Quote:
Originally Posted by z0boson
The learning process can also be simulated by learning spells first with lots of limitations (unreliable, costs FP, ...) to simulate the limited understanding that the mage has. As he studies it more, he can buy the limitations off until he reaches a full understanding of the magic.
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That's how I'd do it, if I were to make a magic system for GURPS.
Doing so doesn't necessarily make it feel academic, though. It just affects the four-dimensional shape of spellcasters, in that it represents different career stages, characterized by increasing degrees of control.
To make a GURPS magic system (or indeed any other magic system) more academic, make it feel more bookish, I think I might introduce several different learnable skills.
One skill that is used to actually cast the spells, but not necessarily in all circumstances. For instance there could be a Perk, for each spell, to allow the character to skip the roll, if casting under certain circumstances (such as when casting spells that aren't overly complicated and when it's outside of combat).
Or there could be Perks to get a hefty bonus to this roll depending on spell type (and a different Perk to get an even hefteir bonus to a
specific spell), and then a penalty to effective skill if casting during combat or otherwise under stresful circumstances, and a penalty depending on how difficult the spell is (some spells are super simple, other very complicated), then a general rule that if effective skill is X or higher (where X could be 18, or perhaps 16, or 20 or 21) then you don't have to roll.
Another skill that is used to invent new spells.
A
third skill that is only rolled for on a spellcasting critical miss, or on some similar metaphysical disaster, where the outcome of the roll influences the severity grade of the Spellcasting Fumble table that you roll on, i.e. if you make your roll then you get to roll on a less nasty table than otherwise.
(For that matter, there could be a fourth skill representing the learnable ability to sense magic, inspired by the Sight skill from the Pendragon RPG.)
I'd also put emphasis on spells known, not necessarily thwarting the spontaneous casting of improvised spells, but instead similar to RPM and Ars Magica in which flexi-improvised spells are somewhat hard and taxing and dangerous to cast, whereas learned fixed spells are somehow easier (note that RPM and Ars Magica opt for different balances here). And I'd emphasize the game-mechanical process of adding new spells to one's repertoire.
Note that the above is different from how I do it in Sagatafl. Emphasis there is not on spells-known, but rather on "college skills" (learning the actual spells is quite easy), and there is one Magic Theory skill that is almost only used to invent spells (and to generally understand magic). But that's because I wanted a spell magic system that could be utilized both by academic mages and by non-academic mages (although if you're so starkly non-academic that you haven't even learned
any Magic Theory at all, then others ought to stand well back whenever you try to cast a spell). Different design goal, and therefore a different implementation, since I'm not keen on the total dominance of the Romano-Western "academic" robe-and-hat wizard type. I want to have a few iliterate-yet-brilliant druids, too.