[Otaku]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Latrans

Before RPM people were always talking about Ritual Magic and Magic as Powers. Far as I can tell the general attitude is just "Anything other than Hawthorne magic as written" or "Don't fix the existing Hawthorne with houserules and options from the books; just go for another system from the ground up regardless of how different it is in balance, feel, and play style"

Not to get off topic, but for me the concern with the default Magic system is balance... but that's because I get the opposite problem of the one being addressed by this thread. Magery can very easily become a "better" version of Modular Points. So even if I still allow players to study and learn spells, working them out as Advantages, possibly Alternative Abilities or even as Modular Points, paints a more hopeful picture than trying to balance out anything not default Magic against it.

Tweaking the setting to intentionally nerf magic excluded; the idea is balance, not "Mostly no mana setting with no Mana Enchancer allowed and/or anyone not a mage probably has at least 1d worth of Magic Resistance, more if they aren't mooks." I've got no personal play testing results because right now I just can't play.

This thread actually underscores some of the problem though; I know next to nothing about the RPM system, but using Powers means its expensive to be a Mage, but you get what you pay for... like the instant fireballs that hit hard enough to easily compete with the rest of the party's melee damage. Compared to tweaking the rules or Advantages for the default GURPS Magic system (which can more easily had unintended results) or just making up a new Spell (Fast Fireball? >.>), worrying about Skill Levels and the like, it almost seems easier.

A spell you haven't learned very well e.g. didn't want to pay a lot of CP for can have all the restrictions of the Spell Descritpion plus additional levels of Takes Extra Time, Takes Extra FP, etc... while to be an expert, you just buy relevant Advantage with the minimal Limitations required by your GM/setting. If your mage is so skilled that he can fly all the time without any issue... buy Flight at the full price (or with just the Magic Limitation).

Addendum: Even the traditional GURPS Magic System has its place; I find it just fails when it needs to live up to its name of being Generic and Universal. For settings where one doesn't need to balance Magic against anything else... s'good.