Ravens N' Pennies - GURPS Content Posts

[Christopher R. Rice]

GURPS101: More Photokinesis Powers for Psionic Powers

Today's second Patreon Special is all about shining a light with your freaking mind.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Using gemstones and other 'naturally' occuring, but extremely expensive magic enhancers with RPM, as sources of energy and perhaps of other bonuses or ignoring penelties, essentially being able to get around a lot of restrictions and increase personal power a lot, with the expenditure of resources.


Doesn't suit all settings, but vanilla RPM does allow Grimoires, which from a game design point of view have the same end result, not to mention that Focusers are a very similar thing, though both assume deliberate construction of their items, rather than the bonuses being simply an inherent feature of certain rare and precious natural resources.

Basically, what are the optional rules you'd need, the pitfalls you'd want to avoid and the issues you'd want to consider if you are planning to make magical tools and focusers widely available, to magicians who are rich enough to buy gemstones and other astronomically expensive magical enhancers in bulk?

I also noted that shaman's tools might work like grimoires for TL0 societies in my article "The Old Ways" in the Prehistory issue of Pyramid. Also, sold.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Alternative ideas, what about some rituals, Perks and notes on a Magical Style for RPM magicians whose magic focuses on some recondite physics concepts, like Entropy (Daath devotees with technobabble?) or Quantum Physics (modern Chaos Magic?). Perks or optional rules to use Mathematics (Pure) or some specialities of Physics as alternatives to Symbol Drawing, Stabilising Skills or in some other way making them important.

I have about 30 magical styles for Ceteri that I plan on putting out at some point. I might consider doing something like this as an alternate tradition for RPM. I like the idea of doing Chaos Magic. This seems more like a special though.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Rituals for the Path of Nonexistence?

This one is so hard to do generally - you need a campaign setting really. I've had issues in my own game (which is why I don't use it too often)

Originally Posted by Icelander

Guiddlines for RPM and the Mythos, using RPM in campaigns trying for a Call of Chthulu or Delta Green feel. Lovecraftian rituals, both for insane cultists and well-mannered magicians risking their sanity trying to keep the Great Old Ones and their servitors at bay a while longer.

Wrote those up way back when - well, a few of them anyways. They are Patreon Specials from 2015 I think.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Or guidelines, switches to toggle, new traits and rituals for Blood Magic from Game of Thrones, i.e. fairly standard witch, warlock, cunning folk magic, except that Sacrifices are a core concept and all effects have a real, measurable and terrible cost. Whatever entity or abstract concept that allows such magic has a will of its own, a strong sense of karmic justice and values sacrifices by what those who profit by the magic least want to sacrifice. You can have anything you want, but the price is always more than anyone without the strongest motives of vengenance, Obsession or Fanaticism would want to pay.

"Only Death can pay for Life."

Hmmm. Maybe.

Originally Posted by lvalero

Combat examples. Although there are some excellent combat examples in Mook's page I feel we need more combat examples between:

- man and dragon (or fire breathing beast)
- unarmed combatants (grapple rules, choking, pinninng,...)
-three versus one
-take a short scene of a movie and explaing it in Gurps therms... Lord of the rings, Matrix, Captain America, Sharknado....

I don't think this would be my cup of tea. Thanks for responding though!

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I also noted that shaman's tools might work like grimoires for TL0 societies in my article "The Old Ways" in the Prehistory issue of Pyramid.

Yes, that's why PC Edward Alvin Smith carries his 'Grimoires' from his sojourn among the Nommo in the form of a great big necklace made of stones and teeth, a thighbone of a shaman covered in sigils, a stone bowl and a disk-shaped seal made of jade.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Also, sold.

Cool.

If you're considering what real world adventures inspired by gemstones would look, apart from the classic jewel heist, I suggest you read the Wired article linked from the Wikipedia site on the Bahia emerald (can't link, posting from tablet).

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I have about 30 magical styles for Ceteri that I plan on putting out at some point. I might consider doing something like this as an alternate tradition for RPM. I like the idea of doing Chaos Magic. This seems more like a special though.

