Slayers Spells for D&D
Nockermensch
Dragon Slave and someone asked about Ra Tilt. Here are my versions of
these spells (half AD&D, hald 3E):
Dragon Slave (evocation, 9th level)
A beam of crimsom energy darts forth the caster hands. The beam hits a
point located in medium range. Beings caught in the beam's path receive
full damage, without save. The beam explodes at the designated point in
a sphere of 3m (10') for caster level, causing d10/level of caster,
reflex save for half.
Ra Tilt (abjuration or necromancy(?), 9th level)
A beam of energy strikes a target located in medium range. The beam
only affects targets from other planes or existing in more than one
plane (like powerful undeads). Damage is d12 per level *of target*, as
this spell turns the target's spirit force against her. Without save
(or maybe a will save?)
But Slayers still seems to use a power point system...
--
@ @ Nockermensch
PS. There's no PS this time.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Stephenls
>
> There was a thread about this some time ago. People posted a version of
> Dragon Slave and someone asked about Ra Tilt. Here are my versions of
> these spells (half AD&D, hald 3E):
>
> Dragon Slave (evocation, 9th level)
> A beam of crimsom energy darts forth the caster hands. The beam hits a
> point located in medium range. Beings caught in the beam's path receive
> full damage, without save. The beam explodes at the designated point in
> a sphere of 3m (10') for caster level, causing d10/level of caster,
> reflex save for half.
>
> Ra Tilt (abjuration or necromancy(?), 9th level)
> A beam of energy strikes a target located in medium range. The beam
> only affects targets from other planes or existing in more than one
> plane (like powerful undeads). Damage is d12 per level *of target*, as
> this spell turns the target's spirit force against her. Without save
> (or maybe a will save?)
Yeah, but what are the stats for Giga-slave, is what I wanna know...
:-)
--
Stephenls
Geek
Debra Young
Nockermensch
In article <398B0384...@pathway.net>,
Debra Young <youn...@pathway.net> wrote:
> See God Summoning XI
>
>
--
@ @ Nockermensch
Danny Sutton
>
>:-)
Giga-slave defines 10th level spell for me, which is why I don't like it when
people put Dragon Slave as 10th level. These spells are equivilant to
artifacts. If you learn them, you _could_ cast them, but you probably don't
want to. Even the impulsive Lina won't cast Gigaslave without extreme coersion.
As for the axtual stats of the spell, Giga-slave trancends game terms. I just
don't like the idea of "roll to see if the world ends."
One thing it does seem to do is give the caster a number of negative levels (so
do negative levels make your hair go white?). I would leave the success/failure
of the spell up to roleplaying, and plot. And if the characters start throwing
the spell out willy nilly, they deserve serious chastisement. The Slayers
setting is definately comic, but it has a strong serious side, too, and
Giga-Slave is part of it.
But here's my take on Giga Slave:
覧覧
Giga Slave
(Black, level 10; C/S)
Components: V,S
Casting time: 4 rounds
The Giga Slave calls upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares, the purest form
of destruction, to destroy _any_ being, whether god level or a mere mortal,
within the area of effect, except for the caster and up to four plus the
casters level people the caster designates, without a saving throw. They are
obliterated from existance.
Casting this spell gives the caster 2d20 negative levels, which return at a
rate of 1/hour. Any remaining after 24 hours are permanant. If this spell is
miscast in any way, the world ends. If the caster looses concentration after
the first round, the world ends. If the DM so chooses, the world ends. If the
character casts this again with the negative levels still in effect, the world
ends. If the caster looses all her levels, the world ends. If someone sneezes,
the world ends.
覧覧
Still, I want to see an actual write up of the Slayers magic system for AD&D,
with Black, Shamanistic, and White magical divisions, with everyone being a
specialist in one of the three. Definately using spell points, or Ars Magica
style fatigue (And you get a 1d4 points of fatuige back for each serving of
food you eat at a meal!).
