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How to Become a Magic Specialist

8/20/2017

As we know, some of our Characters have invested themselves in the Magic Arts and become Magic Users or "Wizards" for those who prefer the designation (as graduates of the distinguished RPG University School of Magic are often referred). Whichever the case, these are the Characters who are able to invoke the mysterious powers of Magic Spells. Of course, what is also widely known is that Magic is a most curious thing, and can never be fully controlled or mastered.
Spells fizzle and backfire, often at the most inconvenient times. It's all part of the mystery. But when a powerful Magic Spell does work it can turn the tide of battle in an instant, while smiting even the strongest and most foul smelling of vile creatures (and they put on quite a show too).

These are the moments of glory that make it all worth it.

But even among the assembly of magic scholars is a selective group of highly experienced Wizards and Magic Users who have steeped themselves into the advanced study and knowledge of the Magic Arts. These specialists have come to such a higher level of understanding (and no small amount of dedication to the practical aspects of spell casting) that they have overcome the problem of backfiring spells. And now, with the right amount of experience and investment in the Craft, your Character may count themselves among the most prestigious Wizards and Magic Users in all the land.

Of course, out in the world you will rarely hear the term "Magic Specialist" but will rather more often hear someone of that level referred to by the title they have chosen to adopt. But this is getting a little bit ahead of things. Let's talk about how a Character may become a Magic Specialist.

There will come a time in the life of your Character that they will have earned enough experience to gain a special power-up, something that will enable them to enhance their Basic Abilities or even gain an entirely new Special Skill. To be more precise, there are two times when this will occur. It isn't sure which of these milestones any character may reach first, but usually it will be the Rank Bonus.

As we study the new Character Sheet notice the small meter to the right of the Rank plaquette.

Download Character Sheet Front or Character Sheet Back

This meter will track progress as our characters level-up from the starting Rank
of 1 "Unknown" on and up through Rank 34 "Crest Bearer." On the day your Character reaches this level the meter arrow is filled in to signify completion of a most worthy accomplishment, and the power-up that comes with it. Players may choose one of the following: a +1 Ability Bonus where no other bonus exists (in other words, on a blank line) or they can add a Special Skill. It is also at this moment that Characters with Magic Ability may choose to become Specialists.

This is one way to earn a power-up.

The other way has been known from time immemorial and correlates to Hero Awards. Looking to the bottom of the Character Sheet, we find that upon earning their 8th Hero Award a Character is granted another special bonus. The "Super Whoopee! Power-up" affords the same reward: a +1 Ability Bonus where no other bonus exists or a new Special Skill. As with the Rank Bonus, characters who already have Magic Ability have a third choice and may use this moment to become Magic Specialists.

Notice that becoming a Specialist in the Magic Arts is no trivial matter, and requires a good deal of experience and study. That is not by accident and the reason why no Character may ever start out as a Magic Specialist ~ no matter how many Special Skills are associated with the chosen Character Class.

More details on becoming a Magic Specialist and earning the Rank Bonus can be found in the updated Rules Addendum. We're looking at updating the Victory phase booklet as well to include the same information about these new character improvement bonuses, but the essential information is there in the meantime.

Once your Character has chosen to specialize in Magic color in the jewel insignia and choose a title (to be written in the space provided). Some choose to become a "Cryptologist of the Magic Arts" or, as it is sometimes referred to, a "Learned Scholar of the Magic Arts." Others have taken on the lesser known title of "Artiste de Magique." Whatever title your Character chooses to adopt the result is the same, Spells no longer Backfire. From this moment on any attempt to cast a spell resulting in a 2-5 means the spell was successfully cast. But alas, magic has its enduring traits (or flaws of execution) and spells may still Fizzle (1) or Super Fizzle (6) even for the most advanced Wizard or Magic User.

Having revealed the existence of elite Magic Users we should draw attention to a few characters many of us already know. These Magic User Companions can occasionally be found in the tavern, and may be willing to join your party. But they are each (with one exception) among the select ranks of Magic Specialists, and so will not be as easy to recruit as we might hope. That said, certain groups are ought to try as venturing out into the dangerous wild lands, especially deep underground without a competent Magic User might be the last regret of an adventuring party.