Sure, magical traditions and magical styles for RPM are always a great idea for future Patreon Specials and/or future GURPS Thaumatology supplements.

Note that if the Power-Ups books can collect previously published traits, there's no reason a future collection of RPM rituals can't feature all the ones previously published, as well as a bunch of new ones. I know that trying to find a ritual I vaguely remember reading someshere is essentially impossible, with the number of disparate sources, and there would be a lot of utility in an official RPM Grimoire. Or a few, maybe, organised by subjects. It would still be an improvement in terms of ability to search them quickly, and such a way to organise them would allow including magical traditions that suit the theme in each.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

This one is so hard to do generally - you need a campaign setting really. I've had issues in my own game (which is why I don't use it too often)

What kind of issues?

I haven't ever featured it, but last two sessions in Caribbean Night have prominently showcased 'Darkwalker' (nobody calls him that) and 'Sybil', the members of some sort of cult or cabal of spellcasters whose magic is associated with cold, the draining of energy and endings.

They had a powder which looked like the tiny ice crystals of powdered snow and could be blown into a person's face and caused apathy and lethargy so powerful that taking any action became unthinkable. There was also a vial of a clear viscious fluid that flowed sluggishly, like it was below freezing point.

According to The Man With the Unfortunate Look, who wants to be called Darkwalker, drinking the fluid would cause a slowing of all bodily functions, with the breath slowing and blood pressure dropping until consciousness fades. All cells gradually cease any energetic activity, which means the the processes that sustain life end, one by one.

He whom nobody calls Darkwalker told Alice (PC), while she lay helpless, naked and decorated with symbols of esoteric nature in the middle of his ritual space, that because of the circulation of blood in the body, the first point of failure was the heart, which would cease beating as the cells of its blood-rich structure bonded in a crystalline matrix. "In a way, I envy you. There can be no more peaceful way to go gently into that good night, forever to remain beyond all pain and indignity."

Rituals they cast include Sybil's Conditional Spell, activated with a gesture, that caused all warmth, light and sound to be drained away as soon as they were made. Flashlights still worked, lanterns still burned and PCs could still talk, but the light didn't illuminate, the fire didn't warm and no sound from speech reached anyone else. Even firing guns resulted in only brief claps barely impinging on the roaring silence.

The energy drain wasn't instant, so that fire still caused damage, burning without illumination and without warmth detectable even a foot away, but that damage was far less than it should have been.

Only when 'Nonc' Morel accessed his internal reserves of energy and those of his staff to use Greater Create Energy to cause his staff to emit light, Gandalf the Grey style, did the PCs see anything again, but that didn't end the effect, just illuminate the area because the magical light of Papa Mangrove was beyond the power of the void to extinguish.

The other Path of Non-Existence ritual featured was superficially one resembling a Path of Crossroads one. Opening a tear in reality for something to come through. However, Sybil was interrupted after she had collected the energy (by tapping a diamond worth around $800,000), but before she cast the spell. The result was a fairly dramatic botch, where there was a tear in reality, but one centered on or in her.

Her skin started turning blue as her blood began freezing, crystalline tendrils of frost roses emerged on her skin, radiating downwards from her head, and her eyes, her beautiful kaleidoscope eyes, started to swallow all light and colour around her, becoming briefly twin black holes before moving past darkness into the opposite of light, a cold, cold reflection of the infinite void beyond time and hope, glowing all colours and none.

Nothing could survive like that, yet she moved, her body contorting in pain beyond imaging and her mouth open in a soundless scream, as no energy could escape that which now inhabited her body and soul. And as her body died in agony and her last conscious act was to scream and scream and scream in perfect futility, her fingers moved with unearthly grace through complicated patterns never imagined by the mind of man and her tongue calmly formed silent words of invocation to the Lords of the Last Waste through her hopeless attempt at a final scream.

No, I don't have the faintest idea how any of that is written up in RPM. I just decided on potential game effects and rolled dice. But now that the PCs will be investigating the aftermath, the next session will have to feature some details for Alchemy, Anthropology, Criminology, Expert Skill (Demonology), Forensics, Hidden Lore, Intelligence Analysis, Occultism, Research, Symbol Drawing and Thaumatology to uncover.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Wrote those up way back when - well, a few of them anyways. They are Patreon Specials from 2015 I think.

