[RPM] Magical Styles Thread

[ajardoor]

Post in this thread if you got a magical style for Ritual Path Magic, or want to discuss such matters.

I'll start off with a work-in-progress, critique of you want;
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The Persona Intruders
11 points

[Design note: anyone here got a better name for this style? Think something that says "evil schemers (bent for Jungian symbolism) invade minds, torture people emotionally and exploit spirits born from human emotions".]

This is a "Left-Handed" style - what you might call "black magic" or maybe just an "immoral and irresponsible use of power". Left-Handed magic is typically stuff like Diabolism (warlocks who shake hands with spirits of vice - Daemons!), Qlippothic cults (warlocks who worship Daath, the Time Before Time), Thanatovores (sinister lich warlocks who murder human beings for power and knowledge) and other dangerous malefactors, but the Persona Intruders got their bad reputation from a doctrine that outright encourages cruelty and manipulation. Their preferred magical practices by themselves aren't intrinsically malevolent; it's basically just appropriating Jungian concepts (the collective unconscious, for instance) for certain Mind and Spirit rituals. The scope of this magical style covers rituals that involve thought reading, emotion control and wrangling spirits born from human feelings and thoughts (generally named "Shadows", if not Tulpas - stronger version of these spirits (with sapient minds and developed personalities) are named Archetypes). The Persona Intruders, however, openly embrace nasty applications of their magic in bullying, spying, torturing, deceiving and enslaving. They are freelance traitors, infiltrators and public menaces - the style does not revolve around a guild, society, occult tradition or even a philosophy. The otherworldly Jungian symbolism and shared set of dirty mystic secrets underpin the style's content, but it is typically only taught by and to scumbags seeking dubious amusement in the Occult Underground.


Required Skills: Thaumatology; Psychology; Detect Lies or Body Language; Hidden Lore (Spirit Lore).

Required Paths: Path of Mind; Path of Spirit.

Required Ritual Masteries: "Bind the True Self" (Command Shadow); one of "Crush the Mind" (Terrify), False Memory or Truthteller; "Godly Persona" (Mantle of Glory) or Call Spirit; one of Hall of Records, Implant Mind-Shard or Show of Character.

Perks: Willful Casting; Discreet Ritual; Intimidating Curses; Knower of Names; Frightening Side Effects; Controlled Mental Disadvantage (Split Personality or Amnesia); Magical Analysis; Obscure True Name; Rule of 17; Sanctum; Secret Mage; Shaman's Trance; SOP (Magical Lawyer); Thaumatological Doublespeak; Secret Spell* (Terrify, Command Shadow, Truthteller, Black Bag, Mole); Shortcut to Power* (Call Spirit, Mantle of Glory); Improved Cap (Mind, Spirit); Spirit Contract (Archetype).

* It is assumed that RPM styles have the Secret Spell and Shortcut to Power perks in altered form - the first perk works by making the ritual harder to resist (-2) and the second perk reduces the energy cost of the ritual by 10%.


OPTIONAL TRAITS
Attributes: Increased IQ, Per and Will.
Advantages: Empathy or Sensitive; Mind Shield; Intuition; Spirit Empathy; Introspection; Mentor; Charisma; Ally (Bound Shadow).
Disadvantages: Sadism; Callous; Curious; Enemies (Past victims or/and angry spirits); Megalomania; Bad Reputation (Warlock); Social Stigma (Criminal Record).
Skills: Criminology; Observation; Intimidation; Acting; Propaganda; Interrogation; Disguise; Intelligence Analysis; Research; Dreaming.

[ajardoor]

Another RPM style, this one is a rough draft for a style of magical serial killers;
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Thanatovore

11 points.

This is a "Left-Handed" Style of magic - it is the domain of evil people who murder others for power.
The magical practices of a Thanatovore is that of a serial killer - cowardly skulking in the shadows, waiting out a potential victim, carefully setting them up to die, swooping in to loot the body (in a sense) and, finally, disposing of the evidence.
Although the Stylist will learn of certain ways to destroy people and objects, to both murder and get away with murder, a Thanatovore really starts to show their depravity when they mess with the already deceased. Abusing the ghosts of their victims is standard, but mere practice for the mastery of Thanatovore ambitions; studying the secret of the Death Eater's Draught. This grim elixir allows the warlock to prepare a person's metaphysical shape for easy violation - the Thanatovore kills the drinker and then invasively draws in the necrotic energies surrounding the corpse, absorbing a large cache of magical resources for quick access later.
The scope of the style covers rituals that destroy matter, directly harm people, brew the Death Eater's Draught, enslave ghosts and gather information about death and ghosts.


