Magitech, Learn by Experience

Since I started this blog to post images of my collection and write a little  blurb on them I am not sure why I am feeling guilty about not being able to say  more about the Amazing Engine products but I am. With that admission out of the  way let me go on to say that this is the third product in the line I have spoken  about and it is also the one I know the least about so far.

Part of the reason for my lack of knowledge may be as simple as the cover. I  have never liked the silliness of the cover for some reason. As a result I have  never been compelled to pick it up and read it. I recall this being in a lot I  purchased off eBay as I know I would never have gone out of my way to buy it. I  know you are not supposed to judge a book by it's cover and all that but what  can I say.

In looking for something to base what I would write about for this I find that  the "book and it's cover" may be true on this one. It supposedly has a fairly  nice magical system built into it. Other than that it very much to me sounded  like TSR wanted to come close to the Shadowrun setting without the back story.  That is just me taking it at face value from the blurb on the back. I have a  vision of Shadowrun in middle America for some reason. In the end I may have to  dig this out or buy another copy just to take a look over the magic system.


Published: 1993
Pages: 128

From the back cover:

"The world of the Magitech Game is Earth in the 1990s -- with a few twists.  Magic has long been recognized and studied, so that normal technology is  stunted, and magical items are commonplace modern conveniences. Other  intelligent species evolved with humankind, and now elves run a powerful Central  American nation, minotaurs govern the nation of Texas, and intelligent reptiles  control Southeast Asia. European colonization was halted by native magic, and  nations of Africans and Native Americans were established long ago, and remain  powerful today.

While most people lead normal lives, going to work and school, others choose a  life of adventure, exploring the ruins of a Europe devastated at the end of  World War II, searching for treasure in the jungle temples of a Venus colonized  more than a millennium ago, or facing the adventure of modern, magical  civilization.


Spell:

Learn by Experience

Level: Sixth
Range: None
Duration: Instantaneous
Area of Effect: Caster
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 2 Segments
Saving Throw: None

When this spell is cast the magic user will sacrifice experience in order to  learn something of their future. The sacrifice in experience must be something  that is meaningful and there is no guarantee of what the caster will find.

When the spell is cast the magic user will lose a base of 1% of their total  experience. They will then need to sacrifice experience to determine how far in the future they will be able to travel. The cost will 6000 xp per round that they  want to explore. The caster will need to make the declaration when the spell is  cast. Once this is made the DM will need to pull the player aside play out the  time period in question alone. The play will continue until the time period  specified is reached or the caster dies in the walk through.

Anything that happens during this time period will not really occur when it is  played out in the walk through. Once the spell is ended the same events may  occur provided that the caster directs the events exactly as they happened in  their walk through. Changing very minor events will not alter the experience  provided the timing stays the same but events that might attract attention of  others and anything affecting the timing could alter the experience.

In addition to the loss of experience the caster will age a minimum of one year  with the casting of the spell. There is a 1% cumulative chance per round  explored that the aging will become 1 year/round. The sacrifice of experience  must be from a pool that is being used towards advancement in levels as well. If  the caster is at their maximum experience level their experience point total  will be reduced as if they had been at the maximum point total for that level  and nothing higher.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last,  were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not  appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then  it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells  that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to  comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these  in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper  credit.