Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

For example, you could have magicians taking up to Magery 4. For women, Magery 0 would give them access to Earth, Magery 1 to Metal, Magery 2 to Water, Magery 3 to Wood, and Magery 4 to Fire. For men, Magery 0 would give them access to Earth, Magery 1 to Wood, Magery 2 to Fire, Magery 3 to Metal, and Magery 4 to Water.

Remember its based on Sorcery, not GURPS Magic

[Anders]

Use Sorcery Talent instead of Magery then. It changes very little.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by dcarson

Or if fireproofing means that fires don't work. The well off can afford magical replacements but the poor have to get cooked food from kitchens that can afford the magic. Given how lots of places had laws requiring peasants to use the mill owned by the lord instead of grinding it themselves this could be considered a feature by the powers that be.

Originally Posted by ericthered

I'm not sure that either having enough witchlight to ban fire or building everything out of stone is economically viable. Only 1 in 100 commoners is a mage after all.

Well, not everything out of stone. It would be stone or magically reinforced wood. Structures would be made to last the generations I'd think so you'd get something like Essential Wood or Stone - though I don't intend to use either of those terms for the setting.

Originally Posted by ericthered

If you look at the "Under the Hood" part, its using gadget modifiers, and as the GM you can presumably apply them to new "shapes". Both a big sail and a large wooden vehicle are SM+0. The Vehicle has higher DR, and so is slightly more expensive. You can probably get that back if its complicated enough to break down an pick up the extra -5% for that. The question of stealing is an interesting one. Vehicles are stolen in different ways than the gadget table lists. Is it easier to steal a whole boat, or just its sails? And does being its own getaway vehicle count for anything? The sail might come out cheaper if you say its easier to sneak the sail away that the whole vehicle, but that only happens in some conditions.

That way lay madness.

Originally Posted by ericthered

If air is more associated with movement than wood, sails may just be more appropriate.

Movement and animus is going to be associated with either Wood or Fire.

Originally Posted by ericthered

I'm trying to figure out what the best advantage to grant the self-moving boat/cart is. I'm trying to figure out if its broken to simply add move, or if adding DX is required. You may also want some allowance for size and ST, otherwise the winning strategy is to enchant the biggest thing possible.

Affliction to remove Sessile or No Legs (Portable) I'd think. But that's getting dangerous close to "Stat everything as a character" and...just...no. No.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I suppose that all depends on what magical aptitude is, how commoners get it, and at what age it shows up. Which are great questions for the setting. Do young fire-adepts start playing with witch fire at the same time they learn to crawl? Or does it come with running at age five? manifest at puberty? (that one is really common in fiction, for some reason) Or does it require a year of apprenticeship to do anything useful and generally not available until 18 years old? It could even be the domain of the middle aged or old.

My thought is magical potential shows up around puberty with the very talented getting it even earlier. Nobles might display elemental powers as young as 2 or 3.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Manifesting at puberty correlates with other significant changes in the human body, which is probably why it is popular. In an East Asian style magical system, one should considered Yin and Yang. The magical training of women would seek to strengthen their connection to Yin (Metal and Water) while the magical training of men would seek to strengthen their connection to Yang (Fire and Wood), with the connection to Earth being equally important.

For example, you could have magicians taking up to Magery 4. For women, Magery 0 would give them access to Earth, Magery 1 to Metal, Magery 2 to Water, Magery 3 to Wood, and Magery 4 to Fire. For men, Magery 0 would give them access to Earth, Magery 1 to Wood, Magery 2 to Fire, Magery 3 to Metal, and Magery 4 to Water.

When children would first manifest their Magery, they would manifest the connection to Earth, though naturally more talented mages would manifest more difficult elements. A girl whe manifested Fire or a boy who manifested Water would be recognized as quite gifted, and would likely be given patronage to allow them to perfect their magic. Conversely, most mages would only manifest Earth, so they would likely only receive training in the local market village.

