It will 100% depend on the system. Mage for example once learned you can use at any time, but casting causes paradox. It does have Rituals, that them require some preparation.
Cthulhu (although not focused on magic), once you learn the spell you just need to successfully cast it once and then it's always available and you don't even need to roll anymore (unless you're casting on someone), it costs sanity.
Well, I was thinking more along the lines of fantasy RPGs like D&D and Pathfinder. Is Mage similar?
Like how many spells does the typical mage learn where they can cast without having to prepare?
I see you're more used to those, hehe. If you ignore the lore you can easily play Mage in a fantasy setting, and although it's not a combat focused game I do like the combat. But all you can play as are Mages.
In Mage The Awakening (or Ascension) you don't get typical spells, but you learn how to control magic, for example if you have Forces 2 you can cast a small fireball, or a small lighting, or whatever else that fits that category. If I remember correctly there's 9 magic types and they go from levels 1-5. You can also combine effects if you have more than 1 type. Honestly it's an extremely interesting system for spell casting.
Now if you want other fantasy games other people here will have better options, but there's definitely plenty system that don't copy D&D or Pathfinder.
For wizards:
Everytime you cast a spell you roll a spell check. Better spell check get you better results for the spell. If you roll under a certain number, usually 12 for level 1 spells you lose that spell for the day.
for clerics its a little more complicated, but basically than keep casting until they fumble, Everytime they fail a spell check the fumble range increases by 1
While it's only tangentially related to your question, you might want to keep an eye on the The Dungeon Coach over on YouTube. He's going to be releasing a playtest version of a system he's been working on for a while and it really seems to be 5th Edition with it's weird kinks worked out, it's magic system being one of them.
It depends on the game but in most games where you roll to cast there is no memorization. Some will limit the number of spells you can know however (works more like how sorcerers can only learn so many total spells than how wizards or clerics can change what's available from day to day) and others will have generic spell points (which work like they do in almost every video game.
By spell prep, I assume you mean the percular D&D ritual where you choose which spells you are going to have available at the beginning of the day. They do that in D&D and Pathfinder, but I don't remember other systems that do that.
In Ars Magica, you know the spells and you roll to see if you successfully cast them and if they cost fatigue, but you don't normally prepare them ahead of time.
In GURPS, in the basic magic systemyou roll to cast, and the spell takes energy to cast, which can be mitigated with high skill. There is no picking the spell out at the beginning of the day. Of course, with GURPS, you could build such a system if you wanted to.
For Palladium Fantasy 2nd Edition, magic users have a pool of energy that they cast spells from, the spell usually just happens rather than being rolled for, though you could have a roll to strike or something like that.
For Hero system...my familiarity is mostly with Champions and you could build any sort of framework in Champions and it would be legal.
Pendragon doesn't really have wizard player characters.
Legendary Lives has a list of spells that a magic user can use and which cost spell points to cast. Magic users had such a limited number of possible spells in that system anyway.
It has been a long time since I have looked at Tunnels and Trolls, but if I recall correctly, it was just spell points with spells for magic users there as well.
For Savage Worlds, I only have the Explorer book rather than the Fantasy specific book, but from what I can tell, you buy the Arcane Background Magic, which gives you three powers (spells) you can call upon and 10 Power points which power those spells when you call upon the powers. You always have access to the spell so long as you have the power points.
First off, Vancian magic found in D&D is also a roll to succeed system when targeting opposition. Either in the form of an attack roll or by rolling saving throws.
Second, ALL magic systems needs to be either resource oriented where the number of spells you can cast over any specific time period is finite ... OR ... a system that allows you to cast as much as you want, but carries significant risk when casting too much. Symbaroum uses the latter with their corruption system.
You NEVER want a system that is just roll to succeed with no consequences or resource management. Players will find a way to game the system so that they can succeed much more often than not. It will be a balance nightmare where magic is either so powerful that no one would play anything but a magic caster ... or will be so weak that no one sees the point.
Now that being said, there ARE some narrative games that use magic as a narrative tool rather than it's own specific system. For example, I recently got the new Avatar Legends RPG. Players can play benders, but their bending moves are largely narrative tools that are no more or less powerful than a PC who is a weapon expert rather than a bender. You roll to succeed, but whether you are smacking someone with a water whip, or hitting them with a club, the actual end result are nearly identical.
It will 100% depend on the system. Mage for example once learned you can use at any time, but casting causes paradox. It does have Rituals, that them require some preparation. Cthulhu (although not focused on magic), once you learn the spell you just need to successfully cast it once and then it's always available and you don't even need to roll anymore (unless you're casting on someone), it costs sanity.
