Problem SpellsWhile there are some spells that don't function particularly well, there are incredibly few "Problem Spells" (defined as spells that require a functional rewrite or removal). Ignoring
WAR! (which I have not yet read, but heard many very bad things about), I would limit this list to
Petrify &
Turn to Goo.
Petrify, as written, literally breaks the laws of magic defined in the system; it affects a living body
without also affecting any Essence-paid implants that body has. This is an easy fix - remove that section.
Petrify and
Turn to Goo are both functionally identical, and are both "you loose" spells. Functional rewrite to make these spells "work" would be to use the system the Petrification critter power uses - each Net Hit reduces the target's Agility & Reaction by 1. If both Agility
and Reaction are reduced to 0, the target turns to stone/goo. Additionally,
Petrify retains it's +1 Barrier Rating (changed to +1 Damage Resistance for ease of use), while Turn to Goo changes to -1 Barrier Rating (changed to -1 Damage Resistance for ease of use).
Mental control magic would fall under
quasi problem spells for me. They are (essentially) "you loose" spells, but not quite as automatic as
Petrify or
Turn to Goo (neither of the latter require additional actions from the caster, or allow additional resistance tests for extended sustaining periods). The easiest fix, apart from removing them, would be to reduce the interval additional resistance tests are allowed, such as to 1/2 Force Combat Turns, or 1 Combat Turn. While I am not yet convinced such a change is necessary, I am also not yet convinced such a change is
unnecessary.
Shapechange is only a problem because, as written, it is functionally
stupid. Go read it again - it allows you to change into something with a Body attribute 2 points greater or lower than your own. Not "up to" 2 points. 2 points.
Personally I changed it to allow a new form with a Body of
up to Force greater or lower than your own. While the additional attribute boost is not really a problem in itself, it is probably to much & strikes me as out of flavor for the spell. Remove the attribute increase entirely. Your Physical Attributes are replaced with the Physical Attributes of a
typical creature of your new form. Note: As this is a replacement effect, not an augmentation, augmented maximums of your original form do not apply.
Direct Combat Spells are overpowered. I am not going to argue this. The amount by which they are overpowered, however, is so low as to make little or no difference in most games. Guns are often just as effective (sometimes moreso), & do not require Drain Resistance.
The problem with Direct Combat magic is that they are made to appear "better" because of their comparison to the incredibly shitty Indirect Combat magic, & their use of a different resistance system than all other forms of combat.
Fix:
First, we need to unify the spells with the rest of combat. When casting a Direct Combat spell, the caster makes an opposed Spellcasting + Magic + Modifiers test vs. the target's
Intuition + Counterspelling + Modifiers. If the caster achieves at least 1 Net Hit, the target must resist Force + Net Hits damage using Body (Physical) or Willpower (Mana) + Astral Armor. Each Hit reduced the damage taken by 1.
Next, we increase the usefulness of Indirect Combat magic. Something hit by an Indirect Combat Spell suffers the full elemental effects. This means removing such things as "The acid quickly evaporates in the turn following the spell's casting". Some elemental effects may need revision to actually be mechanically useful - elemental effects like fire.
Additionally, Indirect Combat Spells can use the Blind Fire rules, sans the Intuition instead of Agility bit.
Spirits, while not included on your list, are probably the single most overpowered part of a magician's capabilities. They can easily come to dominate a game by themselves.
The primary "balancing" factor is "role playing" - aka if you treat your spirits like shit, they might use Edge to resist summoning. This fails on a number of levels, the most blatant being the use of role playing & "GM's discretion" as mechanical balancing factors.
Here are the changes I have made to balance spirits with great success:
Attributes: The Mental & Physical attributes of a conjured spirit are equal to Force ÷ 2 (round up), plus modifiers (minimum attribute of 1).
Edge: Conjured spirits do not possess an Edge attribute. The controlling magician may use their own Edge on any tests the spirit makes, following all other normal rules for Edge use.
