Thamatology Spell Systems

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by obatron

(or is the Book Magic system a fleshed out system in an otherwise tool/advice book?)

Path/Book Magic is complete in Thaumatology with all you need. It has fewer Rituals than Magic has Spells but what it has is generally much more flexible.

In my opinion though it's not a great fit for D&D-ish stuff. Path/Book is better for things like Buffy the Vampire Slayer where magic is all candles and chanting than pointing fingers and zapping.

On the other hand I would use Path/Book for Gurps Conan and several other fiction-based settings.

[Greg 1]

I'm very interested in hearing how Path/Book has worked for people.

Does the system need more rituals? More guidance for winging it?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

I'm very interested in hearing how Path/Book has worked for people.

Does the system need more rituals? More guidance for winging it?

Path is probably good to go as is. Book requires a few more books to be worked out before hand, IMO. Each of the example books is clearly for a slightly different magical style.

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

I'm very interested in hearing how Path/Book has worked for people.

Does the system need more rituals? More guidance for winging it?

I love it, it worked fine in the post-war Berlin horror/espionage game I ran last year and it looks like it will work fine in the 17th century swashbuckling/monster hunting campaign I just started running this month. I've been using Effect Shaping magic right out of the book, basically, I haven't added any homebrew rituals yet.

I would, however, greatly appreciate a supplement with many more rituals and a "ritual building toolkit" of some sort. It's at the very top of my personal GURPS wish-list.

[Barghaest]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

I'm very interested in hearing how Path/Book has worked for people.

Does the system need more rituals? More guidance for winging it?

I rather like the system. Most of my players haven't done much with it and I feel the default listing of rituals and guidance works fine. You can tweak it to more suit the flavor of your campaign (most specifically the Books) relatively easily but it doesn't really NEED more tweaking/rituals apart from that.

I've actually mixed magic systems in my game... shamanistic magic (native tribes/voodoo/etc) uses Path magic, I have a Cthulhuian Book magic, traditional wizard schools use the default Magery system, divine magic uses Threshold, I have several of the 'improvised' magic systems (Runic, Ritual, etc), and the truly powerful mages (and powerful undead like liches) uses a Powers based magic system. Some people mix and match - for example, most liches needed the Magery system to BECOME a lich and retain their old system but can learn new Power based magic and even dabble in Book magic collecting old tomes.

The main advantage of Path/Book magic is the lack of Magery pre-reqs for it in my game. ANYONE can find an ancient tome and try the invocations/learn the spells from it, or study under a tribal shaman to harness the spirits for those forces, allowing non-mages access to some level of power, albeit it generally slower and less flashy than traditional Magery spells.