"Newbie" questions DFRPG/GURPS

[SolemnGolem]

Originally Posted by Anth

Q10
One of the Characters is a Sorcerer (inherited magic instead of learned from spellbooks).
Is GURPS Thaumatology:Sorcery a good solution for this?

I didn't see any answer to this question, so I thought I'd take a stab at it.

The standard GURPS Magic system treats each spell as more or less the same thing as a skill. So you can invest points in it, and you roll 3d6 against the effective skill level to see if it functions properly. You spend Fatigue Points or Energy Reserve to power the spell. Most spells can happen instantaneously, or after a certain number of seconds. The actual spells themselves are pretty much preset - it's a bit like a gunman buying a specific type of gun to use, and then paying skill points for how well they use it. But the gun itself doesn't really change that much in its mechanical performance.

GURPS Magic doesn't really differentiate how your character learns the spell - you could run a GURPS Magic setting with the character picking it up from spellbooks and scrolls, or your character could just wake up one day with an ability to cast something, because the player says so and has spent the necessary character points to buy it.

GURPS Thaumatology Sorcery is mechanically completely different. It builds spells as though they were Advantages or Powers. So they're things you buy using character points, and a "teleport" spell might be similar in points costs to the Warp advantage. This results in magical abilities that are more flexible, and allow much greater player tinkering and adjustment. Like GURPS Magic, Sorcery is completely agnostic about any "backstory" for how the PC got the spells in the first place. It's not like D&D, where Sorcerors kind of "have it in their blood" and Mages/Wizards "pick it up from a book", that sort of thing. The GURPS distinction is heavily mechanical in the mathematics behind the two separate systems, and does not concern itself much with the in-game explanations or color.

If your group is coming back to GURPS after a long absence, or being introduced to it in a newbie-friendly environment, I would suggest holding off on Sorcery. The Dungeon Fantasy boxed set has plenty of GURPS Magic standard spells that can keep your PCs entertained for dungeon crawls and so forth.

[Kalzazz]

I feel the Basic DFRPG Magic system feels extremely D&D Sorcery. You get new spells as you gain experience and once you buy them they are always available as long as you have energy.

[Anders]

Sorcery also allows you improvise new spells, so that suits someone who has "magic in the blood." Unfortunately, improvising spells can bog down play.

[Dalin]

One way that I've worked with some players on the improv front is to allow them to reskin any spell on the fly as long as it has the same mechanical effects. This can give the character an improv feel while ensuring that everything is balanced.

So, for example, if they're in the wilderness, Rooted Feet might mean that actual roots come up and grab the target's feet. A direct damage spell (like a fireball) could be described as anything: ray of light, rocks picked up from the ground, howling tribble, etc. Apportation might make something sprout wings, or summon a bird to pick it up, etc.

This sort of thing can be a lot of fun in play.