Forbidden Magic Front & Magic Laundering

[Railstar]

This is less a rules question and more about getting some opinions for character-design and recommended spell lists, using the standard GURPS Magic rules with Thaumatology Magical Styles.

BACKGROUND:

The premise is a wizard who specialises in the Onyx Path, but the Onyx Path is a forbidden style (hunted at worst and shunned at best), and they want to be able to masquerade among other wizards as a more respectable kind of magic-wielder. The attitude to a style such as Underworld Lore is not as bad, but still pretty negative, it’s the kind of thing someone could get away with dabbling in but not to be perceived as a specialist in.

The setting is more in line with GURPS Horror in a historical setting but later becoming modern, with public belief in the supernatural decreasing as people get into the Age of Reason. Rules can be borrowed from Dungeon Fantasy where convenient (power-ups, perks, etc), but the world is not DF, and the character is specifically not a delver.

QUESTION:

Which spells are best for a wizard to earn an income or provide a cover story to other wizards for how the wizard earns an income?

Assume 20 points reserved for these spells + prerequisites.
IQ + Magery enough to only need to spend 1 point per spell.
Please do not suggest Style Familiarity unless it gives a shortcut to learning the money-making spells with fewer points.

Thanks in advance.

[sir_pudding]

Why don't they just study a second, more acceptable, style?

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Why don't they just study a second, more acceptable, style?

Agreed. Nothing prevents a mage from studying multiple styles, just like nothing prevents a martial artist from studying multiple martial styles.

[isf]

I'd go with Healing spells if allowed with medical skills.

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Why don't they just study a second, more acceptable, style?

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Agreed. Nothing prevents a mage from studying multiple styles, just like nothing prevents a martial artist from studying multiple martial styles.

Point budget, mainly. Style Familiarity + Required Skills + Required Spells costs around 13 points for the bare minimum of a new style. I was picturing the wizard being able to spare roughly 20 points or so to support their cover story, which I should have mentioned in the first post but I forgot. Sorry about that.

Related to that, appearing to be a senior wizard rather than a novice would mean more respect from other wizards.

Originally Posted by isf

I'd go with Healing spells if allowed with medical skills.

It's possible. There's enough overlap with the Onyx Path (Final Rest, Recover Energy, Resist Disease & Suspended Animation) and being able to heal undead minions is always useful for a necromancer, so I see a lot of synergy there.

It'd also be only 3 points for Lend Energy [1], Lend Vitality [1] & Minor Healing [1]

I'm not sure how far they'd want to specialise in the Healing tree, at least initially, but it's certainly a good option to have in their toolbox and socially acceptable.

[Dalillama]

How proprietary are other schools about their practices? In your shoes, I might see if the GM would allow an Unusual Training perk to pick up another Style Familiarity without all the backup skills. As long as there's some overlap, you could say youve read some of their stuff and can talk a good game as ling as you're not having to infiltrate heir chapter house or something.

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

How proprietary are other schools about their practices? In your shoes, I might see if the GM would allow an Unusual Training perk to pick up another Style Familiarity without all the backup skills. As long as there's some overlap, you could say youve read some of their stuff and can talk a good game as ling as you're not having to infiltrate heir chapter house or something.

Interesting point. The entire premise of wanting to appear as advanced a wizard as possible to have a stronger position when dealing with other wizards implies there’s always some exchange of magical knowledge going on between wizards of different styles.

So overall, not too proprietary. Cross-study would be accepted. The schools provide a way of learning rather than actively guard the knowledge.

Buying Style Familiarity without taking all the skills would be a no-go, but learning individual spells from those styles would be easily possible (although must offer something to exchange for each spell).

Also adding Gift of Letters & History to the list of style spells that can be safely used as part of a public portfolio.

[sir_pudding]

How about taking a second style that has some spells in common, that way your point spent on them counts for both styles?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Railstar

This is less a rules question and more about getting some opinions for character-design and recommended spell lists, using the standard GURPS Magic rules with Thaumatology Magical Styles.

The premise is a wizard who specialises in the Onyx Path, but the Onyx Path is a forbidden style (hunted at worst and shunned at best), and they want to be able to masquerade among other wizards as a more respectable kind of magic-wielder. The attitude to a style such as Underworld Lore is not as bad, but still pretty negative, it’s the kind of thing someone could get away with dabbling in but not to be perceived as a specialist in.

For that they would need other spells to look like their “bread-and-butter” magic. What would you pick and why? How would you have such a character present themselves to other wizards to still be respected as a spellcaster but without the stigma of forbidden magics?

I figure the wizard would need a few spells to explain how they make money (without being an obvious criminal or seeming horribly unscrupulous), perhaps a self-defence spell just so their cover isn't immediately blown if they find themselves in danger.

Assume high enough IQ + Magery to be sufficiently good at a spell with only 1 point in it.

The setting is more in line with GURPS Horror in a historical setting but later becoming modern, with public belief in the supernatural decreasing as people get into the Age of Reason. Rules can be borrowed from Dungeon Fantasy where convenient (power-ups, perks, etc), but the world is not DF, and the character is specifically not a delver. I could see Enchantment & Alchemy getting a lot of use, but they'd still need to have a grounding for what enchantments they would put on things.

Thanks in advance.

Here's the thing. How many styles are there? Do the magicians know all the styles? Are there any styles that overlap with spells a Onyx Path magician can know?

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

How about taking a second style that has some spells in common, that way your point spent on them counts for both styles?

The only style I can find that fits would be Underworld Lore, which is only marginally more respectable than the Onyx Path (equivalent to introducing oneself as a torturer or poisoner rather than a war criminal) – so it wouldn’t work as a cover.

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Here's the thing. How many styles are there? Do the magicians know all the styles? Are there any styles that overlap with spells a Onyx Path magician can know?

How many styles are there?

All of the official published styles using GURPS Magic (not Ritual Path Magic), or a more setting-friendly equivalent. So an extremist sect of druidic sorcerers or part of the Unseelie Court could use the same rules as Perfecting Rites of the Shaded Woodlands, even if there are subtle differences in their philosophy.

Do the magicians know all the styles?

None of the styles are exactly a secret, although the information is fairly decentralised. Only the inner workings of a style would require something like Hidden Lore. But the basics are pretty easy to figure out.

Are there any styles that overlap with spells an Onyx Path magician can know?

Only Underworld Lore, from what I can tell, which overlaps far too much. It wouldn’t give the wizard an appearance of respectability if used as a cover. They’re basically known as quasi-necromancers, so while the reaction would not be as extreme as openly using the Onyx Path, it would still cause most of the same problems.

Overall, I definitely think individual collections of spells is a far better solution to trying to learn a second style from the ground up.