Among these few small changes to Companions there is at least one other of note. In addition to her usual experience (Rank) requirement for joining up with the group, there is now a slight possibility of persuading Arvatheryn the Ranger (C004) to accompany you on the journey.

Download the latest Companions deck

One question that comes up these days. What is the current version of the game?
Strictly speaking the answer is,

Heroes of Feonora Ruleset 1.1

However, if your group has already started using the updated rules featured in the included Upcoming Changes addendum, then you are playing,

Heroes of Feonora Ruleset 1.1 (1.2) ~ or ~ Heroes of Feonora Ruleset 1.2 (beta)

...however you prefer to say it.

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Opponents and Visual Design

8/6/2017

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For this update we're going to touch on small adjustments as they relate to the Opponents deck, but more than anything this is a way of sharing more about visual presentation and design. Many of the previous changes we've seen in this area have been revealed in the recent updates to the Adventure and Dungeon card decks, where (for example) serif fonts have been replaced by styled handwriting fonts, with far greater emphasis on the narrative presentation that has become the central basis for characters and player storytelling.

As we sat down to consider these changes the Opponents deck presented a good opportunity as a point of reference, with the idea that each deck will [continue to] have its own visual style, but also where changes might be influenced by the shift in focus of recent years. Those of you already involved or experienced with layout and design know there are many factors that inform the choices and combinations that go into something like a font palette, which can be a lengthy process with respect to crafting the appropriate look and feel. But with an iterative development process, as we have done with Heroes of Feonora, this has allowed each element to evolve in its own way, resulting in things that quite possibly might not have occurred otherwise.

Of course, we know from the player perspective (and our own prototyping efforts) how challenging it is to keep everything up-to-date. And so we do want to take a moment to acknowledge that and to suggest that for something like this updating can at times be optional. For example, in earlier updates one or two characters may have changed, or a stat will have been adjusted slightly. In these instances sometimes it might suffice to mark the change on a card or try to print only the newer characters rather than the entire deck ~ even if the backing doesn't match up exactly. We have come to suppose that most of our players, those who've chosen to dive into this thing with us, have accepted by varying degrees that this isn't a game that will always be completely perfect or "finished" at any given moment, but that is embraced as acceptable so long as it remains fun and playable. Perhaps others have realized too that even a fully "boxed" version of a game is bound to have small imperfections and ultimately be representative of more a snapshot in time than anything... but that's a larger topic best tackled in the tavern.

Coming back around to this most recent update to the Opponents deck consider that none of the characters (or their fighting abilities) have been changed, which means that if you have the previous version it is still mechanically a fully up-to-date deck. This might be the first time an update has been purely aesthetic. Although that said, we did capitalize on opportunities for additional wordsmithing, so if the way the characters read is important that is another consideration.

Well by now you must be wondering what the new design looks like and so...

Download the latest Opponents Deck

The other thing we've been wanting to do for some time is revisit the color for the Opponents backing. No major change but we did increase the saturation just slightly. In fact, for most printers it will hardly be noticeable, but whatever the case you should be getting something like a Grayish purple or a Light plum.

Download Opponents Backing with adjusted color

There are of course more changes in the works, although possibly not quite what you will think... at least, not for the next update. As always, we want to thank all of the families, individuals and groups of players out there for giving this game a chance. It's no small thing to go through the effort of putting something like this together let alone keeping it up-to-date, when there are so many other games out there available in a nicely decorated box on a store shelf.

...maybe someday.

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RPG University School of Magic

7/13/2017

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This update has been a long time coming and it's about the new approach to Magic Spells. In actuality the fundamental mechanics have not changed. But this shift in focus, from purely mechanical to bringing out the dramatic flourishes of spell casting has been informed by the idea that this game is about the fun and joy of roleplaying ~ entertaining friends and family while doing so.

