When DF does introduce a magic system, there are a few characteristics I think are important...
No gamey "Dwarves don't do magic, because dwarves." Dwarves can become necromancers. What we need is a system that doesn't allow the player to industrialize magic. So, keep it out of their control. Dwarves, or any entity, can practice magic on their idle time if they have the personality disposition for it, and have been exposed to it.
Magic should be limited in how often it can be used. Mana is just a convenient abstraction like hitpoints. I agree that fatigue probably is a better system. As they tire, their desire to cast spells would decrease since its tiring, as well as their ability, and at certain levels of fatigue where it doesn't outright fail, it could backfire. Some skill could modify the chances, but better yet I think skill would keep the entity from casting at dangerous levels, as well as potentially moderate fatigue gain.
Spells should be (if possible) procedurally generated, and maybe some would be persistent and nearly always exist. I have no problem for the standard fireball spell, because in DF, it will actually set people on fire. Procedural generation should alleviate the constant trove of standard spells.
An entity must be exposed to magic to know how to use magic, and an entity must be exposed to a spell before it can be attempted. We could have random people who "seek the knowledge" and eventually a god (or other potential "source") grants them that, and they can teach others. Books could work too. Spells should be acquired through similar fashion, taught by gods, discovered in dusty tome, and accidental experiment (if the entity survives!). This isn't very different than how necromancers work, we could expand those who can grant knowledge, and hopefully mortal wizards would leave their books behind. I would like to see wizards experiment and potentially learn new spells, but it should also backfire.
You can't industrialize it at a fortress level, because you have no direct control. If lucky, you might get a migrant that practices, where you can keep them idle and provide idle friends with similar disposition. You still can't direct it, at best you can cross train them in combat and hope to see it used there (if offensive in nature). More benign spells, such as "healing" and buffs could be used when the dwarf deems necessary. Maybe they decide to practice their buff of increased healing, or disinfectant spell, and head to the hospital. This is more akin to capturing a wild animal, you can capitalize on good fortune, but it's pretty much out of your control.
Since it would only spread to those inclined, and only through teaching and practice, it wouldn't be widespread. You would see small groups in a variety of societies that practice, and their knowledge of spells would be different than other groups because they would be largely isolated. In a players fortress it can be pushed to a larger audience than naturally, but that's only if you get a migrant with the skill. And of course, that migrant might only know one spell.
Of course there are other possible types of magic, such as alchemy or enchanting, that I haven't touched on. They could, and should, operate differently. I see no qualms about industrializing alchemy or enchanting, that sounds like something a dwarf would do. There would have to be limits, such as being at the mercy of what ingredients there are on embark and the small trickle you can get through trade, but they operate differently.
If people want spells that require ingredients, I would suggest only for large complicated spells (such as fireballs raining from the sky), or spells that create a persistent object, creature, or effect. Summoned creatures, golems, and undead should all obviously require ingredients. Persistent magic, such as a portal between two points, constant weather, or eternal fire should require some sort of ingredient or preparation. Hopefully individual's would seek these out on their own if they had knowledge of the spell, keeping it out of the players hand. Putting a cost on a basic fireball spell should be unnecessary, since knowledge of it shouldn't spread far, and wouldn't be common, so we don't need ingredients to add a cost.
I tried to highlight the important portions, but TL;DR, make use of magic up to the individual to use and practice. Make learning required, and only for those with inclined personalities. Make learning the spell's just as important as learning "magic" in general. Keep gamey stuff out, let the simulation decide who learns what, and how its used. Since knowledge would stay in a small group of people, and its up to individual's free will to use it, it can't be industrialized.
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Topic: Creating a magic system? (Read 44832 times)