Social Combat for Into the Odd

Into the Odd Social Combat

For Into the Odd, Electric Bastionland, Cairn, and similar games. This is completely unplaytested, but it was bouncing around my head after some discussion in the NSR discord and I wanted to take a crack at writing it down.

I reference WIL specifically here, but swap out with CHA for Electric Bastionland (or whatever other ability might be appropriate in your system of choice).

Goals

Combat prowess in Into the Odd is mostly not dependent on a character's stats. Instead success in combat is determined by your choice of weapons, your tactics, getting the drop on your enemy, and the choice of whether to engage in the combat in the first place.

I wanted to know what a social combat system with similar ideas would look like. A way where your success is based on your arguments, rhetoric, strategy, knowledge and knowing when to fight it out and when to cut your losses. I want something that's freeform enough to not get in the way of good conversation and debate, but mechanical enough to allow the GM to "disclaim" having to simply choose when an argument is good enough, or when a character will capitulate.

Set Stakes & Resilience Points

Decide what each side stands to gain or lose.

Arguments are not mind control, you can argue people into giving ground, compromising, or retreating from a situation. However without significant leverage you cannot argue people into acting against their own self interest.

The more a side stands to lose, the greater the effort required to push them to that point. Resilience Points (RP) is a measure of how much they will resist Capitulation.

If it's something small their RP is a d6.

If it's something significant their RP is 2d6.

If it's something they would only barely consider their RP is 3d6.

Remember that both sides must have something they stand to lose.

The RP is shared across all members of the side of an combat. Roll the RP as combat begins.

Choose Leaders

A single character should take the lead for each side of an combat. Their WIL is used during the combat.

Set Social Armor

Social Armor represents any situation or environment in which one side might be shielded from full social consequences.

If one side's leader is in a significantly elevated social position compared to the other, that side should gain a point of Social Armor. This will change based on the setting of the combat. In court, a Noble would have Armor when arguing with a Commoner, the opposite might be true if the setting is instead in a bar or back streets.

Other factors that can mitigate Social Damage should also be represented with armor. For example having the audience of the combat supporting one side or the other.

Combat

Combat proceeded with each side taking turns. If it's not obvious which side should go first (social precedence, ambush, etc) the leaders of each side should make an opposed WIL Save.

On a side's turn, they may make an Argument and individual members of the side may make Gambits.

An Argument attacks the opposing RP directly. When you make an argument, roll a d6 as its damage.

Argument Modifiers

If an argument is based off of previously undisclosed information, attacks from an unexpected direction, uses the opponent's points against them, relies on some external leverage, or is otherwise advantaged it is enhanced. When your argument is enhanced roll a d12 in place of the normal die.

If an argument is similar to a previous point, has already been rebutted by the opponent, is a weak point lacking leverage, undercuts your own previous arguments, or is otherwise disadvantaged it is impaired. When your argument is impaired roll a d4 in place of the normal die.

Damage

Roll the argument's die, subtract any Social Armor, and deal the remaining to the opponent's RP.

Capitulation

If there is damage in excess of the opponent's RP, it is dealt to the leader's WIL. They must then make a WIL Save to avoid Capitulation.

If the leader fails the WIL Save, they Capitulate and receive one additional turn of combat. During that turn if they are able to force their opponent as well, the Combat ends in a Compromise. An agreement is reached that benefits both parties, or at least disadvantages both equally based on their initial stakes.

If they are unable to force the opposing party to Capitulate during the extra turn, they have been utterly routed and lose whatever they have staked on the combat.

Gambits

Members of each side may make Gambits to try and shift the argument in their favor. This could include shifting the audience to their side, thereby gaining Social Armor, uncovering or revealing information or evidence to advantage arguments, or any other actions that seem reasonable.

If there are risks inherent in a Gambit, they require a successful Save as usual.

Final Thoughts

 I suspect simultaneous turns would work better mechanically, and avoid the awkward "extra turn/parting shot", but also going back and forth matches the flow of an argument or debate more closely.

I'm not convinced I've achieved the goals I set out, but I think more theory crafting should wait until I actually try the thing. I plan to test it in one of my games if the opportunity arises, and I'll revisit this when I do so.

