Death to the Mana Bar!

[MercurySteam]

So this isn't about 'the' Mana Bar? Didn't expect that.

 

[magnuslion]

I, as a dedicated RPG fan have often been dumbfounded by magic systems in games. Why in a world that calls itself High Fantasy do I have the magical capabilities of a real life magician? When SO much of modern fantasy is based on the work of Tolkien why do I "run out of spells"? Gandalf didnt have this problem! Even HARRY POTTER didnt have this GLARING HORRID limitation! I speak of course of the mana bar that seemingly age old mechanic that has you unable to summon up so much as a puff of smoke at just the wrong instant to lead to your demise at the hands of that smelly warrior! While recent games have gone the route of using cooldowns instead I have to ask why limit it at all? For game balance? The ENTIRE point of magic is to be unbalanced. I want to summon skeleton armies from my fallen foes and conjure firestorms to destroy cities in an instant! I dont want to retreat helplessly while waiting for my magical talents to recharge! So.... who feels they have the wit to finally defeat this horrid blemish on modern gaming? Who among you can help put this flawed concept to final rest? WHO AMONG YOU CAN...oh screw it! Anybody got any ideas?

Haven't read the Silmarillion I take it? You imply that Gandalf ran around indiscriminately throwing magic about, and that his power was limitless or near to it. But go back and count the number of times he actually does use magic. it is fairly limited. He had a certain amount of power and used it at key points to accomplish his goals. Your argument about the purpose of magic is invalid. You do not even have even basis for making such a claim.

 

[sidecord]

we use the recharge system in our D&D games, its in the Unearthed Arcana, best for us so far

 

[LikeDustInTheWind]

If it was just you against equally super-awesome mages and massive armies that could get pretty epic.

 

[JMeganSnow]

If it was just you against equally super-awesome mages and massive armies that could get pretty epic.

This is pretty much the premise of Exalted.

 

[bbad89]

You people are forgetting Magicka.

 

[JMeganSnow]

If I were running a table top game with mages who were unbelievably powerful, I'd want all the players to be mages, or none of them. I could see a very interesting campaign set in Dragon Age's Tevinter Imperium. With a non-Mage party, the players could be slaves trying to get freedom, or people from some other part of Thedas trying to topple the evil Imperium. If they are a Mage party, then the challenges have to include a lot of things that can't just be solved by a massive fireball spell. I'm thinking crazy political machinations among magisters.

What I'd do, is have everyone make up 1 mage and 1 non-mage and run both parties simultaneously. That'd make for a sweet game.

That *would* make for a sweet game.

Or you could do like a good friend of mine did. He ran a campaign set in a magical castle complex that housed and protected the 10 noble magical families from "the things outside." Each player made one head of a noble family, one teenage noble, one soldier, and one servant. Reading the recaps, that game seemed completely epic. I had the honor of being able to sit in for one session. It was pretty awesome.

Yeah, I could see doing something like that. I almost have in the past because I let my players invent and give input on many of my NPC's. It's more fun for everyone that way.

 

[trooper6]

Yeah, I could see doing something like that. I almost have in the past because I let my players invent and give input on many of my NPC's. It's more fun for everyone that way.

You know, I've never run a 1-on-1 game, but I think it would be a really a good set up for an Espionage game.

 

[pwnsore]

Magicka. That is the game you are looking for. It has no mana, no cooldowns. You can full-heal yourself instantly. If you practice, you can call down an asteroid storm then quickly shield yourself from it almost instantly. Your only limit is your ability to come up with solutions to whatever new the game throws at you. And yet somehow, the game remains extremely difficult. VLAD IS NOT A VAMPIRE!!!

 

[holy_secret]

I, as a dedicated RPG fan have often been dumbfounded by magic systems in games. Why in a world that calls itself High Fantasy do I have the magical capabilities of a real life magician? When SO much of modern fantasy is based on the work of Tolkien why do I "run out of spells"? Gandalf didnt have this problem! Even HARRY POTTER didnt have this GLARING HORRID limitation! I speak of course of the mana bar that seemingly age old mechanic that has you unable to summon up so much as a puff of smoke at just the wrong instant to lead to your demise at the hands of that smelly warrior! While recent games have gone the route of using cooldowns instead I have to ask why limit it at all? For game balance? The ENTIRE point of magic is to be unbalanced. I want to summon skeleton armies from my fallen foes and conjure firestorms to destroy cities in an instant! I dont want to retreat helplessly while waiting for my magical talents to recharge! So.... who feels they have the wit to finally defeat this horrid blemish on modern gaming? Who among you can help put this flawed concept to final rest? WHO AMONG YOU CAN...oh screw it! Anybody got any ideas?

Final Fantasy XIII Has no MP System. Although the Summons can only be cast once per battle, so I guess it kinda goes against what you want.

How 'bout that mate?

 

[pwnsore]

Magica's opinion on this matter?

Less Mana, more combos = win

damn, ninja'd. Well, not really, but I was WAY too lazy to read through all other posts before replying and I saw this right after I posted.

 

[twaddle]

I thought this was going to be about Yahtzees bar in Australia, I am actually kind of disappointed as it would have made an interesting topic.

Same here, I opened up the thread and was like "What the fuck is he on about? Oh... Move along".

same. i don't mind the mana bar. maybe a new system is needed, but i think the limits on the bar help give me more of a challenge

 

[thecoreyhlltt]

I thought this was going to be about Yahtzees bar in Australia, I am actually kind of disappointed as it would have made an interesting topic.

at least that's cooler than what I thought he meant... i thought he was talking bout that bread that moses used to eat or something, I do believe it was called mana bread. so i got thrown by the subject heading as well :$

 

[diablomaki]

world conquest thru magery;
1vs.Many
i would so play that

 

[JMeganSnow]

I thought this was going to be about Yahtzees bar in Australia, I am actually kind of disappointed as it would have made an interesting topic.

at least that's cooler than what I thought he meant... i thought he was talking bout that bread that moses used to eat or something, I do believe it was called mana bread. so i got thrown by the subject heading as well :$

Manna. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manna]

 

[thecoreyhlltt]

oh, nevermind then. thank you for the correction, i hate when i don't know that i'm spelling something wrong

 

[p3t3r]

well if you are playing on pc i don't think this would be to hard to fix just go on the console or something and turn it off

 

[WolfLordAndy]

Magica's opinion on this matter?

Less Mana, more combos = win

damn, ninja'd. Well, not really, but I was WAY too lazy to read through all other posts before replying and I saw this right after I posted.

I only read the first page too

I loved the bit of magica I played at a LAN on a mates PC as I've yet to buy the magical extravaganza, but rest assured, when I get it there will be death beams and summoning treemen aplenty.!

 

[Newfie]

I wanted to say something about Gandalf that a lot of people seem to miss out on, and would factor into why he seems to cast a large number of spells. In the Tolkien literature, Gandalf is a very powerful and very mighty wizard, possibly almost as powerful as Saruman. Gandalf doesn't often use his powers in the novels, and when he does it is fairly weak magic, akin to a high level Black Mage casting fire over and over. This was written into the character to show Gandalf putting wit above power in most cases, and making it come to be in line with the fact that a mana bar does make sense in other universes than video games.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Final Fantasy Type-0 is basically going to be unlimited magic, with physical attacks supposed to be a 'panic' button.