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Old 03-21-2020, 06:42 PM   #1
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

While the default Supermage uses standard ritual magic, I think that a RPM Supermage would likely be a better fit. Here is a bare bones example of a RPM Supermage:

RPM Supermage (500 CP)

Attributes: ST 10 [0], DX 12 [40], IQ 20 [200], HT 12 [20]

Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs; FP 12 [0]; Will 16 [-20]; Per 16 [-20]; HP 10 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]

Advantages: Luck [15]; Magery 13 [135]; Magical Items [20]; a total of 50 CP worth.

Disadvantages: A total of -50 CP worth.

Wildcard Skills: Ritual! (VH) IQ+5 [84]

Ordinary Skills: Any 26 CP worth.

Notes: The Ritual! Wildcard Skill is the Ritual Path Magic equivalent of Magic!. It replaces Alchemy, Thaumatology, and any associated Paths.

So, would you let a RPM Supermage into you supers games? If so, what role do you think that it would play in your games? If not, why not?

Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 03-21-2020 at 06:50 PM.
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Old 03-21-2020, 07:07 PM   #2
awesomenessofme1
 
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Default Re: RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
While the default Supermage uses standard ritual magic, I think that a RPM Supermage would likely be a better fit
None of the Supermage templates in Supers use "standard ritual magic". There's one that uses Sleight of Hand Magic, one that uses standard spell-based magic, and one that uses magic as powers.
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Old 03-21-2020, 07:50 PM   #3
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Re: RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

The second one uses standard ritual magic through the Magic! Wildcard Skill.
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Old 03-21-2020, 11:25 PM   #4
Mark Skarr
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Default Re: RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
So, would you let a RPM Supermage into you supers games? If so, what role do you think that it would play in your games? If not, why not?
No.

#1, don't use RPM.
#2, don't allow Wildcard skills.

[ETA]
#3, don't allow IQs that high. (Defaults/dabbler perks get silly with it.)
[/ETA]

Last edited by Mark Skarr; 03-22-2020 at 12:31 PM.
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Old 03-22-2020, 12:38 AM   #5
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Default Re: RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

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Originally Posted by Mark Skarr View Post
No.

#1, don't use RPM.
#2, don't allow Wildcard skills.
Is this that you don't, or that you're actively discouraging using them for supers games?

If the former, can't comment. Run your game the way that makes sense for you. :)

But I disagree with not permitting wildcard skills. Many characters would be better served by using wildcards than nickel-diming skills. Multidisciplinary scientists and gadgeteers/engineers (the Professor from Gilligan's Island, Tony Stark in the MCU, etc.) are better off buying a wildcard than taking every possible science, engineering, armoury, electronics repair, and mechanics specialization their players can think of and hope they didn't miss something crucial the GM will throw at them.

As for an RPM supermage, I'm intrigued. I can see it for a John Constantine type character, but how would you handle a Doctor Strange, Hellstorm, or Doctor Fate type using RPM?
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Old 03-22-2020, 07:06 AM   #6
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Re: RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

Well, Dr. Strange is very dependant on magical gadgets, so that fits within RPM. Each magical entity that Dr. Strange draws power from could count as its own Path, or they could be considered powerful patrons. In all, Dr. Strange would probably be considered a 1,000 CP version of the RPM Supermage, so he would likely have Magery 23 [+100 CP], Ritual! at IQ+15 [+120 CP], another 180 CP in magical gadgets [+180 CP], another 50 CP in advantages [+50 CP], and another 50 CP in ordinary skills [+50 CP].

With a magical reserve of 69 energy and 58 conditional spells (minus the amount reserved for his magical gadgets), Dr. Strange would be prepared for practically any situation. Even if he needed to cast a spell on the fly, he could accumulate an average of 20 energy per turn, taking the -4 to skill for reducing accumulation times to one turn per roll, allowing him to easy cast ~100 energy spells within five turns. If given enough time, a minute or so, he could potentially throw together truly massive rituals.
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Old 03-22-2020, 11:30 AM   #7
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Default Re: RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

Am I not seeing Ritual Adept [40] in the list? (I'm not noted for my Perception rolls.)
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Old 03-22-2020, 12:23 PM   #8
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Default Re: RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

This isn't, necessarily, the place for a discussion of Wildcard skills, but, hey, I'll explain.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantasm View Post
Is this that you don't, or that you're actively discouraging using them for supers games?
Do not allow. Wildcard skills have no place in the types of games I run.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantasm View Post
But I disagree with not permitting wildcard skills. Many characters would be better served by using wildcards than nickel-diming skills. Multidisciplinary scientists and gadgeteers/engineers (the Professor from Gilligan's Island, Tony Stark in the MCU, etc.) are better off buying a wildcard than taking every possible science, engineering, armoury, electronics repair, and mechanics specialization their players can think of and hope they didn't miss something crucial the GM will throw at them.
I don't run games as rubbery as Gilligan's Island, where it's less about what could they do, and more about "joke of the week." The Professor's skills don't make any sense. He can do anything, except fix a boat. Neither can Skipper or Gilligan, both life-long sailors. Fits for a comedy TV show, not for an RPG.

And, characters like Tony Stark, again, aren't powered by anything other than Plot Convenience/Contrivance. Tony can break down hyper-advanced, non-human-based technology with a corkscrew and a bottle of Tequila but hasn't solved all the worlds' fossil fuel/renewable energy crisis. Again, it fits for a comic book where the writers need dramatic control, but not for an RPG.

Wildcard skills are for over-the-top, cinematic caricatures. And I don't normally allow those in my games. No one, in my games, can know everything about every subject like they do.

A TL5 Cowboy, with Gun! would be able to pick up a TL12 Kill-o-Zap gun, successfully disengage the safety catch, while simultaneously engaging the extreme danger catch, having never seen one before. They would even be able to disassemble one, field clean it, and explain the functions of the inner components even though the underlying scientific principles of the weapon won't be discovered on his world for millennia.

Said Cowboy would also be able to drop into a gunnery chair on the Millennium Falcon and out-perform Luke and Han in shooting down TIE Fighters, even though the concept of powered flight hasn't been explored in their world! Heck, he could also help Chewie repair those blaster cannons. He could then move over to the USS Enterprise (pick one, any one), and use their gunnery stations to fire every weapon available, accurately. And go and repair them as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Campaigns, pg 175
Wildcard skills include and replace all specific skills within their area.

Gun! (DX). Replaces all specialties of Beam Weapons, Gunner, Guns, and Liquid Projector, as well as all related Fast-Draw skills. Make an IQ-based roll for Armoury pertaining to these weapons.
I don't run high-fantasy Supers games. Wildcard skills have no place in my games.
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Old 03-22-2020, 12:36 PM   #9
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Re: RPM Supermage [Supers/RPM]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pragmatic View Post
Am I not seeing Ritual Adept [40] in the list? (I'm not noted for my Perception rolls.)
My mistake. I would suggest reducing Magery and Ritual! by two levels each then and adding Ritual Mastery and 4 additional CP in ordinary skills.
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