6x6 Realm Magic (fantasy)

FeiLin · 05-27-2019, 03:50 AM

I am creating a Realm Magic system for my fantasy world (which I like to call “gritty high fantasy”). First off, it's only for "Arcane" (ie "non-Divine", as per TOG); Clerics/Druids use Threshold. Secondly, I want it to be with standard magic so I can both use NPCs as is, as well as cheat by just grabbing a spell from the standard lists for important NPCs that I have modeled as a Realm Mage. So this is intended to be aimed at giving PC wizards and important NPC wizards an extra dimension of coolness through freedom. I'm also making epic story implications with it which are too long to detail here.

The 6 realms are based on Marvel's 6 infinity stones, which are Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time, and Soul, which I found fit surprisingly well with my version of fantasy. Their powers are [with GURPS enhancements in square brackets]:

Space: move objects/telekinesis, warp space/physics, teleportation/portals/summoning, etc [effects such as physical DR, flying objects which give imp/cr/cut/pi*, dkb/dbt, but may also be given “free” effects like cor or inc]
Mind: mental/psionic abilities, read/control minds, create AI, etc [stun and similar effects, where applicable resisted by Will]
Reality: manipulate/create/transform matter, wishes/miracles, etc (a bit vague at this point) [physical pain, hazards such as drowning/suffocation, generally ST to resist where applicable]
Power: manipulate/create/shape/transform energy, etc [energy/magical DR, burn/tox/sur effects, stun, exp, hazards such as freezing, etc]
Time: see/stop/slow/reverse/manipulate time, age/de-age, time-loops, etc [no real special effects like the other, but when combined delayed as in Delayed Fireball, etc]
Soul: steal/control/alter/summon souls and life, decay, resurrection, etc [pain, hazards such as dehydration/sleep/starvation/etc, resisted by HT generally]

I also roughly categorised the colleges into what Realm its spells are most likely to be:

Spoiler:

The Realms all come in 6 levels:

Detection/Measurement: cantrips/detect own realm
Control/Diversion: afflictions, non-damaging utility spells
Command/Creation: damage spells, heal spells, more powerful alteration spells (more "in-depth"/"transformative" effects)
Authority: can do almost anything
Domination: can do most things at a mass scale
Transcendence: affect the entire world at will

Level 6 (possibly level 5) is reserved for supernatural beings , but there are also more common infinity stones that give the user a bonus, say +1 or +2 "Realm levels", so that if you have level 4 in all realms and acquire all the stones, you could do anything, Infinity Wars spoiler:

Spoiler:

As per standard, there are 6 different Realm Magery with each level costing 20 CP, and each Realm also has an IQ/VH skill. You roll vs the lowest Realm skill at -1/additional Realm. Modifications are primarily based on energy costs and skill modifiers; not margins. I want to keep the costs on the high-end, because I consider them to include various perks as per spell enhancements (T39).

The basic idea is that the different GURPS effects are "unlocked" by having a certain level of Magery in a Realm, and then you're free to use them in any combination, while calculating the cost and casting times as normal. Some effects be "Realmless", and are just universally available, such as extended range. For damage spells, level 1 is 0 (ie unavailable), 2 is 2 base damage, 3 is 1d, 4 is 1d+2, 5 is 2d, and 6 is 2d+2. Cost is 2x highest + 1x others. I want to have for a single Realm damage spell more efficient per FP cost at higher levels. To that you can also add enhancements (as per T39). When all enhancements (and limitations) have been added, the modified damage effects as well as FP cost can be multiplied a number of times equal to the Realm level of the “dominant Realm” (mostly the highest). So at level 1 you can’t deal damage, at level 2 you can deal 2 damage for 4 FP or 4 damage for 8 FP, and if you want an effect it’s calculated on that 4 FP and then multiplied.

I am not entirely finished with this, and I have a few questions:

I’m struggling a bit with range: standard Realm Magic says +1 FP/two yards, iirc, but that is a bit harsh for my fantasy aspirations. I’m thinking of arbitrarily just multiplying it by 10, but then that might be unbalanced. I want to hurl fireballs and whatnots, but with all the freedom I’m afraid mages will take center-stage of basically any encounter for maybe around 50-100 CP. Any tips?
I would like to scale down damaging spells to the bare minimum, even removing knockback. So all spells have nkb until you buy the advantage nnkb (for no-no-knockback) that’s available for the Space Realm. The idea is that you should be able to combine two Realms “from both ways”, so for instance if I have Space 3 and Power 2, I should be able to hurl a natural stone that I coat with fire (giving burn) from Power and has a built in knockback from Space, while Power 3 and Space 2 should give a similar result of creating a ball of fire (naturally for burn) from thin air and enhancing it with Space to make it knockback. Are there any other effects that are built into damage as standard that I might want to look out for?
A baseline for the effects is that each Realm level gives access to twice the level x10 in %, so at 3rd level I can add 60% (either as a single effect or from multiple enhancements). But I also thought that the standard spell enhancement at T39 says 5% per +1 FP and -1 skill, and I’m thinking of increasing that to 10% (given that damaging spells are a bit weaker with this system). Would that be a fair assessment?
And for the cruncher: are there any tips for how to classify non-damaging effects with Realm Magic in general? I was looking at for example Resurrection, which comes in at 200 FP. Are standard magic spells compatible enough with this system that it could be used as is, or should it be tweaked? I haven’t made that many standard mages, but here I’d require probably level 4 or 5, which means 80-100 CP and maybe 10-20 in the skill; is that “close enough” to the standard magic Resurrection? I was also considering summoning; what’s a good baseline for that one, when it comes to duration (and even range)? This list could of course be made infinitely long, so in general, what guidelines would you have? I’m aiming for a fairly simple yet balanced enough system.

