Who can learn magic?

[barna10]

Would you say that anyone with the PPE can learn to cast spells?

Could they apprentice themselves and learn the art without changing classes?

How would you handle it if you allowed it?

[Marrowlight]

In my heart of hearts, I never cared much for racial restrictions on classes. Stat restrictions I can live with -- if your IQ is 4, you shouldn't be learning to cast spells. Though a case could be made to me for being a mystic or godling. With that said, I'm not one for apprenticing that doesn't involve a class change. Your life as a Rogue Scholar or RPA Pilot or whatever is froze while you go through your apprenticeship imo.

[Thinyser]

Can Superpowered characters learn magic?

I mean besides magic being their superpower (as in enchanted weapon/object etc.)

Could a mutant with superpowers train to be a LLW in rifts or could they be captured by a Temporal Raider and forced into servitude to become a temporal warrior/wizard, or become any of the other training based magic classes (ie no mystics)?

[The Beast]

In theory just about anyone (hence the first P in PPE being for Potential). However, I've always played with a rule that says you can't switch to a magic OCC unless your first OCC was a magic OCC, with exceptions for magic OCCs that gain their powers from outside sources (ie: witch). Kind of an offshoot from the "belief" requirment usually found in the first page or two of the magic section in the main rule books.

[Thinyser]

In theory just about anyone (hence the first P in PPE being for Potential). However, I've always played with a rule that says you can't switch to a magic OCC unless your first OCC was a magic OCC, with exceptions for magic OCCs that gain their powers from outside sources (ie: witch). Kind of an offshoot from the "belief" requirment usually found in the first page or two of the magic section in the main rule books.

So where would that leave a Superpower being (basically an RCC IMO).

They obviously have abilities that go beyond normal human expectations so should have no problem believing that other abilities could be derived from other means (ie magic).

[Astral Pantheon]

Concidering the amount of TIME required to learn magic... YES you have to change your OCC. Any CC, be it R or O is not just a class but a PACKAGE, and in those packages comes a variety of skills and stat modifiers that allow you to do what it is you're trying to achieve. In the case of magic, there's concentration, memorization, PPE mastery... the list goes on and on and theres no way you could just pick that up on the fly without a WISH spell... which doesn't exist in Palladium. So unless you want to convert to D&D and then convert BACK to Palladium... You're just gonna have to suffer like the rest of us.

Pass the Tree of knowledge test ... No time needed and keep your class

[Damian Magecraft]

Concidering the amount of TIME required to learn magic... YES you have to change your OCC. Any CC, be it R or O is not just a class but a PACKAGE, and in those packages comes a variety of skills and stat modifiers that allow you to do what it is you're trying to achieve. In the case of magic, there's concentration, memorization, PPE mastery... the list goes on and on and theres no way you could just pick that up on the fly without a WISH spell... which doesn't exist in Palladium. So unless you want to convert to D&D and then convert BACK to Palladium... You're just gonna have to suffer like the rest of us.

Pass the Tree of knowledge test ... No time needed and keep your class

that only grants the knowledge not the ability to cast

[Damian Magecraft]

Concidering the amount of TIME required to learn magic... YES you have to change your OCC. Any CC, be it R or O is not just a class but a PACKAGE, and in those packages comes a variety of skills and stat modifiers that allow you to do what it is you're trying to achieve. In the case of magic, there's concentration, memorization, PPE mastery... the list goes on and on and theres no way you could just pick that up on the fly without a WISH spell... which doesn't exist in Palladium. So unless you want to convert to D&D and then convert BACK to Palladium... You're just gonna have to suffer like the rest of us.

Pass the Tree of knowledge test ... No time needed and keep your class

that only grants the knowledge not the ability to cast

A bit of hair-splitting there.
*Edit* The real kicker is the lack of PPE boost, so the character in question may know how to cast every spell under the sun, but he will lack the PPE necessary to cast them.

as a GM hairsplitting is stock in trade...
especially when dealing with rules abusive players...

[Damian Magecraft]

Concidering the amount of TIME required to learn magic... YES you have to change your OCC. Any CC, be it R or O is not just a class but a PACKAGE, and in those packages comes a variety of skills and stat modifiers that allow you to do what it is you're trying to achieve. In the case of magic, there's concentration, memorization, PPE mastery... the list goes on and on and theres no way you could just pick that up on the fly without a WISH spell... which doesn't exist in Palladium. So unless you want to convert to D&D and then convert BACK to Palladium... You're just gonna have to suffer like the rest of us.