Mothership Decisive Combat Hack

Rules

Combat

When you commit violence, roll Combat:

If you under both your Combat stat and the weapon's Hit%, you deal a full Hit of damage.

If you roll under just one of the two, you deal damage equal to the sum of both dice (if you rolled a 45 you deal 9 damage).

If you roll under neither, you deal damage equal to the lower of the two dice (if you rolled a 93 you deal 3 damage).

Criticals that roll over both are a complete miss, deal no damage.

Criticals that roll under one or both activate the weapon's critical effect, or grant some other appropriate bonus.

Health and Hits

Players start with Health equal to the 10's place of their Strength + the 10's place of their Speed.

Players start with 2 Hits, except the Marine which starts with 3.

Conversions 

Weapons and Attacks

Weapons no longer have a damage value, they instead have a Hit%. To convert existing damage values multiply the number of dice rolled for damage by 10 to obtain the Hit%.

Grenades and other explosives don't have a Hit%. Instead they deal 2 Hits on a successful check, and 1 Hit otherwise.

Weapons with unique damage values (like the laser cutter) should be converted individually as it makes sense.

NPC and Monsters

Convert NPCs and Monsters by dividing their health by 5 (round up) and keeping their number of Hits.

The wide range of Health and Hits on NPCs means this won't always work, so adjust as necessary.

Armor

Armor provides single use Hits. They are removed first, and doing so destroys or damages the item.

Notes

Why?

I consistently enjoy playing Mothership, I love the flavor, the characters, and the modules. However I do not like the combat.

Because of the normal starting values for stats in Mothership, most characters are more likely to miss than hit making many combat rounds result in nothing happening. Even worse, the relative values for Health and damage are such that most attacks functionally don't do anything. 

In short combat feels boring and low risk, which is especially a problem when held against the usual tone of the game.

Nothing kills tension faster when the space crazed scalpel wielding doctor stabs you and deals... about 5% of your Health. It takes a dramatic and tense situation and makes it feel pointless.

I don't disagree with the advice I've seen Sean McCoy and others give, that you don't have to use the combat system to resolve situations. That rolls are only for during high stress, panicky situations. That you should progress the fiction on all rolls, that the situation should always change.

This is all good, but it's working around the combat system. It's mitigating it. I believe it would be much better to create a combat system that intrinsically supports the horror feel and high drama of the game.

Violence in a sci fi horror game should be dramatic, decisive, and scary. I want getting into combat to have real consequences, and I want those consequences to happen quickly.

Inspirations

This system is a combination of Into the Odd's "autohit" combat and Delta Green's "lethality" system, plus quadra's house rules.

Into the Odd has no to-hit rolls, instead damage is dealt directly to HP which is Hit Protection, the ability to avoid harm rather than a measure of physical endurance. It creates a fast, dynamic combat that is quickly decisive. There are no "nothing" rounds, and the situation gets resolved rapidly.

Delta Green's lethality system sidesteps the problem of "HP bloat" by simply letting dangerous weapons instantly kill their targets. This creates a tension, that makes a dangerous situation stay dangerous regardless of stats or equipment.

And from both, low Health totals. 

The Numbers

The above chart shows the expected amount of damage dealt on a hit or miss with varying combat skill (ignoring Hit% of weapons). There's a bit of weirdness at the extreme ends of the skill, but those are unlikely to actually come up in play. Otherwise, Hits usually deal about 50% more damage than a miss.

The average character and roll will usually end up dealing around 5 damage per attack, which means that the average player will lose a Hit in two attacks. I like this amount as it means combat can't drag out too long, and it makes acting first very important which encourages use of clever tactics and fictional positioning.

Final Thoughts

This is currently untested, although I've played and enjoyed similar systems. I don't think this is perfect, or the end all of what I'm trying to achieve, but I do think that the weakest part of Mothership by far is the combat and something has to change. Dramatically reducing Health values, as I believe is the intent for Mothership 1.0, would go some way to fixing my problems but I still believe there's additional changes that can be made.

