GURPS Dragon Age

[Anaximander]

I will soon begin running a game set in the world of the Dragon Age video games/ novels/ whatever other media they've got. As a relatively inexperienced gm I am asking for help and suggestions coming up with setting appropriate mechanics that utilizes GURPS. So far I have created a few racial templates, which I will post here, and settled on the magic system that we will use (normal mana, ritual magic based on Thaumatology).

the Racial Templates I have created for the game are as follows

Elf 4 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST-1 [-10], DX+1 [20]
Advantages: Attractive [4]
Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Minority Group) [-10]

The video game gives bonuses to being of Elven Race that don't translate well to GURPS, but the lore surrounding them made it relatively easy to make up balanced new ones. The only feature I could not work in was their higher level of "attunement" to Magic, whatever that means. The game lore is non-specific as to what that means, and granting them a level of Magery would make them an entire race of potential mages, which they're not. The Social Stigma they suffer from ought to be familiar to anyone who has played the game, but I was unsure whether to label them as a Minority Group or as Second-Class Citizens. I eventually went with the Minority-Group application because I felt it applied more universally for Elven characters of both Alienage and Dalish background.

Dwarf 14 points
Attribute Modifiers: HT+1[10]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -1
Advantages: Magic Resistance 2 [4]

I am pretty satisfied with the Dwarf template as it is, but I am open to suggestions on how to improve it. The only thing I'm unsure of is how to represent their immunity to the worst effects of Lyrium and their ability to craft magic arms and armor.

Qunari 24 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST +2 [20]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM 1
Advantages: Reduced Consumption 2 [4]

This one took the most imagination on my part. Since they were not a race you could choose for your own character their abilities are unclear. All that I had to go on was that they are big, can live for weeks without food and water if necessary, and are a rigidly split society between those who follow their philosophy and those who don't. I thought about making their religious devotion a racial quirk, but it seems that there are Qunari who are not a part of it.

Some remaining mechanics I need to work out are Blood Magic, Lyrium and stats for monsters (especially Darkspawn). The current sourcebooks I'm using are GURPS Fantasy, Magic and Thaumatology and for reference on the game world I am mostly using http://dragonage.wikia.com/

Thanks again to anyone who takes the time to read this and offer suggestions.

[Sam Baughn]

Originally Posted by Anaximander

Dwarf 14 points
Attribute Modifiers: HT+1[10]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -1
Advantages: Magic Resistance 2 [4]

I am pretty satisfied with the Dwarf template as it is, but I am open to suggestions on how to improve it. The only thing I'm unsure of is how to represent their immunity to the worst effects of Lyrium and their ability to craft magic arms and armor.

I'd say their resistance to Lyrium is probably just part of their magic resistance.

Enchantment seems to be totally different to normal GURPS enchantment. You don't need to be a mage to do it and it's all apparently based on craftsmanship and materials. I'd just define the effects of the runes and work out a price for them.

[Anaximander]

Originally Posted by Perfect Organism

Enchantment seems to be totally different to normal GURPS enchantment. You don't need to be a mage to do it and it's all apparently based on craftsmanship and materials. I'd just define the effects of the runes and work out a price for them.

I agree that it seems very different from normal GURPS, but at certain points in the game they refer to Dwarves and Tranquil mages as the only people able to "weave lyrium" into the metalwork and thus create innately magic items. The runes were a neat part of the video game but I wasn't sure how well they'd translate over to my game, and even so it begs the question as to who makes them and how.

[Tectuctitlay]

Originally Posted by Perfect Organism

I'd say their resistance to Lyrium is probably just part of their magic resistance.

Enchantment seems to be totally different to normal GURPS enchantment. You don't need to be a mage to do it and it's all apparently based on craftsmanship and materials. I'd just define the effects of the runes and work out a price for them.

I'd recommend checking out the Runesmith rules from 1st edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (the Realms of Sorcery sourcebook). With a little tweaking they fit the bill nicely. I'd offer to send you the conversion I've already done, but Games Workshop told me (more or less) to stop distributing it...

[Allensh]

Anything more done with this? Stats for darkspawn maybe?

Allen

[khorboth]

My group has now been playing Dragon Age for a little while. Our conversions can be found here.
It's worked pretty well.

[Allensh]

Originally Posted by khorboth

My group has now been playing Dragon Age for a little while. Our conversions can be found here.
It's worked pretty well.

cool. quite a bit not up there yet but I look forward to seeing it grow.

Allen

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Anaximander

Elf 4 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST-1 [-10], DX+1 [20]
Advantages: Attractive [4]
Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Minority Group) [-10]

The video game gives bonuses to being of Elven Race that don't translate well to GURPS, but the lore surrounding them made it relatively easy to make up balanced new ones. The only feature I could not work in was their higher level of "attunement" to Magic, whatever that means. The game lore is non-specific as to what that means, and granting them a level of Magery would make them an entire race of potential mages, which they're not. The Social Stigma they suffer from ought to be familiar to anyone who has played the game, but I was unsure whether to label them as a Minority Group or as Second-Class Citizens. I eventually went with the Minority-Group application because I felt it applied more universally for Elven characters of both Alienage and Dalish background.

In Power-Ups 2: Perks, there's a Racial Gifts Perk, which are one-point Unusual Backgrounds for traits that some members of races may buy. You could call it "Racial Gifts: Magery up to X"

[Anaximander]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

In Power-Ups 2: Perks, there's a Racial Gifts Perk, which are one-point Unusual Backgrounds for traits that some members of races may buy. You could call it "Racial Gifts: Magery up to X"

That's interesting, but what would it do exactly? Make the Magery advantage cost as much as a perk for Elves who wished to take it?

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Anaximander

That's interesting, but what would it do exactly? Make the Magery advantage cost as much as a perk for Elves who wished to take it?

No, it doesn't reduce the actual cost of Magery, but can be used to justify elves taking a higher level of Magery than other races might have access to.