Limits on Spells Available in Book Magic?

[Bandii]

Are there hard limits on how many spells can be available in a book in the Book Magic rules in GURPS Thaumaturgy?

Thanks,

M

[dataweaver]

Nope. No limit.

[vierasmarius]

No limit, but it is normally up to the GM to design the Books. At the most lenient he could let players design Books, then carefully review them. Ultimately it's the GM's job to judge whether a Book is appropriate in his campaign setting. Keep in mind not just overall power and number of rituals, but also if the Book has a coherent theme or reasonable explanation for the rituals it includes. And of course you can always charge an Unusual Background for access to especially potent or rare magical traditions.

[dataweaver]

That "coherent theme" bit is a major limiter: no matter how many spells appear in a Book devoted to Fire Magic, you won’t find a spell in there for causing an earthquake or curing an illness. In fact, that’s why there’s no need for a cap on the number of spells in a given Book.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

That "coherent theme" bit is a major limiter: no matter how many spells appear in a Book devoted to Fire Magic, you won’t find a spell in there for causing an earthquake or curing an illness. In fact, that’s why there’s no need for a cap on the number of spells in a given Book.

Dunno, one could literally burn the disease out of somebody. 1-2HP lost to "Cleansing Fire" to burn away poison and disease sounds fair to me. Given proper sedatives, High Pain Threshold, or already being unconscious, it's not a bad trade.

As for earthquakes, is manipulating lava not covered by a Fire book? Sure, the energy cost should be really high, but, it's not out of the question!

[ericthered]

Thats only paths. There is no need for book magic to be of the same theme.

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Thats only paths. There is no need for book magic to be of the same theme.

For Paths the "theme" is the central concept or force (Spirits, Nature, Healing, etc) that the magic is manipulating. For Books, the "theme" can be more nebulous, but shouldn't be taken any less seriously. The examples in Thaumatology all have clear inspirations. Basically, there should be some rationale for why these particular rituals are grouped together, beyond just "the player likes them".

[dataweaver]

And if the GM allows a Book that uses comic book style “the flimsiest excuse is adequate justification to it”, he gets what he deserves.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

For Paths the "theme" is the central concept or force (Spirits, Nature, Healing, etc) that the magic is manipulating. For Books, the "theme" can be more nebulous, but shouldn't be taken any less seriously. The examples in Thaumatology all have clear inspirations. Basically, there should be some rationale for why these particular rituals are grouped together, beyond just "the player likes them".

I'd allow some pretty diverse Books if the player put enough good effort into explaining why they fit, for much the same reason I tend to allow a higher starting point value for PCs whose players wrote up a detailed backstory.

[Anaraxes]

I always pictured Books as containing relatively few spells. This would motivate mages to collect a large number of tomes, and let you invent more names by which they can refer to them. Making individual spells quirky can also motivate collection of Books that overlap (seeking to find a version without a quirk, or have a beneficial one).

If a single Book has a huge number and variety of spells, I'd use a Path or create a style instead.

The differences are only flavor. But if the PCs get to make up books that are just "My Personal Spell List", by Me, you might as well not bother saying that you're using Book magic, and just pick from the regular spell list. The only reason to have Paths or Books to constrain that choice.

So, the limit on number of spells in a book is dictated by those goals for flavor and constraint in the setting. By RAW, there is no limit.