GLOG Wizard Class: Gatormancer

School: Gatormancer

Drawn by the illustrious Brian Stauffer.

Gator Mutations

At first level, and whenever you gain a Gator Mutation roll an additional Perk and Drawback.

Perks

1. Your teeth are those of an alligator They grant you a 1d6 unarmed bite, and will grow back if lost.
2. You have a slow metabolism allowing you to hold your breath for an hour and go without eating for two years.
3. You have alligator jaws that can exert unbelievable force. You can bite through anything you can get your teeth around.
4. You have second eyelids that allow you to see clearly in water, and protect you from any sort of dust, sand, or liquid that might impair your sight.
5. You have sensitive, vibration sensing nodules on your skin. Nothing touching the same surface or body of water you're in contact with can get the jump on you.
6. You have scaley, tough skin with bone plates beneath which grant you +2 AC.

Drawbacks

1. You are ectothermic. Cold temperatures make you sluggish. If you don't bask in the sun for an hour each day you cannot regain HP from lunch, and a night's rest only restores 1d6+level HP.
2. Tiny gator limbs. Your arms and legs become stubby, and you have difficulty with tasks that require manual dexterity giving a -1 penalty to relevant skill checks.
3. You have a huge gator tail that drags on the ground behind you. You always have +1 point of encumbrance, and you'll have to get new pants tailored.
4. Your eyes are on the sides of your head, giving you poor depth perception. Ranged attacks have a -2 penalty applied.
5. You gain a menacing alligator visage. Reaction rolls with you present are rolled twice with the more hostile result kept.
6. You gain gator instincts. Advancing or gaining skills that are not related to being an alligator is twice as hard.

Doom

1. You are transmuted into an Alligator and summoned to answer another Gatormancer's spell (d6). If you survive the duration of the spell you're returned to your original location and shape, plus an additional Gator Mutation.
2. For the next week rather than summoning an alligator when you cast a spell, you transform into the alligator to complete the task.
3. Each morning Save or gain a new Gator Mutation. Each night, Save or the Mutation is permanent. When you gain all 6 Mutations, you are fully transmuted and care only for the obscure and esoteric desires of an alligator.

Avoid the doom by being eaten by an ancient 30+ foot alligator and surviving, or by petitioning the Great Celestial Gator to retain your mind when you are fully transmuted into an alligator.

Mishaps

1. MD only return to your pool on a 1-2 for 24 hours
2. You take 1d6 damage.
3. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then make a save. Permanent if you fail.
4. For the next 24 hours all alligators are hostile to you.
5. You lose your gator perks for 24 hours, but not your drawbacks.
6. Transmute into an alligator for 1d6 rounds.

Cantrips

1. You may stay perfectly still while floating in water. While doing so you appear as a log to casual inspection.
2. Burn a spell die after a successful unarmed attack to make the target Save vs Strength. If they fail, perform a Death Roll as per the alligator ability.
3. When you eat raw meat for lunch, the next time you cast a spell you may choose to set one of your spell dice to 1 rather than roll it.

Spell List

1. Instigator
R: [DICE]x10 feet T: Point D: [SUM] minutes

Summon a [DICE]x2 HD alligator at a point you designate. You do not control the alligator.

2. Navigator
R: [DICE] miles T: Location

Summon a [DICE]x2 HD alligator that will guide you unerringly to a target location within [DICE] miles. Once there the alligator will attempt to eat you. The alligator will allow [DICE] riders on its back during the journey.

3. Subjugator
R: 20' T: 1 Creature D: [SUM] rounds

Summon a [DICE]x2 HD alligator that exists for [SUM] rounds. The alligator will do everything in its power to immobilise a target of your choice. It disappears after doing so.

4. Interrogator
T:  Falsehoods

Summon an [DICE]x2 HD alligator which will attack anyone that lies in its presence. It disappears if it hears no lies for a full minute.

5. Reptile Projectile
R: 100' T: Creature D: 0

A [DICE]x2 HD alligator is summoned next to the target and makes one attack before disappearing.

