One rule that was left out of the rulebooks and all of the supplements was for P.P.E. expenditure. Wouldn't it make sense that a spell caster who casts a powerful spell would feel exhausted or sluggish because of the drain of his own energy? Many books and almost all movies show magic users, after casting a lot of spells or performing rituals, as being rather exhausted. Here are a few rules and guidelines to keep those magic-users in check and even add a little dimension to the use of magic (this is in lieu of the book Through the Glass Darkly(TM) by Kevin Hassall who presents magic in a new and almost frightening way).
1st and 2nd level spells don't really cost that much, though they can be taxing if many are cast at the same time. As with low-level spells, once a mage begins to cast more powerful spells, the drain can become severe and the mage eventually becomes too fatigued to do anything successfully.
Rule:
For the first 50 P.P.E. expended in a 3 hour period, reduce Parry, Dodge, and Initiative by -1 and Attacks Per Melee (APM) by -1. For every 15 P.P.E. after the first 50, reduce Parry and Dodge by another -1 (cumulative) and for every 45 P.P.E. beyond the first 50, reduce the APM and Initiative by -1 (cumulative). All of these penalties are in effect until the caster rests.
Eddie the Ley Line walker was just in a battle. During the thirty minute fight, he cast spells totaling 65 P.P.E. Because the casting was so taxing, he now has a penalty of -2 to Parry and Dodge and -1 to initiative and attacks. His group is in a hurry, so he doesn't have time to rest. An hour later, the group is ambushed. During this fight, Eddie expends another 30 P.P.E. on spells. This fatigues him more. During this fight he received another -2 to Parry and Dodge, a -1 to Initiative, and -1 attack. This brings his total penalty to: -4 to Parry/Dodge, -2 to Initiative and attack.
Rule:
For every 15% of the expended P.P.E. recovered during rest, reduce penalties to Parry and Dodge by one. For every 30% of the expended P.P.E. recovered during rest, reduce the penalty to Initiative and APM by one. After 100% of the P.P.E. expended has been recovered, reduce all penalties incurred by one for every 30 minutes of rest.If the magic user expends more than 150 P.P.E. in a 3 hour period (and survives), he must spend 1d4 hours recuperating (in addition to the duration of the penalties).
After the ambush, the group decides that they should set up camp. Eddie now has a chance to rest. After the first hour of rest, Eddie has recovered 10 P.P.E. (about 11% of the total P.P.E. expended), not quite enough to reduce his penalties. After another hour of rest, he has recovered enough P.P.E. (about 20%) to reduce his penalties to -3 Parry and Dodge and -2 to Initiative and APM.
Mages with stronger constitutions, both physical and mental, can usually cast more spells. Occasionally, a mage has enough endurance to delay the effects. However, the effects are usually only delayed, not eliminated.
Rule:
For the first 50 P.P.E. expended in a 3 hour period, the mage may make a saving throw (12 or higher) to see if they are successful. S/he gets a +1 to save for every 10 points of either the P.E. or M.E. attribute (choose one or the other, not both). If the mage fails the save, the standard penalties apply. If the saving throw is successful, the mage may continue with no adverse effects until another 30 P.P.E. has been expended, whereupon they must make another saving throw. Calculate the penalties as normal, but do not apply them. When the mage fails a saving throw at a later time or at the end of a 3 hour period, all the penalties that were accumulated are applied.
Eddie, after several hours and a full recovery, begins to adventure again. He's having a run of bad luck and gets into another battle. He expends 55 P.P.E. in spells. Eddie makes a saving throw to attempt to delay the effects and rolls a 13 (successful save). In the background somewhere, he has a -1 to Parry, Dodge, Initiative and APM, even though they are not applied now. He continues to cast and evade attacks with no adverse effects. After expending 30 more P.P.E. (for a total of 85), Eddie makes another save, this time rolling a 5 (failed save). He now has the initial -1 to Parry, Dodge, Initiative, and APM. He also has an additional -2 to Parry and Dodge and an additional -1 to Initiative and APM. His total penalties are now -3 to Parry and Dodge and -2 to Initiative and APM.
More experienced mages can channel more power through their bodies without experiencing negative effects. As the mage gains more power and experience, they become more adept at the spell casting.
Rule:
For every 2 levels of experience after 1st (3rd, 5th, 7th, etc), the base amount of P.P.E. needed to feel any effects increases by 15 P.P.E. A third level mage would not feel any effects until he had cast spells totaling 65 P.P.E. (50 + 15 additional). A fifth level mage would feel no effects until a total of 80 P.P.E. (50 + 15 + 15) had been cast.
Maxine is an experienced mage (6th level). She has survived long enough to become quite proficient in channeling the mystic energies that power spells through her body. During one battle, she cast a total of 90 P.P.E. on spells. If a novice mage (1st level) had expended the same P.P.E., he would have experienced penalties totaling -3 to Parry and Dodge, and -2 to Initiative and APM.
However, since Maxine is much more experienced, she suffers much less penalty. Specifically, she receives -1 to Parry, Dodge, Initiative, and APM. This is because the base amount required for her to feel any negative effects is 80 P.P.E. (50+15+15=80 P.P.E.).
When Maxine learns even more about the arcane (reaches 7th level), her base P.P.E. requirement will increase to 95 P.P.E. to cause any negative effects.
Rituals
Ritual casting is usually very taxing on a mage. This results from the great effort involved and the unusually high P.P.E. requirements.
Rule:
Any magic-user who casts a ritual that burns more than 75 P.P.E., must spend 1d4+1 hours recuperating. During this period, he is -4 to all combat rolls and -2 to his number of actions per melee. After half the recovery time has elapsed, the bonuses are reduced by half.
Fred the Mystic is creating a protector for himself; a mummy. He successfully casts the spell and creates the mummy. The ritual is so taxing that he must immediately rest (player rolls 1d4 and gets a 2). Fred needs to rest for at least 3 hours. When Fred cast the spell, he expended more than 75 P.P.E. and thus gets -4 to all of his combat rolls and -2 to his number of actions per melee. After 1.5 hours of lying in bed, Fred is somewhat recovered from his ordeal and has only -2 to all his combat rolls and -1 to his APM. After 3 hours of rest, Fred has completely recovered and has no penalties.
By Mystic (mystic@interkan.net) with help from Chris Curtis (curtis@thepentagon.com).