If anyone has worked this out, I'd be very interested. If not, I just might
have to do it myself.
Danny Sutton
- Damned Satyr
Christopher Fiore
news:20000822020239...@ng-cu1.aol.com...
> Still, I want to see an actual write up of the Slayers magic system for AD&D,
> with Black, Shamanistic, and White magical divisions, with everyone being a
> specialist in one of the three. Definately using spell points, or Ars Magica
> style fatigue (And you get a 1d4 points of fatuige back for each serving of
> food you eat at a meal!).
Don't forget that femal mages lose their power at "that time of the month." :)
Seriously though, while _Slayers_ is great fun (it's my favorite anime series),
and I would love to be part of a Slayers D&D capagin, it probably won't
translate well into a game. (In fact, I believe it was conceived as a parody
of roleplaying games in the first place.) The power levels are WAY too high--
virtually infinite. I don't think anyone in the series has actually ever run
out of power...
Anyone want to try describing Lina Inverse in 3E game terms? Or the five
Weapons (Sword, Bow, Spear, Axe, Trident) of Light from Slayers TRY?
--
Chris F.
Allister Huggins
>
> Danny Sutton <ele...@aol.comremove> wrote in message
> news:20000822020239...@ng-cu1.aol.com...
>
> > with Black, Shamanistic, and White magical divisions, with everyone being a
> > specialist in one of the three. Definately using spell points, or Ars Magica
> > style fatigue (And you get a 1d4 points of fatuige back for each serving of
> > food you eat at a meal!).
>
>
> Seriously though, while _Slayers_ is great fun (it's my favorite anime series),
> and I would love to be part of a Slayers D&D capagin, it probably won't
> translate well into a game. (In fact, I believe it was conceived as a parody
> of roleplaying games in the first place.) The power levels are WAY too high--
Well, rumour has it that the slayers creator WAS a D&D player and
that's why the magic system is eerily familiar to D&D in terms of naming
and the use of V and S components and like many D&D players, he wasn't
overly fond of the "fire and forget" system. The series of books that
Slayers was based on is darker in tone though.
> virtually infinite. I don't think anyone in the series has actually ever run
> out of power...
Well, according to the Slayers bible, the Slayers magic system IS mana
based but the people we see (Zelgadis, Naga, Lina/Syphiel, Amelia) are
all above average in terms of both skill (represented by what they can
cast) and in power (how many times they can actually cast a spell, with
the highest reserves being the above order) and thus never seem to run
out of power.
Actually, simply make all of the Slayers spell casters sorcerers. A
20th level sorcerer can cast at least 60 spells a day. She would also
know about 43 spells. Both of these figures are more than enough to
model the Slayers. Frankly, the 3E system of sorcery is perhaps the
closest match in RPG terms to what we actually see on the screen.
Fatigue doesn't enter the equation really in Slayers.
> Anyone want to try describing Lina Inverse in 3E game terms? Or the five
I think Seawasp promised us the stats on the Slayers characters.
Allister H.
Danny Sutton
>:)
I didn't, but figured it would be an optional rule. After all, the writers
themselves seemed to discard it after the first instance. I can just imagine
it:
Fibbrizio: Cast Giga Slave, or I'll kill your friends, even though they'll
probably die anyway when you botch the spell.
Lina: I can't. It's that time of the month.
Fib: Oh. Uh.... mind waiting around a few days?
>Seriously though, while _Slayers_ is great fun (it's my favorite anime
series),
>and I would love to be part of a Slayers D&D capagin, it probably won't
>translate well into a game. (In fact, I believe it was conceived as a parody
>of roleplaying games in the first place.) The power levels are WAY too
>high--
>virtually infinite. I don't think anyone in the series has actually ever
>run
>out of power...
The food thing was just how I interperated their refreshing the spells. Note
how exhausted they get when they miss a meal (although Lina still manages to
fling Fireballs around). And fatigue doesn't directly keep you from spell
flinging, it just makes it more likely to fail.