Required Skills: Thaumatology; Hidden Lore (Undead); Alchemy; Poisons.

Required Paths: Path of Undead; Path of Magic; either Path of Body or Path of Matter.

Required Ritual Masteries: See Ghosts; Command Ghost; one of Amplify Injury, Death Touch, Destroy Forensic Evidence, Hunger or Weaken Blood.

Perks: Secret Material (Death Eater's Draught); Life-Force Burn; Mighty Spell (Death Touch); Power Casting (Brew Death Eater's Draught); Spell Duelist; Secret Spell (Brew Death Eater's Draught, Death Touch, Command Ghost); Shortcut to Power (Death Touch); Discreet Ritual (any); Covenant of Rest; Intimidating Curses; Frightening Side Effects (Death Touch); Corpse Smart; Rule of 17 (any); Sanctum; Secret Mage.


Secret Material: Death Eater's Draught
This potent magical beverage will quietly make a certain small hole in the drinker's soul for a little while - it does not harm him in any other way (most mix the Draught in with mundane poison, of course). If the drinker is killed while the Draught is affecting him, a Thanatovore may then use the opportunity to touch the corpse and absorb the mystical death energies - effectively granting the Thanatovore a reserve of spell energy (completely separate from his usual reserve that is equal to his Magery x 3) equal to however much spell energy the victim would be usually worth as an involuntary sacrifice. The reserve is spent like a normal mana reserve, but can only be "recharged" through more Draught-flavoured murders. The cap on how much energy can extracted this way is equal to the Thanatovore's Path of Undead skill times five. The GM is free to rule that any murder victims would try to haunt the Mage as ghosts, sensing full well how the Mage has violated them on a metaphysical level in order to gain power. Not to mention the possibility of the death energies automatically tainting the spell with quirks and an aura that is effectively incriminating magical evidence to a Mage with The Sight. Some GMs may feel it thematically appropriate for Thanatovores who have absorbed these energies to be able to spend spare Character Points of their own and gain positive traits their Draught victims had in life instantly (gaining training in a skill, for instance) - essentially, a kind of mystical plagiarism. This isn't soul stealing, just copying information. Any victim with the Covenant of Rest perk cannot be affected by the Draught.

Some dark rumours claim that a mysterious entity from the depths of somewhere else strikes bargains with select Thanatovores; spread a certain recipe of its variant Draught, and it will let the Mage "take a cut of the profits" - supposedly, the entity's recipe, if followed and with the right (mundane and harmless) ingredients, WILL brew a Death Eater's Draught, even if the brewer isn't a Mage or aware of what they're doing. Once brewed and drank, it's a simple matter of killing the unsuspecting victim so both the entity and the Thanatovore get a taste of death's power. Some say that the special recipe has been slipped into cookbooks or leaked to suicidal people along with instructions on poisoning one's self.

Brewing Death Eater's Draught counts as a ritual that creates an elixir that requires the perk to actually perform.


Ritual: Brew Death Eater's Draught
Spell Effects: Lesser Create Magic + Greater Create Magic + Lesser Control Undead.
Inherent Modifiers: None.
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

Anyone drinking this elixir must resist or, for the duration, be vulnerable to having their dead body (if killed somehow) harvested for necrotic energy by a Thanatovore.

Typical Form: potion.
Typical Ingredients: butcher's knives, human teeth, hunting knives, vulture beaks, embalming fluid, scarab beetles, cow meat, maggots, gravestones/tombstones, ectoplasm.
Typical Brewing: Lesser Create Magic (6) + Greater Create Magic (6) + Lesser Control Undead (5) + Duration, 30 minutes (2). 57 energy (19x3).


OPTIONAL TRAITS
Advantages: Spirit Empathy; Alternate Identity (Illegal); Anatomist; Dark Walker; Mortalist.
Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Callous; Obsession (any); Secret (Serial killer); Social Stigma (Criminal Record); Enemies (any); Lifebane; Frightens Animals.
Skills: Expert Skill (Thanatology); Forensics; Holdout; Sleight of Hand; Occultism; Acting; Fast-Talk; Stealth.

[ajardoor]

Magewright

11 points

Some sorcerers in a society where magic is no secret and is socially accepted will gravitate towards the magical upkeep and construction of civil engineering projects and other everyday cornerstones of the modern technological living standard - infrastructure. Magewright is a magical style for mages hired to serve the government or a wealthy V.I.P. in the area of keeping buildings, machines and personal possessions good to go.

