Something about the flat 2 Strain cost to all Magic spells doesn't sit right with me. I guess I prefer the costs to be more dependent on the magnitude of the effect you are attempting to generate. Also, the fixed cost (along with 2 Strain penalty for excess Threat) really limits the number of times a spell caster can take the spotlight in an Encounter.

Just spit balling here, but what if the Strain cost was equal to the total Threat rolled (not just the Threat that wasn't cancelled by Advantage but ALL Threat rolled)?

The more difficult a spell you are attempting the more Strain you risk suffering. Net Advantages could be used to reduce the Strain and net Threat could cause additional Strain at the normal 1-1 ratio.

Standard AAPPDD roll would result in an average of 1.5 rolled Threat --> Strain. This is almost the current default cost of 2. The average 1.1 Advantages could offset most, but not all of that Strain, unless you decide to use it to trigger Qualities. Hmm, do I want to trigger Burn or take 2 less Stress?

At worst on an Average [DD] roll you would suffer 8 Strain before offsets. 4 from Threat rolled and somehow not rolling any Advantages for a net Threat of 4 --> additional 4 Strain. Currently, rolling 4 net Threat results in 10 Strain.

Kick up the Difficulty to AAPPDDDD and now you are rolling an average of 3 Threat (--> Strain) and now the net Advantages drops to -0.4 (or an additional 0.4 Strain from Threat).

Overcoming Setback dice could cause more Stress? OK.

Easy rolls should cause minimal Stress but roll badly on a Daunting Task and you just KO'd yourself. As you increase your Skill the Strain cost should go down unless you now decide to push for more difficulty spells. I think I prefer that "feel".

Certain Items and Talents could now be used to offset Strain loss.

Thoughts?

With a spell costing 2 strain, you'll be able to cast 5-6 per "combat" which to me is enough as combat only really lasts around three to four rounds in Genesys as is. I feel the strain cost is fine and am going to use it for similar "Melee" flavored effects.

1 hour ago, Cyvaris said:

With a spell costing 2 strain, you'll be able to cast 5-6 per "combat" which to me is enough as combat only really lasts around three to four rounds in Genesys as is. I feel the strain cost is fine and am going to use it for similar "Melee" flavored effects.

This assumes the caster does not roll any advantage to recover strain, or they use every single one they roll.

If they gain strain from extra advantage that number goes up.

Also, that's a base level caster. Once they gain skill and talents as well as the magical focus to reduce difficulties, they should have plenty of extra strain, even after activating the add-ons.

1 hour ago, Lifer4700 said:

This assumes the caster does not roll any advantage to recover strain, or they use every single one they roll.

Considering most casters will likely be using Advantage to activate the qualities/effects they've added to their spells, I see that as somewhat unlikely for the most part.

There are many other ways a magic using PC is likely to spend Strain. That guess of 5-6 spells is in an ideal world where the environment is kind to them, they only use 1 manoeuvre a turn, and their enemies are not inflicting Strain. In reality a pc will probably get 3-4 spells off in a normal encounter.

But I do agree that not all magic should be the same, not all settings should have the same costs. I truely expected some of the Enhancements to have a Strain cost instead of just increasing the Difficulty. Want to add Blast to the fireball? That’s 2 Strain, plus the Advantages yo activate it.

I'm using the 2 Strain rule in my game and it's beating my caster up well. He routinely is maxing out his ST in combats. It's 4 Strain a round with two Maneuvers used, and the occasional dice pool where he has Threat leftover is handing out a sufficient beat down.

Having said that I am making spell trees with greater Strain cost, but they'll deliver better results.

Does the talent "Resolve" exist in Genesys; it would reduce the involuntary Strain (i.e. Threats)?

3 hours ago, Grimmerling said:

Does the talent "Resolve" exist in Genesys; it would reduce the involuntary Strain (i.e. Threats)?

I suppose the reason they didn't include it is because strain is now really important in social encounters.

A balancing element would probably bump Resolve from a lower tier talent (as it serves as in Star Wars) to a higher tier talent. I'd say 4, but no lower than 3.

Are their other examples in Genesys or Star Wars where threat or advantage are considered prior to canceling? I'd prefer to stay away from mechanics that diverge from core concepts on how the dice work.

15 hours ago, Cyvaris said:

Considering most casters will likely be using Advantage to activate the qualities/effects they've added to their spells, I see that as somewhat unlikely for the most part.

That's going to be the tough decision for the caster, though. "Do I want to cast a spell with Blast or Burn and hope I activate them, or do I cast a more "normal" spell with no Active qualities so I can spend Advantage to recover strain".

It's a tactical choice that I appreciate FFG giving us.

5 hours ago, DarthGM said:

That's going to be the tough decision for the caster, though. "Do I want to cast a spell with Blast or Burn and hope I activate them, or do I cast a more "normal" spell with no Active qualities so I can spend Advantage to recover strain".

It's a tactical choice that I appreciate FFG giving us.

I am really enjoying the magic system so far for tactical choices like this and have a very rough "Melee" equivalent sketched out based off of it now too. It's nice that a Magic Attack+Effect is more or less equal to a normal Melee attack, but it costs strain. For the most part I feel that should make it really easy to balance giving Melee things like Impact or "Burn (bleed)" that also cost two strain and aren't a Talent.