Hello, friends!
I like this idea of cantrips -- miniscule and harmless magics, little more than tricks, really -- that a youngling MU can have already in his bag. They'd be acquired outside of his classical training, and would have served to help him build confidence and remain interested in exacting and disciplined magical studies.
Take a young musician, for example. Sure, he's studied his scales and arpeggios; he can read a score; he's memorized some really good recital pieces; and he understands what good technique is and how to acquire it. But he still knows (and plays) the dozen or so songs or solos that he learned for fun as a beginner; some of these are what got him into the serious study of music in the first place. Hey, they're not Paganini sonatas, but they're pretty neat and fun to listen to. They're the ones he plays at parties, the ones that get him girls.
They're cantrips.
These could be a great way to make first-level magic users more appealing to players:
Gamemaster: "In addition to the spell lists you learn (or fail to learn), you can choose a number of cantrips equal to your prime requisite magic stat divided by 15 (since you're a pure spell user; hybrids, divide by 25 and semis get none). For you, that'd be a total of 6."
Potential MU: "What's a cantrip?"
Gamemaster: "Well, take a young musician, for example..." Ya da ya da ya da.
Potential MU: "What do they do?"
Gamemaster: "Well, they're miniscule and harmless magics, little more than tricks..." Ya da ya da ya da.
Potential MU: "How many power points does it take to cast them?"
Gamemaster: "None. They're level 0."
Potential MU: "Neat! And how often can I cast them?"
Gamemaster: "At will, as long as you can satisfy the verbal, gestural, and concentration requirements. They're all considered Class III spells at first level."
Potential MU: "That's wicked! How many do I get again, and where's the list?"
Just imagine the flavor this could inject into a campaign. Impressing ill-willed local folk and ignorant monsters, adding to leadership and influence rolls, creating diversions. And who knows? For a MU whose party is just about killed off, and who's at the bottom of, say, a pit, a cantrip and some creativity could save the day!
Guaranteed you'd get no objections from the players. Imagine their wide-eyed first-level satisfaction to hear some comely damsel exclaim,
"Upon my word! How'd you DO that?"
After all, isn't it THEM, the players, that it's really all about, and their loud and oft-expressed view that you're a freakin' creative genius, and the best GM that ever put mechanical pencil to hex paper? Uh... let me think for a minute... umm... Yeah, that IS what it's all about.
How about some ideas from the crowd out there? Here's a few off the top of my head. Forgive the corny names, just my homage to Gary G. and his wonderful Cantrips idea way back when (if it really WAS his idea).
1. Fobblewaith's Phony Footfalls: Makes one hearer believe he hears heavy booted feet coming up behind him.
2. Ignacius' Irritating Itch: Target gets a sudden annoying itch in some hard to reach place.
3. Caedmon's Colorful Campfire: Turns flames red, blue, and green for a short period.
4. Holban's Hazy Halo: Uses the smoke and dust in a room to create a strange and sorcerous halo behind the caster's head.
5. Smard's Smoky Sculptures: From fat smoke rings to sailing ships flying through them, astonishing shapes emerge from the caster's exhaled pipe (or merrig cigarette) smoke.
6. Vasmajian's Voice: Normal barn animals become animated commentators with this simple ventriloquistic cantrip: good for one sentence only.
7. Shelby's Shuffle: Teleport 2 feet to the left and then back again 2 seconds later.
8. Pollacks Pouffy Do: Caster's hair stands on end (or pouffs into a 'fro, perm, or other weird hairstyle) for a few seconds.
9. Magic Maw: Caster's mouth seems twice its normal size for a moment.
10. Sondar's Silly String: Caster pulls an enormously long string (say 20') from his mouth, through his ears, up one nostril and out the other... 'nuff said.
Yes, some will say this takes away from low-level spells. To which my reply would be,
"Yeah... and?"
Let's face it. First level spells aren't all that great, and they're really not exciting even to first level players. I haven't played as much as some of you other guys, but wouldn't you agree that players tend to choose Arms or Semi-spell characters more than Pures? And when they do, that they aren't in the action as much as they'd like? And wouldn't you agree that's a bit of a shame, with a spell system as excellent as Spell Law?
Anything balanced to get player buy-in on magic, says I.
I'm seriously considering adding cantrips to my game. If anyone can direct me to a good, lengthy list of such interesting cantrips, please do! And please, let's hear your opinions!
