[RPM] Voluntary Sacrifice: How much can you take?

[Snaps]

RPM says that you have to be upfront with a sacrifice about the spell, its subject, etc.

But once they've agreed and start providing you with energy, is there any limit to how much you can take?

Once someone's agreed to provide energy, is there anything to stop the mage from taking all their Fatigue, and/or enough HP to kill them?

[Kalzazz]

I've always ruled it as they decide how much to give

[PK]

Exactly. THEY sacrifice as much as they want, and then you get the resultant energy.

[evileeyore]

I've been doing it differently because I wanted to nix the "stadium full of volunteers" idea in the bud:


I made taking energy from outside yourself (Energy Reserve from Gadgets and Familiars count as yourself) a gathering energy check that the willing victim can assist with (this also makes having lab assistants handy). The Ritualist can limit the amount they draw, but they still roll, and apply the cumulative penalty.

[Snaps]

Originally Posted by PK

Exactly. THEY sacrifice as much as they want, and then you get the resultant energy.

Since I have your attention, I have another question about it. Do they have to be Sapient?

There is a book by David Farland called The Runelords that uses a similar method to get power from individuals. In those books, people raise wolves (and dogs) because they are so loyal and are willing to freely sacrifice for their masters.

Would such an idea work with RPM? (Also, if you're a mage, actually communicating with animal allies, and asking them isn't really that hard).

[PK]

Originally Posted by Snaps

Since I have your attention, I have another question about it. Do they have to be Sapient?

Non-sapient means they cannot possibly understand what the ritual is and what it will do -- a key part of voluntary sacrifice! Remember that "Just grab my hand and trust me!" is not enough. In particular, the idea that you have these creatures who just automatically understand and give consent to every ritual you cast rather defeats the purpose of requiring the volunteer to knowingly decide whether to help you.

So as I see it, you have two choices:

1. Give your wolves a racial "Instinctive Ritual Understanding" perk. This allows them to be considered sapient only for the purpose of understanding the caster as he explains what his ritual will do. They may then decide whether to help out by sacrificing FP. However, if you take this approach, it should never be automatic; the wolves should make the decision based on what works best for them.

2. If you want "wolves = free energy, because they always agree to help no matter what," then the caster should buy ER (Mana Reserve) with "Accessibility, Requires wolf presence." As GURPS Power-Ups 8: Limitations explains, halve the basic point value that Maintenance (p. B143) gives for that number of wolves and write it as a percentage; e.g., “11-20 wolves” is -25%.

[Zeta Blaze]

Originally Posted by PK

Non-sapient means they cannot possibly understand what the ritual is and what it will do ...

I dont know, I think there understanding would be severely limited in scope. I would likely require a speak with animals the first time for each spell and some (most?) spells would be very difficult to impossible to explain.

First I will assume that all of my dogs are well trained, know me, like me, trust me, and see me as there alpha. Further that I have used a speak with animals spell with them all on several occasions. But have never yet tried to train them in assisting me with magic. I also assume that all of these dogs have witnessed me using many kinds of overt magic (including any spell I try to train them to help) and human technology that to them is probably indistinguishable (I assume dogs and animals have no magical awareness as a setting decision).

One day one of my dogs Aspen is ruining around with the others and slips on a rock cutting one of her legs severely. I am low on fp and know i will be a point short of what i need to heal her after (dont ask how i know i just do). and only have a few speak with animals charms on hand.
So I use a charm to tell Balto that I need his help to Heal Aspen like I healed him after he fought that badger a while ago. I tell him that he needs to want me to heal Aspen and then he will feel very tired like he was running and tracking for a long time, but after he will feel normal again soon and be a very good boy. Balto Likening Aspen and trusting me agrees. At which point I think he knows what he needs to qualify as a willing sacrifice so I cast (presumably with his FP to seal the deal).

In the heat of the moment i would expect a roll against probably handle animals (canine) to explain what i wanted to Balto with a moderate penalty for complexity, a moderate penalty for low time, a moderate-severe penalty for an abstract idea, a bonus for familiarity and general training as well as a huge bonus for the speak with animals.

As far as I can tell he could understand the spells affect its target and what he needs to do on a level like I would and all of this is information that I could tell a dog and have it understand if I had a speak to animals spell.

I assume that a 1-2 sentence conversation is all it would take to explain to an average person today what they need to know to participate and that overhearing my conversation with Balto would be sufficient for the average ignorant peasant to help me.

so fire ball yes, healing yes, light probably, haste probably, speak with animals probably, read minds probably not, teleport maybe,
all of which would need to be individually explained as well as the concept of contributing to a spell in general.

IMO it would be one perk for the general idea of voluntary sacrifice(for reliable use on command) and just a familiarity for each spell. Though I am unfamiliar with the rules for animal training.