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Old 08-08-2020, 06:58 AM   #1
awesomenessofme1
 
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Default [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

I just started reading Magic: The Least of Spells in detail (got it from Backerkit), and it's provided a lot of inspiration. There is a section in it talking about the possibility of making other new IQ/A spells, and it gives some advice throughout. I hadn't seen a thread for this so far, so I thought I would start it!

Important note: An IQ/A spell should always be weaker than the first IQ/H spell(s) available in a college, or a very weakened version of a more powerful spell.

Side question: Three spells are mentioned in The Least of Spells as being possible to lower to IQ/A: Touch, Light, and Sound. Are there any other spells from Magic or a supplement that could also be fairly lowered?
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Old 08-08-2020, 08:31 AM   #2
Anders
 
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

You could make an easier Season that's not permanent - only 1 hour - and only costs 1 FP.
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Old 08-08-2020, 08:38 AM   #3
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

I think it might be possible to justify making Temporary Enchantment an IQ/A spell with a different prerequisite or prerequisites, but I'm blanking on the details, possibly due to tiredness. It could have interesting effects on a setting if it were IQ/A, though.
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Old 08-08-2020, 08:59 AM   #4
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

I'd actually be OK with all of the Seek X spells being downgraded into IQ/A. This would make even more sense to me if the effective range of the spell were based on MoS, giving high casters reason to attain high spell skill.
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Old 08-08-2020, 10:15 AM   #5
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

One possibility is to have a specialization of a specific spell. For example, Fire spells that target a specific type of material or Healing spells that only work on a specific species of target. For example, you could have Minor Healing (Human) as an IQ/A spell or Ignite Fire (Wood) as an IQ/A spell.

In the case of a specialization of a spell, I would reduce the required Magery to learn by two levels (Magery 1 becomes Magery N/A, Magery 2 becomes Magery 0, and Magery 3 becomes Magery 1). For example, a non-mage could learn Major Healing (Human) as an IQ/H spell and a character with Magery 0 could learn Enchantment (Plant Spells) as an IQ/H spell. Prerequisites for specialized spells could be other specialized spells, but specialized spells could not be used as prerequisites for unspecialized spells.

Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 08-08-2020 at 10:34 AM.
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Old 08-08-2020, 10:51 AM   #6
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

I haven't looked at specific examples in depth, but I think you could raid GURPS Psionic Powers for its various psionic perks, reskin them as magical effects, and make them IQ/A spells.

'A perk, but cast like a spell' seems to be about right for these spells, after all.

More on topic, I second the idea of Seek spells being a good candidate.

Last edited by Ejidoth; 08-08-2020 at 10:56 AM.
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Old 08-09-2020, 06:06 PM   #7
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ejidoth View Post
I haven't looked at specific examples in depth, but I think you could raid GURPS Psionic Powers for its various psionic perks, reskin them as magical effects, and make them IQ/A spells.

'A perk, but cast like a spell' seems to be about right for these spells, after all.

More on topic, I second the idea of Seek spells being a good candidate.
I agree with both. Sure, some perks might need more work than others, but I can't think of any that wouldn't make sense at all.

Skeptic (Psionic Powers p24, in the text box) could be particularly interesting as a basic IQ/A Meta-Spell, especially if lots of people who think they might be facing hostile mages one day learn it.
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Old 08-10-2020, 03:02 AM   #8
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

A Healing spell to induce labor would be useful for midwives.

Edit: Here's another one, from the Necromancy college:

Extricate Heart

This spell allows you to remove the heart of an opponent, killing him. Your opponent must be completely helpless - bound, drugged, unconscious, etc. - or the spell fails automatically. The spell takes ten minutes to extricate the heart and the subject is in Terrible Pain the whole time, and dies when the heart is removed. The heart seems to dig itself out of the victim's chest. It is in pristine condition and any ritual that uses it as a material component gets a +1 to the roll.

Casting Time: 1 second
Cost: 5.
Note: This may seem like too powerful for a Least spell, but it's really nothing more than you could with a sharp knife and ten minutes. The bonus is that the heart is in good condition, which may be a requirement for certain rituals.
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Last edited by Anders; 08-10-2020 at 07:11 AM.
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Old 08-10-2020, 06:03 AM   #9
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

I wouldn't ban high skill from reducing cost. Maybe make the initial cost 10 instead?

Radiation Cleansing

College: Technology and Healing

You can cleanse radiation from others. This can remove rads that could not otherwise be healed, but, while the spell is cast is one second, the rads are healed at a normal rate.

Casting Time: 1 second
Cost: 1 per rad removed

This is basically a version of Radiation Recovery from Powers: The Weird which can affect others but costs FP. It could have important effects on tolerance of radioactive material. It would probably fit best in a setting like Technomancer, but radiation (and thus this spell) could be adapted for weird mana, too--in which case it would belong to the Meta and Healing Colleges.
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Old 08-10-2020, 10:05 AM   #10
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Default Re: [Magic] New IQ/A Spells

A good companion to that would be Test: Radiation Exposure, which would give you a good idea on how many times you'd need to cast Radiation Cleansing, or let you know that they are completely clean. While Test already exists, having a specific version be under the same college might help in college restricted edge cases.
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