>Anyone want to try describing Lina Inverse in 3E game terms? Or the five
>Weapons (Sword, Bow, Spear, Axe, Trident) of Light from Slayers TRY?
>--
>Chris F.
Haven't gotten ahold of Try yet, so don't know anything about these (Don't tell
me, either; can't stand spoilers). Just the first season, and the second half
of Next (fifth cassete on).
Also, another facter of spellcasting in Slayersverse is that the powers of
spells seem to be very scalable, and you can cast just about any spell to do
stun damage, a la smoked bandits that run away after being toasted with a
fireball. Even Dragonslave occasionaly seems to deal stun type damage. Ars
Magic has verbal and somatic component casting as a default, but you can drop
them to make the spell harder to cast or less powerful, which seems to go on in
the shows. Perhaps a hybrid of the Ars Magica and Third Edition D&D would work?
Christopher Fiore
> >Anyone want to try describing Lina Inverse in 3E game terms? Or the five
> >Weapons (Sword, Bow, Spear, Axe, Trident) of Light from Slayers TRY?
> Haven't gotten ahold of Try yet, so don't know anything about these (Don't
tell
> me, either; can't stand spoilers). Just the first season, and the second half
> of Next (fifth cassete on).
Actually, the Sword appears in the first season and second seasons as well...
Gourry has it, remember?
> Also, another facter of spellcasting in Slayersverse is that the powers of
> spells seem to be very scalable, and you can cast just about any spell to do
> stun damage, a la smoked bandits that run away after being toasted with a
> fireball.
Yeah, mages ought to be able to "pull their puches," so to speak, with
spells... WITHOUT using feats, IMO. Although translating that into IC terms
escapses me at the moment (ie, characters have no concept of "dice of damage").
> Even Dragonslave occasionaly seems to deal stun type damage. Ars
> Magic has verbal and somatic component casting as a default, but you can drop
> them to make the spell harder to cast or less powerful, which seems to go on
in
> the shows. Perhaps a hybrid of the Ars Magica and Third Edition D&D would
work?
I'm not at all familiar with Ars Magica. Can you elaborate, please?
Nockermensch
> Also, another facter of spellcasting in Slayersverse is that the
powers of
> spells seem to be very scalable, and you can cast just about any
spell to do
> stun damage, a la smoked bandits that run away after being toasted
with a
damage. Ars
> Magic has verbal and somatic component casting as a default, but you
can drop
> them to make the spell harder to cast or less powerful, which seems
to go on in
> the shows. Perhaps a hybrid of the Ars Magica and Third Edition D&D
would work?
>
> - Damned Satyr
>
all. If the scene mood is light enough the DM can simply forget the
mana cost of spells and let players use their fireballs to awaken
sleepy friends or warm the water to a bath. (don't let them use this to
anything directly related with the story goal - even Lina couldn't
fireball Rezo to make him look smoked silly...)
Slayers' magic system seems to be mana based. Even Lina doesn't cast
TWO dragon slaves in one scene - so Dragon Slave mana cost must be more
than a half of her mana points. There's another "10th level" spell
called Laguna Blade (I've seen it spelled as "Ragna Blade" too) that
has a greater mana cost than Lina's total mana points, so she uses her
"Demon Blood Talismans" (those colored balls in her sleeves and
shoulder plates) to get a mana boost so she can cast it. (well, this
was what I heard...)
I'd make each slayers' spell a skill. Sorcerers buy ranks in all spells
they want to cast. Having a single rank in a spell let you can cast it.
More ranks means increased knowledge about that spell, so you can start
to gather the mana to cast it from the ambience - more levels means
more mana gathered and/or a quicker casting. Each spell has a minimum
"activation cost". With enough ranks you can cast a spell almost
instantly, just shouting its name and/or cast it without spenting your
mana (maybe there's a minimum mana required too). Spells in Slayers can
be boosted with more mana or a lenghtier ritual invocation (so Lina can
cast a small fireball or a huge fireball) but there are level caps - so
the need for more powerful spells. (hmm... smells like gurps to me...)
