Team Building In Magic Horizons

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#C0C0C0" LINK="#FFFF00" VLINK="#808080"> <TABLE WIDTH="400" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><IMG SRC="../images/mhb1.jpg" ALT="Magic Horizons Title Graphic" ALIGN="BOTTOM" WIDTH="398" HEIGHT="162"></P> <H2>An Analysis Of Character Creation In <EM>Magic Horizons</EM>. </H2> <P>Character creation in <EM>Magic Horizons</EM> boils down to how you as a player have arranged your character's picks when you defined your character at the start of the game. What follows is a discussion of the four basic ways that picks can be arranged when you create your character. With the various iterations of Branches, there are 65 distinct character classes in <EM>Magic Horizons</EM>, and each class can specialize in different skills, resulting in a diversity of characters far beyond what one would expect from such a simple rules set.</P> <P>The four basic iterations on character creation are three picks in one branch (3:1), two picks in each of two branches (2:2), 2 picks in one branch, and one pick in each of two others (2:1:1), and one pick in each of four branches (1:1:1:1)</P> <HR> <DL> <DT><A HREF="#3:1" TARGET="Main">3:1 Characters</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#2:2" TARGET="Main">2:2 Characters</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#2:2" TARGET="Main">2:1:1 Characters</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#1:1:1:1" TARGET="Main">1:1:1:1 Characters</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#free" TARGET="Main">Free Picks</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#utility" TARGET="Main">Utility Picks</A></DT> <DT><A HREF="#advancement" TARGET="Main">A Note On Character Advancement</A></DT></DL> <HR> <P><A NAME="3:1"></A></P> <H4>3:1 Characters</H4> <P>Characters with a 3:1 pick split are specialists. This seems self evident, but it bears mentioning. Characters with three picks devoted to one branch can very quickly master one spell list, while having a decent number of spell points, or accumulate incredible damage bonuses with a weapon skill. A three pick character oriented towards Craft or Clandestine skills can quite reasonably max out their primary skill by the time they reach 9th or 10th level.</P> <P>One of the drawbacks of being a 3:1 character is that the character can quickly become so narrowly defined that adding new capabilities is almost impossible. For example, it's very easy to focus on being the best swordsman in the game, or the best armorsmith, or the best at disarming traps. Once you've reached that goal, what do you do then? </P> <P>Characters who take three picks in a Philosophic branch are likely to run out of picks that their branch can support very quickly. Mages, by way of comparison, can always tackle another spell list, or learn some Enchanting or Alchemy. The Craft branch also hits a similar wall, although cross-crafting into other crafts is always useful. The Martial Branch, with it's abnormally high ceilings on weapons skills effectively has no upper limit. A three-pick Martial character is effectively the only way a character can "specialize" in Weapons Mastery.</P> <P>Care should be taken with the 1 pick in a 3:1 split to provide as much breadth and capability as is possible with very low level abilities. Using a Philosophic list is often a good way to go, to gain additional capabilities. Clandestine branch has a number of skills that work well at low levels. The Tinker skill from the Craft Branch also works well, as does having a Mundane Craft skill.</P> <HR> <P><FONT SIZE="5"><EM>Take the 3:1 split if you want to define your character as being exceedingly good at something.</EM></FONT></P> <HR> <P>One of the two ways to make an effective Enchanter is to take three Mage picks and one Craft pick, spending two Mage picks on Enchanting, the third on spell points, and the Craft pick in the craft skill prerequisite for Enchanting. Most of the producer (in-town) characters are built as 3:1 splits, and the three nonhuman races in the rulebook each encourage a different sort of 3:1 split.</P> <P>Another use of the 3:1 split is to minimize a race's weak points. For example, a character playing an elven warrior with three martial picks and one mage or philosophic pick, can still have a decent number of hit points, and can sustain themselves on fewer picks in Mystic Arts to power their spells. Likewise, a hum-orc going with three mage picks and one martial pick can be a very durable mage.</P> <P>Take the 3:1 split if you want to define your character as being exceedingly good at something.</P> <P><A NAME="2:2"></A></P> <H4>2:2 Characters</H4> <P>A truism of <EM>Magic Horizons</EM> is that in order to gain a minimum level of competence in a Branch, you need 2 picks in it. The 2:2 character allows you to build a balanced character, and in some ways, the 2:2 character is the archetypal character of the game.