Cool, I'll check it out.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Hmmm. Maybe.

The various magical traditions in A Song of Ice and Fire are perfect examples of (mostly) ritual magic, as well as Alchemy, Herb Lore and some innate forms of magic, that are subtle enough so that not believing in magic is rational and plausible in setting, but packed with enough flavour, romance and fantasy to seize the imagination and not let go.

Huh. I guess this Martin fellow might be on to something.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Yes, that's why PC Edward Alvin Smith carries his 'Grimoires' from his sojourn among the Nommo in the form of a great big necklace made of stones and teeth, a thighbone of a shaman covered in sigils, a stone bowl and a disk-shaped seal made of jade.

Nice to know they are seeing use!

Originally Posted by Icelander

If you're considering what real world adventures inspired by gemstones would look, apart from the classic jewel heist, I suggest you read the Wired article linked from the Wikipedia site on the Bahia emerald (can't link, posting from tablet).

I'll check it out. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Sure, magical traditions and magical styles for RPM are always a great idea for future Patreon Specials and/or future GURPS Thaumatology supplements.

Note that if the Power-Ups books can collect previously published traits, there's no reason a future collection of RPM rituals can't feature all the ones previously published, as well as a bunch of new ones. I know that trying to find a ritual I vaguely remember reading someshere is essentially impossible, with the number of disparate sources, and there would be a lot of utility in an official RPM Grimoire. Or a few, maybe, organised by subjects. It would still be an improvement in terms of ability to search them quickly, and such a way to organise them would allow including magical traditions that suit the theme in each.

This is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Maybe I'll poke it after my current project SNO-51 is finished.

Originally Posted by Icelander

What kind of issues?

Almost completely "How do I use this/GM this." Also, I've not used it enough to internalize it like the other Paths so that may be part of the problem right there.

Originally Posted by Icelander

I haven't ever featured it, but last two sessions in Caribbean Night have prominently showcased 'Darkwalker' (nobody calls him that) and 'Sybil', the members of some sort of cult or cabal of spellcasters whose magic is associated with cold, the draining of energy and endings.

They had a powder which looked like the tiny ice crystals of powdered snow and could be blown into a person's face and caused apathy and lethargy so powerful that taking any action became unthinkable. There was also a vial of a clear viscious fluid that flowed sluggishly, like it was below freezing point.

According to The Man With the Unfortunate Look, who wants to be called Darkwalker, drinking the fluid would cause a slowing of all bodily functions, with the breath slowing and blood pressure dropping until consciousness fades. All cells gradually cease any energetic activity, which means the the processes that sustain life end, one by one.

He whom nobody calls Darkwalker told Alice (PC), while she lay helpless, naked and decorated with symbols of esoteric nature in the middle of his ritual space, that because of the circulation of blood in the body, the first point of failure was the heart, which would cease beating as the cells of its blood-rich structure bonded in a crystalline matrix. "In a way, I envy you. There can be no more peaceful way to go gently into that good night, forever to remain beyond all pain and indignity."

Rituals they cast include Sybil's Conditional Spell, activated with a gesture, that caused all warmth, light and sound to be drained away as soon as they were made. Flashlights still worked, lanterns still burned and PCs could still talk, but the light didn't illuminate, the fire didn't warm and no sound from speech reached anyone else. Even firing guns resulted in only brief claps barely impinging on the roaring silence.

The energy drain wasn't instant, so that fire still caused damage, burning without illumination and without warmth detectable even a foot away, but that damage was far less than it should have been.

Only when 'Nonc' Morel accessed his internal reserves of energy and those of his staff to use Greater Create Energy to cause his staff to emit light, Gandalf the Grey style, did the PCs see anything again, but that didn't end the effect, just illuminate the area because the magical light of Papa Mangrove was beyond the power of the void to extinguish.

The other Path of Non-Existence ritual featured was superficially one resembling a Path of Crossroads one. Opening a tear in reality for something to come through. However, Sybil was interrupted after she had collected the energy (by tapping a diamond worth around $800,000), but before she cast the spell. The result was a fairly dramatic botch, where there was a tear in reality, but one centered on or in her.