With that in mind,

Magic Spells must now be performed by the magic user before rolling the die. Naturally, this has always been the case only now we finally get to see and hear what our magic users have been doing all this time, no doubt giving us all a better appreciation for the skill (and performance art) that goes into the use of Magic.

Traditional combat spells and their counterpart utility spells are now differentiated with distinctions in card design.

Meanwhile,

Shrink-i-fecto (S005) has been reconfigured into a Yellow spell of the Catch or Destroy variety. For those who don't often use them, these are those rare spells that can be used to both Destroy a Foe or, if the situation calls for it, catch a Criminal during Town Time. The player figurine still has to be positioned next to the criminal (as before).

Foot (S010) has been remanded from the Red Spell family into the lesser Purple Spell family. I repeat, this has nothing to do with the incident involving Fessiwig and the bandits who tried to make off with his lunch basket only they were running past the Bank Manager at the time they were caught and let's just say there was a bit of a kerfuffle and poor Tynifir had to witness the whole thing and who would have thought that lunch baskets and Bank Managers could fly so far? and thank heavens Olga is good at catching people (of all sizes).

Magic Stones (S013) has moved from the Yellow Spell family to the Purple Spell family. We could tell you why but even we don't know, which is to say they won't tell us. But it does seem as though they've got that extra bit of Zing! to them.

Vacuum Jar (S016) has become one of the Catch or Destroy type spells, but that's only because of the recent discovery of a secret code engraved on the back of the spell, describing how to release the occupant. No one would have known this until a group of students at the University discovered the only way to see it: a bit of lemon juice, dabbed gently, and a pair of enchanted spectacles (that you have to send for on the back of a cereal box).

Furbonite (S018) has also joined the illustrious ranks of Catch or Destroy type spells on account of the hidden "Defrost" command revealed to us by a mysterious bounty hunter ...who turned out to be a Princess on a secret mission to both rescue her beau and free the galaxy from "Imperial Scum." We just liked her spiffy hairdo.

Mordokai's Sword has been retired and now serves as a Training Spell over at RPG University. Since the sword could only ever be in one place at any given time that makes it easier for students to learn advanced combat spells without having too many pupils being chased into the bog (all at once). Plus the kitchen staff like to borrow it for meal preparations. Thankfully, one of Fessiwig's secretive and anonymous associates had just recently uncovered the existence of a Mordokai spell that, up until now had been thought lost to the annals of myth and time.

Crushy Weight (S024) has also been retired. But you'll find much of the same usefulness in its replacement, which offers the same satisfying Crush! capability along with more of that special pizzazz inherent in all giant toaster ovens.

Bear in mind that Polymorph (S025) will always transform your foe into a 'random inanimate object,' which is to say that it will be a different object each time.

Both Unlock spells still work same as before, the only difference being they were not created by the same wizard, so the approach is slightly different depending on which one your character is using.

An entirely new detect trap spell has joined the others in the form of "Boothby's Trap Detection" (S041) which, as the name suggests, is intended to assist with booby traps in general ~ that's if you can get it to work. The Yellow Spell "Faeries Wings" was retired to make room for this one.

We would also like to introduce a new spell called "Ephasia" which, much like health items, makes this the only spell that essentially can be used freely ...well, almost. And using it does have a cost. The Yellow Spell "Doublesome" was retired.

This last one is more commentary on a spell that hasn't changed.

The original intent behind Wafflesnore's Lootfinder (S043) has always been that this was a spell primarily for Magic Users who did not also have the Treasure Hunter skill. In other words, successfully casting the spell should not result in the same character searching for treasure twice. We've attempted to clarify the spell to make that more apparent.

And now the most earthshaking part about this entire update. Please brace yourselves. No, better sit down. Actually sit down and hold someone's hand (while also bracing the family pet) (or a stuffed animal)... Are you sat? Alright. Here goes. All of the spell cards have been... Re-numbered AAAaaahhhhhhhhhh!! well nearly all of them at any rate. Sorry. It had to be done. But you can thank us by coming up with even better ways of casting these spells, should you think of any.

Download the newly updated, performance driven Spell Cards

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