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Can someone describe the mechanics of magic in SK Revised? Are spells pretty free-form or do you have to pick from a list?
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Rank: Advanced Member
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A bit of both.
There are three types of spells.
Combat spells are cast like combat styles and exist as choices on a style sheet. Each magic form has a style sheet with a number of combat moves and spells on it.
Close spells are simpler small spells that give a small effect like mending an item etc. Each magic form has a around 10-15 close spells. Combat spells from above can also be cast as close spells.
High spells are the big guns that can effect whole geographic areas such as summoning up a storm. Each magic form has a few high spells.
In addition a master of a magic form can make up their own close spells.
Finally a magic user could research their own new high spell.
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Rank: Administration
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Yep. IC described it pretty well there. There are some brief guidelines for creating your own freeform spells: what types of spells are covered by each school of magic, what the rough power level should be, what some suggested resolution mechanics are.
The actual mechanics are the core mechanic for the whole game: die-step roll-over target number. So for many spells, you roll your Magic score (probably a d8 for a wizard) and try to beat the target number (usually the Doom, which is around 3 or 4 for lower levels and 6 or more for higher levels). You might also have to roll your Magic die to beat your target's Magic roll, or you might have to roll a die size determined by the combat spell you're casting (each combat spell has its own Attack die listed).
Also, magic interferes with ther magic in the Kingdoms. So unless you're playing SK: Pure Fantasy where magic doesn't interfere, then if you roll a 1 on your Magic roll, you cause a magic surge. It attacks everyone in the area who is spellbound, doing a point of damage per spellbound creature in the area.
That's about it for actual mechanics. You can cast one high spell per day. High spells are quite powerful and can cause earthquakes, change the economy of an entire region, increase or decrease the attribute scores of every person in the region, etc. Close spells and combat spells you can cast as many as you like.
There's also a system for creating magic items, which are basically just items with a spell trapped in them, and for researching new spells.
In my experience, the freeform close spells, especially, allow for magic that's truly "magical."
As IC said, once you've mastered a spell style or school, you can create freeform close spells on the fly. You can cast them 'til your heart
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