6. Conflagator
Summon a flaming [DICE]x2 HD alligator which will immediately rampage. It deals [SUM] damage to itself and anything adjacent to it. When it would die, it instead disappears. If there is a source of water nearby it will rush directly towards it.

7. Investigator
R: Sight T: Person, Place or Thing

Look with gator eyes at something that is Ancient, Forgotten, and Unrecorded to gain insight about its history and function. For each [DICE] spent, ignore one of the conditions.

8. Consegatory Prayer
R: Touch T: [DICE] Creatures D: [SUM] minutes

Grant up to [DICE] creatures you touch [DICE] Gator Perks for [SUM] minutes.

9. Impregatory Prayer
R: Sight T: Creature D: [SUM] days

Curse a creature with [DICE] Gator Drawbacks for [SUM] days.

10. Prognostigator
T: Event D: Varies

Pick a specific event that will occur within 10 [DICE 1: Minutes, 2: Hours, 3: Days]. An alligator is summoned that will communicate the outcome of that event perfectly, but the alligator cannot speak and can only communicate through charades.

11. Eradigator
T: Description D: [SUM]

State a description [DICE] words long and summon [SUM] HD worth of alligators (divided between as many alligators up to [SUM] as you choose). The alligators will attempt to destroy anything nearby that fits that description for [SUM] rounds before disappearing

12. Adjudigator
R: Nearby T: Creature D: Instant

Summon the Great Celestial Gator to judge a target of your choice. Make a flat opposed roll against them, and gain a +1 bonus for each [DICE] and each Gator Mutation you have. Both you and your target may attempt to sway the Celestial Gator with reason, sacrifice, or supplication for additional bonuses. If you win the roll, the Celestial Gator judges the target wanting, and consumes their heart. If you fail, immediately suffer the next stage of your Doom.

Alligator Stat Block

HD: Variable
Damage: HDd6 damage + Save vs Strength or Death Roll
Special: Death Roll, the alligator clamps down and rolls dealing HDd6 damage and leaving the target prone.
Size: 4+HDx3 feet long.

Alligator Reaction Table

2. Angry
3-5. Perturbed
6-8. Waiting
9-11. Basking
12. Sleeping

Notes

Inspired by the many excellent "-gator" spell names created by the NSR discord.

Thanks to Skerples for the excellent How To Design a GLOG Wizard post, which contains excellent advice I have failed to follow. No idea if the damage numbers or stats makes sense, I have very little experience directly with GLOG.

Probably a joke and not a real class... haha... unless...

Physical Media and Compositing Hybrid for Not a Place of Honor

One of the main visual goals for Not A Place of Honor (NAPOH) was to achieve a found footage aesthetic that made the spreads seem "real". The usual, and easiest way, to make a collection of documents as a spread would be to create each element individually and composit them together into a pile of papers.

This can work quite well, see this example (forwarded to me by Emanoel, the incredible artist I'm working with for this project). However, especially at my own skill level, I felt that the spreads still seemed composited. They didn't feel "real", more of a pastiche of realness.

My original thought to get around this was to cheat. That is, since I'm not skilled enough to replicate reality why not just do it all for real? Print out each document, assemble, and scan back in.

This sounded good but I ran into the problems that one, my printer is not nearly high quality enough to make that work, and more importantly it's a huge pain. Any small change, edit, or typo correction means redoing the entire spread from scratch.

The approach I've settled on is a hybrid one. I assemble and scan physical media for the "structure" of the spread, then digitally add the "content" after the fact.

Here's a walk through of my process to accomplish this. One large caveat is that I really don't know what I'm doing, so I'm sure there are better ways to make this happen. I settled on this after a lot of trial and error, including the two preview spreads shown during the Kickstarter campaign (seen here on the main page, and here on twitter). The spread shown here is still not final, the Pictogram is unfinished (you can see where I roughly removed the background) and the handwriting font will be replaced with actual scanned handwriting once everything else is finalized (including the text going through final edits).

Hybrid Physical Media and Digital NAPOH Process

Step 1 - Rough Layout + Size

 

I scanned a size reference in using identical settings to what I planned to use for the actual spread. Then with that reference, roughed in the various bits of text, art, and layout. I calculated the scale between actual and scanned size using the reference, then used that ratio to measure the size of the paper I needed.

