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Old 07-19-2016, 12:53 PM   #1
Raekai
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Default [Sorcery] [RPM] Help Me Build Energy-Accumulating Sorcery

Hey, guys.

It's been a busy summer and I haven't had much time for GURPS, but one thing is for sure: I have fallen in love with the new Sorcery system. Back and forth between Sorcery and RPM, I've been building new spells and rituals in my free time. But what if they were compatible? I have a few ideas:

Ritual Sorcery
The first idea is the one I feel iffiest about, but it's the backbone. The main thing that differentiates Sorcery and RPM is time and energy. Let's change that. Let's say that Sorcery spells are meta-traits. Now, just add a freaking boat-load of Costs FP, -5% (or -10% if you're a PK follower) to them to bring the cost down (especially since PK just said that putting limitations on meta-traits is okay). That's pretty straightforward. Run into the -80% cap? Well, treat that modified spell as another meta-trait and keep going. We're bringing the cost down so you can improvise it. That's right, with Sorcerous Empowerment 2, you can only improve a 2-point spell (not counting hardcore improvisation). Then, with one of the following methods, you can gather the energy to actually be able to cast that spell. Yes, this might take a little bit of math, but I don't mind math that much.

Example: You have Sorcerous Empowerment 2, so you can only improvise spells that are 2 points or less, but you want to improvise Air Jet 2 for 12 points. You throw on Costs FP 16, -80% to get it to 3 points, and then another Costs FP 7, -35% to get it down to 2 points. That brings Air Jet 2 to a total of 1+16+7 FP, or 24 FP. That's a lot. But, now, you can cast it.

Energy-Accumulating Idea 1:
Inspired by this thread on a Recovery Energy spell for Sorcery, I wondered if you could "over-regenerate" the energy needed for a spell. Regeneration (Fast; Accessibility, Only FP lost to sorcery, -20%; Fatigue Only, +0%; Magical, -10%; Requires Concentrate, -15%; Requires IQ Roll, -10%) [22.5] seems like a pretty viable build. Now, what if you add Cosmic: Sorcerous Over-Regeneration, +50% (?) that allows you to build up extra FP only for the purpose of putting it toward the high-FP improvised spell? It involves a little bit of Cosmic hand-waving. You could make Regeneration faster or slower and tweak certain things to your heart's content.

Example: Since you don't have 24 FP available, you'll have to use your Sorcerous Over-Channeling spell/ability/power-up from above. Even with full fatigue, you sit down and concentrate, and you make a roll (or a roll every minute?) that allows you to, if you succeed, start gathering FP at 1 FP/minute until you hit 24 FP, at which point you can cast the spell.

Energy-Accumulating Idea 2:
Then I started to rethink straight-up energy accumulation with path/college skills and everything. It has been made clear (in both Thaumatology and Ritual Path Magic) that energy points are not equivalent to FP, especially when you can make a roll after 5 minutes and potentially get multiple energy-FP from a success and at least one from a failure. So, I was thinking you could make it that every 5 energy points can convert into 1 FP. Or you could make a success garner 1 FP with a failure accumulating none. I'm not sure which I like more.

Example: Since you don't have 24 FP available, you have to accumulate the energy in the traditional fashion, which means rolling against your College of Air skill or your Path of Energy skill. This follows the standard RPM rules as far as I can see, including the potential for Ritual Adept or whatever else. You succeed with your roll after 5 minutes, and you either accumulate 1 FP on a success or standard energy which you can convert into FP at 5 energy to 1 FP.

Any ideas? Critiques? Suggestions?

Thanks. You guys are great.

Last edited by Raekai; 07-20-2016 at 06:05 PM.
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Old 07-20-2016, 03:23 PM   #2
Raekai
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Default Re: [Sorcery] [RPM] Help Me Build Energy-Accumulating Sorcery

It's been over 24 hours, so I'm going to bump my thread once.

If this doesn't get any discussion, I'll go refine my ideas in my free time and return when they're a little more thought out.

Thanks again.
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Old 07-20-2016, 03:28 PM   #3
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Default Re: [Sorcery] [RPM] Help Me Build Energy-Accumulating Sorcery

I'm not sure that I get your idea or not.

I'm hearing that you are building spells via sorcery, figuring out how much FP it would require to take them down to 2 points, and then gathering that energy via the RPM rules?

Did I hear that correctly?
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Old 07-20-2016, 03:46 PM   #4
Raekai
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Default Re: [Sorcery] [RPM] Help Me Build Energy-Accumulating Sorcery

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
I'm not sure that I get your idea or not.

I'm hearing that you are building spells via sorcery, figuring out how much FP it would require to take them down to 2 points, and then gathering that energy via the RPM rules?

Did I hear that correctly?
I'm about to work out, but I will be back with examples. I think that'll clarify confusion.
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Old 07-20-2016, 06:05 PM   #5
Raekai
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Default Re: [Sorcery] [RPM] Help Me Build Energy-Accumulating Sorcery

Quote:
Originally Posted by Raekai View Post
I'm about to work out, but I will be back with examples. I think that'll clarify confusion.
Good job, me. I think you clarified things quite nicely. Now, go make yourself some dinner.

To clarify my clarification, I edited my original post, and added examples.

I've been sleep-deprived. Losing my touch.

Last edited by Raekai; 07-20-2016 at 08:00 PM.
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Old 07-20-2016, 09:11 PM   #6
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Default Re: [Sorcery] [RPM] Help Me Build Energy-Accumulating Sorcery

Instead of making up a custom cosmic for 'over regeneration' why not just afflict yourself with a single point of FP with the cumulative enhancement.

Every round you can add one more and when your cast your spell it is gone (or at least the regular 1 minute/MoS duration will have expired by the time it could have recharged)
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