Most RPGs have too many spells

Norse Mythology is basically baby-tier when it comes to power.

Their gods are mostly just strong dudes, who as a whole weren't even as strong as someone like Hercules, who was only a demigod in Greek Mythology, which is arguably mid-tier in terms of power. We don't even want to go near Hindu Mythology, which is arguably the most insane in terms of power.

To use Norse mythology as a standard, when most other mythologies are several tiers stronger, is kind of silly. Even Medea had more spells than Odin, and she wasn't even divine.

I do agree I would love to see systems of magic that had a more free form approach to magic. Something more modular than the vancian magic system.

>>49299403
The fully fledged GURPS Ritual Path Magic.

Thank me later, you're now literally doing your own CRUNCHY "Merlin/Gandalf/Jafar/TheDarkTower magic" instead of reading endless spellbook splats.

GURPS.

Newfags won't get this.

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368KB, 838x816px

>>49299481
Medea was literally the granddaughter of Helios and the niece of Circe...yeah totally mundane/

>>49299595
I'm glad a fellow GURPSfag came along, honestly you're probably the only one who gets where I'm coming from.

Most rpgs aren't set in the same setting as Odin. RPGs with extremely extensive spell lists are much higher fantasy than Norse mythology.

>>49299642
I like how is satan seems to be friend of humanity. He's showed first humans that they have free will. Sin was just a result of that and humans are created in god image acording to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

>>49299403
Try things that aren't D&D. Most other systems either pare down spells or make it a toolbox system. The closest to this style that I've read, that isn't D&D or GURPS, is Reign, but that doesn't even scratch
>hundreds of spells

>>49299859
Even the aforementioned GURPS has hundreds of spells in the Magic splat, haven't read the 4e thaumatology one.

Also, a big issue that I've got is that most people who play know 3.PF, I can't force people to learn a different system.

>>49299973
Thaumatology has some better organization on the spells (Ritual Path Magic, mentioned above), plus Ars Magica-style customizable magic effects. You can't fault GURPS for being low on options.

As for not being able to get your group to switch, kinda sucks, but if you're enjoying playing with the group then it's about all you can do.

>>49299973
Just limit spells then. Offer up some mechanical compensation, but if the issue is that there's too many spells to choose from, just select the ones you think fit your campaign and explain what you're trying to do to your players.

Simple enough.

>>49299403
Wizards in modern D&D get a lot more free spells than they used to. The earlier editions, the vast majority of wizard spells needed to be sought out and copied into your spellbook. Like magic items, there might be a big list of them in the rulebook, but that doesn't mean they'd all appear in the game.

It's also worth noting that even quite powerful wizards in Vance's novels, even though they had quite a lot of spells, could only memorize and use about 4-6 spells at once.

>>49300015
You mean like 1-3, and 4+ if you were one of the most powerful wizards in existence.

>>49299403
List them please?

>>49300008
I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I could find a cheap physical copy. Aftermarket has marked up a hardcover version to nearly $150 on Amazon.

Been playing with my group for nearly a decade, we have fun but they're very casual while I have to really avoid playing tier 1s and just hogging the spotlight. Two of them are also parents and everyone either works or is a professional student, so they don't have a ton of free time.

>>49300046
1. Call for help
2. healing
3. protection from weapons
4. release binds/chains
5. protection from projectiles
6. spell reflection
7. putting out fires
8. calming people
9. calming waters
10. exorcism/banishment
11. protecting friends in battle
12. talk with dead (some translations have this as outright necromancy)
13. use of water to protect a warrior in battle
14. knowledge of every single god and elf
15. buffs the aesir, elves, and grants odin understanding
16. seduction
17. keep a woman around long-term
18. the 18th is a secret

>>49300133
>3. protection from weapons
>5. protection from projectiles
>11. protecting friends in battle
>13. use of water to protect a warrior in battle
>16. seduction
>17. keep a woman around long-term
I feel like Odin might have had a few redundancies in his spell picks. Clearly not played by an optimizer.

>>49299819
If you think about it, he was basically prometheus. Ancient greeks probably demonised prometheus in the same way, because he betrayed the gods and all that, while these days we think of him as a good guy who just don't listen to the gods. Kinda like how hitler is a pop culture icon in india because he said some really anti-colonial stuff in his later years. It's all perspective really.

>>49300176
friendless virgin spotted

>>49300133
>17. keep a woman around long-term

Truly, only the All-Highest could master a spell of this power.

>>49300195
This is particularly offensive in how wrong this all is.

To start, Satan wanted mankind to know suffering and to destroy itself. Free will was never his intention, nor did he grant it. Humans had free will before they were tempted by Satan, otherwise they could not have been tempted.

Secondly, Prometheus's story was a relatively later myth, and he was always a tragic and noble figure, and never demonized. The Greeks did not contend with the idea of absolute benevolent or otherwise perfect gods, and Zeus's punishment was only considered just in the sense that the God of Justice is allowed to do as he wishes and deal out any punishments he wants, whether or not our mortal sensibilities agreed.

The problem with replacing Vancian is that the replacement invariably ends up being overpowered, or fiddly and complicated. GURPS Ritual Path Magic is both
I'd like to see it done right, but it's apparantly hard as fuck to do.

>>49300133
>keep a woman around long-term
Odin please teach me this spell.

>>49300133
>release binds/chains
>keep a woman around long-term
getting mixed signals from this spell list