Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Evolution of GURPS MAGIC regards to Yrth background

hal · 07-20-2017, 07:13 AM

Enchantments:

Enchantments are a funny thing. In the first edition for magic (Which I labeled as GM1 above), there were rules in place that permitted a mage with an enchantment skill level of 12, to create a magic item with a power 15. Specifically on page 11 of GURPS FANTASY 1st edition titled "Tradeoff: Energy for Skill":

"If a great deal of energy is available for ceremonial magic, the caster gets a bonus on his skill roll. This can insure the success of an ordinary spell (except for critical failures). It can also make a defensive spell able to resist almost any attack, except one mounted by an equal or larger circle of mages."

Now, this is a rule that pertains to ceremonial and group magic - and in no way applies to slow and sure magic right? Let us look at page 13 of that same edition of Magic where it discusses Slow and sure magic casting...

"This method can be combined with "power for skill," to let a mage take a very long time and make (almost) sure he has enough skill to do the job"

By the time we get to GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition, we have this on page 19:

"This method can be combined with “energy for skill” (p. 15/B151), to let a
mage take a very long time and increase his effective skill."

Nothing changed right?

But with GURPS MAGIC for 4e (GM3) this has vanished entirely from the manuscript. Thus, a Skill 12 enchanter, who spends twice as long to enchant a magic item (trading TIME for skill instead of Energy for skill), can't raise his enchantment skill roll to 16 as he could in the previous editions.

This makes for a subtle but definite change over the previous rules set. Most people who discuss the Enchantment rules on the Forums ignore this particular rules as mentioned in both GURPS FANTASY 1st edition, and GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition that permits it.

Somewhere along the way, I'm going to have to dig up my GURPS MAGIC 1st edition to see what changes were made as well.

This is just a starter thread, in which people can add their own observations over what changed in the various edition of MAGIC for GURPS. Spells like COPY that, while faster than having to create a book by hand in the form of calligraphy - and slower than a Xerox machine, is now the equal to a high speed Xerox machine in GURPS MAGIC for 4e.

07-20-2017, 07:13 AM	#3
hal Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Buffalo, New York	Re: Evolution of GURPS MAGIC regards to Yrth background Enchantments: Enchantments are a funny thing. In the first edition for magic (Which I labeled as GM1 above), there were rules in place that permitted a mage with an enchantment skill level of 12, to create a magic item with a power 15. Specifically on page 11 of GURPS FANTASY 1st edition titled "Tradeoff: Energy for Skill": "If a great deal of energy is available for ceremonial magic, the caster gets a bonus on his skill roll. This can insure the success of an ordinary spell (except for critical failures). It can also make a defensive spell able to resist almost any attack, except one mounted by an equal or larger circle of mages." Now, this is a rule that pertains to ceremonial and group magic - and in no way applies to slow and sure magic right? Let us look at page 13 of that same edition of Magic where it discusses Slow and sure magic casting... "This method can be combined with "power for skill," to let a mage take a very long time and make (almost) sure he has enough skill to do the job" By the time we get to GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition, we have this on page 19: "This method can be combined with “energy for skill” (p. 15/B151), to let a mage take a very long time and increase his effective skill." Nothing changed right? But with GURPS MAGIC for 4e (GM3) this has vanished entirely from the manuscript. Thus, a Skill 12 enchanter, who spends twice as long to enchant a magic item (trading TIME for skill instead of Energy for skill), can't raise his enchantment skill roll to 16 as he could in the previous editions. This makes for a subtle but definite change over the previous rules set. Most people who discuss the Enchantment rules on the Forums ignore this particular rules as mentioned in both GURPS FANTASY 1st edition, and GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition that permits it. Somewhere along the way, I'm going to have to dig up my GURPS MAGIC 1st edition to see what changes were made as well. This is just a starter thread, in which people can add their own observations over what changed in the various edition of MAGIC for GURPS. Spells like COPY that, while faster than having to create a book by hand in the form of calligraphy - and slower than a Xerox machine, is now the equal to a high speed Xerox machine in GURPS MAGIC for 4e.