Do you allow magic from other books in your game?

[FatherMorpheus]

Normally I allow this, but there has to be some good explanation on how they were discovered, developed or granted. A lot of times they require tweaking to fit the new setting.

Usually my groups have a rule that we require people to research the spell on their own to create them as they aren't normally part of that world.

[wyrmraker]

We have always run this scenario on a case-by-case basis. That's really the best way to do it. For a 'Megaversal System', it really needs a properly written Megaversal Conversion Book.

[Alrik Vas]

Well, unless it's taught to you, any spell has to be gained from research (either from a scroll or from your own ideas). Now, there are certain limitations to magic, mostly of the caster's mind and understanding.

Thus, i usually don't allow magic outside of what is usually allowed, but i can be flexible. If a character wants access to certain types of magic that are off-setting (a PF guy wants nightbane spells for instance) and that was his whole concept (he wanted to learn off-world magic, for the POWAR!!!) i'd treat it like a shifter type. A great and powerful nightbane (or...night...lord...) might feel his call, ambition etc and decide to enter into a pact, granting him power in exchange for...something..later.

Much later.

[eliakon]

The answer is heavily "It depends" I am very often adding spells from PF to Rifts and vice versa, since they both have lots of basic spells that fill in all sorts of niches. The same is often true of some of the spells from Nightbane. I don't see any problem with adding basic stuff to any game. The more specialized magics I tend to look at on a case by case basis and see what its for, and what the effect would be. I can't honestly say that adding a spell like Midnight Wind to HU is going to even be noticed, and it fits the whole comic book theme perfectly. But the Charm Weapon line of spells from Nightbane doesn't really fit in most PF games, so if players want them they are going to have to either do the full on research, or go looking for them....in other dimensions.
I hope that helped.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Mostly yes. If they fit the setting.

The concepts have to compatible with the setting being played in.

To gives examples, spells like Sub-part. Acceleration and Summon Nightbane would not be found in PF because the concepts the spells are based around are not compatible with the PF world. NB are not in any other setting other then the NB setting and the concepts of the atomic theory are not compatible with the PF world's basic technical knowledge.

Then there is the conversion issues when going back and forth between SDC and MDC settings, which can nix a spell authorization.

[arouetta]

I've done so only once. A player wanted to play a necromancer in PF, and I took the spells from Mystic Russia as I felt it rounded out the OCC better. I also threw in spells from LoB as pickable spells (Book of Bygone Spirits). The MDC conversion was a pain, but ultimately it seems that it went from an NPC OCC to a PC OCC with the additional spells.

[Sir_Spirit]

Isn't Palladium the source of all magic? It has the Old Ones, who invented most of it, and it had the time of 1000 magicks. So, who knows what magic a small village, eccentric old guy, or lost scrolls hold.

[eliakon]

Isn't Palladium the source of all magic? It has the Old Ones, who invented most of it, and it had the time of 1000 magicks. So, who knows what magic a small village, eccentric old guy, or lost scrolls hold.

In PF yes, amazingly everything is PF-centric (imagine that ) So in a PF game, the Megaverse revolves around Palladium. In say rifts....not so much.
But yes, you could find just about any random magical bit of oddness in PF if you rummage around far enough, sure.

[Tor]

Isn't Palladium the source of all magic? It has the Old Ones, who invented most of it, and it had the time of 1000 magicks.

I'm sure legends (probably shaped by Old Ones or their followers or those lost in fear of them) attribute the invention of magic to them, but I'm unsure if we're explicitly told that this is the case.

Any actual word-of-god (meaning Kev/Bill not Thoth) on the issue? Chronicles don't count, just books.

[Damian Magecraft]

Like most have said here...
On a case by case basis.
One mage knowing multiple "styles/schools" of magic? Very rare and needs to fit the stated grand concept of the character and the spells need to fit the setting as well...
Techno/cyber magic in PF? probably not going to happen.
But a Player wanting to play a Tattoo Man in PF, BTS, or HU? yeah sure why not?

[Tor]

Not sure a mage knowing multiple styles is THAT rare, that's EVERY alchemist (who know at least 3) and the amount who know 2 probably outweighs the number who know 3.

[Damian Magecraft]

Not sure a mage knowing multiple styles is THAT rare, that's EVERY alchemist (who know at least 3) and the amount who know 2 probably outweighs the number who know 3.

An NPC only Multi-class hence rare.
since there are no hard data on the number of mages that know 3+ "schools" claiming that the number that know 2 outweighs them is just useless nit picking.

[Tor]

NPC-only classes are not necessarily rare.

NPCs give us some level of data on how many there are. I'm not even sure how we can establish what number 'rare' is. Mages as a whole could be considered rare compared to vagabonds. Whether multi-mages are rare compared to solo-mages is... unresolvable until we put a percentile on rarity.

[gaby]

Yes,in the from of Magic items.

[The Beast]

For example, if you're playing PFRPG, do you allow the expanded spell-list in the BOM (or other books)? Why or why not?

Yes, but you can't gain the spell upon leveling up. You have to go out and find/research it.