World of Esaene (ENWorld)

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Snapback

I've figured out a simple system for snapback, something Brant has always liked about the magic. I won't go into too many details now (tweaking), but I like it a lot and it should add some flavor to the magic. It's very simple.

2 comments:

Brant said...

By way of explanation: what I've always liked about snapbacks is that it forces casters to balance the amount of magic they use to the task they want to accomplish. Too little oomph and the spell fails. Overdo it, though, and the universe has to do something with all that extra energy, and the most convenient target (sort of like grounding electricity) is the caster. So (s)he suffers some ill effects.

Chris said...

Well, the issue now is that more powerful magic will have a greater kickback. There are ways to mitigate the kickback, but you have to prepare for it and be ready for it.

You can control how powerful the magic going in is, but more advanced spells (ones that are further away from "reality") have a greater strain and will do more back to the caster and environment. More powerful casters can use their innate power or tools (wands, etc.) to mitigate the backlash.