You cannot defeat me! I have crafted a doiley of protection!
The origami idea sounds great 
Its something people could practice too and become more prolific spellcasters
Or possibly more proficient.
Err… yes. that one ^
[quote]Special Talent: All-Seasons Spellcaster
Caster may use greasproof paper for spellcasting, allowing magic to be performed in the rain.[/quote]
[quote=“TimeTraveller”]You cannot defeat me! I have crafted a doiley of protection![/quote]
For a more European theme, something like crocheting or finger knitting? It’d kind of fit in with a flavour of magic that’s to do with knots and weaving, which some novels do. And change the role of casters from something you do in the middle of a fight to something you do in quiet periods as preparation.
Knot-tying in general is probably a fairly universal craft that takes time.
I don’t think it has quite the same cool flavour or practical advantages of origami though. And I would never play a spell-caster in a game where you had to that used knots for magic… I really suck at knots. Never tried origami.
Writing symbols on paper is another time-consuming action that can have a magical flavour, and it could be combined with paper-folding.
Naturally, I’ve now found an example of early European paper-folding in an illuminated manuscript from 1440.
loggiaserena.com/Resume/Docu … ingDoc.pdf
Paper-folding enthusiasts were apparently very excited by the find.
Drawing/painting specific symbols/runes.
Step 1 of magic would be to acquire the symbols (can provide RP opportinities like being mentored by another mage, or finding magical scrolls with the symbol, or buying them from people, etc …)
Step 2 would be to do the drawing/painting
Step 3 would be to do the thing with that drawing/painting (stick it on something, burn it, put it in water, etc … )
You could have different material components that added different abilities/effects to the casting (i.e.; a rune drawn in another person’s blood cast the effect on that person - a symbol forged out of silver effects werewolves, etc …
I like the origami idea too. Origami is beautiful, but so far I’ve only ever managed to figure out how to make a hat! Maybe that’d make me immune from sap as long as the wee hat stayed on my head?
Edit: Edited because my sleep-deprived brain composed a sentence that made NO sense!
Cat’s cradle and other string figures. They can be v. simple or v. complex, some patterns (like the cradle) need two sets of hands, and they were extant in Britain as far back as the Middle Ages.
[quote=“amphigori”]I like the origami idea too. Origami is beautiful, but so far I’ve only ever managed to figure out how to make a hat! Maybe that’d make me immune from sap as long as the wee hat stayed on my head?[/quote]And if you make it out of tinfoil, then you’ll be immune to sap and the GMs won’t be able to read your mind. Good thinking!
I like the origami, and string cat cradle idea for casting spells, not just because I am terrible at remember phrases. Uses concentration and both hands, which for me have been traditional aspects of spell casting. Being a visual thing, I can see people trying to cast surreptitiously, and can be interrupted, which adds good game interaction potential.
The concept of being able to hand the target something tangible (whether completed origami, knot, string figurine, ballon animal, whatever) as a focus/token for the magic is quite neat.
Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! It’s great to see this discussion take off.
Perhaps I should have called it Paper Folding, rather than Origami, since, as Ryan points out, the craft spans much of Eurasia, even centuries ago.
I’m liking the other ideas about tangible spell casting as well, please keep them coming if you have more!
What you’re talking about is a method extremely similar to something already in play in a LARP, namely the Jade Empire, an oriental fantasy.
The system I got to see as a crew member was that many of the magic users in the game must spend time writing paper talismans with calligraphy brushes - these talismans can then be used once ripped in two - and can be used by a non-magic user also.
I’d get in touch with game creator and lead GM Erin (steelphoenix on these forums) if I were you Nick - you two ought to compare notes.
Its certainly an interesting idea, and it can potentially significantly change the role of magic users and the way they are played in a game, especially in boffer combat situations. But, that being said, it is also possible that I might be put off playing a magic user in a game where magic was done in that method, simply because I’m pretty useless with my hands and wouldn’t trust that I could actually produce origami/knots/etc that were good enough to be considered successfully cast spells. Its similar to how I won’t try to play some sort of sword master at a boffer LARP, because I simply don’t have the skill in real life to back it up. But that’s me.
The ever-swaying tight-rope we walk in larp between “yay, it’s really real!” and “woohoo, I can do things I can’t in real life!” is a tricky one indeed.
A potential way this could be balanced, is to have spells represented by categories, rather than one specific origami-fold. For example, “magic shield (1 magical AP) is cast with a bird folded from red paper”, or “crippling lifeleech (drain 2HP/minute for 10 minutes) is cast with a turtle/tortoise folded from black paper”.
This gives the caster a lot of freedom to express their character through the style and choice of their folds, and also encourages mages to talk with each other, and share ideas, learning easier/faster/more beautiful origami folds.
