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Old 04-08-2017, 06:39 PM   #1
Joe
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Default Perk to remove the -1 penalty for "spells on"

In the interests of clarity, I'll begin by stating the obvious: when casting a spell, you suffer a -1 penalty for each other spell you currently have "on" (as per p.B238).

Now, I seem to remember that there's a perk written up somewhere that allows you to avoid that penalty, for a single spell - i.e your attempts to cast other[I] spells are not penalized by the fact that you're maintaining this spell.

Am I remembering this correctly? I may well be mistaken, since I've looked through my books and can't seem to find it anywhere. (And I can certainly imagine it generating balance issues, if not handled sensitively)

Thanks in advance!
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Old 04-08-2017, 07:08 PM   #2
talonthehand
 
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Default Re: Perk to remove the -1 penalty for "spells on"

Reduced Footprint in Thaumatology-Magical Styles (p29) looks like what you're thinking of.
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Old 04-09-2017, 07:10 AM   #3
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: Perk to remove the -1 penalty for "spells on"

To be complete, Reduced Footprint also negates not just a spell, but one single instance of that spell having been cast. That is, if you want to buff your party of five for no penalty you'd need to buy the Perk five times, once to ignore each active instance.

Even with that limit, I still feel a little nervous about the Perk being overpowered. (It would be clearly overpowered if it worked for all spells, or even any number of instances of one spell, for one point.) The "spells on" limit is one of the major balancing restraints on GURPS Magic wizards. Having all your spells up all the time with no penalty to further casting (not just the maintenance cost) is a huge advantage in practice, as well as is being able to put up an unlimited number of effects with a 98% success rate during combat. I've seen wizards reigned in sooner by the accumulated casting penalties than by their energy limits.

So, it might also be wise to heed the last bit of advice in the Perk description:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaumatology: Magical Styles (Reduced Footprint)
The GM may therefore wish to limit casters to one or two points of Reduced Footprint in total, for all spells.
Let's be careful out there.
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Old 04-09-2017, 11:23 AM   #4
Joe
 
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Default Re: Perk to remove the -1 penalty for "spells on"

Ah, thanks to both of you! Super helpful. I can't believe I missed that.
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Old 04-09-2017, 02:34 PM   #5
evileeyore
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Default Re: Perk to remove the -1 penalty for "spells on"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
So, it might also be wise to heed the last bit of advice in the Perk description:
I've never limited it beyond the standard limit for Perks, never been an issue. Most of the time it get's taken very "selfishly", ie it's taken for the 2-3 spells the PC Wizards always wants to keep running for free on themselves. Like Hide, No Smell, Mage-Stealth, Missile Shield, etc.


But for me and most of my Players the split comes down to this: "I can get another Red Footprint Perk or another whole spell... I need more spells!"
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Old 04-09-2017, 03:09 PM   #6
Bruno
 
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Default Re: Perk to remove the -1 penalty for "spells on"

Going with 1/2 Magery as the limit is an idea; I like to use Magery (or half Magery) for anything involving limits just because Magery's that advantage, right?
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Old 04-09-2017, 05:00 PM   #7
Joe
 
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Default Re: Perk to remove the -1 penalty for "spells on"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
Going with 1/2 Magery as the limit is an idea; I like to use Magery (or half Magery) for anything involving limits just because Magery's that advantage, right?
That's quite a cool idea - thanks, Bruno.
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