Required Skills: Thaumatology; any four of Architecture, Armoury (any), Carpentry, Chemistry, Cooking, Electrician, Electronic Operation (any), Electronics Repair (any), Engineer (any), Explosives (any), Farming, Gardening, Hazardous Materials (any), Housekeeping, Jeweler, Leatherworking, Machinist, Masonry, Mechanic (any), Metallurgy, Savoir-Faire (Servant), Sewing, Professional Skill (any), Smith (any), or Computer Operation.

Required Path Skills: Path of Matter; Path of Energy.

Required Ritual Masteries: Fireproof or Waterproof; one of Fortify Matter, Create Food, or Clean; one of Repair Object, Extinguish Fire, or Light.

Perks: Area Spell Mastery; Better Magic Items; Convenience Casting; Guild Rank; Improvised Items; License; Mass Magician; Mundane Magic; Object Channel; Paraphernalia Pro; Permit; Reduced Footprint; Quick and Focused; Stabilising Skill; Wizardly Dabbler.


OPTIONAL TRAITS
Advantages: Contacts; Fit; High Manual Dexterity; Lifting ST; Wealth.
Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Professional or Stay Bought); Debt; Duty; Social Stigma; Status; Wealth; Workaholic.
Skills: Accounting; Administration; Alchemy; Area Knowledge (any); Cartography; Current Affairs (any); Freight Handling; Lifting; Merchant; Packing; Prospecting; Scrounging; Symbol Drawing (Ritual Magic); Teamster (any); Writing.


[Anyone see a problem with this style? Required Skills and Ritual Masteries okay? Perks?]

[ericthered]

I think magewright is a good starter concept, but is a little broad. It is described as a 'protection and upkeep' style, but many of the requirements seem to veer into 'anything a productive citizen would want' category.

The 'any four of ' seems a little excessive, but at the same time, I'm not sure how farming and computer operation fit into the list, particularly with the word 'wright' involved. And the perks seem a little scattered.

I'd like to see this as several styles with tighter focuses.

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I've been thinking about magic orders, recently. I was thinking in terms of 'magical traditions' and 'standard rituals', but this is a solid take on it. The various styles I'm considering include:

curse breakers
agriculturalists
healers
Military Mages (emphasis on buffing)

These orders are for an open magic world.

[Angle]

Here are a couple of mine, along with a link to the GURPS Repository where you can put yours.

The Kineticists

Spoiler:  

11 points

Style Prerequisites:

This style focuses on the application of force. It's Practitioners especially like to apply force to themselves, allowing them to reach speeds otherwise unseen by mortals.

Required Paths: Path of Energy (Optional Specialization: Kinetic);
Required Skills: Thaumatology; Physics; and any two of Acrobatics, Aerobatics, Body Sense, Force Skating, and/or Flight.
Required Ritual Masteries: Force Bolt, Force Armor, Apportation, Haste
Perks: Adjustable Spell; Area Spell Mastery; Blocking Spell Mastery (Any Style Blocking Ritual); Convenience Casting(Any Style Ritual); Enhancement Mastery (Leveled Double Knockback); Limited Energy Reserve; Mighty Spell (Any Style Offense Ritual); Psychic Guidance; Reduced Footprint; Stabilizing Skill (Physics); Mobile Concentration (Any Movement Skill);
Spell Secrets: Spell Secret (Altered Time Rate)
Optional Traits

Attributes: Increased IQ, DX, Basic Speed, Basic Move, or Dodge;
Advantages: Perfect Balance; Daredevil;
Disadvantages: On the Edge; Overconfidence; Impulsiveness; Compulsive Speeding;
Skills: Path of Matter (Control); Path of Mind; Path of Body;
Spell List

Force Skates
Force Shield
Concussive Blast
Slipperiness (A variant of Grease)
Flight

The Keepers of the Way

Spoiler:  

8 points

This is a style for GURPS Ritual Path Magic.

Style Prerequisites:

These mages have discovered the secrets of time and space. They know how to access other worlds, how to step instantly through space, how to manipulate time, how to see the future, and how to change fate.

Required Skills: Thaumatology, Physics, Area Knowledge (any other realm), Gambling.
Required Paths: Path of Crossroads, Path of Chance.
Required Ritual Masteries: Find Path, Sense Danger.
Perks: Area Spell Mastery† (Crossroads), Shortcut to Power†, Increased Spell Caps†‡, Limited Energy Reserve†‡, Reduced Footprint†‡, Blocking Spell Mastery (Reflective Gateway).
Secret Spells: Spell Secret (Teleportation), Spell Secret (Altered Time Rate), Spell Secret (Interplanetary Travel), Spell Secret (Interdimensional Travel), Spell Secret (Time Travel).
Optional Traits

Attributes: Improved IQ and HT.
Advantages: Absolute Direction, True Traveler, 3d Spatial Sense.
Disadvantages: Wierdness Magnet, Enemy (Things From Beyond Space and Time).
Skills: Survival, Body Sense, Weather Sense / Meteorology, Hidden Lore (Other Worlds).
Ritual List

Clear Path
Reflective Gateway

And yeah, the magewrights should probably stick to working with Infrastructure & Engineering, and not dabble in farming & such. Cool idea though.

