GURPS Power-Ups 9: Alternate Attributes

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by scc

So I've spotted a problem with the proposed stat listing Kromm posted a few pages back, adding a magic points stat means that non-casters can't use magic wands and the like, which a bit of a no-go for me.

Read more closely and you'll see that isn't actually the case:

Originally Posted by Kromm

Power [20/level]: The biggest change! Will would go away and be replaced by this independent attribute. For most people, it would just do the stuff Will does . . . but by costing a lot more, I could keep the Rule of 16 (again, which I happen to like) and not make supernatural powers worthless. For clerics, wizards, etc., it would govern spells, True Faith, and the like.

As I said, everybody would have Power; it wouldn't be just for wizards:

Originally Posted by Kromm

[...] everybody can cast spells. They're just skills based on Power [...] in the campaign that inspired my example, magic-use was a matter of learning lost lore (which was a bunch of IQ/VH skills, and thus a huge investment), not of being talented in some special way.

Also in that example:

Originally Posted by Kromm

Magic Points [3/level] = Power: This would work more like Energy Reserve, and be exclusively for magic – all kinds of magic. The price wouldn't drop; magic is powerful.

So since everybody would have Power, everybody would have Magic Points. And Magic Points would work for "all kinds of magic." This includes using magic items.

Thus, in that model, you could create high-MP characters who know no spells but use lots and lots of items. A dedicated wizard would be someone who raised Power and bought lots of spells based on it.