Quote from: Karonus;758659Ok then. C&S 5 will have two elements one will be more historical with only illusion, summoning and divination allowed.  Jewish characters experience reduced social status outside their enclaves and female characters will find restricted roles. The second will allow the more wide reaching fantasy elements.  We will look to include the three religions of the book and will show how enlightened islam was.  Piety is being replaced by spirit to allow rules for the use of sins and repentence (and later allow better treatment of other religions).  These sins will include a wide range of sins Including fornication with beasts and same sex.  They are all sins historically recorded with appropriate penance.

That sounds much better than women are pretty or whatever just because line that was in 1ed. That was offensive but what you're doing is or should be expected by anybody playing a game as simulationist and quasi-historical as 5ed. You have me interested again.

Thanks for coming on the board and letting us know what's going on.  Is your new edition going to continue the glorious convoluted magic system?

Quote from: ligedog;758697Thanks for coming on the board and letting us know what's going on.  Is your new edition going to continue the glorious convoluted magic system?

I loved it even though I don't think I actually understood it.

Quote from: Marleycat;758738I loved it even though I don't think I actually understood it.

Once I worked it out it was glorious

So the 864 page version of the Red Book is a no-no. Interesting...

Quote from: ptingler;758273Yes, because an anonymous poster on a forum is much more reliable.

:rotfl:

Much better said than I'd have done.

Quote from: ligedog;758697Thanks for coming on the board and letting us know what's going on.  Is your new edition going to continue the glorious convoluted magic system?

We are continuing the development of the magic system in Rebirth.  Although this came out of third edition initially it was tweaked in Rebirth with the addition of many items from earlier editions such as the laws of magic.  Also, to help make the system a little more playable for those who dont have Rebirth we actually gave the rules for the spell used to enchant materials to reduce magic resistance.  We also gave more options to allow Mages to create complex spells merging spells from different methods into a greater spell.

In 5th edition we are going through the system to remove inconsistencies so it becomes more rational. (I used to like playing Mages in 2nd, especially Power Word Mages, hence some attention to the system.)

I suspect you are already committed to a certain design at this point, but I encourage you to draw heavily on 1E magic, perhaps re-engineering some of the resolution mechanics so it is faster and more comprehensible. The idiosyncratic, flavorful magic of 1E was arguably the best thing about it. One of the very few cases in game design history where a set of rules made you feel like you were poring over an actual book of magical principles and spells.

Quote from: Larsdangly;759092I suspect you are already committed to a certain design at this point, but I encourage you to draw heavily on 1E magic, perhaps re-engineering some of the resolution mechanics so it is faster and more comprehensible. The idiosyncratic, flavorful magic of 1E was arguably the best thing about it. One of the very few cases in game design history where a set of rules made you feel like you were poring over an actual book of magical principles and spells.

Do you have 4th edition (Rebirth) ?  If not then here is one of the skills that a mage requires.  Rebirth goes beyond 3rd and with the Laws (Law of Personalities - allows a bonus of +10% to targeting) expands on what 3rd had.

Spell Research
Attributes:   Intellect x 2
Level:   DF 4; BCS 30%; 600 Exp; 6 SKP
This skill allows a Magus to learn new spells by researching them in books and scrolls. The character needs access to a library containing works on Sorcery. Not all libraries contain such books. The books must contain treatises on the Method of Magic he is researching. For example, if he is researching an Illusion spell, the library must contain one or more works specifically on Illusions, not just writings on Magic in general or on some other Method(s) of Magic.
If a specialist Magus has access to a library, and if there is a book or scroll on the Method of Magick he is researching, he requires (13 — ML (Magic Level which is derived from your PMF)) x MR (Magic Resistance the same as BMR) days of the particular spell he is searching for information on in order to try to learn the spell.

If a Hex Master or a Power Word Mage does not have access to a book they may still undertake magical research but it will take much longer. They will need to (21 — ML) x MR days researching the particular spell they are searching for.

A non-Magus needs a book and 10 days x MR to do his research.
At the end of the time required, he must make a successful Spell Research roll and the Crit Die roll must be equal to or higher than the MR of the particular spell that is being researched. A success means he finds enough informa¬tion to start learning Basic Knowledge in the spell, after which he can start reducing its MR to make it fully his to cast and control.
Druids have an oral tradition and do not use books to record their Lore. However, in addition to learning from a Master (Druids have an oral tradi¬tion), they can also consult the Sacred Trees, which are effectively Druidic "libraries". Druids may visit a Sacred Tree and use Read Oghams, a written form of Mage Speech that is only taught to Druids. Research consists of meditating upon the significance, etc., of the Oghams, which may be carved amidst pictograms

All I have to contribute here is that, having done most of my education in Alberta, I can testify that there was a curious and tiny community of diehard C&S fans stalking the local gaming stores until as late as the mid-90s.  They would often talk about how much better the game was than D&D, and most of them had met the author (Simbalist?) in person. They didn't seem very good at recruiting new converts, however.

Yeah, C&S always struck me as one of those games which gathers a select little fanbase of its own who are very, very dedicate to that particular game and don't have much contact with the wider RPG community.

Quote from: Warthur;760089Yeah, C&S always struck me as one of those games which gathers a select little fanbase of its own who are very, very dedicate to that particular game and don't have much contact with the wider RPG community.

As opposed to the players of every other game that isn't currently being actively published?

Quote from: CRKrueger;760137As opposed to the players of every other game that isn't currently being actively published?

What's your point again?

Quote from: Marleycat;760194What's your point again?

Oh how cute, you're stalking me now.

Warthur Said, with possible loaded language (bolded for emphasis):

Quote from: Warthur;760089Yeah, C&S always struck me as one of those games which gathers a select little fanbase of its own who are very, very dedicate to that particular game and don't have much contact with the wider RPG community.

In other words, closeted fanatics.  I was just pointing out that any game not in print that has fans can fit that description.

Quote from: CRKrueger;760137As opposed to the players of every other game that isn't currently being actively published?

I think that the 1970's/19980's were different in kind; RPGs were extremely popular so people could sort into very fine system preferences.  The average age seemed to be a lot younger and so I suspect that people had a lot more time.  

So I suspect that these clusters tended to be a feature of older eras.  Today, a niche game that stops being published seems to fade from view a lot faster.