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Old 01-06-2016, 08:30 PM   #11
dcarson
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Default Re: [Magic] powered by youth

While it didn't age you in the book Druid's Blood by Esther M. Friesner there is a fixed mana pool for mages. Since one thing magic could do was keep you from aging or make you younger every spell cast on anything else was shorting what could be a very long life. The royal family was mages and would use magic when needed to defend the realm but abdicated after a while and retired to live a long and peaceful life.

I have though about using it in a campaign but never had the right rest of the setting in mind. One problem I can see is that players are much more willing to kill off a PC to "win" the the actual PC would be.
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Old 01-06-2016, 08:32 PM   #12
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: [Magic] powered by youth

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Originally Posted by (E) View Post
I pictured the NPC who had this power waiting in his/her lair or just wondering around until the time came for him/her to intervene.
.
Oh. This is for an NPC? Well, that explains why he spent his cp for such an ability.

You've probably already put more work into something that will only be used by NPCs than is necessary.
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Old 01-06-2016, 11:16 PM   #13
(E)
 
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Default Re: [Magic] powered by youth

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Originally Posted by dcarson View Post
One problem I can see is that players are much more willing to kill off a PC to "win" the the actual PC would be.
Yeah I can see some players doing the "throw the monopoly board in the air" to get a win.

The dramatic application of "I'll throw 1000 points into spell X" could be used for good or bad narratively speaking.
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Old 01-06-2016, 11:30 PM   #14
Refplace
 
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Location: Yukon, OK
Default Re: [Magic] powered by youth

See Onomancy in Pyramid 3-48 Secret Magic for another long term caster.
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Old 01-07-2016, 12:29 AM   #15
dfinlay
 
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Default Re: [Magic] powered by youth

If I recall correctly, the game The Riddle of Steel had a similar mechanic where spells aged you, though without the aging backwards part. Maybe look to reports/reviews of that to see how well it played out in game (I read the rule-book but never actually played it). That said, they did it with an otherwise much more powerful and versatile magic system than the GURPS Basic magic system.
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Old 01-07-2016, 07:38 AM   #16
ArchonShiva
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
Default Re: [Magic] powered by youth

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Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
How do you gain skill without practicing as that would quickly kill?
Trade power for skill. Self-taught at a horrible rate by theorizing stuff, and whenever you cast a spell (basically at default based on lots of prep work+tons of extra FP for +4 skill, and perhaps extra time if allowed), you analyze the interactions for decades to improve your algorithms.
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Old 01-07-2016, 07:41 AM   #17
ArchonShiva
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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The dramatic application of "I'll throw 1000 points into spell X" could be used for good or bad narratively speaking.
I've done this (using a demonic pact as power source) with the intent that the campaign would be about a Mage that had expended his pact and was on the run from demonic forces through his own fault.

This is also a good way of going over to the dark side in SW.
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