Rulings for puissance and advanced firearms

[Pluribus]

Puissance is a rather straightforward enchantment. Just +1 per level to damage of weapon. It costs double when applied to ranged weapons. Thing is, this ramps up rather quickly when rate of fire gets involved.

If you give +1 damage to a shotgun, does every pellet get +1 or just the overall shot? Does every +1 become +4 on a point blank shot?

Does every bullet in a machine gun spray get +1? I would think it would have to, because enchanting the ammunition should have the same effect as enchanting a weapon, and if each bullet is individually enchanted it wouldn't make sense if some of them didn't get the benefit.

If this is an explosive projectile or a grenade, do the explosion and the shrapnel both get +1?

[sir_pudding]

I don't think there's any existing hard and fast rulings on this stuff, and I imagine that campaigns that use TL8 gear with the GURPS Magic magic system are probably rare compared to TL3-4 games with that system ( or even TL8 games with a different system). If there are answers in GURPS Technomancer, for these questions I don't remember them.

Personally I'd treat it as per casing, not per pellet, so that the shotgun blast gets a one time damage bonus regardless of how many pellets hit, since a slug fired from the same weapon would only get the bonus once.

For explosions I'd give the bonus only to shrapnel, and only once per target.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I don't think there's any existing hard and fast rulings on this stuff, and I imagine that campaigns that use TL8 gear with the GURPS Magic magic system are probably rare compared to TL3-4 games with that system ( or even TL8 games with a different system). If there are answers in GURPS Technomancer, for these questions I don't remember them.

Actually, I expect Urban Fantasy is probably the second most popular genre to RP in, if the popularity of the WoD and Shadowrun are any guide. They might still be "rare" compared to fantasy, strictly speaking, but supporting the use of magic in a TL 8 environment is certainly a worthy goal, especially if GURPS is to be as Universal as it purports to be.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Actually, I expect Urban Fantasy is probably the second most popular genre to RP in, if the popularity of the WoD and Shadowrun are any guide. They might still be "rare" compared to fantasy, strictly speaking, but supporting the use of magic in a TL 8 environment is certainly a worthy goal, especially if GURPS is to be as Universal as it purports to be.

Sure, but isn't that a genre to which Path, Realm or Ritual Path Magic is a better fit?

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Sure, but isn't that a genre to which Path, Realm or Ritual Path Magic is a better fit?

How is a modern wizard studying prerequisite after prerequisite somehow less appropriate than a fantasy wizard doing the same? WoD Vampires are certainly chained into a structure of prerequisites, and while Shadowrun wizards don't much resemble GURPS wizards, GURPS wizards don't much resemble D&D wizards either.

For that matter, you seem to be implying that RPM or Path Magic or Realm magic wouldn't be appropriate to Fantasy. Do you believe that to be true?

You might be implying that RPM is more flexible and suited to "Universality" than the generic GURPS Magic. That's true, but that speaks more to a failure of the design of vanilla GURPS Magic than anything else.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

How is a modern wizard studying prerequisite after prerequisite somehow less appropriate than a fantasy wizard doing the same? WoD Vampires are certainly chained into a structure of prerequisites, and while Shadowrun wizards don't much resemble GURPS wizards, GURPS wizards don't much resemble D&D wizards either.

The prerequisites are irrelevant. The style of Urban Fantasy magic tends to be more like folklore and less like FRPGs. I wouldn't try to do Dresden Files for example with the GURPS Magic rules. That's all that I meant. I'm not really sure how this is really relevant to the OP's questions, though.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

The prerequisites are irrelevant. The style of Urban Fantasy magic tends to be more like folklore and less like FRPGs.

Citation needed.

I wouldn't try to do Dresden Files for example with the GURPS Magic rules. That's all that I meant.

What about Charmed? Harry Potter? Shadowrun? You seem to have a narrow definition of "Urban Fantasy."

I'm not really sure how this is really relevant to the OP's questions, though.

It isn't. The OP wanted how to apply GURPS Magic to a TL 8 environment, given that GURPS Magic is for a generic, universal system, and that the magic therein includes rules for things like drawing mana from power plants and summoning plastic elementals, it seems he asked an entirely reasonable question. You are the one to declare that GURPS Magic isn't really appropriate for TL 8 settings.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Citation needed.

For a subjective opinion? I site my first post in this thread... I'm getting the impression that you think I'm making a stronger statement than I intended.

It isn't. The OP wanted how to apply GURPS Magic to a TL 8 environment, given that GURPS Magic is for a generic, universal system, and that the magic therein includes rules for things like drawing mana from power plants and summoning plastic elementals, it seems he asked an entirely reasonable question.

I never said he didn't. I even suggested reasonable answers for reasonable questions. Do you disagree with my actual answers? That would seem to be more relevant.

You are the one to declare that GURPS Magic isn't really appropriate for TL 8 settings.

I was only speculating on why Technomancer is the only published GURPS setting with contemporary technology and the GURPS Magic magic system and also why these questions don't appear to have gotten a lot of attention already. I am proposing that they haven't already been asked on this forum because it's an atypical problem.

[ULFGARD]

Originally Posted by Pluribus

Puissance is a rather straightforward enchantment. Just +1 per level to damage of weapon. It costs double when applied to ranged weapons. Thing is, this ramps up rather quickly when rate of fire gets involved.

If you give +1 damage to a shotgun, does every pellet get +1 or just the overall shot? Does every +1 become +4 on a point blank shot?

Does every bullet in a machine gun spray get +1? I would think it would have to, because enchanting the ammunition should have the same effect as enchanting a weapon, and if each bullet is individually enchanted it wouldn't make sense if some of them didn't get the benefit.

If this is an explosive projectile or a grenade, do the explosion and the shrapnel both get +1?

I don't recall seeing a ruling on this anywhere, so it seems that you'll need to come up with a ruling on your own.

I would be inclined to give a +1 to every "shot" in the rate of fire. So this means ever one of the 1d pellets would be 1d+1, every shot in a machine gun burst would get the +1, etc. As for the grenade damage, I would have it affect both, giving +1 to both explosive damage and shrapnel.

This doesn't seem like an overly powerful result for the spell, especially given the damage that firearms can inflict on their own.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by ULFGARD

I would be inclined to give a +1 to every "shot" in the rate of fire. So this means ever one of the 1d pellets would be 1d+1, every shot in a machine gun burst would get the +1, etc.

Is it weird that a slug fired from the same weapon would only get the bonus once?

As for the grenade damage, I would have it affect both, giving +1 to both explosive damage and shrapnel.

I suppose I'd prefer a different spell to boost the explosion damage, like a high explosive fireball spell arrow or something. Maybe that's over thinking.