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simply Nathan · 01-27-2016, 03:57 PM

GURPS Magic is my favorite magic system not only in all of GURPS, but in all of tabletop role-playing, of those I have seen to date. My entire list of issues with it come down to a fairly short list:

Too many overly-specific spell skills; bloated lists where options could have been placed on some to expand their utility (History, Ancient History, and Prehistory, Neutralize Poison and Instant Neutralize Poison, [missile] and Explosive [missile], [spell] and Mass [spell], et cetera).
Related to the above, convoluted spell prerequisite trees. Too many wimpy spells have extremely long prerequisite chains based on the complexity of other spells which could logically have served as prerequisites. Spell prerequisites as a concept are very flavorful, it's just that some spells made up later on in the system's lifespan wound up getting placed too deep in the trees; more brute-force alternate paths like the way Test Food + Magery 3 can get you Neutralize Poison would have been immensely helpful, as would shortening the spell list itself.
Absolute skill level breakpoints. I prefer to gauge energy reduction by relative skill level and make the ritual requirements optional skill modifiers, based on the Alternate Rituals optional rule.
One stat to rule them all. "Good" wizard builds below a certain point total all look very samey to me (and my advice on almost all wizard builds I've ever made is to make them more like that) due to the relative usefulness of IQ and Magery over HT/FP/ER, Will, DX, and Per. I think some spells should be based on different attributes from each other and/or skills should be floated more often.
Positive modifiers for spellcasting are hard to find; this coupled with the default breakpoint at level 15 make it rare for wizards to be going around with spell levels in the 8-14 range of the other adventuring skills, and thus the system is very hard on low point total casters and on dabblers.

RPM brings a flavor to the table, but it's not the flavor I want from my magic.

Powers is there, but lots of work if you want anything other than a fairly basic Super character with mana-sensitive powers. Sorcery is largely the same, but with lots of worked examples and a very good use of Alternate Abilities.

As soon as I saw "magic spells are skills, learned in the same way as other skills" that really clicked with me on a level no other magic system has. When I saw how I could finally make a wizard who could cast both Healing and Fireball without having to be a priest to some random fantasy god I can hold no respect for or selling his soul to the devil for power, just a secular scholarly wizard able to burn things and restore HP with the system casting no judgements on his morals nor declaring by fiat that such a combination was "unbalanced", that is when I fell in love with GURPS.

01-27-2016, 03:57 PM	#38
simply Nathan formerly known as 'Kenneth Latrans' Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Wyoming, Michigan	Re: Partial Fix of Magic: Fire College GURPS Magic is my favorite magic system not only in all of GURPS, but in all of tabletop role-playing, of those I have seen to date. My entire list of issues with it come down to a fairly short list: Too many overly-specific spell skills; bloated lists where options could have been placed on some to expand their utility (History, Ancient History, and Prehistory, Neutralize Poison and Instant Neutralize Poison, [missile] and Explosive [missile], [spell] and Mass [spell], et cetera). Related to the above, convoluted spell prerequisite trees. Too many wimpy spells have extremely long prerequisite chains based on the complexity of other spells which could logically have served as prerequisites. Spell prerequisites as a concept are very flavorful, it's just that some spells made up later on in the system's lifespan wound up getting placed too deep in the trees; more brute-force alternate paths like the way Test Food + Magery 3 can get you Neutralize Poison would have been immensely helpful, as would shortening the spell list itself. Absolute skill level breakpoints. I prefer to gauge energy reduction by relative skill level and make the ritual requirements optional skill modifiers, based on the Alternate Rituals optional rule. One stat to rule them all. "Good" wizard builds below a certain point total all look very samey to me (and my advice on almost all wizard builds I've ever made is to make them more like that) due to the relative usefulness of IQ and Magery over HT/FP/ER, Will, DX, and Per. I think some spells should be based on different attributes from each other and/or skills should be floated more often. Positive modifiers for spellcasting are hard to find; this coupled with the default breakpoint at level 15 make it rare for wizards to be going around with spell levels in the 8-14 range of the other adventuring skills, and thus the system is very hard on low point total casters and on dabblers. RPM brings a flavor to the table, but it's not the flavor I want from my magic. Powers is there, but lots of work if you want anything other than a fairly basic Super character with mana-sensitive powers. Sorcery is largely the same, but with lots of worked examples and a very good use of Alternate Abilities. As soon as I saw "magic spells are skills, learned in the same way as other skills" that really clicked with me on a level no other magic system has. When I saw how I could finally make a wizard who could cast both Healing and Fireball without having to be a priest to some random fantasy god I can hold no respect for or selling his soul to the devil for power, just a secular scholarly wizard able to burn things and restore HP with the system casting no judgements on his morals nor declaring by fiat that such a combination was "unbalanced", that is when I fell in love with GURPS. __________________ Ba-weep granah wheep minibon. Wubba lubba dub dub.