GURPS Voodoo for 4e

[macphersonrants]

Originally Posted by davidtmoore

Initiation included a bonus to rituals (costed at 10/level), which would basically be Magery. The rest of it was various bonuses and special advantages. If you go through Voodoo itself and Basic Set 3e, you can reverse engineer the different levels pretty easily, then rebuild them using 4e.

That's my plan. I looked it over last night and it appears to be an UB that gives access to a bundle of other advantages, some built in, some not. I'm going to try to tweak it out this evening and put up my results.

[copeab]

Originally Posted by macphersonrants

That's my plan. I looked it over last night and it appears to be an UB that gives access to a bundle of other advantages, some built in, some not. I'm going to try to tweak it out this evening and put up my results.

As has been pointed out, Initiative Level isn't really an UB. For example, in 3e terms, First Level Initiation was Ritual Aptitude 2 and a very reduced-range version of Awareness 1. With Second Level Initiation, you had Ritual Aptitude 5, a still limited-range version of Awareness 1. You also got positive and negative reaction bonuses. Also, IIRC, it was easier for a spirit to possess someone with Level One or Two Initiation than a "mundane" person.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Johan Larson

What's the plan for Voodoo, anyway? It's out of print and has been for a while, but there's no e23 version.

They might do a "Classic" reprint for PDF later but the crunchy parts are pretty much in Thaumatology now.
I no longer have my copy of GURPS Voodoo but if I recall using Spirits and Thaumatoloy and possibly religion you could build most of it out except for the historical bits.
I would like to see a redo myself but I suspect its a low priority.

[macphersonrants]

What I like about GURPS Voodoo is the feel of the magic system. It isn't flashy. It gives one the sense that if magic did work in the real world, it would probably work something like it is laid out in the book. For my money it's the best RPG magic system for running secret magic games set in the real world.

Having to achieve different levels of occult knowledge in order to gain access to certain abilities is part of that feel. After some thought, I don't think you need to maintain that to simulate what was in the book, but it is part of what makes the book cool. Also, since Voodoo's magic system was the books reals strength, sticking with its basics is probably a good place to start if you want to invoke the book's feel.

Here's a rundown of how I read the various levels of initiation in 4e terms (point costs were not cumulative, i.e. you would only pay 40 points for level 3 not 60):

Level 1 (5 pts in 3e)- Grants Detect (Supernatural, very common, -50% for Vague limitation)[15 pts] and magical ability roughly equivalent to Magery 0 [5 pts](assumes you are using Magery as the basis for your Path/Book magic); also allows the character to buy Autotrance [1] and Visualization [10]

20 Pts before options


Level 2 (15 pts in 3e)- gain +2 Reactions to people who subscribe to your religion or belief system, -2 to people with antagonistic beliefs or fragile egos (I'd treat this as a 0 pt wash) and Magery 1 [10]; can buy Channeling [10 pts], Mystic Symbol [see Thaumatology p. 124], and Spirit Advisor (not sure how to handle this in 4e)

+10 Pts before options (30 Pts total)

Level 3 (40 pts in 3e)- gain Empathy [10], Spirit Empathy [10], and buy off Vague limitation to Detect [15], the reaction bonus per Level 2 is increased to +3/-3; can buy Metabolism Control [5/lvl] and a spirit as an Ally [variable]

+35 points before options (65 Pts total)

Level 4 (70 pts in 3e)- gain Intuition[15], I would allow Detect to be bought up to Precise as an option ; may purchase ability to become a Spirit Vessel [variable], Extra Fatigue [3/lvl], or a spirit Ally Group [variable]

+15 Pts before options (80 Pts total)

Level 5 (100 pts in 3e)- gain Danger Sense [15] and Charisma +1 [5], 2 levels of Ritual Adept [20]; can buy Healing [30] or Spirit Form (access to the Spirit meta-trait as an Alternate form???)

+40 Pts before options (120 Pts total)

Level 6 (130 pts in 3e)- gain Charisma +2 [10] and an additional level of Ritual Adept [10]; can buy Unaging [15]

+20 Pts (140 Pts total)

Higher levels grant larger spirit Ally Group as well as powers that would require special rules (perhaps somewhat along the lines of the Personal Holiness power).

After some consideration, what I am seeing Initiation as in 4e now is a lens or series of lenses. Let me know what you think. I'd also love some feedback on the areas I notes not being 100% clear about how to convert.

[davidtmoore]

Originally Posted by macphersonrants

Grants Detect (Supernatural, very common, -50% for Vague limitation)[15 pts] and magical ability roughly equivalent to Magery 0 [5 pts](assumes you are using Magery as the basis for your Path/Book magic)

Doesn't Magery 0 include a vague supernatural detection ability? Magery certainly did in 3e, but I never thought to check that it still does in 4e.

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by davidtmoore

Doesn't Magery 0 include a vague supernatural detection ability? Magery certainly did in 3e, but I never thought to check that it still does in 4e.

It does.
Curse you minimum character requirement!

[fschiff]

Originally Posted by macphersonrants

Level 2 (15 pts in 3e)- gain +2 Reactions to people who subscribe to your religion or belief system, -2 to people with antagonistic beliefs or fragile egos (I'd treat this as a 0 pt wash) and Magery 1 [10]; can buy Channeling [10 pts], Mystic Symbol [see Thaumatology p. 124], and Spirit Advisor (not sure how to handle this in 4e)

Spirit Advisor sounds like a Contact in 4e.

[macphersonrants]

Originally Posted by davidtmoore

Doesn't Magery 0 include a vague supernatural detection ability? Magery certainly did in 3e, but I never thought to check that it still does in 4e.

According to the basic book that only applies to detecting magical items.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by macphersonrants

According to the basic book that only applies to detecting magical items.

Doesn't actually say that. While it only gives rules for detecting magic items, it doesn't say that's the only thing that can be sensed (and Magic says they can detect mana zone boundaries.) Personally I ruled someone with Magic Aptitude can also detect it when they touch something under an active spell (and in fact won't be able to tell the difference between being magic and being under a spell). But the Voodoo spirit sense goes a little further than that.

[macphersonrants]

I feel like I have a pretty good handle on how I would do the conversion. What new things from 4e would be good additions to a game using the setting? For example, I think that Personal Holiness and Reincarnation from the Magic as Powers chapter in Thaumatology jive well with the spirit of the Shadow War.