Does this makes sense? The "ritual time" looks like the "take 10/take
20" rule of d20 skill system. Maybe slayers' spells, being actually
skills with ranks, use something like this. Even Lina still cast her
spells with the full ritual sometimes - when time isn't a factor (she's
fighting weak bandits who aren't a menace or in a non combat situation)
or when her mana is low ("that time of month"). Actually, I don't think
spell failure happens often in Slayer' universe. The only case I know
of failed spells is in "that time of month" ep, but then Lina was
simply without mana and even then the failed spells didn't backfire or
anything - they were simply pathetically weak - it seems that if you
have enough mana the spell _will_ work.
another thing: I don't think there are "spell levels" in Slayers'
system (maybe pre-requisites). I mean, it costs the same to buy a rank
in Dragon Slave and a rank in Light. But the important thing is, you
probably won't have enough mana (even the minimum amount) to cast a DS.
Why this? Because sorcerers in Slayers know a huge amount of spells and
I don't think all them are 17th level (at least Zolf wasn't, and even
he could try his hand with a DS). So, the power of a sorcerer comes in
three parts: How many spells he knows, how good he is with his spells
and, probably the more important: how much mana he has to spent. Am I
making sense here? Could a system like this be made in D&D terms?
Ah, and that thing of "White mages don't learn the most powerful spells
of black magic" seems to be more a cultural/alignment issue than a
mystic one - because IIRC Amelia learns Ra Tilt (the most powerful
shamanistic magic) and even Shilfiell learns Dragon Slave in some point
of series.
So these are my basic ideas of how the Slayer's spell system could be
made in D&D: sorcerers use mana to cast spells; mana points increase
with level; each spell is a skill; more ranks in a spell means less
mana spent casting it and/or casting it quicker; spells didn't fail
unless you don't have mana to cast them - in this case a test to gather
ambient mana is called and if you don't collect enough mana the spell
will "fail" (read: be ridiculously weak).
@ @ Nockermensch, who would like to write more, but this post is too
big already...
Danny Sutton
>> Haven't gotten ahold of Try yet, so don't know anything about these (Don't
>tell
>> me, either; can't stand spoilers). Just the first season, and the second
>half
>> of Next (fifth cassete on).
>
>Actually, the Sword appears in the first season and second seasons as well...
>Gourry has it, remember?
Yes, I meant the other four weapons of Light. Didn't even know they existed.
>Yeah, mages ought to be able to "pull their puches," so to speak, with
>spells... WITHOUT using feats, IMO. Although translating that into IC terms
>escapses me at the moment (ie, characters have no concept of "dice of
damage").
>
>
>> Even Dragonslave occasionaly seems to deal stun type damage. Ars
>> Magic has verbal and somatic component casting as a default, but you can
>drop
>> them to make the spell harder to cast or less powerful, which seems to
>go on
>in
>> the shows. Perhaps a hybrid of the Ars Magica and Third Edition D&D would
>work?
>
>I'm not at all familiar with Ars Magica. Can you elaborate, please?
The raison de'tre (sp?) of Ars Magica is its magic system. The game is about
mages, and people who deal with mages. I don't know of anyone who plays the
game for it melee system.
Now, I don't have the book myself, and my friend's copy is not in front of my
now, so I don't remember a lot of the terms. There are fifteen descriptors,
five of which are verbs describing what you're doing, and ten nouns describing
what you're doing it to. If you want to heal someone, you cast a Creo Corpum
spell. If you want to make a body of water disapear, you cast a Perdo Aqua
spell. You have a number of points to spend on these when creating a new Magus
character.
It combines the idea of known spells with the idea that you can make up new
spells on the fly. You have a set repertoire of spells you've learned, but it's
possible, albeit more difficult to sponteneously make up new spells. You can
omit components from a spell for whatever reasons, but it makes the spell
harder to cast (or less powerful, can't remember). A number of the spells are
scalable in power.