Step 2 - Cut Physical Media

 

Another important step is to move your gremlin of a cat who's trying to "help".

Using the sizes from step 1 I cut the paper into the sizes I need. One important thing to do here is to cut every paper into the wrong size at least once because you flipped your scale ratio. The paper itself is a bunch of differently textured papers in various shades of brown I got from a local craft store. I was mostly looking for things with enough textural and color variation to give good contrast.

Step 3 - Scan

I arranged all the paper and other elements on the scanner, aiming to roughly replicate my original rough layout. I used paper clips to ensure a slight physical gap between overlapping pieces to get depth in the image. As a background, I used a printout scroll from an extremely old spectrometer dating from a time before digital readouts on research equipment. You can find some wonderful things if you by digging through drawers nobody's opened for years in research labs.

 

This step took a lot of tries between adjusting the positions, scanning, realizing I'd shifted something off the edge, and repeating.

Step 4 - Composite

With the spread scanned in I position the art, symbols, and text where needed (using Affinity Publisher). For each piece of paper, I traced a shape around the edges and use it as a mask for anything that needs to only appear on that paper. This also accounts for places where different pieces of paper overlap with one another. In this example, I'm primarily using it for the artwork, but this would also work for applying digital textures to the paper (necessary before I purchased actual textured paper).

 

The mask is a little loose around the edge of the notebook, because I added an extra layer to make it blend nicely afterwards.

In this unique case, because the artwork is mostly dark there was an obvious, sharp edge to the art that didn't blend nicely with the lighter colored paper I had scanned. I fixed this in a roundabout way that I'm sure is more complicated than necessary:

1. Make a copy of the "artwork" mask.
2. Apply a Gaussian Blur to the copy.
3. Extend the edges of the unblurred mask only in the places where I want the edges to be softened.
   
4. Apply the unblurred mask as a mask to the blurred mask.
5. Apply the masked, blurred mask as a mask to the actual artwork.

Step 5 - Finish

How gorgeous is that artwork by Emanoel?

At this point I just fiddle around with anything that doesn't look quite right. Futz with the masks where they don't line up, apply extra filters, blurs, effects or textures where necessary to improve the look. This often involves using different "blending modes" (usually multiply) on the text and artwork to preserve the texture and "depth" of the scanned image with the composited artwork. This is also where I'll add in the BANE stamps and watermarks.

Once I'm fully happy with this, I'll nicely ask my fiancée to transcribe the journal and card text and scan those in to replace the handwriting font.

This is all probably overkill for what I end up with, but I'm pretty pleased with the results so I plan on sticking with it.

Now onto the rest of the artifacts!

Entries for Mothership Random Tables That Don't Exist

A friend of mine is working on a Mothership project I'm not allowed to know the details of so as to be able to be in a playtest later. I have generously decided to help him fill in some random tables, despite his refusal to tell me what those tables actually are.

So, here are some orphaned random table entries, from tables that likely don't actually exist.

TurboBrew(TM) - Desktop home brewer that can ferment just about anything organic (in 24 hours or less!) to make something almost, but not quite, entirely unlike beer.

Sam & Sam's Deep Space Stopover - Roaming space station offering refuel, repair, food, comfy beds, and whatever miscellany the couple has picked up over the years. They prefer barter, but will accept creds.

Warp Cats - Domesticated cats genetically modified to sense warp space anomalies. Ostensibly provide forewarning for issues during jumps, most crews keep them around due to superstition or companionship. Extremely adept at zero-g maneuvering, although a zero-g litter box strongly recommended.

AnyPrint(TM) - Device around the size of a pack of gum that can print onto any surface. Designs are loaded using a data pad or HUD, and the AnyPrint is then swiped back and forth across a surface to print. Often modded to make semi-permanent tattoos, or very permanent graffiti.

Subtrace Worm - Malware covertly loaded into a ship's navigation AI to track its movement. Takes any opportunity (and unsecured network) to load itself onto other ships to attempt to make its way to a system where the info can be retrieved. The practical upshot is that most ships are infected with somewhere around half a dozen Subtrace Worms at a time. Original authorship unknown.

