GURPS Russia Hedge Magic article

[thorr-kan]

Once upon a time, there was an ezine called Sabledrake Magazine. Issue 6 had an article on GURPS Russia Hedge Magic.

Does anyone know if Sabledrake was an html or pdf ezine? If the latter, is there anywhere it is currenlty *legally* available for purchase? I'm not interested in pirate copies or dodgy downloads.

If not, does anyone know if it was reprinted elsewhere?

[Dalillama]

It used to be on Blue Room GURPS, the author's personal site, but that seems to be down. Maybe the Wayback Machine?

[thorr-kan]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

It used to be on Blue Room GURPS, the author's personal site, but that seems to be down. Maybe the Wayback Machine?

Is the Blue Room article similar to the old io.com article?

https://web.archive.org/web/20040628...john/hedge.htm

for reference

[RyanW]

I couldn't tell you the io article is identical to the Blue Room article, but they are "the same."

[thorr-kan]

Originally Posted by RyanW

I couldn't tell you the io article is identical to the Blue Room article, but they are "the same."

If that's what was in Sabledrake, then I guess I'm good.

I was hoping for an article with a little more detail, but it's still interesting reading.

[Prince Charon]

Reading that, I'm reminded again of the idea of applying that to various other craft skills like Smith, Armory, Jeweler ('Three rings for the elven kings under the sky...'), or Engineer. It seems like the way to make Hedge Magic Items, but the system involved is rather freeform and more GM-dependent than most Magic Item Creation systems in GURPS. There's little or nothing for the GM to refer to, if allowing Hedge Magic Items at all. OTOH, it's consistent with how Tolkien's magic items seem to be created (they aren't 'magic' exactly, just very well-made, by people who know some aspects of the Secrets of the Universe). I'd be inclined to use Hedge Magic in an Epic Fantasy game, especially one set in something like Middle Earth.

Personally, I'd allow it, but how good the item is depends on how well you roll when creating it, how much extra effort you put in, and how epic or mythic is the player's description of the act of creation, backstory of the components, et cetra. Very freeform, every magic item is unique. What do you think?


On a related note, how different would GURPS Banestorm be, if Hedge Magic were the main magical system in Ytarria? Would that be interesting enough to bother making a thread for it?