So, how do you get magic powers?

[Mailanka]

I've been tinkering with a GURPS Cabal 4e game using the Path/Book magic from Thaumatology rather than straight spells. I've chosen this route for a few reasons: First, Path/Book magic feels more like "real magic" to me, and Cabal feels like an occultist game rather than a sword-and-sorcery game. Second, I expect my players would not enjoy delving into the fantastic complexity of the spell prerequisite trees and sifting through spells like Haircut to get to the actual spells they want.

But, alas, GURPS Cabal heavily assumes that most supernatural creatures use magic. Elementals get innate spells, Djinn get innate spells, Gargoyles get innate spells, and the book assumes that mages will have access to quick-cast, in-your-face magic, if they truly need it.

My solution to this is magic powers. Perhaps this is foolish: using two magic systems where one would do, but I think it captures the nature of supernatural creatures well: A werewolf's powers tend to be unique to werewolves, and while a demon and a fire elemental might both have a way to inflict harm on their opponent, they'll follow slightly different rules. Plus fiction often depicts these abilities as inherent: A fire elemental doesn't cast "flame jet," it just blasts people because it's made of fire.

This also presents another opportunity: A mage who wants to blast people with flames rather than muck about with Doom spells needs to find some way to gain access to a magical power, rather than learning a magical spell. We could simply allow him to learn the ability, but that strikes me as a missed opportunity. Mages learn spells. They acquire powers.

But how do they acquire them? That's where I'm stumped and thought I would turn to the hive-mind for suggestions. Some ideas:

• They're born with them: If you come from a particularly magical bloodline (like a Scion), you might be born with some innate magic. If so, how are magical powers different from psionic powers?
• They get them from pacts with dark gods: Cabalists can summon things man was not meant to screw around with, and in so doing, trade their soul (or someone else's soul, wholesale!) for power. Not temporal powers, but mystical power: Immortality, the ability to walk through fire unharmed, the ability to track and trace someone perfectly, whatever.
• Crazily dangerous soul-experimentation: If you understand where magic comes from perhaps you can manipulate the nature of that connection to decanic imagery and imbue yourself with some innate abilities at some terrible cost to yourself. If this has a genetic component, it might create a magical bloodline (see above).
• From the pinnacle of enlightenment: Cabal talks about Grand Masters who have stood in the presence of God, and how they have a powerful, charismatic aura, and power beyond mortal imagining. Some of that is probably "just knowledge" and very high levels of skill at spells, but the book heavily implies immortality and additional perks that "break the rules" of most common magic. Perhaps simply entering higher levels of existence marks the mage in some way, similar to how Legacies begin to crop up as one increases his Gnosis in Mage: the Awakening.
• Permanent self-enchantment: Path/Book magic allows for casting spells with very long durations. With an appropriately intense ritual and some mark of permanence and some character points, the mage might permanently alter himself in some way: Perhaps some mystical tattoos, or the soul-experimentation mentioned above, or just a carefully woven spell that is bound into the fabric of who and what he is that could, presumably, be dispelled with another appropriately intense ritual.

Any suggestions or additional ideas would be most welcome.

[SCAR]

If powers represent the innate magic abilities of supernatural creatures, then making pacts with such creatures (or their elders) for access to similar powers would seem like a starting point. (Basically your pacts with dark gods option).

Alternatively - I haven't read Cabal, but it sounds like the sort of setting where Cabalists might be just as inclined to take the innate powers from such supernatural creatures for themselves - imprisoning those creatures, or killing them and using their 'components' to empower themselves. (The later could be your Crazily dangerous soul-experimentation!)

[Anders]

Sit an entire night at the cemetary, alone, in the dark, at Samhain. Of course, you might go crazy or be eaten by goblins but no serious endeavour is without risk.

[Loukas]

Originally Posted by SCAR

If powers represent the innate magic abilities of supernatural creatures, then making pacts with such creatures (or their elders) for access to similar powers would seem like a starting point. (Basically your pacts with dark gods option).

Pacts and agreements for fire blasting! I like the way this makes a mage's social powers/skills deliver battle magic powers. Rather like the way the magicians in Jack Vance's Lyonesse have groups of magical creatures that they have bound/tricked/made a deal with, and who extend their powers seriously.

It means a mage may have to constantly roleplay wheedling a reluctant fire spirit, or risk them failing to perform during the next battle!

[The Benj]

The really weird thing is, Haircut has EIGHT prereqs.

[Darklim]

What if you don't?

That was the basic premise of one of my settings. Magic is too often depicted as the ability to use one's body as a vessel for mana/spirit powers/holy energy/whatnot. What if mana was just an ambient energy that no human can directly tap in - in the same way you can have a bulb, a socket, but it would still be a very bad idea to try and be the wire between the two? What if, in order to tap in mana, humans had to built weird machines? Hence, the magic-dustrial revolution. As for the wizards that actually have tremendous power, well...

It comes from technology.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by SCAR

Alternatively - I haven't read Cabal,

You don't need to. It's a grand kitchen-sink of magic and high weirdness. The only really important thing is that it has strong modern-occult vibes and is full of really ruthless and ambitious people.

[Astromancer]

Have you thought of the idea of initiation? The PCs would have to go through ritual ordeals just to see if they were worthy to go through ritual ordeals. Think of it as being sent through hazing by Wizards. Then give the wizards a sense of humor. Muhahahahaha!

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Have you thought of the idea of initiation? The PCs would have to go through ritual ordeals just to see if they were worthy to go through ritual ordeals. Think of it as being sent through hazing by Wizards. Then give the wizards a sense of humor. Muhahahahaha!

Definitely. Path/Book magic is based on GURPS Voodoo, which has levels of initiation, though that seems to me to be something more appropriate to a subset of abilities. That is, as you go deeper into the Mysteries (perhaps by walking the Sephiroth) you gain a deeper understanding of reality (things like Illumination and Awareness) rather than magic powers (the ability to shoot fire from your fingertips)

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Second, I expect my players would not enjoy delving into the fantastic complexity of the spell prerequisite trees and sifting through spells like Haircut to get to the actual spells they want.
.

Haircut isn't actually a Prereq for anything. This free pdf can make things like that easy to determine.

http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG37-0203

I know you weren't being literal but even though I love Cabal dearly and as my first post in the playtest I proclaimed it "Perfect!" it is quite complex in its' own right (or rite). Indeed, the Decanic Astrological system may be too complex for practical gaming.

You may not wear out a copy of Magic the way you would in a straight Magic game but you'll just be wearing out Thaumatology instead.

Speaking of complexity, Magic Powers will have you use the full complexity of the Characters and Powers systems and that's quite complex as well. You can't even be certain that only you will have to deal with it as the Cabal has many non-human members.

Of course you can restrict available character types but that seems dissonant with a Cabal game.

One of the most insightful things ever said about Gurps is credited to a "Dr Rotwang" and it was "Gurps is like a cow. Don't try and eat the whole thing at once.".

Maybe your prospective palyers are really into Gurps mechanics but you might need to consider if you've got too much of the cow on your plate. Path/Book without decanic correspondences is about as complex as many players want to deal with.