The Broken Hourglass: Interview @ RPG Codex

You may recall Planewalker Games and The Broken Hourglass from our interview or the team's previous history of outstanding BG/2 mods...RPG Codex has an excellent new interview with Jason Compton - fans of the Infinity Engine games should definitely follow this indie effort. Here's a bit on the magic system:

5. Another unusual design decision is the magic system. It reminds me of my TIE Fighter days: one energy pool that feeds both shields and engines. The more energy spent on shields - the stronger they are ... and the weaker your engines. Decisions, decisions.... So, please explain the system and what it may offer to avid mage players?

That's a good analogy. In that game you had a fixed pool of energy and you could split it up among laser charging, shield charging, and engine velocity. In our game, you have a fixed pool of energy and you can split it up among offensive spells, defensive and protective spells, healing spells, and wielding (and thereby controlling) magic items.

What it means for mage players is that you get to spend more of your time actually casting spells, and less time doing things that bog mages down in other systems like

- Deciding what spells to memorize
- Chugging mana potions
- Withholding magic because "we might need it in a bigger fight coming up."

It also means that you can interactively switch a mage from being an "offensive" mage to a "buff" mage, instead of having to make a daily (wizard) or a career (sorcerer) commitment to that path as a d20-style mage would.