Shadowed Figures - Phenomenon reported by Androids monitoring ships while the human crew are in cryo during warp jumps. During debriefs Androids claim to have seen shadowy figures exploring their ships, taking particular interest in the sleeping crew but showing no awareness of the Androids themselves. No evidence of this appears on cameras or other permanent records, and only the consistency between reports has lent it any credence beyond Android malfunction.

Hit Dice Dungeons Initial Playtest - Version 0.1.1

What's going on here?

 I'm writing an RPG that spun out of the idea of using Usage Dice to track HP.

What changed from the original blog post?

Following on from my blog post where I outlined the basic idea, I developed it into an actual RPG system. Compared with that original idea, I fully abandoned any effects that modify the range of  numbers that cause the Die to step down, and locked it at 1-3 for all situations.

Where weapons in that original version shifted the range that stepped down, weapons for my first playtest instead dealt a static amount of damage to their target. For each point of damage, you roll your Hit Die once, stepping down for each failure. This also solves the problem that the original idea had of Hit Dice capping the worst case scenario of a powerful attack to stepping down a single time. With damage causing individual rolls, a powerful attack can now step down your die multiple times and kill you outright.

Armor also had to be changed (it could no longer shrink the 'threat range') and now lets you reroll a number of failed "damage rolls".

I wrote up a small handful of backgrounds, in the style of Electric Bastionland's failed careers or Troika! backgrounds, to run a playtest with one of my usual groups. My original intention was to also have GLOG style classes, but I both didn't finish them in time and also wanted to test the core systems before I started layering things on top.

The Playtest

My players rolled (off of my expansive d8 table) an Exiled Neriad, a Rat Catcher, and a Traveling Salesman. Very early on in the night the Traveling Salesman player asked if he could be a Minotaur, which seemed like an excellent idea and was immediately added to the background itself.

For the module, I ran Tomb of the Last Tyrant from Dissident Whispers (technically now the 7th Dissident Whispers module I've run, although this won't get the whole micro review treatment I usually do) with the possibility of spinning it out into a sandbox hexcrawl to keep testing the system as it develops.

I won't give a whole play report here, than than to highlight a few fun moments:

• Yeeting "serpent guards" off of rain slick cliffs.
• Taking advantage of thunder to pick off guards from the back of the group.
• Interrogating terrified cultists as to why they were called the Serpent Guard if none of them were actually snakes.

The main takeaways I got from running the game, and talking with the players afterwards, is that although none of us like "to hit" rolls having no roll when you make an attack and just waiting for the GM to roll the enemy's Hit Die to see how it went is pretty unsatisfying.

Changes Made

I've made two changes to the system I intend to test to try and address this. First, instead of weapons dealing a static number of damage, they have damage dice that get put through a filter. This is soft of halfway between Troika! damage tables, and the Scarlet Heroes damage system.

 This adds a bit of fiddly-ness to the game I would have liked to avoid, but it adds some agency to attacks and hopefully doesn't cause much frustration. One other benefit of this damage dice system is that it let me add my Living Grimoires magic system almost unchanged to Hit Dice Dungeons, which is nice.

The second thing being changed isn't actually a rule change as such, simply that when you attack an enemy you are the one to roll their Hit Die to see if they get injured. This is really just a perception thing, but I'm hoping it makes players feel more connected to the results of their actions.

A couple also small changes were made:

• Added a temporary advancement system (until I get those GLOG style classes off the ground) based on collecting accomplishments that would go into your Eulogy.
• Allowed clever, fun, or daring attacks to be "enhanced" (similar to Into the Odd/Electric Bastionland) by stepping up the die that would be rolled for the attack. I may switch this from stepping up the die to giving a +2 to the damage die roll, but we'll see how it feels in play.
• Added some guidance for how to track different equipment (the cowardly way of presenting three systems and letting the GM choose, hopefully I'll zero in on what works well to make a definitive statement).
• Added the concept of "Clock Dice" which is a blend of Macchiato Monsters encounter usage dice, BitD clocks, and Dungeon World fronts.

