Questions magic in a fantasy world

Moneval · 07-07-2017, 06:09 PM

Hello all!

Long time since I last posted on these forums (grad school), but I'm glad to be back and working on a setting that I plan to run with GURPS. Since I last visited, I ran a short lived, but very fun GURPS Morrowind campaign. My group really seemed to enjoy the system and so now that I have time again, I'm building a new campaign setting to use with GURPS.

Now, I had originally intended to have a whole slew of magic systems available in this setting, but as I design further, I'm thinking simpler is better. What I've decided on so far is two different ways to use magic: Evoking and Rituals.

Evoking is more immediate in nature, allowing the user to basically use abilities not unlike psionics, or The Force from Star Wars. I intend to use threshold limits on any abilities stemming from evoking (all powers will have the "costs Fatigue" limitation, changed to "Costs Threshold"). For this system, I am using magic as powers, but in order for a character to use these powers they need either a 5 or 10 (haven't decided) Unusual Background called Aether Sensitive (or similar). I may also allow a Pact with a spirit as a source of this.

Rituals will use Path/Book magic from Thaumatology, with several "magical traditions" similar to voodoo, kabbalah, etc. I'm picturing the kind of spellcasting you get out of shows like Penny Dreadful, Supernatural, etc. (slow, methodical, somewhat subtle). I am still designing the individual traditions and will likely not be done with that until my cultures are more fleshed out.

RPM might make an appearance as a secret form of magic, used by a very few scholars who study the mechanics of magic.

So, as I go about this, I had a few questions, and thought I'd look here if anyone could please provide input(sorry if these have been asked before, my searches turned up nothing):

1) As mentioned, Evoking requires an Unusual Background. If an entire race is naturally able to use Evoking, would I build the UB into the template, or does it become a 0-point feature at that point?

2) When designing magical traditions using Path/Book, how many paths would be a good rule of thumb for each tradition to have access to?

3) I had considered using RPM for my ritual based magic, but it seemed almost too universal/open-ended and thus difficult to divide into unique feeling traditions. Does anyone have any experience with trying to achieve this result with RPM? I would be leaning towards using the Effect-Shaping variant.

Bonus Question: Inspired by the many excellent blogs on this site, I've considered starting a blog to document the process of creating this world. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a fairly simple to use blog service?

Thank you in advance for any feedback!

07-07-2017, 06:09 PM	#1
Moneval Join Date: Mar 2016	Questions magic in a fantasy world Hello all! Long time since I last posted on these forums (grad school), but I'm glad to be back and working on a setting that I plan to run with GURPS. Since I last visited, I ran a short lived, but very fun GURPS Morrowind campaign. My group really seemed to enjoy the system and so now that I have time again, I'm building a new campaign setting to use with GURPS. Now, I had originally intended to have a whole slew of magic systems available in this setting, but as I design further, I'm thinking simpler is better. What I've decided on so far is two different ways to use magic: Evoking and Rituals. Evoking is more immediate in nature, allowing the user to basically use abilities not unlike psionics, or The Force from Star Wars. I intend to use threshold limits on any abilities stemming from evoking (all powers will have the "costs Fatigue" limitation, changed to "Costs Threshold"). For this system, I am using magic as powers, but in order for a character to use these powers they need either a 5 or 10 (haven't decided) Unusual Background called Aether Sensitive (or similar). I may also allow a Pact with a spirit as a source of this. Rituals will use Path/Book magic from Thaumatology, with several "magical traditions" similar to voodoo, kabbalah, etc. I'm picturing the kind of spellcasting you get out of shows like Penny Dreadful, Supernatural, etc. (slow, methodical, somewhat subtle). I am still designing the individual traditions and will likely not be done with that until my cultures are more fleshed out. RPM might make an appearance as a secret form of magic, used by a very few scholars who study the mechanics of magic. So, as I go about this, I had a few questions, and thought I'd look here if anyone could please provide input(sorry if these have been asked before, my searches turned up nothing): 1) As mentioned, Evoking requires an Unusual Background. If an entire race is naturally able to use Evoking, would I build the UB into the template, or does it become a 0-point feature at that point? 2) When designing magical traditions using Path/Book, how many paths would be a good rule of thumb for each tradition to have access to? 3) I had considered using RPM for my ritual based magic, but it seemed almost too universal/open-ended and thus difficult to divide into unique feeling traditions. Does anyone have any experience with trying to achieve this result with RPM? I would be leaning towards using the Effect-Shaping variant. Bonus Question: Inspired by the many excellent blogs on this site, I've considered starting a blog to document the process of creating this world. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a fairly simple to use blog service? Thank you in advance for any feedback!