[Magic] "Basic" spells with most bang for the buck?

[Jerander]

GURPS Thaumatology: Magical Styles lists 45 "basic" spells that require no prerequisites other than Magery. If you could only choose 10 of these 45 spells, which would you choose and why? Here are the 45 (Magery level and college in ()):

Climbing (Body)
Debility (Body)
Dull (Sense) (Mind)
Foolishness (Mind)
Haste (Move)
Ignite Fire (Fire)
Inspired Creation (Make & Break)
Itch (Body)
Keen (Sense) (Mind)
Light (Light)
Measurement (Know)
Purify Air (Air)
See Radiation (Tech)
Seek Air (Air)
Seek Earth (Earth)
Seek Fire (Fire)
Seek Food (Food)
Seek Fuel (Tech)
Seek Machine (Tech)
Seek Plant (Plant)
Seek Plastic (Tech)
Seek Power (Tech)
Seek Water (Water)
Sense Foes (Comm.)
Sense Life (Comm.)
Simple Illusion (Illusion)
Sound (Sound)
Tell Time (Know)
Test Food (Food)
Test Fuel (Tech)
Touch (Body)
Apportation (M1) (Move)
Block (M1) (Protect)
Counterspell (M1) (Meta)
Death Vision (M1) (Necro)
Detect Magic (M1) (Know)
Far-Feeling (M1) (Know)
Final Rest (M1) (Heal)
Find Direction (M1) (Know)
Lend Energy (M1) (Heal)
Magelock (M1) (Protect)
Scroll (M1) (Enchant)
Scryguard (M1) (Meta)
Ward (M1) (Meta)
Shield (M2) (Protect)

[gjc8]

If I were to become an "adventurer":
Climbing
Haste
Know Direction
Sense Foes
Sense Life
Detect Magic (If I expect no other magic than my spells, replace this with Death Vision)
Lend Energy
Apportation
Shield
Simple Illusion

If I continue my normal life:
Inspired Creation
Measurement
Simple Illusion
Know Direction
Apportation
Test Food
Haste
See Radiation
Climbing
Detect Magic (or replace with Seek Machine, as above)

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Jerander

GURPS Thaumatology: Magical Styles lists 45 "basic" spells that require no prerequisites other than Magery. If you could only choose 10 of these 45 spells, which would you choose and why? )

I'm afraid that's a basically unanswerable question. Any Gurps character with only 10 spells is unlikely to be primarily a spellcaster.

Limiting it to these spells only makes that more likely. Somebody like that has to be specializing in something else and picking 10 spells to aid that other thing. I don't think there's really a viable spellcaster with just 10 of these spells.

Of course, you're only talking about 15 cp. Hard to define any character by that small an expenditure.

[Anaraxes]

It would help to define the campaign -- environment, roles the character is likely to have to take on, what companions I might expect, and all that stuff. Picking spells in a vacuum doesn't mean much.

Assuming Ye Olde Generyck Fantasie background:

Light: Being stuck in the dark is bad
Simple Illusion: quite flexible if you (and your group) are imaginative
Apportation: again, lots of flexibility with this one
Ignite Fire: when it down, set it on fire; at least, that seems to be the modus operandi of many a PC party
Combat: Likely obliged to pick at least one direct offensive spell, so Itch or Foolishness, probably both to handle both DX- and IQ-based opponents.

[copeab]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I'm afraid that's a basically unanswerable question. Any Gurps character with only 10 spells is unlikely to be primarily a spellcaster.

Or an extremely low-point spellcaster, like an apprentice.

[chimchim]

My list will be similar to the above.
Light=always very helpfull
aportation=every mage i ever create has this one lol very useful.
ignite fire= always helps to be able to light a fire in the cold lol.
simple illusion=a very handy spell this. One PC in a campaign i ran saved the entire party with this spell more than once.
detect magic=another one i always take and sees a fair amount of use.
magelock=can be handy to slow down a persuit but only if it is not a close one (casting time is LONG)
shield=improving your defences is always good.
block=because you dont always have advanced warning lol.
itch=can be annoyingly effective.
foolishness=reduces the effectiveness of that pesky enemy mage.