The Game Itself

 https://awkwardturtle.itch.io/hit-dice-dungeons

Check it out if you're interested, it's even got a character sheet! Expect things to change a ton as I get more playtesting and development in though.

Living Grimoires - Freeform (but closed ended) Whitehack Magic for Into the Odd

Spell Lists or Freeform Magic?

Although I find spell list style magic fun, running Macchiato Monsters has showed me how much I enjoy the flexibility and open ended-ness that comes with more freeform magic systems. And because I appear to make a habit of taking whatever my most recent RPG obsession and hacking it for Into the Odd (I previously adapted GLOG magic into a cassette tape system for Electric Bastionland), here's my attempt at find a way to take a freeform system like Whitehack's miracles (or Macchiato Monsters spells) and fit it into the largely item based world of Into the Odd or Electric Bastionland. 

Something I specifically wanted to avoid in crafting this sytem was making it so flexible as to nullify other methods of approach. A lot of the fun of rules light games is finding new and interesting ways to apply the resources you have, so I didn't want to create a system that replaced that gameplay with more rules.

Another factor in finding a way to limit the freeform casting is that although I enjoy working with players to create unique spells and effects, doing so every single time a spell is cast can be somewhat laborious (which is why I wrote this flowchart for Macchiato Monsters). Additionally, some of the fun of magic comes from finding new ways to apply niche existing spells in clever ways, so I wanted a system where players would have a set spells they could keep going back to.

The Whitehack does this to some degree by requiring spell effects thematically match the overall name of the "miracle", and narrow miracle wordings are encouraged with a discount on casting cost. I took it a step further, by setting a limit for how many different spells can fit within a single Grimoire. In some sense, this is a "write your own spell list" system, and if a player wants more spells they'd better find a way to get more Grimoires (probably by way of murdering some wizards).

With ITO rules, depending on HP levels and spell cost, many spells will be essentially “free” to cast outside of combat or other perilous situations. That’s as intended, and if an effect seems like it would cause problems if it were able to be cast over and over just apply some unique restriction or requirement to it.

One benefit of this "system" is that it doesn't have to be added to a game wholesale. It's entirely contained within an item, so letting players find a single Grimoire means you can add a dash of magic to the game without fully committing to a whole system.

All that being said, it’s entirely unplaytested so who knows.

Living Grimoires

Grimoires tomes of stored knowledge and magic. They're alive and want to be used, but only in a way pleasing to their nature.

MTG has a lot of good magic book artwork.

Each Grimoire has a title indicating its contents and personality, and can hold 6 spells; those containing 4 or more spells are Bulky (due to the weight of unearthly knowledge). Some Grimoires may come with prewritten spells, but most will just have blank space ready for new spells to be inked. Each Grimoire has a specific way in which spells may be added related to its title.

When stolen or recovered from a former owner, roll a Luck die to see which (if any) spells remain intact.

If you are playing a more traditional game, instead of having players write their own spells a Grimoire might come pre-written.  Access to each spell would only be granted when the current owner has performed certain tasks or paid appropriate respect to the tome.

Casting Spells

To cast a spell, hold the Grimoire in both hands and speak the incantation aloud.

Casting the spell deals damage to you (ignoring armor) equal to its cost (from a d4 to a d12).

Excess damage is dealt to WIS/CHA, and a failed WIS/CHA save results in unconsciousness (or rolling on your favorite spell misfire table).

Spellcrafting

To write a spell, declare what you wish for the spell to do. The effects must be within the scope of the Grimoire's title.

To set the cost, start at a d4 to get one of:

• A fleeting moderate effect
• d6 damage
• A lasting minor effect
  

Step up die for:

• Improved effect (more powerful, more useful, more specific, etc)
• More damage
• Additional Targets
• Longer duration
  

Step it up again for lots of one of those things. For example step up once for second target, and twice for Blast/Area.

Step down die for:

• Narrow effects
• Significant drawbacks
• Negative side effects
• Complicated or lengthy casting
• Specific requirements

If you need a higher die size than d12 it's either not within the scope of the spellbook, or will require additional drawbacks, requirements, or steps.

