David Ainsworth wrote:
They made the (IMO) mistake of trying to adopt the D20 magic system into BC. If you look at DCs and likely wizard-level-to-DC-range spreads, you'll see that what wizards can do at various levels matches regular D20 spellcasters, with a bit of a fudge factor (either juice up a few levels for one big spell, or throttle back and spread out your abilities).
That and they borrow too heavily from Warhammer with its "petty magic and four levels of pro" system. And I can't see any PC doing what One-Eye did - he took a subclass that allowed him to enchant better when he was a single level away from being able to match one of the 18.
Unfortunately, in practice a few kinds of magic are overwhelmingly effective in comparison to other kinds.
Exactly. Like when they were trying to catch up with the Limper and seeing the after effects of spells, after effects that scared the company wizards. Or when Stormbringer was hurling weather to slow down (or destroy) rival armies. There's no way to balance a party when some PCs are experienced soldiers and others are Taken level wizards.
After some consideration, I was glad they didn't try to convert all of the Taken into write-ups, as the job they did wasn't very good. Most of the Taken they wrote up are missing at least one Talent (spell) which they actually cast in the series. In some cases (like Limper), their example text for the spell features the Taken casting it, but the Taken write-up omits that spell from their list!
Even the company wizards had this problem - where was the illusion that Goblin like casting (I think it was the one I noticed missing)? And that bit when the three company wizards put their heads together and taught each spells (I think it was the Sleep spell they shared) - unless they were all leveling up and getting new feats they couldn't have done it. And the magic hammer (a learning excises that no real wizard would use, but was the first spell Lady used when her powers were returning) got the same treatment as the other spells... Well, let's just agree that the magic system was terrible. I did hope for more descriptive writing about the lesser known Taken, but I guess the writers were using just what was published in the books instead of picking Glen Cook's mind.
I think the big problem is that Black Company magic doesn't lend itself well to a traditional level-based RPG. You'd almost need a story-based approach. Alternately, you'd need a loose set of rules combined with a very watchful GM.
Exactly. I once (long ago) came across a AD&D version of Skeeve - hero of the Robert Asprin Myth books - which pointed out he basically knew only a handful of spells. He would be nothing compared to AD&D wizard, but his handful of spells could be exploited in almost every situation.
The best way to run such a game is probably for nobody in the party to have spellcasting ability. Then the GM can handle all the magic mysteriously behind the scenes.
Which is how Cook basically handled it. Richard