No. That doesn't work. What ability can be accessed depends on Sorcerous Empowerment (if they have it) otherwise they'd be stuck with a handful of spells they started with.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

My thought is magical potential shows up around puberty with the very talented getting it even earlier. Nobles might display elemental powers as young as 2 or 3.

This suggests to me that magical potential is always present in those that have/will have it, but only reveals itself if a combination of total potential and stress forces it to. Noble families likely have both stakes (martial, economical & political power) and additional resources to find the magical potential of their children, so they might test their children earlier and more often than the peasant families working the fields.

If the children of mages have a higher chance of having magical potential (or that is the general perception in the world), you would very likely end up with noble families having a higher concentration of magical potential than commoners. If marrying mages increases the chance of having more magical power in the family, the head of a noble family is likely going to view a commoner with high magical potential as a better mate for their children than another noble with no magical potential. You would also see a shift in noble philosophy from having male children being as culturally important as they were in our world to having magically gifted children being seen as important.

Someone who can accurately predict or detect magical potential in infants and small children would likely have a very cushy job that requires a lot of travelling. There would obviously be some risks associated with it, such as a wrathful noble lashing out after being told their third child in a row has no magical potential, but I expect that the majority would be more grateful. Either because they won't feel the need to spend extra resources on a child that has no potential or because they know they have a gifted child.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

That way lay madness.

Affliction to remove Sessile or No Legs (Portable) I'd think. But that's getting dangerous close to "Stat everything as a character" and...just...no. No.

That's the sorcery way, but I see your point about madness. What are the other options for setting a price for a self-propelled vehicle?

Movement and animus is going to be associated with either Wood or Fire.

Does the material you are enchanting matter in terms of the element enchanted? Surely air effects aren't enchanted on air, but some materials might be more associated with air. What's you're stance on that?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

This suggests to me that magical potential is always present in those that have/will have it, but only reveals itself if a combination of total potential and stress forces it to. Noble families likely have both stakes (martial, economical & political power) and additional resources to find the magical potential of their children, so they might test their children earlier and more often than the peasant families working the fields.

This might also give rise to actions like putting children in intentional danger (well, they see it as danger but it's likely a controlled procedure) to see if their abilities manfiest.

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

If the children of mages have a higher chance of having magical potential (or that is the general perception in the world), you would very likely end up with noble families having a higher concentration of magical potential than commoners. If marrying mages increases the chance of having more magical power in the family, the head of a noble family is likely going to view a commoner with high magical potential as a better mate for their children than another noble with no magical potential. You would also see a shift in noble philosophy from having male children being as culturally important as they were in our world to having magically gifted children being seen as important.

I don't see why both can't be done. The idea is that nobles can and do breed for magical ability. That's how they stay in power more or less. I think the idea of bringing a commoner into the noble house isn't uncommon, but looking for mates for their children that are high status as well as magically brilliant will be prefered.

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

Someone who can accurately predict or detect magical potential in infants and small children would likely have a very cushy job that requires a lot of travelling. There would obviously be some risks associated with it, such as a wrathful noble lashing out after being told their third child in a row has no magical potential, but I expect that the majority would be more grateful. Either because they won't feel the need to spend extra resources on a child that has no potential or because they know they have a gifted child.

This is a great idea for an occupation. Someone who can tell if others have magical potential or ability is just a fantastic addition to my setting.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by ericthered

That's the sorcery way, but I see your point about madness. What are the other options for setting a price for a self-propelled vehicle?

Probably Affliction with Negated Advantage for Sessile as I noted upthread.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Does the material you are enchanting matter in terms of the element enchanted? Surely air effects aren't enchanted on air, but some materials might be more associated with air. What's you're stance on that?

No, it could be anything I suppose.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Probably Affliction with Negated Advantage for Sessile as I noted upthread.

No, it could be anything I suppose.

That leaves the ideal vehicle as being large, without much more in the way of requirements. That might suggest large boats as the most efficient method, but also leaves open the possibility for massive self-propelled wagons.