Spells that seem like a poor fit for the Grimoire's title are either impossible, or require a significant drawback or limitation that makes them more suitable.

Make a note of the spell’s name, effects, and cost. Remember each Grimoire can only store a certain number of spells.

Make the spells interesting! Spells with very direct, useful effects will be expensive, and boring spells will piss off the Grimoire. If you have to jump through a few hoops to make it work, that’ll lower the cost to manageable levels. 

Honestly you could do worse than just stealing Grimoire names from MTG.

Scrolls

Individual spells might be found (or created) as scrolls. Depending on the limitations of your world, scrolls might be single use. Or they might be reusable, but have the option to be destroyed during casting in order to negate the cost.

Examples

The Path of Flame -  New spells must be burned into the Grimoire using a heated piece of metal.

1. Flame Friend - d4 - Summon a orb of flame that will follow the caster for a day and provide illumination.
2. Salamander's Lockpick - d6 - Superheat a small piece of metal to weaken or melt it.
3. Purifying Flame - d6 - With a touch purge a poison, disease, or enchantment from a target. Deals 1d4 damage directly to STR and leaves a hand print burn.
4. Oathkeeper's Light - d8 -  Ignite a small white flame as an oath is sworn. The flame will internally ignite any who breaks the oath, dealing them d6 damage directly to STR every sunrise.
   
5. Circle of Protecting Flame - d10 - Trace a closed loop with a flammable material. As long as you stay within the enclosed space, anything attempting to cross will cause the loop to erupt into flame dealing 1d12 damage.
6. The Classic - d12 - Shoot a spark of flame that explodes to deal 1d10 Blast damage.

The Catalog of Lesser Spirits - New spells may be added by requesting them from the spirit of the Grimoire itself, along with a suitable gift (it likes fresh flowers to press within its pages).

1. Loyal Lock - d4 - Animate a lock and command it to open or close. It will do so and remain in that state until someone with a higher CHA countermands the order.
2. The Devil’s in the Dust-Trails - d6 - Blow dust at a mark on a surface (scratch, scuff, footprint, etc). The dust will briefly animate to show you what caused the mark.
3. If These Walls Could Talk - d6 - Draw a mouth on a wall with saliva. Using that mouth the wall will answer one question to the best of its ability (walls know about things that occurred near them, as well as things that support them or that they support).
4.  Bleeding Edge - d4 - Awaken bloodthirst in a bladed weapon. Its next strike deals max damage, but if that hit does not cause Critical Damage it will deal 1d4 STR damage to its wielder.
5. Threshold Sentinel - d8 - Take 10 minutes to awaken the spirit of a doorway (or similar space) and choose a pass code. The spirit will prevent anyone from passing through the doorway unless they know the pass code (dealing 1d12 damage to anyone that forces their way through). Lasts a day, but if cast every day for a week becomes permanent.
6. Spectral Courier - d4 - Press a minor spirit into service to deliver a message to a named person. Most spirits travel only as fast as a walk, although they do so in a straight line.
   

Atlas of Flesh & Bone - New spells must be inked in blood, using a pen carved from bone.

1. Indefinite Loan - d6 - Restore 1d4 STR or DEX by transference between two creatures you touch.
2. Maximize Minimize - d4 - Touch a creature to set one of STR or DEX to 18 for 10 minutes. That stat is then set to 3 for another 10 minutes.
3. Bonus Limbs - d6 - Grant a creature d4 extra limbs (of your choice). After 10 minutes they dry out and fall off.
4. Bone Sense - d4 - You know the exact location of every bone within a 50 foot radius for 10 minutes.
5. No Mask? No Mask! - d8 - Reshape a person's face as though it were putty (a reference will likely be needed to aid the artist if the goal is disguise). Lasts until sunrise.
   
6. Monstrous Melding - d12 - Transplant a monster's organ or limb into a willing subject, they gain some aspect of the power or abilities of the donor. Will last for a week, but if this spell is cast again within that duration the effect becomes permanent (some side effects may occur).