Spell Components in WFRP 1

 

The magic system in the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying has never received a good press and in many ways it is easy to see why.  Many of the spells look ported over from Warhammer Fantasy Battle and although the system as a whole makes a fair stab at making role-playing games about something other than combat, the magic system was very combat-orientated.  But perhaps a worse problem was that there was a certain very functionalist air about the whole thing, with the system mechanics showing through - "Power Levels" and "Magic Points" and "Spell Levels" are game mechanics and the only way players have to think about them in character.  The magic point system functions fine, as in it is easy to administer - but it has some quite warped effects: beginning characters can really be quite ineffective.  A character has to roll equal to or under their current magic point total to successfully cast a spell, and given that the average Wizard's Apprentice has 2d4 magic points if human or an elf, or 1d4 if a dwarf or halfling, then they are going to fail a lot. Indeed, it is perfectly possible for a dwarf or halfling wizard's apprentice to be literally incapable of casting a spell...

So far, so bad.  At least this kind of thing is relatively easy to solve if you want.  But what has really been on my mind recently is WFRP's interesting use of spell ingredients.  The great majority of spells need the wizard to have some item or other in their possession to cast a spell.  I don't have a problem with this idea - indeed, I rather like it.  Quite a few of the spells in Harry Potter work this way for two good reasons (as a storytelling device): it limits the 'ammunition' of a wizard for certain things, and it provides a useful plot point to force the characters to do adventurous things to get hold of them.  And, almost by accident, WFRP 1 sets up the same system.  Take, at more or less random, the "Second Level" Battle Magic Spells.  They are: 

Aura of Protection (basically, magical armour)

Cause Frenzy

Cause Hatred

Cause Panic

Hold Flight (prevents a group of fighting characters from routing)

Lightning Bolt

Mystic Mist

Smash (breaks doors, walls etc.)

Zone of Sanctuary (protects against undead, demons etc. and all psychological reactions)

Zone of Steadfastness (group of characters in the zone become tougher and have increased combat powers)

 

Incidentally, Zone spells work in a very funny way in WFRP 1. If two zones overlap, then both are destroyed, so a demon who knows a spell or two can easily cast the petty magic spell Zone of Warmth to destroy these protective zones in a jiffy.

 

Anyway, returning to our list of spells above, we can look at them another way: those which have ingredients which are pretty easy or cheap to get, and which are not:

 

Aura of Protection (basically, magical armour) [A small iron ring]

Hold Flight (prevents a group of fighting characters from routing) [The jawbone of a mule]

Lightning Bolt [A tuning fork]

Mystic Mist [A ball of cotton wool]

Zone of Sanctuary (protects against undead, demons etc. and all psychological reactions) [A small silver pentagram]

Cause Frenzy [A lock of hair from a Chaos Beastman]

Cause Hatred [Blood from a Giant Spider]

Cause Panic [A Dragon's Tooth]

Smash (breaks doors, walls etc.) [A lock of hair from a Giant]

Zone of Steadfastness (group of characters in the zone become tougher and have increased combat powers) [1 pint of Dragon blood]

 

So, one set of spells can be executed for pennies, another set requires considerable risk and potentially expense in obtaining.  Neither set of spells is obviously much better than the other, although if pressed I might actually pick the 'Easy' group as the better bet.  Anyway, and I think that this is where the game fails to follow through, is that this disparity should have "game world" effects.  NPC wizards should be much more likely to have spells from the first set than the second.  There should be a real market in obtaining spell ingredients: becoming a professional adventuring fighter that hunts and kills monsters and sells their body parts for profit to magicians should be a real thing.  Being employed to obtain spell ingredients should be one of the most common adventure types (for spell casters who really want / really need) to cast certain spells.   The way that certain NPCs are written implies that something akin to the Talismongers of the Shadowrun world might exist, since otherwise, the major business of all lots of spellcasters would be a never-ending search for ingredients.

A lot of this was dropped in the second edition.  Ingredients were still there but gave a boost to the chances of successfully casting the spell rather than being vital to its execution.  Magic points were out.  The flavour of the spells changed, although I felt that some elements became a bit more stereotyped.  Anyway, that is a discussion for another time.