Her skin started turning blue as her blood began freezing, crystalline tendrils of frost roses emerged on her skin, radiating downwards from her head, and her eyes, her beautiful kaleidoscope eyes, started to swallow all light and colour around her, becoming briefly twin black holes before moving past darkness into the opposite of light, a cold, cold reflection of the infinite void beyond time and hope, glowing all colours and none.

Nothing could survive like that, yet she moved, her body contorting in pain beyond imaging and her mouth open in a soundless scream, as no energy could escape that which now inhabited her body and soul. And as her body died in agony and her last conscious act was to scream and scream and scream in perfect futility, her fingers moved with unearthly grace through complicated patterns never imagined by the mind of man and her tongue calmly formed silent words of invocation to the Lords of the Last Waste through her hopeless attempt at a final scream.

No, I don't have the faintest idea how any of that is written up in RPM. I just decided on potential game effects and rolled dice. But now that the PCs will be investigating the aftermath, the next session will have to feature some details for Alchemy, Anthropology, Criminology, Expert Skill (Demonology), Forensics, Hidden Lore, Intelligence Analysis, Occultism, Research, Symbol Drawing and Thaumatology to uncover.

Honestly? Sometimes that's the way to go. It's magic damn it. Sometimes you just need to let magic be magic.

Originally Posted by Icelander

The various magical traditions in A Song of Ice and Fire are perfect examples of (mostly) ritual magic, as well as Alchemy, Herb Lore and some innate forms of magic, that are subtle enough so that not believing in magic is rational and plausible in setting, but packed with enough flavour, romance and fantasy to seize the imagination and not let go.

Huh. I guess this Martin fellow might be on to something.

Heh.

[Christopher R. Rice]

The Chronicles of Ceteri C-Team: Season 2, Session 1

A session report for the second season of C-Team for the Chronicles of Ceteri.

[starslayer]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I'm looking for topics for my blog to talk about. Suggestions welcome.

1.
You've written several articles about this to date, but a summary post might be useful.

How to flavor RPM/Incanters so that they are encouraged to stick to a style instead of becoming 'one stop shopping' problem solvers.


2.
Establishing the 'state of the union', or 'how to introduce/have RPM/Incating be a feature in a game world without it becoming one of the fundamentaling shaping and controlling features of that world- ruled over by powerful casters and not royalty, with the only counter for a powerful caster being another powerful caster' (Also an issue for magic as skills casters- but perhaps less so).

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by starslayer

...ruled over by powerful casters and not royalty...

Why are the royalty not mages? Maybe a look into what might arise in a political system where the mages are the political power system and how that 'trickles down' into society?

[DerfmeisterP]

Why are the royalty not mages?

Magic makes you sterile? Or requires vows of chastity/ritual mutilation? Or (as in at least some RL shamanic traditions) magic can - or at least is - only be performed by 'third genders'. Thematically the power of aristocracy is fundamentally a worldly one, whilst that of the magi is (by definition) otherworldly.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by DerfmeisterP

Thematically the power of aristocracy is fundamentally a worldly one, whilst that of the magi is (by definition) otherworldly.

Is it "otherworldly"? In what manner? When the the Mad Wizard King of Ultima Thule decides to curse the crops of rival kingdoms, I'm pretty sure that's a very worldly exercise of his power.

[starslayer]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Why are the royalty not mages? Maybe a look into what might arise in a political system where the mages are the political power system and how that 'trickles down' into society?

Royalty generally includes a royal lineage,a royal line, infighting over who inherits the crown, etc- a wizard empire fuled by RPM or incanting has neigh-immortal-god-kings who live until someone strikes them down (normally another neigh-immortal-god-king); so it has less to do with monarchy/royalty than it does with eternal dictatorships operating under a sort of nietzschean thaumacracy (the most strongest/most powerful wizard gets the kingdom).

These are cool concepts; and can make for a great game, but sometimes you don't want that to be the only logical conclusion to including RPM/Incanting.