Description: When casting spells, a magician takes an amount of non-magical damage based on the level or intensity of the Spell. Excessive use of Magic can cause the spellcasters penalties or fainting. Characters may be allowed to save to resist some of the damage. It is often used in conjunction with Spell Rolls.
Find it in: Shadowrun
Keywords: Fast-paced, Tactical, Weird
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Superhero,
A.K.A. Inner Strength Points, Psi Points
Description: Characters have a pool of magical energy that they spend to cast their spells rather than spell slots or exterior fuel for magic. These are often based on magic and replenished with rest.
Find it in: Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying Game, The Dozen Dooms, Dungeons & Dragons 3e Unearthed Arcana, AD&D2e Player's Option: Spells & Magic, Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e Psionics Rules
Keywords: Fantastical, High-Magic, Weird
Genres: Epic Fantasy, High-Fantasy, Pulpy, Sword & Sorcery
Description: Rather than using pre-defined spells characters describe a desired magical effect, and are assigned a level to determine difficulty to cost, cost in energy or spell slots, etc. Often used in conjunction with Spell Rolls or Spell Points.
Find it in: Mage: the Awakening, The Dozen Dooms, Sorcerer Alternative Class for Low Fantasy Gaming
Keywords: Epic, Fantastical, High-Magic, Weird
Genres: Epic Fantasy, High-Fantasy, Superhero
Description: In lieu of the standard spell component for a magic item, a rarified and exotic item with the right resonance can give the Spell a boost to its casting time, area of effect, duration, range, or effect. For example, coffee beans harvested from a treat prevents haste from aging the target.
Find it in: Dungeons & Dragons 3e Unearthed Arcana
Keywords: Fantastical, High-Magic, Weird
Genres: Dark Fantasy, High Fantasy
Description: When lacking any other tool for decision making as to which character is attacked, targeted, or hit by a trap, choose the character with the lowest current Luck Score.
Find it in: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Keywords: Fantastical, Pulpy, Rules-light, Weird
Genres: Crime, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Pulp, Sword & Sorcery
Description: As a PC is dying, there is a chance, if they might not otherwise recover of bein approached by Death, a demon, or otherworldly entity in a vision, and offered a chance to return to the world of the living, but they must agree to a quest. If they fail to keep up their end of the bargain in a timely fashion, they will die and be unable to return to life again.
Find it in: Dungeon World
Keywords: Dark, Epic, Fantastical, Heroic, High Magic, Weird
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, Eldritch Horror, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Superhero
Description: When a PC or important NPC dies, there is a chance that they can be resurrected.This entails rolls to check on which magic or technology was used to bring them back. Each method has drawbacks and a chance or rejection, which leads to permanent pentirs.
Find it in: Alpha Blue (NSFW)
Keywords: Fantastical, Light-Hearted, Pulpy, Weird
Genres: Cyberpunk, High Fantasy, Pulp, Science Fiction, Superhero
Description: Magic items are exceedingly rare. They begin with a single ability, but gain more abilities as their wielder levels up, allowing magic items to grow with PCs, rather than having PCs find many of them.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming
Keywords: Weird, Pulpy, Dark, Heroic
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Low Fantasy
Description: Spells are replaced by relationships with spirits that have broad spheres of influence. The spirit may be called on to create any plausible effect that fits with its domain, allowing PCs to come up with inventive magical effects within a narrow scope.
Find it in: Pacts and Blades, World of Dungeons, Aer
Keywords: Rules-light, Dark, Pulpy, Weird
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Low Fantasy, Pulp, Horror
Description: A staple of Lovecraftian Horror, madness rules can be fairly easily ported to other systems. Some rely on a limited sanity resource, are connected to injury tables, or magical misfire effects. All add role-playing constraints and mechanical consequences.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming, Call of Cthulhu, Tiny Cthulhu
Keywords: Dark, Weird, Horror
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Eldritch Horror, Dark Fantasy, Horror
Description: Combat-oriented characters may declare special effects of a combat attack, like disarming, knock back, tripping, blinding, etc., and get variable success based on a roll of a die.
Find it in: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Keywords: Weird, Fantastical, Dark, Tactical, Swashbuckling
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Pulp, Superhero