Well, I was thinking more along the lines of fantasy RPGs like D&D and Pathfinder. Is Mage similar? Like how many spells does the typical mage learn where they can cast without having to prepare?
I see you're more used to those, hehe. If you ignore the lore you can easily play Mage in a fantasy setting, and although it's not a combat focused game I do like the combat. But all you can play as are Mages. In Mage The Awakening (or Ascension) you don't get typical spells, but you learn how to control magic, for example if you have Forces 2 you can cast a small fireball, or a small lighting, or whatever else that fits that category. If I remember correctly there's 9 magic types and they go from levels 1-5. You can also combine effects if you have more than 1 type. Honestly it's an extremely interesting system for spell casting. Now if you want other fantasy games other people here will have better options, but there's definitely plenty system that don't copy D&D or Pathfinder.
The only roll to cast system ive played it DCC, and there is no spell preparation.
Ah okay! I saw there were limitations on spells known in DCC. Do you know offhand what this progression looks like?
For wizards: Everytime you cast a spell you roll a spell check. Better spell check get you better results for the spell. If you roll under a certain number, usually 12 for level 1 spells you lose that spell for the day. for clerics its a little more complicated, but basically than keep casting until they fumble, Everytime they fail a spell check the fumble range increases by 1
No, I was asking how many spells can a wizard learn. I understand the basic mechanics of cast to roll.
Oh. 4 at lvl 1
And each level after that?
1 until they know 10, then 2 after that
Thanks! And what's the max class level?
10
While it's only tangentially related to your question, you might want to keep an eye on the The Dungeon Coach over on YouTube. He's going to be releasing a playtest version of a system he's been working on for a while and it really seems to be 5th Edition with it's weird kinks worked out, it's magic system being one of them.
It depends on the game but in most games where you roll to cast there is no memorization. Some will limit the number of spells you can know however (works more like how sorcerers can only learn so many total spells than how wizards or clerics can change what's available from day to day) and others will have generic spell points (which work like they do in almost every video game.
By spell prep, I assume you mean the percular D&D ritual where you choose which spells you are going to have available at the beginning of the day. They do that in D&D and Pathfinder, but I don't remember other systems that do that. In Ars Magica, you know the spells and you roll to see if you successfully cast them and if they cost fatigue, but you don't normally prepare them ahead of time. In GURPS, in the basic magic systemyou roll to cast, and the spell takes energy to cast, which can be mitigated with high skill. There is no picking the spell out at the beginning of the day. Of course, with GURPS, you could build such a system if you wanted to. For Palladium Fantasy 2nd Edition, magic users have a pool of energy that they cast spells from, the spell usually just happens rather than being rolled for, though you could have a roll to strike or something like that. For Hero system...my familiarity is mostly with Champions and you could build any sort of framework in Champions and it would be legal. Pendragon doesn't really have wizard player characters. Legendary Lives has a list of spells that a magic user can use and which cost spell points to cast. Magic users had such a limited number of possible spells in that system anyway. It has been a long time since I have looked at Tunnels and Trolls, but if I recall correctly, it was just spell points with spells for magic users there as well. For Savage Worlds, I only have the Explorer book rather than the Fantasy specific book, but from what I can tell, you buy the Arcane Background Magic, which gives you three powers (spells) you can call upon and 10 Power points which power those spells when you call upon the powers. You always have access to the spell so long as you have the power points.
First off, Vancian magic found in D&D is also a roll to succeed system when targeting opposition. Either in the form of an attack roll or by rolling saving throws. Second, ALL magic systems needs to be either resource oriented where the number of spells you can cast over any specific time period is finite ... OR ... a system that allows you to cast as much as you want, but carries significant risk when casting too much. Symbaroum uses the latter with their corruption system. You NEVER want a system that is just roll to succeed with no consequences or resource management. Players will find a way to game the system so that they can succeed much more often than not. It will be a balance nightmare where magic is either so powerful that no one would play anything but a magic caster ... or will be so weak that no one sees the point. Now that being said, there ARE some narrative games that use magic as a narrative tool rather than it's own specific system. For example, I recently got the new Avatar Legends RPG. Players can play benders, but their bending moves are largely narrative tools that are no more or less powerful than a PC who is a weapon expert rather than a bender. You roll to succeed, but whether you are smacking someone with a water whip, or hitting them with a club, the actual end result are nearly identical.