about a week. And while I admire it and think it might be fun, I always end up looking it up on the wiki because I don't want to wast resources on experimenting.
What I would suggest is either don't make guesswork games or go the whole way- and this can be a part of balancing. What I mean is, find a way to make magic permanently unpredictable; requirements for spells (or rituals, even if the aren't "fireball" spells) always change and ingredients for some potions (or other mystical craftings) differ from night to night, never being guaranteed to work. Imagine this:
Some players choose to use proven statistics and equipment. It's obvious how to make a steel sword, and if you don't know, you can look it up. These players don't use magic because it's unpredictable and unreliable.
Others focus solely on magic for the potential returns- even if several experiments fail, one successful attempt will give them a soul-forged sword or what have you. They don't use regular tools because they need all the resources they have to continue experimenting.
Most players, of course, would occasionally experiment, or will buy finished magic tools on occasion, but would largely use proven crafting tools for most things. They might experiment with making a new item, especially if they hear about how someone else made it, but only if they have extra resources.
Surprise.
