Newcomer seeks advice: Ravenloft in GURPS?

[carllarson]

For a good magic system for Ravenloft, I'd go with the system from GURPS Voodoo/Spirits. Which is being returned to us in GURPS Thamatology as spirit-mediated magic. Spirit magic would also be a good fit for the idea that mundanes can use rituals, at a severe default, when the stars are right.

G4E Ritual Magic isn't necessarily a preparation system, but spells-as-techniques system. The preparation-needed version is currently Ceremonial Magic, which adds time to castings.

The cap for Magery is really up to the GM. It functions as the talent, giving the bonus to spell skills, and as the power limit, giving the max FP allowed to punch into scaled spells (generally, you can pump 1d/Magery level into a spell each round, up to the limit of building written in the spell. Magery 3 and 3 rounds of building is 9d Fireball costing 9FP, Magery 2 and 3 rounds is 6d Concussion costing 12FP. Magery 9 with 9FP and 1 round is 9d Fireball.

Or, you could take the page from GURPS Cabal, and make the Mana level for Ravenloft low-mana, and allow ceremonial boosts to spell skills to offset the -5 penalty. For those ubermensch, such as Azalin Rex, 5 levels of Magery to offset the penalty, as well as the ceremonial boosts, will make a serious contender, and keep some of the flavor of his power.

[HuManBing]

Okay, sounds good. I'll start pencilling in the various things but will leave the magic system vague until the Thaumatology book comes out.

I figure my group is about a year away from finishing up the current campaign.

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by HuManBing

The magic system could initially be a Ritual system first, forcing the players to focus on preparation. Then later I could add in the traditional magic.

Yet another plug for Authentic Thaumaturgy http://www.sjgames.com/thaumaturgy/

Start with ritual magic, then let the PC's discover that they can dispense with bits of the ritual and still have the magic work, though it takes more focus and willpower to do so. This lets them retro to ritual when they need to be assured of success or they're low on mojo. Makes them balance power vs discretion.

:)

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by HuManBing

I've decided to use a different set of rules for my Ravenloft campaign. After many years of playing by d20, we're ready to move on. I vetted various systems, most notably the Warhammer, WoD, CoC, Amazing Engine, and Star Frontiers systems, and finally decided on GURPS.

Congratulations!

Originally Posted by HuManBing

I have the double core books of the 4th ed GURPS, as well as pdfs of Magic, Martial Arts, and three Creatures of the Night monster books. I also have the 3rd ed books on Undead and Monsters. What else should I get?

Depending on how you want to handle Magic you might benefit from 4e Powers, but you're probably good to go with just the core books if you're on a budget. 4e MA will be a good addition if you plan to have a lot of low-tech combat, but I wouldn't tell you to buy it right away if you didn't already have it. In particular I would not recommend 4e Fantasy if you know exactly what you want to do for setting in your first campaign; it's an excellent world-building resource and genre discussion but not necessary in your case IMHO.

Originally Posted by HuManBing

I am in awe of the GURPS system... and a little overwhelmed.

You're in the right place, almost. You may get better responses in the GURPS-specific forum for conversions from other systems to GURPS for future reference. ;)

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by HuManBing

I'm seriously considering having multiple magic systems for added flavor.

GURPS Fantasy has a very good discussion of magical plurality, several magic systems, and a worked example (Roma Arcana) that demonstrates how this stuff works together.

[HuManBing]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

You're in the right place, almost. You may get better responses in the GURPS-specific forum for conversions from other systems to GURPS for future reference. ;)

Interesting... do you have a link for me? I'll ask a mod if they can move this to the relevant forum for greater clarity.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by HuManBing

Interesting... do you have a link for me? I'll ask a mod if they can move this to the relevant forum for greater clarity.

Go to the bottom of the screen where the drop-down box says "Roleplying in General". Click on it and move up from "Roleplaying in General" to "Gurps".

[HuManBing]

Excellent... I'll ask a mod to make the move so that everything ends up in the right place!

[Andrew Hackard]

Thread is moved.

I'd love to see some of your RL conversions when you get them started. It's been my favorite TSR-published setting ever since it came out.

[Mister Negative]

Good luck with Ravenloft. I've run several GURPS games in Ravenloft over the years, though most were one-off or short term adventures rather than a full campaign. The most significant thing that I learned was that GURPS, being a rather more fully-fleshed game engine than D&D, meant that "less was more".

What I mean by this is that the special abilities, paranormal talents, and supernatural modifiers so common to D&D often simply weren't necessary in GURPS. For example, rather than using "dire wolves" or "werewolves" or "undead wolves", the GM could often simply use wolves. I had one PC (too familiar with D&D, I fear) wandering off on his own through the town (at night, no less). He heard a faint chorus of scrapes and clicks behind him, and turned to realize that an entire pack of wolves was softly padding behind him on the cobblestones (the sound being their claws on the stones). For a second, he thought about drawing his sword, then realized that a dozen wolves could either hamstring him, or hope for a lucky strike to his unarmored throat, and leave him to bleed to death, or eat him on the spot. He turned and ran with them on his heels (which, was, of course, the point...Don't Wander Off Alone!).

Once you've constructed Strahd as a skilled warrior and leader, then turned him into a vampire and a necromancer, you don't need to emulate many of the D&D vampire traits. "Level-draining" and the like are unnecessary when you have superhuman strength and speed, as well as a high intelligence and magic use. Strahd, at one point in my game, simply shot one PC (the priest, in fact) in the leg with a crossbow the players would have needed a winch to crank, and then leapt across a room (in full armor, no less), and wrenched the sword from the warrior's hands, before backhanding the wizard across the hall. Believe me, the players were SCARED of him, simply because they knew that he could do things they were incapable of.

The only caveat I would have is with the GURPS magic system. I LOVE it, don't get me wrong, but it does overall have a formulaic, mechanical system to it. Barring waiting for Thaumatology (which, believe me, I am eagerly awaiting), you might try either using Ritual Magic, or perhaps disallowing PC wizards, and instead focusing magical abilities onto priests with True Faith and the like. Wizards are kind of a "wild card" in GURPS with the standard magic system. If they know the right spells, and the rest of the party can buy them space and time to use them, they can circumvent a lot of obstacles, both narrative and combat. For example, a Mind-reading or Truth -sayer spell can circumvent a lot of obfuscation (as can a simple Aura spell), and a properly used Loyalty spell, or similar mind or beast controlling magics can render lone baddies quite harmless. I would say, if you are using standard GURPS magic, make sure to carefully vet the spells (and the breadth of spells) which you are allowing the PCs to learn.