Regards damage, there are two scales, one for physical and one for fatigue.
They both have I think ten levels, each level having a descriptive name rather
than a level. You get penalties depending on how damaged you are in either. A
number of tasks, most notable casting too many spells, can increase your
fatigue. You can always try to cast the spell, but if you're dead tired,
there's a good chance it will fail.
Another interesting thing with Ars Magica in comparison to 3E D&D in
particular is that the attributes are scaled from -5 to +5, the numbers
functioning as a modifier to rolls. To cast a spell, for instance, you roll
d10+the ranks into two arts in the spell+intellect, I believe. This correlates
quite nicely with the stat modifiers in 3E.
I don't think the art system would work too well for Slayers, but much of the
versatility of the rest of the system would be appropriate, particularly in
combination with the classic feel of D&D.
Oh, another detail of AM is the concept of the Troupe. In Troupe style play,
the players will have a number of characters, typicaly a single Magus, his
sidekick or helper, and a number of "grogs", minor characters that fill generic
roles: everything from a shield bearer to the chantry cook. This wouldn't work
for a Slayers game, but it an interesting part of the game nonetheless.
I don't think I've explained the game very well, however. I'm not as familiar
with it as I could be, and not at all with the most recent edition. It looks
like a very good game, and if you like the Story Teller games, it's a direct
ancester, though not nearly as dark.
Danny Sutton
>> Also, another facter of spellcasting in Slayersverse is that the
>powers of
>> spells seem to be very scalable, and you can cast just about any
>spell to do
>> stun damage, a la smoked bandits that run away after being toasted
>with a
>> fireball. Even Dragonslave occasionaly seems to deal stun type
>damage. Ars
>> Magic has verbal and somatic component casting as a default, but you
>can drop
>> them to make the spell harder to cast or less powerful, which seems
>to go on in
>> the shows. Perhaps a hybrid of the Ars Magica and Third Edition D&D
>would work?
>>
>> Danny Sutton
>> - Damned Satyr
>>
>The "stun damage" part really doesn't count. The show is a comedy after
>all. If the scene mood is light enough the DM can simply forget the
>mana cost of spells and let players use their fireballs to awaken
>sleepy friends or warm the water to a bath. (don't let them use this to
>anything directly related with the story goal - even Lina couldn't
>fireball Rezo to make him look smoked silly...)
Actually, I generaly don't like elaborating on comic devices in game terms,
such as having a purchased Hammer Space ability. It always seemed to remove the
comic effect, while focusing on its existance. In any series in which
characters get hammer space access, no one ever notices that they're pulling
hammers out of no where.
So the presentation of such gags would more properly be an improved "I wack
him with my hammer." than "I use my hammer space ability to knock him 1d4
blocks away".
So yeah, I'd actually agree with you there.
>Slayers' magic system seems to be mana based. Even Lina doesn't cast
>TWO dragon slaves in one scene - so Dragon Slave mana cost must be more
>than a half of her mana points. There's another "10th level" spell
>called Laguna Blade (I've seen it spelled as "Ragna Blade" too) that
>has a greater mana cost than Lina's total mana points, so she uses her
>"Demon Blood Talismans" (those colored balls in her sleeves and
>shoulder plates) to get a mana boost so she can cast it. (well, this
>was what I heard...)
Since Raguna blade was a toned down, controlled version of Giga slave, I'd
actually put it at 9th level. It wasn't nearly as powerful, but could do the
things that only Giga slave could do, with out the risk.
>I'd make each slayers' spell a skill. Sorcerers buy ranks in all spells
>they want to cast. Having a single rank in a spell let you can cast it.
