Maelstrom for the win, of course.

Actually I'm not really fond of free form magic.  The problem is that it is only useful in the hands of someone who is imaginative.

The few times I playtested the one I came up with for Galactic Adventures (Fantastic Adventures?) the players just didn't know what to do with it.

Quote from: David RI think Heroquest has also got a freeform magic system, but I'm still grappling with the system, so I can't really comment.

HeroQuest's magic system is about as free-form as its ability system, which is to say that it's potentially very free-form.  In HQ, pretty much anything can be taken as a character's ability.  With magic, it can be something as simple as a single magical power with very limited application, or it can be a complex form of ritual magic, but each is described as a single target roll that is modified by how you, the player, detail its use.  There are also magical traditions that include "books" of rote spells that may further modify your chance of casting a particular spell.

!i!

[Edit: In hindsight, I don't think I did the HQ magic system justice.  I tend to use only the most simplified form of it, which is refreshingly flexible.  The neat thing about the system is that you can build in as much detail or as little as you want or need.]

Quote from: SeanWhich are the best you've played ?

Do you prefer pre-scribed spell lists instead ?

I prefer free form, although I like example spells--like Ars Magica or Talislanta (as of 4E for it)

High Valor (my FRPG) uses a free form system split between Low Magic and High Magic. Low magic is "you can't see don't know its working for sure" (it adds a minor trait to the character or object temporarily, or takes one away.)

High Magic is your traditional flung spell effects--they ALWAYS have side effects though. Albeit a competent spell caster has several ways to reduce the side effects to at most a minor issue.

I've included a handful of sample spells that are built following the system for the free form stuff, in order to show how it is done.

Ars is the best I've played, though Elements of Magic looks very nice.

I think oMage suffers from ambiguity and fan over-analysis. nMage removes some ambiguity, but it feels a bit heavy to me.

I generally prefer what you might call scripted, though there are less scripted variations (like using power pools in hero). I find that to make a character that flexible, you either have to acknowledge it is the central/controlling character type or to limp-wrist them to the point they are unappealing to play.

Pacts in Changeling: The Lost are fun. These allow for supernatural win-win situations for the people involved.

QuoteI think oMage suffers from ambiguity and fan over-analysis.

I guess the latter is a direct result of the former.

Duels used a mechanic similar to the spheres, but it was a little less evocative and little easier to manipulate. You had five aspects of magic, each of which had   a particular game effect. Fortification raised or lowered a mage's main stats, Alteration raised or lowered another's main stats, Vigor raised or lowered someone's hit points, Journey raised or lowered someone's Movement, Enhancement changed stats for an inanimate object.

You bought dice in different aspects, and ostensibly you would be able to mix die from different aspects to devise whatever effect you wanted. Of course, like most freeform magic, it could become tricky to adjudicate. But there were a number of examples, and the system was not so crunchy that you would lose suspension of disbelief if you went a little wonky.

So it was my favorite, if not necessarily the best.

Oh, I'd forgotten about The Amazing Engine's For Faerie Queen and Country.  It had a great system of freeform magic that you could construct from a neatly intuitive sentence structure system.

!i!

Quote from: HinterWeltSee, I had the roughest time with Mage's system.

Me too.  I think part of the problem was that I first played it under a GM who house-ruled a lot of stuff, so when I sat down to actually run a game things didn't work how I thought they would.  

My favorite freeform magic system is Nathan Hill's Eldritch Ass Kicking which bases everything around the four elements.  

Pete

Quote from: David JohansenActually I'm not really fond of free form magic.  The problem is that it is only useful in the hands of someone who is imaginative.

"Rotes" in Mage (common textbook examples of spells) should help with that, and so does preparing a personal "miracle menu" in Nobilis. If your Duke of Fire makes a habit of curing people by burning away their diseases, it's not a bad idea to consider in advance how a trick like that might fit into the mechanics.

Iron Gauntlets has a semi-freeform magic system called crafting. It's similar to Mage and Ars Magica. You can make spells with it, but it requires some work. The second edition of Iron Gauntlets will use spell templates, but still keep crafting as an option, since it has a strong following (but can be difficult to understand by those used to ready-made spells).

For me the issues with freeform magic is that it can suck up a bunch of time in fiddling and negotiation.  "Is that level 3 of fire or level 4?"  Clear guidelines help some but the guidelines never seem to cover enough.  The rules in Ars Magica are among the best for freeish form but the charts get extensive enought that they approach spell list systems in page count.  The end of the scale are the large number of systems that boil down to "I dunno, just wing it."  BESM's freeform system is like that.
 
Creating some go-to spells out of session is very important for speeding play.  
 
The problem with scripted spells is that they either are extremely limiting or they require a great deal of learning.  Basic D&D is an example of the former.  A cleric has about 8 spells to choose from at 1st level.  AD&D and D&D 3e are examples of the latter.  There are over 100 pages of spell descriptions.  That's great if you're into being rewarded for game expertise as it interacts with tactics.  But if you want to focus on other parts of gaming, it's very tedious.
 
I like freeform if I'm going with a simple system like Fudge.  I prefer scripted if I'm going with a larger system with lots of tactical options.

Also, have a look at S.John Ross' Elemental Magic article.  It's written with GURPS in mind, but I've ported it over to one or two other systems with great ease.

!i!

The problem we always had in Ars Magica (at least in 5th Edition) was that while freeform spellcasting was possible, it was always sufficiently difficult (unless you wanted to spend ages doing a big ritual) that it was almost always worth doing formulaic magic instead. Granted, it's easy to come up with new formula spells in ArsM, but even then you're essentially just compiling your own personal spell list, with freeform magic to fill in the gaps.

It depends on the setting, but generally free form. Of course, as a GM, it's also the one that produces the most headaches.

Seanchai

Quote from: David JohansenActually I'm not really fond of free form magic.  The problem is that it is only useful in the hands of someone who is imaginative.

When I house ruled freeform magic into one of my AD&D campaigns the first thing the players did was re-inventing magic missile, cure light wounds, detect magic, and knock...