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In the Big Red Ugly Edition of Rapture’s core rulebook, magic has taken on new life. In Dragontown, magic was more nebulous, which has its clear advantages and its clear disadvantages. For those who are used to structured mechanics for magic, it is clearly a shock, and not necessarily a good one. For those who love hardcore roleplay (RP) , it makes sense to keep the magic system looser and ill-defined.

For those coming into RP as new players, this looser approach can be daunting, even a turnoff. So, we’ve embarked on a more defined magic system that sticks to the roots of Dragontown’s unique magic system. Spells are given, along with advice on making new ones, along with costs, in terms of fatigue used and materials needed, and we offer some guidance when it comes to failing a spell roll.

Some Stuff to Mull Over:

1. Magic always has a cost; no cast and forget. There are consequences to using magic, and there are real costs that are incurred by the magic user, the spellcaster.
2. Fatigue is one of two costs initially incurred for casting a spell. The other includes the materials needed to cast said spell. Not all spells have two casting costs; some only require fatigue to be expended.
3. Magic use can (negatively) affect sanity and health. If your caster has used up all their fatigue, they can bargain with the referee (and the rest of the group) by sacrificing two (2) health or sanity in exchange for ten (10) new fatigue points. Buyer beware.
4. Some magics require the consumption of certain materials to allow for successful casting. If these are ignored, players run the risk of bad things happening.
5. Failure means the energy expended has to go somewhere. If the spellcaster is trying to cast Elemental Wall, and it’s made of fire, the energy going into this failed spell slams into the body of the caster, causing (say) 1d6 damage or worse. Those closest to the spellcaster might also incur damage from the failed spell.