Immunity & Hardened Armor: Immunity grants the critter (not spirit specific) Hardened Armor (or equivalent for armor-less attacks) equal to the creature's Magic attribute vs. the Immunity's type. Normal Weapons means all attacks with non-magical sources, as normal.
Hardened Armor provides a flat reduction to the Damage Value of attacks equal to it's rating. It is still subject to Armor Penetration as normal.
Ware & spellcasters. Unnecessary. Unjustified. The rules are very precise (if sometimes convoluted). Any
visual enhancements paid for with Essence can be used for spell targeting. If the effect is based on non-visual means (Ultrasound) or provides a digital overlay (Ultrasound or Radar), it does not work.
Again not on your list, but
Stun vs Physical Damage is one of the biggest balancing gripes about Direct Combat spells. The problem is not actually with Direct Combat spells, but with the seperation of Stun & Physical damage tracks making Stun damage almost always superior. I suggest merging the Stun & Physical damage tracks & using a method similar to White Wolf's, described below.
Characters possess a number of boxes on their Condition Monitor equal to 8 + (Body ÷ 2, round up)
Characters possess a number of boxes on their Overflow Monitor equal to their Willpower.
If a character's Condition Monitor is filled with Physical Damage, the character is unconscious & bleeding out (Physical Damage overflow rules).
If a character's Overflow Monitor is filled with Physical Damage, the character is dead.
If a character's Overflow Monitor is filled with Stun damage, the character is unconscious & any additional Stun Damage instead converts an existing point to Physical damage.
Tracking Damage/ denotes 1 point of Stun damage
X denotes 1 point of Physical damage
Damage is tracked from the upper left to the lower right, with Physical damage being listed before Stun damage.
Any time the character takes damage, it is tracked from the left & "moves" any previously existing damage to the right.
Example:
Ashley has a Body of 5 and Willpower of 4, giving her 11 boxes on her Condition Monitor and 4 on her Overflow Monitor. She has already suffered 2 Physical and 1 Stun damage. Her Condition Monitor is marked as follows:
CODE
|X|X|/| | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | |
| | |
She then takes another 5 Physical damage from a gunshot. Her Condition Monitor is updated as follows:
CODE
|X|X|X| | | | |
|X|X|X| | |
|X|/| |
| | |
The next time she is attacked, her armor reduces the incoming damage to Stun. She takes 3 Stun damage.
CODE
|X|X|X| | | | |
|X|X|X| | |
|X|/|/|
|/|/|
When she is struck next, she takes 4 Physical damage.
CODE
|X|X|X| |/|/|/|
|X|X|X| |/|
|X|X|X|
|X|X|
Her Overflow monitor is now filled with Stun damage, rendering her unconscious. Her Condition Monitor is filled with Physical damage, also rendering her unconscious (redundant) and bleeding out.
She then takes another 1 Physical damage, putting her condition monitor at
CODE
|X|X|X| |X|/|/|
|X|X|X| |/|/
|X|X|X|
|X|X|
Because the Physical damage pushed 1 stun beyond her Overflow Monitor, it instead converts 1 existing Stun to Physical, as follows
CODE
|X|X|X| |X|X|/|
|X|X|X| |/|
|X|X|X|
|X|X|
At this point, anymore Physical damage, or 2 more Stun damage would be enough to kill Ashley.
Effects on Gameplay:
- Physical Damage (alone): The lethality of Physical damage remains the same; no change.
- Stun Damage (alone): Stun damage has become less dangerous by itself, and is now strictly worse than Physical damage. Any 'reductions in cost' for something using Stun damage (such as the Drain reduction for spells) is now justified, & incapacitating someone without killing them is more difficult.
- Physical & Stun Damage (combined): Because the damage now effectively stacks, taking a combination of Physical & Stun damage is now much more harmful than it was previously.
Overall, lethality is increased slightly, but is balanced by the greater resilience armor provides by reducing incoming damage to Stun. Little or no net change.