What's your favorite magic system?

The Gathering

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>>48651852
Mage the Ascension. Specifically the 20th anniversary edition. The lore and metaphysics are phenomenal and dynamic casting is awesome.

>>48651867

How good is the dynamic casting if it's all a super complicated mess?

>>48651875
The 20th Anniversary Edition actually simplified the system a bit, and did wonders for the actual layout of the rules. As in, its no longer scattered all throughout the book, its all in one short chapter that explains how it works and adds a bit of clarity to it.

>>48651875
technically, any freeform system has to be a complicated mess on some allow to facilitate that freedom. you always have your rotes and shit.

>>48651852
Non vancian, cross between Tolkien, Earthsea and Harpist

>>48652011
>cross between Tolkien, Earthsea and Harpist

Care to explain what literally any of that means?

>>48652070
>Earthsea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthsea_(universe)#Magic_in_Earthsea

Magic on Earthsea is primarily verbal. Everything has a true name in the Old Speech, the language of the dragons, and the language which Segoy used to create the world. One who knows the true name of an object has power over it. Each person also has a true name and which is revealed only to those who are trusted implicitly. A "use-name", which has no magical property, suffices for everyday purposes. For example, the wizard whose true name is Ged is known by the use-name Sparrowhawk.

One vital aspect of magic is that it is impossible for humans to lie in the old language, so that magic works by forcing the universe to conform to the words spoken by the magician. For example, to say "I am an eagle" in the old language means that the speaker becomes an eagle, so that the statement is no longer false. Only the powerful are able to say such lines in the Old Speech and force these transformations.

>>48651852
Shadowrun.

Works line of sight or touch, mental drain instead of MP or slots, and it's got a lot of utility and murder capability while still being counterable.

>>48651852
I like RuneQuest 6's magic - particularly Animism, Sorcery, and Mysticism. Controlling spirits is very thematic, I like customizable spells more than pure free form, and the last one is a good representation of Eastern magic.

>>48652682
That sounds pretty neat.
One question about the true name though, if you don't mind: Is a persons true name the one he's given at birth or is that decided by the universe at birth? If it's the latter, how does one discover ones own true name? Do you have a natural understanding of it from the beginning?

>>48652717
I don't like spell lists much, but I really like how drain in shadowrun works.