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Old 10-12-2015, 06:56 PM   #26
hal
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
Default Re: Partial Fix of Magic: Fire College

Quote:
Originally Posted by simply Nathan View Post
"IQ costs way too much! How can I ever make a mage with decent levels in all these skills he needs to function in the party?"

Will+Magery would fit a lot of fictional sources better.



Yes they are.
Part and parcel of the problem is that IQ and Will are interchangeable because Will equals IQ unless you buy it up or down from IQ. An IQ 12 person starts with IQ 12 Will 12. Upping Will as its own attribute makes "Easier" to get higher skill levels, but then one runs the risk of others saying "This is too easy to abuse".

Lets face it. GURPS MAGIC was written for GURPS 1st thru 3rd edition. GURPS 4th Edition is a whole different beast.

What I find illuminating is the fact that someone will say "This is the problem" and someone else will chime in saying "no no no, THIS is the problem". Then you get into design philosophy where the Game attempts to follow a set paradigm only to discover that one approach does not satisfy everyone. Hell, something as simple as a "Turn Undead" power when built by GURPS POWERS ends up such that my wife turns her nose up at it saying "It is WAY too expensive". That is why I sort of chuckle when I listen to people argue over whether or not GURPS MAGIC is too cheap for what it achieves, or that people claim one advantage is improperly priced (too high or too low). It is like anything else that has a "market mechanism". It has a price, and if the market (the players who design characters) feel the price is too high, the product isn't purchased and languishes on the shelves (so to speak). If someone likes it - they use it. If someone dislikes it, the don't. So those that like GURPS MAGIC as written, like it, Those who don't, will try to find something else to use instead (Ritual Path Magic, Sorcery, etc).

What people don't realize is that the end product of GURPS MAGIC for 4th Edition GURPS is not the same beast it was when GURPS MAGIC first came out. The Mechanism for the point costs were different as well. For me, GURPS MAGIC jumped the Shark (how many people even know the source of that phrase I wonder?) when it introduced GURPS GRIMOIRE (a product that had troubles of its own getting to the market in the first place, as the product is a bastard child if you will).

When GURPS MAGIC for 4e came out with brand new spells that had never been published before, I just groaned, palmed my face with a huge sigh, and never permitted those spells in my campaign world. Essential Wood is one of the worst offenders for me to the game philosophy first established by GURPS FANTASY 1st edition. ACID RAIN and other spells like it just made me think of all those spells I LEFT Dungeons and Dragons for back in the day when it was simply AD&D. This isn't to KNOCK Dungeons and Dragons. It was a fun game in its time, but my tastes for role playing engines were such that I left D&D and searched through the various games like RUNEQUEST, DRAGONQUEST, CHIVALRY & SORCERY, TUNNELS AND TROLLS, HARNMASTER (1st through 3rd and HARNMASTER GOLD editions). If it was out there, I played it - hoping to find something that I'd REALLY like.

The thing is, those of you who are knocking GURPS MAGIC for 4e - have a right to do so, and I won't argue against you for doing that. I would however, suggest that you return to the roots of GURPS MAGIC and try THAT on for a bit before you shoot the horse and bury it forever as "unusable". I'd allow SOME of the spells from GURPS GRIMOIRE in my campaigns, but I'd never have permitted GURPS MAGIC for 4e to be used in my campaigns had that been the first and only book I'd ever seen for use with GURPS. Hell. Had I met up with GURPS 4th edition FIRST instead of say, GURPS 2nd edition - I would have kept searching for a new game system to use for my game sessions. My gaming crew has been using GURPS since 1986. Even with the GURPS 4e material, we still play what amounts to GURPS 3.5 for the most part. There are times when I STILL wish that We had GURPS 3 edition revised as the main vehicle for GURPS. I understand however, that the flavor of GURPS that I desire isn't the flavor that the younger generation wants to play.

So, I buy the PDF's of the classics so that I don't have to worry much about losing my books. I can put the PDF's on my smartphone or on my Kindle and carry my library about without having to lug a ton of books. But even so...

GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition remains my true love over that of the Ritual Path magic. And if it weren't GURPS that I was using for my group, I'd be using CJ Carella's (yes, the author of GURPS VOODOO) Eden Studio WITCHCRAFT and ARMAGEDDON.

Now if you want to see a concise Magic system - THAT one is one people should look at. Why? Because as the original Poster tried to do - they took a spell skill, and grouped a bunch of spells WITHIN it. The thing is, each special effect of that spell would cost different amounts of Essence, and have different difficulties involved with the casting of the spell. THAT is how PATH MAGIC should have been done in my opinion. :)

That having been said? Some people like corvettes, some like sedans, some like SUV's and some even like convertibles. If people can enjoy buying the car of their choice based upon their personal likes and avoid buying other cars due to their dislikes - can role playing games be any different? *shrug*
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