In the tabletop game 'Rolemaster', there was a method where a spell caster could, with a lot of risk, 'overcast' a spell. By this it was meant that they could cast a spell higher than their level or cast a spell which required a certain number of spellpoints when they didn't have those points. This meant, in extremis, they could pull off impressive spells but they risked a lot of problems if they failed or risked draining effects/scanners like head explosions etc.

Now, my question is: Is it possible to have such a system in a LRP game?

About the only way I can think of is something similar to what used to happen in QC if you decided to do a ritual without having enough points - you could go unconcsious for an hour and gain an extra point to add to the ritual. So, I suppose, some form of 'life burning' could be done where you, say, lose a body point for every magic point you need. You could even use a bead bag to get 'bad effects' in - some beads mean lose all power for a day, others mean actual damage, some mean no effect and so on.

But is there any other way to do it? And should this sort of thing be used?

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The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God...

Ruins of Empire

1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester

You're entitled to your opinion as long as you realise it's wrong.

But everyone started with one inate essence point and spellcasters could use this when all else had run out but fell unconcious for the 15 minutes required to meditate it back.

PD: Finch: Deader than most people manage
LT: Tirell Dreamstruck: Expert cat herder
GandTGamage - producer of Player events and other such occurances. http://amoss.co.uk/contrivance.htm

  Yep.  At DUTT, you buy the ability to cast at a certain level (you cast at level 1 if you buy one rank of Elemental Skill, level 2 if you have two ranks, and so on).  Then you buy the spells you want separately, and each spell has its own level.  If a spell's level is higher than the number of ranks you have in Elemental Skill, then you can still cast it- but you will take hitpoint damage.  The situation is complicated somewhat by the question of which type of magical artefact the mage is drawing the power to cast from, but that's the principle of the situation.

  So, it's a little more complex than I'd ideally like, but in essence the situation is that a relatively weak mage can learn to cast a fairly powerful spell- but it will cost them a fair amount of XP to learn it, and mana to cast it, and they may well faint, start bleeding to death, or even die instantly if it's a *really* powerful spell.  That gives a certain amount of potential for dramatic sacrifices.  I also used to know a mage who, after casting a spell which gave them one hit point of damage, would discreetly apply fake blood in a way that looked as if they were having a nosebleed- that was cool, because it made it the magic they were using seem a bit more dangerous and taxing than it usually does in a high fantasy system.  In practice, however, I think most DUTT mages currently stick to casting spells which are too low-level to do them any damage (possibly this is a consequence of having a fairly dangerous low-hit system to begin with- going into a combat situation with even one extra hit point of damage could mean the difference between life and death).

  We also have a system where each mage uses up mana points every time they cast something.  If the amount of mana that a spell costs is higher than the amount of mana that a caster has left, then they can still cast the spell, but they will die instantly as the necessary power is drawn from their own body.  Slightly different mechanic, but the effect is similar- it means that mages can make final sacrifices if they choose to, but in practice it doesn't seem to happen very often.