[ajardoor]

Magewright

11 points

Some sorcerers in a society where magic is no secret and is socially accepted will gravitate towards the magical upkeep and construction of civil engineering projects and other everyday cornerstones of the modern technological living standard - infrastructure. Magewright is a magical style for mages hired to serve the government or a wealthy V.I.P. in the area of keeping buildings, machines and personal possessions good to go.

Required Skills: Thaumatology; any four of Architecture, Armoury (any), Carpentry, Electrician, Electronic Operation (any), Electronics Repair (any), Engineer (any), Explosives (any), Hazardous Materials (any), Machinist, Masonry, Mechanic (any), Metallurgy, Professional Skill (any), or Smith (any).

Required Path Skills: Path of Matter; Path of Energy.

Required Ritual Masteries: Fireproof or Waterproof; one of Fortify Matter, Create Raw Material, or Clean; one of Repair Object, Extinguish Fire, or Light.

Perks: Area Spell Mastery; Better Magic Items; Convenience Casting; Guild Rank; Improvised Items; License; Mass Magician; Mundane Magic; Object Channel; Paraphernalia Pro; Permit; Reduced Footprint; Quick and Focused; Stabilising Skill; Wizardly Dabbler.


OPTIONAL TRAITS
Advantages: Contacts; Fit; High Manual Dexterity; Lifting ST; Wealth.
Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Professional or Stay Bought); Debt; Duty; Social Stigma; Status; Wealth; Workaholic.
Skills: Accounting; Administration; Alchemy; Area Knowledge (any); Cartography; Current Affairs (any); Freight Handling; Hidden Lore (Urban Secrets, Ley Lines, Magical Architecture and Sacred Places); Lifting; Merchant; Packing; Prospecting; Scrounging; Symbol Drawing (Ritual Magic or Sacred Architecture); Teamster (any); Writing.


[Edited to a tighter focus, the Perks remain the same because it is supposed something of a Guild style.]

[Angle]

Yeah, that looks a lot better. What do people think of my styles?

Edit: The Persona Intruders sound pretty cool. I might have to use that one...

Also - What should I call a style that focuses on healing, buffing, and altering the body and the mind?

[ajardoor]

Here's a magical style for a relatively realistic ninja with blood magic - not necessarily a "true" (Japanese) ninja, or even a historical one (modern day ninja exist, right?).
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Blood Ninja

Style Prerequisite: Duty (Blood Ninja Clan, Extremely Hazardous, any frequency of appearance) and Secret (Assassin).
15 points

This magical style is almost considered a "left-handed style" (if even known) because of its sinister reputation, secretive origin and the icky content. The Blood Ninja style is practiced and taught by shadowy clans of assassins and spies, the style is only learned by members of these clans. Many stylists are sleeper agents, living entire cover lives waiting for the clan to contact them with a mission - perhaps only once in a lifetime, or maybe once every week. The mission could be information gathering or murder, to be carried out with the secrets of blood mysticism.
The scope of the style covers rituals that revolve around blood, both symbolic and literal. It especially likes rituals for stealth, killing, spying and blood both in and out of the body.

Required Skills: Holdout or Camouflage; Disguise or Acting; Escape; Poisons; Stealth; Thaumatology.

Required Path Skills: Path of Body; Path of Matter.

Required Ritual Masteries: Analyse Blood; Weaken Blood or Blood Boil; Lying Blood or Body of Blood; Brew Blood Cypher; "Know the Blood" (Seek Person); "Unknown Blood" (Boost Stealth Skill).

Perks: Adjustable Spell; Area Spell Mastery; Discreet Ritual; Improved Cap; Life-Force Burn; Magical Weapon Bond; Natural Alchemist; Natural Thaumaturge; Object Channel; Reduced Footprint; Rule of 17; Spell Duellist; Stabilising Skill.


OPTIONAL TRAITS
Advantages: Atomist; Alternate Identity (Illegal); Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Mortalist; Nourisher.
Perks: Acrobatic Feint; Honest Face; Fighting Style Familiarity (Taijutsu).
Disadvantages: Sense of Duty (Clan); Paranoia; Callous.
Skills: Acrobatics; Climbing; Forensics; Electronic Operations (Security); Filch; Judo; Jumping; Karate; Lockpicking; Observation; Search; Shadowing; Smuggling; Traps.