Pass the Tree of knowledge test ... No time needed and keep your class

that only grants the knowledge not the ability to cast

A bit of hair-splitting there.
*Edit* The real kicker is the lack of PPE boost, so the character in question may know how to cast every spell under the sun, but he will lack the PPE necessary to cast them.

as a GM hairsplitting is stock in trade...
especially when dealing with rules abusive players...

I would argue that knowing the spell includes how to cast it, but that's a GM call.

I am not sure the type of players you have in your neck of the woods but here we got some of the worst rules lawyering munchkins that could possibly exist...I actually witnessed a player claim it was possible to parry a dragons stomp with nothing more than his wolfen noble's dagger......his reasoning? "it says so in the rules"

[Damian Magecraft]

I am not sure the type of players you have in your neck of the woods but here we got some of the worst rules lawyering munchkins that could possibly exist...I actually witnessed a player claim it was possible to parry a dragons stomp with nothing more than his wolfen noble's dagger......his reasoning? "it says so in the rules"

I haven't gamed with a rules lawyer like that since my group moved to 3.5 and broke up.

you dont wanna know what that player does in 3.X....a level of this, a level of that....all said and done 20 levels of 5 to 10 different classes (prestige included)....

[barna10]

As far as the Tree of Knowledge goes, if it didn't grant the ability to cast spells, Odin wouldn't be a mage.

[Library Ogre]

As far as the Tree of Knowledge goes, if it didn't grant the ability to cast spells, Odin wouldn't be a mage.

Inconclusive. Remember, he also sacrificed his eye to the Well of Wisdom.

[Rallan]

Theoretically anyone from an RCC which allows spellcasters can learn magic, but in practice it don't turn out that way. For starters, learning enough about magic to actually be able to use it yourself takes years and years of training. The spellcasting OCCs are generally portrayed as the culmination of a lifetime of study and dedication, not professions that you can just drift into if you got halfway through college and decided you didn't want to be an accountant after all. If you don't get that training during your formative years when your mystical potential is developing, you're probably never going to be a fully-fledged mage.

Also, not everyone is likely to have the natural aptitude for it, even though the potential lurks inside every human being (or elf or whatever) on the planet. We can all potentially grow up to be physicists or professional gymnasts, but very few of us actually have the knack to make it even if we're given the opportunity. Same with magic. If it doesn't click with you on the right mental and spiritual levels, you're always going to suck at it no matter how hard you try.

[The Beast]

In theory just about anyone (hence the first P in PPE being for Potential). However, I've always played with a rule that says you can't switch to a magic OCC unless your first OCC was a magic OCC, with exceptions for magic OCCs that gain their powers from outside sources (ie: witch). Kind of an offshoot from the "belief" requirment usually found in the first page or two of the magic section in the main rule books.

So where would that leave a Superpower being (basically an RCC IMO).

They obviously have abilities that go beyond normal human expectations so should have no problem believing that other abilities could be derived from other means (ie magic).

IIRC there was a rule that prevented this. Can't remember where I saw it though (1st Ed HU?).

If no such rule exsists, then the question would then be would you allow that? I'm not sure I would. Maybe if we're using the PPE Channeling rules and treat such a PC/NPC as the lowest mage-class of the three. I'm sure that the superpowers would mess with the flow somehow.

[Giant2005]

Can Superpowered characters learn magic?

I mean besides magic being their superpower (as in enchanted weapon/object etc.)

Could a mutant with superpowers train to be a LLW in rifts or could they be captured by a Temporal Raider and forced into servitude to become a temporal warrior/wizard, or become any of the other training based magic classes (ie no mystics)?

Yes.
In Skraypers, the Bio Freaks and superpowered humans of Talus can become magic users if they encounter someone able to teach them. I see no reason the super-powered beings of HU can't follow the same rules.

[asajosh]

As far as the Tree of Knowledge goes, if it didn't grant the ability to cast spells, Odin wouldn't be a mage.

Odin is a GOD.
If I remember my Norse mythology correctly, he is a god of war and magic.

[Library Ogre]

As far as the Tree of Knowledge goes, if it didn't grant the ability to cast spells, Odin wouldn't be a mage.

Likely not. After all, he'd previously sacrificed an eye to the Well of Wisdom.

[Library Ogre]

Mimir, an ally of the Aesir, watched over the Well of Wisdom, which sits at the roots of the Yggdrasil. In order to get a drink from it, he gave an eye to Mimir. It helped Odin lead the Aesir to prominence, but it also left him knowing some of his own fate.