For combat situations, you may wish to fold that bird as fast as possible, using a big piece of paper & a really simple fold to make it easy to get your shield up in time. But if you were going to give a gift of protection to a loved one, you may labour for an hour over a small piece of ornate red paper, creating a unique & intricate bird that truly expresses the intent & thought behind the gift.
To provide arbitration (i.e. so I can’t just hold up a triangle of paper and say, “It’s a dragon!”), a “master mage” GM/NPC could be present, to whom lesser mages could present new or non-standard folds for inspection. The master could then either congratulate the caster (“Ah, you have taken another step towards the 12th-folded enlightenment!”), or points out a “problem” with the fold (“Oh no, these vertices have tainted your invocation - destroy it quickly for it imperils you!”), to indicate whether it will be considered legal in the game rules or not.
The “master mage” could also teach/train casters when they gain new spells, helping them with the basic fold for the category. This, to me, feels way cooler than just reading in your character sheet “Oh, and you can now cast summon greater sandwich”.
Just throwing some more thoughts on the idea-fire
[size=85]*edited for further clarity[/size]
[quote=“Ignifluous”]The ever-swaying tight-rope we walk in larp between “yay, it’s really real!” and “woohoo, I can do things I can’t in real life!” is a tricky one indeed.
A potential way this could be balanced, is to have spells represented by categories, rather than one specific origami-fold. For example, “magic shield (1 magical AP) is cast with a bird folded from red paper”, or “crippling lifeleech (drain 2HP/minute for 10 minutes) is cast with a turtle/tortoise folded from black paper”.
This gives the caster a lot of freedom to express their character through the style and choice of their folds, and also encourages mages to talk with each other, and share ideas, learning easier/faster/more beautiful origami folds.
For combat situations, you may wish to fold that bird as fast as possible, using a big piece of paper to make it easy to get your shield up in time. But if you were going to give a gift of protection to a loved one, you may labour for an hour over a small piece of ornate red paper, creating a unique & intricate bird that truly expresses the intent & thought behind the gift.
To provide arbitration (i.e. so I can’t just hold up a triangle of paper and say, “It’s a dragon!”), a “master mage” GM/NPC could be present, to whom lesser mages could present new or non-standard folds for inspection. The master could then either congratulate the caster (“Ah, you have taken another step towards the 12th-folded enlightenment!”), or points out a “problem” with the fold (“Oh no, these vertices have tainted your invocation - destroy it quickly for it imperils you!”), to indicate whether it will be considered legal in the game rules or not.
The “master mage” could also teach/train casters when they gain new spells, helping them with the basic fold for the category. This, to me, feels way cooler than just reading in your character sheet “Oh, and you can now cast summon greater sandwich”.
Just throwing some more thoughts on the idea-fire [/quote]
^ I like this 
Awesome idea! I love it.
Being creative in what players do when using special abilities including magic is something I think we all agree should happen.
Paper folding is just one example of a way to do this although it is definitely a Japanese themed way of magic. The reason I say that Paper Folding is Japanese themed is because the majority of it we do is based on animals which is something that japanese culture focuses on. If you were to build a culture or world were a similar idea was used then paper folding animals would be excellent.
I think what is important is to define what types of things can be used for creative magic in LARPS, Origami is good as it:
[ul][li]is easy to learn[/li]
[li]relatively inexpensive[/li]
[li]has an excellent visual aspect[/li]
[li]the more work put into it the better the outcome[/li]
[li]variability of results[/li][/ul]
What are creative things fall under some or all of these definitions?
Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone!
Another idea I had for similar such mechanics was song with instrumental accompaniment, specifically for timed effects. The song could be dedicated to specific characters, with the type of skill, or effect intended (from a limited list as specified by the game system), before the song had begun. Once the song starts, the characters that the song is dedicated to gain the bonus effect, so long as they can still hear the song and make out the words coherently.
The instrumental accompaniment is required so that the song has an easily perceived rhythm, can be sought out again from a distance by those who wander too far away to hear the singing, and to make it easy to distinguish between someone talking in a lyrical manner, and someone(s) casting a spell.
This musical ability casting has the added bonus that you don’t need to see it to know it’s happening.
The detriment, of course, is that it’s limited to those who know how to sing and can project their voice, and those who can play instruments. The idea is that a person casting the buffs can do both, but doesn’t have to (i.e. one person can sing, while another person plays an instrument, and together they are casting the same buff).
Let me know what you think.
@Igniflous; I like your ideas! That sounds like an excellent way to bring variations in folded models into a game.
@Robza; you’re right, I should definitely compare notes.