Ritual: Lying Blood
Spell Effects: Lesser Transform Body.
Inherent Modifiers: None.
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

This ritual transforms your blood, warping it into blood that isn't going to match your usual self. Any attempt to medically analyse your transformed blood and gather any sort of useful forensic evidence out of it will fail. No DNA, no medical conditions and so on. This ritual can also be cast on other people by adding Range. A similar ritual cast on blood outside a body (perhaps turning it into another liquid) would be a Lesser Transform Matter effect.

Typical Casting: Lesser Transform Body (8) + Subject Weight, 300 lbs. (3) + Duration, 1 day (7). 18 energy (18x1).

[ajardoor]

Discord's Glamour

19 points

This magical style is based around the concept of an alluring arcane trickster - one who can twist fate, muddle the minds of people and make lies seem truthful. It is the magical tradition of con artists, entertainers, spies, salespeople and the lustful.
The scope of the style covers ritual that change people's luck, make oneself more attractive, deceive people, manipulate people and generally "rig the game".

Required Skills: Acting; Artist (Illusion) or Fortune-Telling (any); Fast-Talk or Sex Appeal; Thaumatology; Sleight of Hand or Filch; Stealth or Streetwise; Holdout or Public Speaking; Detect Lies or Propaganda; Psychology (Applied).

Required Path Skills: Path of Chance; Path of Body; Path of Mind.

Required Ritual Masteries: "Allure of Chaos" (Mole); "From a Certain Point of View" (False Memory) or "Wilderness of Mirrors" (Burn Notice); Bless or Truthteller; Curse or Wallwalker; one of Show of Character, Sorcerous Covenant, "Mysterious Stranger" (Off the Grid) or "Discord's Sermon" (Babble On); one of Counterproductivity Curse, Gift of Gab, Forger's Blessing, Divination or Glamor Glamour.

Perks: Area Spell Mastery; Quick and Focused; Reduced Footprint; Secret Spell (any within style scope); Shortcut to Power (any within style scope); Discreet Ritual; Intimidating Curses; Knower of Names; Intuitive Illusionist; Magical Analysis; Magical Style Adaptation; Obscure True Name; Secret Mage; Magical Lawyer; Thaumatological Doublespeak.


OPTIONAL TRAITS
Advantages: Ally; Appearance; Claim to Hospitality; Contact; Charisma; Cultural Adaptability; Sensitive or Empathy; Voice; Wealth; Fashion Sense; Smooth Operator; Insight; Neuromancer.
Perks: Social-Interaction Style (Bardic Arts, The Short Con, The Long Con, Courtesanry, Deep Cover, Diplomacy, Salesmanship).
Disadvantages: Impulsiveness; Trickster; Overconfidence; Selfish; Lecherousness; Jealousy; Compulsive Carousing; Alcoholism; Chummy.
Skills: Savoir-Faire (any); Carousing; Erotic Art; Body Language; Observation; Dancing; Current Affairs (any); Musical Instrument (any); Diplomacy; Singing; Makeup; Gambling; Lockpicking.

[ericthered]

Its kind of rough, but I'm not sure to further it.

Elven Circle Magic:

Circle magic (The style is responsible for the classic elven dancing glade), was developed by a people where most of the population is minor mages. Elves are taught the style in their youth: Elven communities need each elf to know how to cast, how to cast safely, and how to cast as part of a group. Many meet the minimum requirements (less stable casting) and learn no more, being more interested in other pursuits. Masters of this path tend to specialize: a circle of elven circle masters is likely to have each one be an expert in a different path. It is common for elves to learn other style in addition to this one, or for the Quick and Focused perk to be taken large numbers of times.

Required Skills: Lore (elven), Dance, Stabalizing skill (not specified)

Required Paths: Path of Body

Required Perks:
Quick and Focused (-1/level ignored when working with multiple mages) 3
Stabalizing Skill Perk (skill and Path not specified, but Body and Naturalist is very common)

New Perk: Magic Circle Leader
You have a stabalizing influence on magic you help to cast. each round of energy casting, you can apply your energy to neutralizing quirks at a 3 (of only his) energy to 1 quirk ratio. Only one Magic circle leader can act at a time, and he must be the mage to cast the final spell.

New Perk: Magic Circle Stabalizer
You can stabalize critical failures caused by others a group ritual -- if you could have stabalized it yourself. Only one attempt at stabalization is allowed.

Restricted Skill: Architechure (elven)
This skill alows you to build buildings and public areas that remain consecrated ground even under high traffic situations