Phantasm · 05-27-2019, 05:43 AM

Seems very much like my own 6x6 Realm magic setup:

Energy - various forms of energy and raw power
Matter - magic that affects the material world
Mind - magic that affects the mind
Space - magic that affects how one moves about
Spirit - magic that affects one's spirit/soul, also used to petition entities for more power
Time - self-explanatory

I found "Power" and "Reality" to be too vaguely defined, as they often overlapped, so I altered things to be more self-evident.

As for Soul becoming Spirit, I just found the latter to be a better description when it also includes invoking extradimensional entities (Cytorrak, Ikonn, Dormammu, Oshtur, Agamotto, etc.) for power.

As far as range is concerned, I generally house-rule using the SSR table or long-range modifiers as necessary. Most combat-time/range spells use the SSR table, while information and some space spells use long-range mods.

The other stuff... *shrug*. I tend not to have Resurrection in my fantasy games anyway, so that's a moot point for the most part.

For summoning, I think the standard 1 energy per 10 CP of the summoned creature should work for Realm as easily as it does for the standard magic system. Summoning a small elemental? 4 energy. Summoning a 400 point demon? 40 energy.

05-27-2019, 03:50 AM	#1
FeiLin Join Date: Aug 2018	6x6 Realm Magic (fantasy) I am creating a Realm Magic system for my fantasy world (which I like to call “gritty high fantasy”). First off, it's only for "Arcane" (ie "non-Divine", as per TOG); Clerics/Druids use Threshold. Secondly, I want it to be with standard magic so I can both use NPCs as is, as well as cheat by just grabbing a spell from the standard lists for important NPCs that I have modeled as a Realm Mage. So this is intended to be aimed at giving PC wizards and important NPC wizards an extra dimension of coolness through freedom. I'm also making epic story implications with it which are too long to detail here. The 6 realms are based on Marvel's 6 infinity stones, which are Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time, and Soul, which I found fit surprisingly well with my version of fantasy. Their powers are [with GURPS enhancements in square brackets]: Space: move objects/telekinesis, warp space/physics, teleportation/portals/summoning, etc [effects such as physical DR, flying objects which give imp/cr/cut/pi, dkb/dbt, but may also be given “free” effects like cor or inc] Mind: mental/psionic abilities, read/control minds, create AI, etc [stun and similar effects, where applicable resisted by Will] Reality: manipulate/create/transform matter, wishes/miracles, etc (a bit vague at this point) [physical pain, hazards such as drowning/suffocation, generally ST to resist where applicable] Power: manipulate/create/shape/transform energy, etc [energy/magical DR, burn/tox/sur effects, stun, exp, hazards such as freezing, etc] Time: see/stop/slow/reverse/manipulate time, age/de-age, time-loops, etc [no real special effects like the other, but when combined delayed as in Delayed Fireball, etc] Soul: steal/control/alter/summon souls and life, decay, resurrection, etc [pain, hazards such as dehydration/sleep/starvation/etc, resisted by HT generally] I also roughly categorised the colleges into what Realm its spells are most likely to be: Spoiler: Air: Space, Reality Animal: Mind, Soul Body Control: Space Communication and Empathy: Mind Earth: Space, Reality Enchantment: Space, Reality, Power Fire: Reality, Power Food: Space, Reality Gate: Space Healing: Soul Illusion and Creation: Mind, Reality Knowledge: Mind, Reality, Time Light and Darkness: Reality, Power Making and Breaking: Space, Reality Meta: Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time, Soul Mind Control: Mind Movement: Space Necromantic: Mind, Reality, Soul Plant: Space, Soul Protection and Warning: Space, Reality Sound: Space, Mind Technological: Space, Reality, Power Machine: Space, Reality, Power Energy: Space, Power Radiation: Reality, Power Metal and Plastic: Space, Reality Water: Space, Reality Weather: Space, Reality, Time The Realms all come in 6 levels: Detection/Measurement: cantrips/detect own realm Control/Diversion: afflictions, non-damaging utility spells Command/Creation: damage spells, heal spells, more powerful alteration spells (more "in-depth"/"transformative" effects) Authority: can do almost anything Domination: can do most things at a mass* scale Transcendence: affect the entire world at will Level 6 (possibly level 5) is reserved for supernatural beings , but there are also more common infinity stones that give the user a bonus, say +1 or +2 "Realm levels", so that if you have level 4 in all realms and acquire all the stones, you could do anything, Infinity Wars spoiler: Spoiler: you basically become Thanos at the end of the movie As per standard, there are 6 different Realm Magery with each level costing 20 CP, and each Realm also has an IQ/VH skill. You roll vs the lowest Realm skill at -1/additional Realm. Modifications are primarily based on energy costs and skill modifiers; not margins. I want to keep the costs on the