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Old 06-11-2017, 09:28 AM   #3
Anaraxes
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Default Re: Need help with some stuff with Ritual/Path magic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaware View Post
Do you use all applicable modifiers? Or do you only use the ones that you want to use?
The two are the same thing. The modifiers you want to use to get your desired effect are the ones that are applicable.

That is, they're part of a spell design system. If you want to have an Area Effect, Range further than touch, Duration longer than instantaneous, affect large objects (Weight), etc., then you need to pay for the appropriate modifiers to match your desired effect. RPM does _not_ start with the spells in GURPS Magic as a default baseline that you then change with the modifiers. In this sense, it's its own system. The "default" values for the modifiers don't come from Magic spells. They're the 0-point values in the table (Momentary duration, 10 lbs weight, etc).

Quote:
Originally Posted by RPM p15
Every spell must be defined clearly; e.g., “Using Lesser Strengthen Mind, everyone within four yards of me at the time that I cast the spell will gain Per+2 for the next hour.” That definition includes the spell effect (Lesser Strengthen Mind) and all of the applicable modifiers (Area of Effect, Range, Altered Traits, and Duration).
...
The energy requirement for a ritual depends on the spell effect(s) and any applicable modifiers.
To create a spell similar to Magic's Pain, I'd use Lesser Control Body and Bestows a Penalty (-3) to a Broad range of skills. The Magic spell affects the subject for the next second. I'm willing to count that as "instantaneous", since the next level up is "10 minutes". Control Body is specifically noted as being appropriate for "irritating or incapacitating conditions".

Lesser or Greater depends on how natural and believable the result is. The split here is really dependent on your setting and genre. RPM was originally created for Monster Hunters, so it's most at home in a secret magic wainscot setting. Thus, RPM rules put some emphasis on subtle magic that could have been normal, as opposed to flashy magic that's clearly not normal (fireballs). It's reminiscent of Mage: the Ascension and that setting's distinction between "coincidental" and "vulgar" magic. If you're using RPM in a D&D game, you might be throwing flashy magic around all the time. And depending on what the GM wants, that might not even be Greater magic because "magic is natural; everybody does it". (Though at some point balance starts to demand that those fireballs cost a lot of energy.)

The RPM book has a grimoire of 50+ example spells (p38 - 51). There have been a number of past threads collecting RPM rituals, or debating which path(s) and Lesser/Greater should apply to build particular spell effects.
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