[Black Rose]

Assuming this question

Originally Posted by Jerander

If you could only choose 10 of these 45 spells, which would you choose and why?

means "which ten of the following spells do I, a guy living in 2010 So Cal, want?", I'm going to go with:

Haste (Move) -- because being able to move really fast is damn cool
Ignite Fire (Fire) -- fairly minor spell, but potentially very useful at times, and again, damn cool*
Inspired Creation (Make & Break) -- I'll be honest, I have very little independent creativity of my own, but I'm rather good at copying and combining. This would give me the illusion of greater competence, at rather great cost. Sort of a "last resort" spell.
Keen (Sense) (Mind) -- being able to boost my senses at will is fraught with potential
Light (Light) -- practically a requirement for being "magical"
Measurement (Know) -- didn't we have a thread about how useful this is?
Sense Life (Comm.) -- if I ever decided to become a rescue worker, I'd be unbelievably good with this
Simple Illusion (Illusion) -- come on, damned cool!
Sound (Sound) -- goes along with Simple Illusion
Apportation (M1) (Move) -- if I could only have one spell, this would be it. I Can Move Things With My MIND.

* this is an important point for me

[hal]

If you are using the spells as listed with the rules as written, then...


Haste (Move) For what it costs at 2 fatigue per minute per movement point, half that to maintain - adding to dodge, this spell isn't too shabby when dealing with combat situations. Would YOU spend 2 fatigue to gain a +1 bonus to dodges? At skill-15, the cost is only 1 fatigue.

Ignite Fire (Fire) Pretty self-explanitory. It does make it easier to start camp fires when one is without fire making tools.

Keen (Vision) (Mind) As this is not a singular spell, but requires one for each of the senses possible, my choice would be for Keen Vision and Keen Hearing. The fact that this spell's duration is 30 minutes for the cost involved, makes it one of the better spells giving more bang for the buck.

Keen (Hearing) (Mind) - Sentries come to mind. A single mage who casts Keen Hearing on sentries at a Noble's home, would benefit from having enhanced senses for a relative long period of time.

Light (Light) Self explanitory to a large extent, but when one considers a standard fantasy world, one should remember that fuel for torches and lanterns and such - candles etc - cost money. This spell would help reduce that daily cost in life.

Seek Earth (Earth) As written, this spell is useful for locating mines and the like. It is also however, a great spell for thieves who desire to garner someone else's wealth. The problem here is that if this spell is so common, then all the worthwhile mines will have been found, and its only other real use would be for finding someone else's wealth - or gasp, even buried treasure. Soon, burying treasure will be seen to be a waste of time, and no one will bother to try and hide their wealth from invading armies and tax collectors. Heck, this would be an ideal spell for a tax collector! In retrospect? Tell Time is a better spell overall, but, what the heck, lets go with this for now.

Seek Water (Water) A properly prepared mage using this spell, should never get lost in the wilderness. Why? If he knows how to selectively tune out known bodies of water with a given amount of water in them, he will always be able to determine where he is relative to any given body of water. This spell is of course, useful in the wilderness when it comes to finding potable water


Simple Illusion (Illusion) The benefits of this spell, is simply that it is useful for fooling the unwary or unsuspecting. Having an enemy who is intent on watching you, suddenly spot a three-step snake coiled on a tree limb nearby, is probably going to unnerve him at the very least. Placing an illusion of money on a table when bargaining with an enemy is helpful. Of course, having an illusion of a full money pouch on a table after you've swiped the real thing might delay pusuit. Of course, having an illusion of something that isn't there for real, and a person grabs it expecting to be able to hold it (such as being off balance over a precipice) is probably not a happy way to discover that illusions are not solid.

Apportation (M1) (Move) Always nice to have, especially if you're locked in a jail and the key is dangling just out of reach. Or it can be used to pull a bolted door open, or even to thread rope to a hard to reach location. Imagine being in a location where you need to cross a chasm that is 30 feet wide, and you have a rope that is 50 feet long. Tie one end to a tree, send the other end out looking for something to attach to.

Scroll (M1) (Enchant) Being able to make Seek Water Scrolls, Illusion Scrolls, Keen Vision Scrolls, Keen Hearing Scrolls - well, enough said on that one.