</P> <P>Because Mystic Arts is Mystic Arts, and spell points are spell points, one of the finer points of character creation prohibits taking four picks in spellcasting branches. A related issue is whether or not you want to make a character with 2 picks in Mage picks, 2 picks in Philosophic picks, or 1 pick in each.</P> <P>Doing a 2:2 split, with two picks in the same spellcasting Branch (Mage or Philosophic) allows your character to get to high level spells in a reasonable amount of time, at the expense of spell points. The trade-off is that you lose some flexibility as your character grows.</P> <P>In general, take the 2:2 split if it's important to you that your character be competent in two things. It may be the best choice if you want your character to be a fighting thief or a fighting spellcaster with hard hitting spells.</P> <HR> <P><FONT SIZE="5"><EM> The 2:2 character is the archetypal character of the game.</EM></FONT></P> <HR> <P><A NAME="2:1:1"></A></P> <H4>2:1:1 Characters</H4> <P>The 2:1:1 split allows your character to be good at something, and have two choices for complementary abilities at lower levels. The 2:1:1 split is perhaps the best spellcasting split in the game, if you're willing to go for breadth rather than depth.</P> <P>For the fighting spellcaster, taking two martial, one mage and one philosophic pick allows a selection from all 5 spell lists, plus the Logic and Discourse list of a related philosophy. The drawback to this is that you won't advance in any of those lists quickly. Because Mystic Arts is Mystic Arts, regardless of whether or not it's taken as a Philosophic or Mage pick, alternating which pick goes into spell points can yield a spell caster with a spell for every occasion. The biggest drawback may lie in trying to keep track of your incants.</P> <P>For the second-rank spell caster, taking two mage, one philosophic and one martial can allow you to power up your mage list with your philosophy pick, then, when you've got your spells up to the level you want them at, advance in your philosophic list, using one of your mage picks for spell points.</P> <P>If doing a multiple-Branch spellcaster, make sure to take spell lists that complement one another well. Spells that are duplicated across multiple lists are effectively wasted picks. (Matter complements all of the Philosophic lists except Creation. Life complements all the Philosophic lists except Light and Nature. Energy compliments the Nature, Creation and Death lists. Void and Spirit are complementary to all of the Philosophic lists.)</P> <P>Swapping out the Martial pick for a Craft pick can yield an effective Enchanter, Alchemist or Scrollcrafter. (For production crafters, the Philosophic pick is almost always Creation.)</P> <HR> <P><FONT SIZE="5"><EM>The 2:1:1 split is perhaps the best spellcasting split in the game, if you're willing to go for breadth rather than depth.</EM></FONT></P> <HR> <P>Taking a character with 2 Clandestine, one Mage and one Martial pick can be quite useful for a player with patience. The mage picks go into Rank 1 Enchantment and Alchemy at 2nd level, 1 pick into spell points at 3rd level. The 4th level free pick goes into Chemist. The 4th level Mage pick goes into Rank 2 Enchanter, the 5th level Mage pick goes into Rank 3 Enchanter, the 6th level Mage pick goes into Rank 2 Alchemist, and the 7th level Mage pick goes into Rank 3 Alchemist. This allows a Clandestine oriented character to gain the ability to detect magic, and to identify nearly every magic item in the game in the field. At Rank 8, the character can start learning a spell list; the Spirit and Matter lists both have much to commend them to a wizardly thief. (The free picks will almost certainly go into spell points.) This same pattern can also be used for a character with 2 Martial picks, one Clandestine pick and one Mage pick.</P> <P><A NAME="1:1:1:1"></A></P> <H4>1:1:1:1 Characters</H4> <P>While in theory it's possible to make a character with a 1:1:1:1 split, this sort of character will be almost completely ineffective until they reach 8th or 9th level. Because of the time frame involved in getting to these levels, this sort of character is not encouraged.</P> <HR> <P><FONT SIZE="5"><EM>The 1:1:1:1 split character is not encouraged.</EM></FONT></P> <HR> <P>If you really want to play a true dillettante, probably the best combination is to take one Philosophic and one Mage pick, use one to provide the other with spell points, and use the other two picks as you see fit between the other three Branches.</P> <P><A NAME="free"></A></P> <H4>Free Picks</H4> <P>For most characters, every 4th level provides a free pick. Free picks are, in some ways, the most important picks your character gets, as they can go out of the normal constraints of your picks. Some general rules about free picks:</P> <UL> <LI>Free picks should <EM>never</EM> be spent on Utility skills. It's always better to spend a standard pick on a Utility skill than to spend a free pick on one.