>More ranks means increased knowledge about that spell, so you can start
>to gather the mana to cast it from the ambience - more levels means
>more mana gathered and/or a quicker casting. Each spell has a minimum
>"activation cost". With enough ranks you can cast a spell almost
>instantly, just shouting its name and/or cast it without spenting your
>mana (maybe there's a minimum mana required too). Spells in Slayers can
>be boosted with more mana or a lenghtier ritual invocation (so Lina can
>cast a small fireball or a huge fireball) but there are level caps - so
>the need for more powerful spells. (hmm... smells like gurps to me...)
Unfamiliar with GURPS.
>Does this makes sense? The "ritual time" looks like the "take 10/take
>20" rule of d20 skill system.
Take 10/take 20? Don't know exactly what you're refering to here.
> Maybe slayers' spells, being actually
>skills with ranks, use something like this. Even Lina still cast her
>spells with the full ritual sometimes - when time isn't a factor (she's
>fighting weak bandits who aren't a menace or in a non combat situation)
>or when her mana is low ("that time of month"). Actually, I don't think
>spell failure happens often in Slayer' universe. The only case I know
>of failed spells is in "that time of month" ep, but then Lina was
>simply without mana and even then the failed spells didn't backfire or
>anything - they were simply pathetically weak - it seems that if you
>have enough mana the spell _will_ work.
On the other hand, how ofton do you see ANY failed "skill" roll by a main
character in any movie/book/tv show? Generally only when it's the way the plot
needs to go, or just a given miss with the laser rifle. Generaly, the heroes
succeed at what they're trying to do. But in games, we simulate the possibility
of failure.
>another thing: I don't think there are "spell levels" in Slayers'
>system (maybe pre-requisites). I mean, it costs the same to buy a rank
>in Dragon Slave and a rank in Light. But the important thing is, you
>probably won't have enough mana (even the minimum amount) to cast a DS.
Hadn't thought of this, but agree completely. Too ingrained in D&D structure,
I suppose. Sounds kind of like D&D psionics, actually.
>Why this? Because sorcerers in Slayers know a huge amount of spells and
>I don't think all them are 17th level (at least Zolf wasn't, and even
>he could try his hand with a DS). So, the power of a sorcerer comes in
>three parts: How many spells he knows, how good he is with his spells
>and, probably the more important: how much mana he has to spent. Am I
>making sense here? Could a system like this be made in D&D terms?
Interesting. I think you've laid a foundation for doing the game.
>Ah, and that thing of "White mages don't learn the most powerful spells
>of black magic" seems to be more a cultural/alignment issue than a
>mystic one - because IIRC Amelia learns Ra Tilt (the most powerful
>shamanistic magic) and even Shilfiell learns Dragon Slave in some point
>of series.
Granted, Sylphiel does this by specializing exclusively in that one spell.
>So these are my basic ideas of how the Slayer's spell system could be
>made in D&D: sorcerers use mana to cast spells; mana points increase
>with level; each spell is a skill; more ranks in a spell means less
>mana spent casting it and/or casting it quicker; spells didn't fail
>unless you don't have mana to cast them - in this case a test to gather
>ambient mana is called and if you don't collect enough mana the spell
>will "fail" (read: be ridiculously weak).
Okay, I like this.
We've been talking almost exclusively about spell casting, rather than the
spellcasters, or the nonspellcasters in the setting. The standard D&D classes
don't seem to apply. You just have swordsmen, and spellflingers who can still
use swords, just not as well. The 3e fighter does seem appropriate for
simulating Gourry and Zangurus, with three spellcasting "classes" based on your
specialty (spells outside your specialty are treated as cross-class). Or
possibly just ranking the three, with your specialty treated as a normal class
skill, the secondary as a cross class, and the tertiary as half cross class
(max level 1 at first level, costing four points).
A number of the metamagic feats look like default abilities, such as the non
component casting, or quick casting, but with different side effects.
SD Anderson
It's part of the setting, whether the sestting is comedy or has
comedic elements. Stun damage does seem very much a part of the Buffy
universe, as much as it is in old movie serials since none of the
Scooby gang sees much hospitalization.