Spellbound Update: Where We Are and What Will Happen

[Sletchman]

Just a quick question - will the following be in Spellbound:

New Species
New Talents
New Specialities
New Magic Item Charms / Essences

[Coyote0273]

I believe Magic Items/Essences are going to be in the Gear of the Ages book is what was said before. No clue on the others.

[Crafty_Alex]

Just a quick question - will the following be in Spellbound:

New Species
New Talents
New Specialities
New Magic Item Charms / Essences

No to all of the above. Spellbound is the book on spells, and spellcasters, and we don't want to dilute its focus (we do that way too often). As Coyote notes, Gear for the Ages will be the place we get into the gear part of magic

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Then lets try asking if it contains anything more focused on magic:

Feats that allow non-casters to gain a few castings of spells?  (I thinking stuff like The Gift, but maybe one or two spell levels higher/letting spells from The Gift be cast more often.)
Spellcasting campaign qualities for increasing the need to have an item to cast spells?  (Beyond just needing a Spellcasting Kit, I'm thinking about mages that have to lug around a wand/staff/tome.)

[Soulcatcher]

Spellcasting campaign qualities for increasing the need to have an item to cast spells?  (Beyond just needing a Spellcasting Kit, I'm thinking about mages that have to lug around a wand/staff/tome.)

Why can't the wand/staff/tome be the kit?

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Why can't the wand/staff/tome be the kit?

I mean in the sense that it's important that it's not just a generic kit reskinned and/or it has to be a specific item.

[Sletchman]

No to all of the above. Spellbound is the book on spells, and spellcasters, and we don't want to dilute its focus (we do that way too often). As Coyote notes, Gear for the Ages will be the place we get into the gear part of magic

Completely fair, and thanks for the response.

[magustoad]

Why can't the wand/staff/tome be the kit?

I mean in the sense that it's important that it's not just a generic kit reskinned and/or it has to be a specific item.

Either way isn't it still just a spellcasting McGuffin?  A spell with a material component requires the caster to have a spellcasting kit Wizard's Staff readied to cast.  

You could always homebrew some rules that forge a connection with the item.  Favored gear, minor enchantments absorbed over time and other such things would work well if you were going for some "special sauce" with the item in question instead of just "that thing you have to have to cast spells."

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

You could always homebrew some rules that forge a connection with the item.

1) I suck at that.
2) The point of someone else making a product is so I don't have to.
3) Why am I being advised to make a houserule when all I've done IS ASK A QUESTION?  I never said it was all that important, I'm just curious.  The point was never to have the rule, the point was the see if something like it was in the book.

[Krensky]

Pat did confirm that some variant of this was in Spellbound.

Vancian Magic (Permanent): In campaigns with this quality, some arcane casters may use magic only with careful preparation and study, rather than simple innate talent. When an arcane caster gains his first ranks in Spellcasting, he must choose whether he wants to be a “spontaneous caster” or a “prepared caster.” This choice may not be altered after it is made – it forever shapes the arcane caster's future.

Spontaneous casters follow all rules for Spellcasting as described in Chapter 3 of Fantasy Craft. Prepared casters, on the other hand, follow a number of special rules:

• Prepared casters may never cast a spell without a kit.
• At the beginning of each scene, the prepared caster may spend any number of his spell points to prepare castings of spells he knows for this scene (i.e. if the prepared caster wanted to cast Fireball, a Level 3 spell, twice and Magic Missile, a Level 1 spell, 4 times during the upcoming scene, he would spend 10 Spell Points). Preparing each casting of a spell requires 10 minutes of uninterrupted concentration per Spell Point spent. The caster may only cast Level 0 and prepared spells during the course of this scene. Additional spell points may be spent at the time the Spellcasting check is made to add Spellcasting tricks as normal.
• At the end of the scene, any of the prepared caster’s remaining spell points are carried over into the following scene. All unspent spell points are lost at the end of the session.
• Prepared casters may learn additional new spells (beyond those provided from his Spellcasting skill, feats, class abilities, etc.) between adventures by spending a number of Reputation equal to 3 x Spell Level. Alternatively, the GM may provide new spells as an instant reward or treasure (see Fantasy Craft, page XX). Learning a new spell in this fashion requires a number of days of Downtime equal to the Spell’s level (as the sorcerer spends his time in uninterrupted study).

[Sletchman]

Just checking that you know that that says "Alex", right? 

My plan for Spellbound is to see which holes it fills in my needs list, and then figure out how to tackle the other ones (otherwise I'll write dozens of new rules that will never get used because Spellbound has something that does it just as well, but is official - which my group are big into).

[Krensky]

Alex posted that and Pat said it would be in Spellbound in another thread.

[Goodlun]

Their is an awful lot of fantasy works out their where the characters need some sort of bloodline in order to use magic.  Is their going to be a campaign quality/feat in spell bound to cover this?

[Coyote0273]

Their is an awful lot of fantasy works out their where the characters need some sort of bloodline in order to use magic.  Is their going to be a campaign quality/feat in spell bound to cover this?

This sounds like it would be more fluff than actual rules to me. Either you "can use magic" or you can't in these worlds. Much like how the Force works in Star Wars, either you are sensitive, or you aren't.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

While that's exactly right there's still the possibility of some option in Spellbound related to it.