so anyway sorry for wasting everybody's time
Hey now, I think magic in DF is a really good idea. This is what the forums are all about, is bouncing an idea around, and maybe changing it for the better. No time wasted here IMO.
It is a long standing counterbalance to prohibit wearing armor while casting certain (usually combat) magic, and it certainly works. It would be really nice to throw around some other ideas in-thread for some more novel ideas as far as balance goes.
Didn't mean to seem like i was poopin' on your idea, Deboche.
What I really meant was, "This is a really complex idea, and it could just as easily mess things up horribly as contribute a lot to the game, but let's continue to discuss".
DF is a resource-material based game. Meaning that everything requires some kind of gatherable material in one way or another. Any magic system should rely on the same general mechanics of collect-a-resource-use-it-for-X, so as to keep it feeling congruous. Personally, I like the idea of a secret involving the learning of magic, or schools of magic thereof, and having them rely on gathered/processed resources per cast. For instance, Urist McWizardbeard reads a slab of Nature Magic. He can now grow trees and summon a bear or some such, but it requires some sort of potion to grow a tree, or maybe some ground rock crystal for the bear. A further balance could be the hard requirement of a focus (such as a staff or wand), and maybe a component pouch (it could function like a quiver). If necromancy were worked into this system, it would be another school of magic, and could possibly balance necromancers into something that required a [SPELL:COMPONENT:X] per cast of zombie.
As far as religions go, perhaps magic could
require religion, and the focus could be required to be of the Mcwizardbeard's religion?