Ritual Path Magic Questions

[Ser Biffy Clegane]

I'm designing a new fantasy character. I really like RPM, but have a bunch of open questions. As background, his relevant choices so far are IQ 15 (100), Ritual Path Adept (40), Magery 3 (45), Natural Caster 1 (15), Luck (60 min) (15), and +2 points of Thaumatology (16).

Subject to Rule Zero, of course:

1) If I'm doing the calculations right, he should have a net score of 13 in all paths, right? IQ 15 + 2 Thaumatology +1 for Natural Caster -> Thuamatology 18, for a default of 12 in each path, +1 again for Natural Caster?

2) He has 9 Reserve Mana Points. When do those regenerate? Only at downtime?

3) If he casts conditional spells or charms during downtime, does he get to use his full mana reserve for each casting, or does it require some amount of downtime for each refill?

For example, if he hangs one conditional spell with an energy requirement of 18, that requires him to come up with 9 energy. If he then hangs a second conditional spell that also costs 18, does he need 9 energy again, 18 energy, or something else? Thanks!

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

I'm designing a new fantasy character. I really like RPM, but have a bunch of open questions. As background, his relevant choices so far are IQ 15 (100), Ritual Path Adept (40), Magery 3 (45), Natural Caster 1 (15), Luck (60 min) (15), and +2 points of Thaumatology (16).

Magery 3 (including Magery 0) costs 35 points total. I'm not sure why Thaumatology is costing 16 points - is that for IQ+2 level? That's what I'm guessing.

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

Subject to Rule Zero, of course:

A good thing to remember.

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

1) If I'm doing the calculations right, he should have a net score of 13 in all paths, right? IQ 15 + 2 Thaumatology +1 for Natural Caster -> Thuamatology 18, for a default of 12 in each path, +1 again for Natural Caster?

You cannot have a defaulted Path skill higher than 12. This is on p. 6 of GURPS Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic under "Default Use." So your skill would be 12. Want more than that? Put points in the skill.

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

2) He has 9 Reserve Mana Points. When do those regenerate? Only at downtime?

You use Path of Magic to refill your reserve. This is done just like "casting" a spell when you gather energy. So a roll that succeeds by 5 refills your reserve by 5.

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

3) If he casts conditional spells or charms during downtime, does he get to use his full mana reserve for each casting, or does it require some amount of downtime for each refill?

For example, if he hangs one conditional spell with an energy requirement of 18, that requires him to come up with 9 energy. If he then hangs a second conditional spell that also costs 18, does he need 9 energy again, 18 energy, or something else? Thanks!

You'd have to refill your reserve as above. I highly suggest using the rules for Quick and Dirty Charms & Rituals on p. 26 of GURPS Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic. Much easier to deal with.

[Ser Biffy Clegane]

Thanks so much, and you're totally right on Magery - that was a typo from when I had Magery 4 in an earlier draft. A couple follow ups:]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

You cannot have a defaulted Path skill higher than 12. This is on p. 6 of GURPS Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic under "Default Use." So your skill would be 12. Want more than that? Put points in the skill.

I was hoping that the Natural Caster talent would add one point after the default, like it says in the FAQ for talents and defaults generally. Do you think the language in T:RPM is meant to overrule that?

You use Path of Magic to refill your reserve. This is done just like "casting" a spell when you gather energy. So a roll that succeeds by 5 refills your reserve by 5.



You'd have to refill your reserve as above. I highly suggest using the rules for Quick and Dirty Charms & Rituals on p. 26 of GURPS Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic. Much easier to deal with.

So if I'm using the Quick and Dirty method, have a Reserve Mana of 9, and hang two spells each of which costs 18, is the "amount I need to gather" 9 or 18 for each spell?

Thanks again! Much appreciated!

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

Thanks so much, and you're totally right on Magery - that was a typo from when I had Magery 4 in an earlier draft. A couple follow ups:]

Cool

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

Thanks again! Much appreciated!

No worries.

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

I was hoping that the Natural Caster talent would add one point after the default, like it says in the FAQ for talents and defaults generally. Do you think the language in T:RPM is meant to overrule that?

No, the specific trumps the general and in this case the default max is 12. So yeah, the language used in this spot takes precedence.

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

So if I'm using the Quick and Dirty method, have a Reserve Mana of 9, and hang two spells each of which costs 18, is the "amount I need to gather" 9 or 18 for each spell?

I'm not sure what you're saying here. An example:

If you have a effective skill of 14 and a mana reserve of 9, you can safely cast a spell of 9 (for ambient energy) + 9 (from your reserve). This would give a roll of 0 on the Q&D chart meaning any roll of 15 or less succeeds; remember, you have to roll twice to see if you quirked the casting. This roll is also at 15 or less.

Clear as mud?

[Ser Biffy Clegane]

Thanks. I was able to get a similar effect (actually moving my path skills from what I thought was a 13 to a 15 for all paths) by switching my mage package from:

Int 15 [100], Ritual Path Adept [40], Luck (60 minutes) [15], Magery 3 [35]. Natural Caster 1 [15], Thaumatology +2 [16]. Total: 221 points. Thaumatology 18, All paths 12.

Int 13 [60], Ritual Path Adept [40], Luck (60 minutes) [15], Magery 3 [35]. Natural Caster 4 [60], Thaumatology -2 [2], each of the 9 paths -2 [2x9=18]. Total: 230 points. Thaumatology 15, All paths 15.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

Thanks. I was able to get a similar effect (actually moving my path skills from what I thought a 13 to a 15 for all paths) by switching my mage package from:

Int 15 [100], Ritual Path Adept [40], Luck (60 minutes) [15], Magery 3 [35]. Natural Caster 1 [15], Thaumatology +2 [16]. Total: 221 points. Thaumatology 18, All paths 12.

Int 13 [60], Ritual Path Adept [40], Luck (60 minutes) [15], Magery 3 [35]. Natural Caster 4 [60], Thaumatology -2 [2], each of the 9 paths -2 [2x9=18]. Total: 240 points. Thaumatology 15, All paths 15.

That looks more in line, yeah

[CeeDub]

Since Luck is apparently part of the build: Is it rules legal to re-roll failed energy gathering rolls? I was under the impression that Luck never applies to rolls to cast spells.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by CeeDub

Since Luck is apparently part of the build: Is it rules legal to re-roll failed energy gathering rolls? I was under the impression that Luck never applies to rolls to cast spells.

No, not for RPM. Reroll all you want.

[Ser Biffy Clegane]

I'm assuming I only get one luck per downtime, since it's one use per 60 minutes of game play.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Ser Biffy Clegane

I'm assuming I only get one luck per downtime, since it's 60 minutes of game play.

If you're doing it between sessions then yeah, but if you're doing it while in game and it comes up multiple times then obviously you can use it multiple times.