Dumb magic question

[Cheomesh]

Haven't messed with magic stats in a while, so I want to check if I'm doing this right.

Rolling a character that has Magery 2, IQ 12. When I pick the spell levels, do I pick them as if I had IQ 14? Thus, skill in like Fireball (IQ H) at IQ + 1 is 15 (and costs 8) instead of 13 (and still costing 8)?

M.

[Not another shrubbery]

Yes. Treat your IQ as if it were (IQ+Magery) when learning spells.

[DukeofDellot]

That's correct, it's pretty much like having a talent... except for the whole 0 level thing.

...

And I thought I had this one...

[Cheomesh]

So I guess the "One College Only" limitation would be a more elegant way to show a character has aptitude towards a certain college vs giving them a talent in it then. Doesn't really penalize them in other schools over other people, but lets them learn along a certain college much easier (which in-universe is supposed to reflect their general character or some major personality trait).

M.

[Goober4473]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Yes. Treat your IQ as if it were (IQ+Magery) when learning spells.

Just remember that this doesn't count for spell prerequisites. For instance, if a spell requires IQ 13, that's your base IQ, not IQ+Magery. But for determining what you're rolling against when casting the spell, that's pretty much how it works.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Cheomesh

So I guess the "One College Only" limitation would be a more elegant way to show a character has aptitude towards a certain college vs giving them a talent in it then. Doesn't really penalize them in other schools over other people, but lets them learn along a certain college much easier (which in-universe is supposed to reflect their general character or some major personality trait).

M.

Almost. If you take the One College limitation on your Magery you are treated as a non-mage with respect to any other colleges - the major drawback being you can't cast spells from them at all in normal or lower mana, not just that you aren't as good with them.

This is what the confusing pricing around Magery 0 (i.e. not applying the limitation to the first 5 points) is supposed to circumvent.
Magery, its pricing, and many of its limited forms, are legacy constructs from before GURPS had rules for limitations (limited forms of Magery are entered as Disadvantages with positive point costs in Magic....) let alone general Talent rules. It really should have been decomposed for 4e. It is effectively is Talent (spells) 10 points/level, plus at least two distinct advantages - sensitivity to magic items and the ability to cast spells somewhere other than in high mana - in that initial 5 points. Getting limitations to apply to some but not all of those in a logical way is tricky, especially if you also want it to apply to detecting items, where it is not helped by that 5 points looking pretty underpriced just relative to Detect, never mind the Can Cast Spells part.

[Cheomesh]

May have to make some changes then. The setting has some aspects of "high mana" zones (any human who knows a spell can cast it), but without others (no big boom on critical failures, etc). Those with Magery 0 have certain spells come to them, but guys with higher magery get a better innate understanding. If you don't have Magery, you have to learn it the hard way; if you do, you have an easier time, particularly along some grouping that reflects your self.

Also thinking about striking the "instantly know something is magic" beyond getting a slight sensation, simply for suspense purposes. What would you suggest as a re-write of Magery (or whatnot) in this style?

M.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Cheomesh

What would you suggest as a re-write of Magery (or whatnot) in this style?

Seems like you just want the talent part - the 10/level piece that acts as a prerequisite and adds to spell skills.

Since there's no official price for just being able to cast spells, and everybody in your setting has it anyway, changing that is free, and if you remove the sense magic part there isn't anything left of the 5 points you'd spend for Magery 0. You could add it back by imposing an unusual background on Magic Talent if you wanted though.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Cheomesh

May have to make some changes then. The setting has some aspects of "high mana" zones (any human who knows a spell can cast it), but without others (no big boom on critical failures, etc).
.

Sounds like straight High Mana then. The spectacular Crit Fails are for _Very_ High Mana.

Unless you're talking about the "regular" Crit Fail table but that applies in Normal Mana too and there are only vague suggestions that you skip it (or at least the nastiest parts) in Low Mana.

You actually have to be casting a big boom spell for that to happen on a crit fail anyway. The crit fail just makes it happen in the wrong place. The only real exception is the unintentional demon summoning.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Cheomesh

May have to make some changes then. The setting has some aspects of "high mana" zones (any human who knows a spell can cast it), but without others (no big boom on critical failures, etc). Those with Magery 0 have certain spells come to them, but guys with higher magery get a better innate understanding. If you don't have Magery, you have to learn it the hard way; if you do, you have an easier time, particularly along some grouping that reflects your self.

Also thinking about striking the "instantly know something is magic" beyond getting a slight sensation, simply for suspense purposes. What would you suggest as a re-write of Magery (or whatnot) in this style?

M.

Just eliminate Mana completely, it's not a very useful concept in most settings.
Then also eliminate the need for Magery 0 and the benefit of the magic sense which comes with it.

That leaves you with straight up Magery at 10 per level, which you then can limit as you want for setting flavor.

As an example you could make them have to take individual Magery levels with different limitations which only add up when specific conditions are met.

If you had say:
Magery +1 (Night Aspected)
Magery +1 (Song)
Magery +1 (Dancing)
Magery +1 (Fire)
Magery +1 (Materials)

Then the mage would cast a normal spell with no bonuses, but if he's casting a fire spell at night while singing and dancing and tossing around bat guano he has a +5 bonus and functions as Magery 5 for spell effects.