high-end, because I consider them to include various perks as per spell enhancements (T39). The basic idea is that the different GURPS effects are "unlocked" by having a certain level of Magery in a Realm, and then you're free to use them in any combination, while calculating the cost and casting times as normal. Some effects be "Realmless", and are just universally available, such as extended range. For damage spells, level 1 is 0 (ie unavailable), 2 is 2 base damage, 3 is 1d, 4 is 1d+2, 5 is 2d, and 6 is 2d+2. Cost is 2x highest + 1x others. I want to have for a single Realm damage spell more efficient per FP cost at higher levels. To that you can also add enhancements (as per T39). When all enhancements (and limitations) have been added, the modified damage effects as well as FP cost can be multiplied a number of times equal to the Realm level of the “dominant Realm” (mostly the highest). So at level 1 you can’t deal damage, at level 2 you can deal 2 damage for 4 FP or 4 damage for 8 FP, and if you want an effect it’s calculated on that 4 FP and then multiplied. I am not entirely finished with this, and I have a few questions: I’m struggling a bit with range: standard Realm Magic says +1 FP/two yards, iirc, but that is a bit harsh for my fantasy aspirations. I’m thinking of arbitrarily just multiplying it by 10, but then that might be unbalanced. I want to hurl fireballs and whatnots, but with all the freedom I’m afraid mages will take center-stage of basically any encounter for maybe around 50-100 CP. Any tips? I would like to scale down damaging spells to the bare minimum, even removing knockback. So all spells have nkb until you buy the advantage nnkb (for no-no-knockback) that’s available for the Space Realm. The idea is that you should be able to combine two Realms “from both ways”, so for instance if I have Space 3 and Power 2, I should be able to hurl a natural stone that I coat with fire (giving burn) from Power and has a built in knockback from Space, while Power 3 and Space 2 should give a similar result of creating a ball of fire (naturally for burn) from thin air and enhancing it with Space to make it knockback. Are there any other effects that are built into damage as standard that I might want to look out for? A baseline for the effects is that each Realm level gives access to twice the level x10 in %, so at 3rd level I can add 60% (either as a single effect or from multiple enhancements). But I also thought that the standard spell enhancement at T39 says 5% per +1 FP and -1 skill, and I’m thinking of increasing that to 10% (given that damaging spells are a bit weaker with this system). Would that be a fair assessment? And for the cruncher: are there any tips for how to classify non-damaging effects with Realm Magic in general? I was looking at for example Resurrection, which comes in at 200 FP. Are standard magic spells compatible enough with this system that it could be used as is, or should it be tweaked? I haven’t made that many standard mages, but here I’d require probably level 4 or 5, which means 80-100 CP and maybe 10-20 in the skill; is that “close enough” to the standard magic Resurrection? I was also considering summoning; what’s a good baseline for that one, when it comes to duration (and even range)? This list could of course be made infinitely long, so in general, what guidelines would you have? I’m aiming for a fairly simple yet balanced enough system.

05-27-2019, 05:43 AM	#2
Phantasm Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: On the road again...	Re: 6x6 Realm Magic (fantasy) Seems very much like my own 6x6 Realm magic setup: Energy - various forms of energy and raw power Matter - magic that affects the material world Mind - magic that affects the mind Space - magic that affects how one moves about Spirit - magic that affects one's spirit/soul, also used to petition entities for more power Time - self-explanatory I found "Power" and "Reality" to be too vaguely defined, as they often overlapped, so I altered things to be more self-evident. As for Soul becoming Spirit, I just found the latter to be a better description when it also includes invoking extradimensional entities (Cytorrak, Ikonn, Dormammu, Oshtur, Agamotto, etc.) for power. As far as range is concerned, I generally house-rule using the SSR table or long-range modifiers as necessary. Most combat-time/range spells use the SSR table, while information and some space spells use long-range mods. The other stuff... shrug. I tend not to have Resurrection in my fantasy games anyway, so that's a moot point for the most part. For summoning, I think the standard 1 energy per 10 CP of the summoned creature should work for Realm as easily as it does for the standard magic system. Summoning a small elemental? 4 energy. Summoning a 400 point demon? 40 energy. __________________ "Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991 "But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!" The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation. Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting Last edited by Phantasm; 12-17-2020 at 05:09 AM.