</LI> <LI>If you normally gain two picks per level (or more) in a given Branch, don't spend a free pick on a skill in that Branch. </LI> <LI>Free picks should be spent on abilities that can benefit your character at very low Ranks. Spycraft and Sneak Attack are obvious choices, as is Physician, or Tinker to a lesser extent. The first ranks of Chemist, Alchemist and Enchanting all allow a character to learn things about their environment that would otherwise be hidden. </LI> <LI>Both Alchemy and Enchanting require a rank in a production Craft skill equal to half of the rank in Alchemy and Enchanting as a prerequisite. If you only care to go to Rank 3 in those skills, a free pick spent on Chemist can open the door to a lot of abilities for you. See the notes above on a 2:1:1 character.</LI> <LI>If your character only has one pick per level in a spellcasting Branch, free picks are probably best spent on spell points.</LI> <LI>If your character has access to a ready supply of external spell points (such as from a magic item, or from additional levels of maintenance), it is perfectly reasonable to spend free picks on spells from various spell lists, even if they normally don't have access to spellcasting branches. A number of low-level spells are quite effective for their spell point costs. </LI> <LI> If your character has picks from only one spellcasting Branch, taking a few spells from the other Branch via free picks is almost a no-brainer.</LI></UL> <HR> <P><FONT SIZE="5"><EM>Free picks should <STRONG>never</STRONG> be spent on Utility skills.</EM></FONT></P> <HR> <H4><A NAME="utility"></A>Utility Picks</H4> <P>Utility picks are used to broaden out a character, and can be swapped out for standard picks gained over the course of character advancement. If a player so desires, a character can swap all four of their picks per level into utility picks.</P> <P><A NAME="advancement"></A></P> <H4>Character Advancement</H4> <P>A word needs to be said about character advancement. A player can reasonably expect to make 4th or 5th level in the first three games they actually play in as PCs, and making 6th or 7th by the end of the first year of play is not uncommon. When designing your character, and your character class, try to look ahead. It's perfectly reasonable to start a character with the expectation that he'll suffer at lower levels, but come into the fore with complementary abilities around 6th or 7th level. See the example of the item identifying rogue up in the section on <A HREF="#2:1:1" TARGET="Main">2:1:1</A> split characters for an example of this character type. Designing a character built around coming into his own at 16th level is probably not a reasonable plan of action.</P> <P>Further discussions of character <A HREF="creation.html" TARGET="_top">creation</A> and <A HREF="teams.html" TARGET="_top">team</A> building are also on this web site.</P> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD><A><IMG SRC="../images/left_h.jpg" ALT="Left End Of Scroll Bar" WIDTH="32" HEIGHT="116"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../info/info_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/info_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Logistics]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="45" HEIGHT="116" NAME="info"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../game/game_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/game_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Game Info]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="60" HEIGHT="116" NAME="game"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../misc/misc_toc.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/misc_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Miscellaneous Information]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="62" HEIGHT="116" NAME="misc"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../faq.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/faq_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Frequently Asked Questions]" BORDER="0" WIDTH="58" HEIGHT="116" NAME="faq"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../new.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/new_h_n.jpg" ALT="[What's New]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="52" HEIGHT="116" NAME="whatsNew"></A></TD> <TD><A HREF="../index.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="../images/home_h_n.jpg" ALT="[Magic Horizons Home Page]" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" WIDTH="59" HEIGHT="116" NAME="home"></A></TD> <TD><IMG SRC="../images/right_h.jpg" ALT="Right End Of Scroll Bar" WIDTH="22" HEIGHT="116"></TD></TR></TABLE> <P>Problems with the page? 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