10-24-2010, 01:59 PM | #11 | ||||
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
Yeah, that got me thinking too. But I suppose it's just a magic item/focus so that could be fairly ignored.
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Side question, how many pages would the Blank Book in High Tech have? 200 or so? Ghostdancer |
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10-24-2010, 02:37 PM | #12 |
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
Look for the file 0615.6.html in your 2007 archive.
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10-24-2010, 02:50 PM | #13 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
I don't believe in any theory that makes spells even a single full page long. Remember, GURPS spells are intended for combat use! The normal assumption is that you cast a spell by concentrating for one second, and indeed, any longer than that is pretty crippling in combat. I'll stipulate that "concentrating" can mean speaking words. But as Shaw pointed out, a classic method of counting seconds is to chant "hackertybackertyone, hackertybackertytwo, hackertybackertythree" and so on. You can get out about seven syllables, or roughly 15-20 phonemes, in a second. So that's how long spells are in the standard mana-based magic system.
It's how long they are in a lot of fantasy, too; think of Gandalf chanting spells at the gates of Moria. He wasn't taking any two minutes to recite an opening spell. He refers at one point to speaking a "Word of Command," in fact. Bill Stoddard |
10-24-2010, 03:09 PM | #14 | |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
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Last edited by sir_pudding; 10-24-2010 at 03:26 PM. |
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10-24-2010, 03:20 PM | #15 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
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Or maybe it's like learning a new form of chess for every spell. Again simple rules, but countless books written about the subject. |
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10-24-2010, 03:25 PM | #16 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
Wouldn't either imply that there is more than a single page per spell?
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10-24-2010, 03:31 PM | #17 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
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10-24-2010, 03:36 PM | #18 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
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Compare mathematics. You can learn "the bottom times the derivative of the top, minus the top times the derivative of the bottom, over the bottom squared" in freshman calculus. But if you haven't already learned to take a derivative, and a bunch of earlier math such as algebra, that formula's useless to you; it's just words that don't tell you how to do anything. It's also possible that the spell has components that are not written down in the book, such as gestures to be made while reciting it, and that you have to learn those from a trained instructor, and practice making them. That seems to be implied by the Potter books, where the verbal part of a spell can be as trivial as "wingardium leviosa!" And, finally, it may be like learning a musical piece. You may have the notes memorized pretty quickly. But until you get the intonation, the rhythm, and so on exactly right, it may not really be music. A band may practice the same piece dozens of times before being ready to play it. Bill Stoddard |
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10-24-2010, 03:47 PM | #19 | |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
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Describing the gestures, intonation, and mental states to cast a GURPS Magic spell might add length to the description. Or they might be left implicit because a typical spellbook is an aide memoire not a beginner's textbook. Especially for Path/Book Magic spells, I can imagine a setting where each spell is a collection of redundant approaches to the same effect which work in slightly different circumstances. Like chess or mathematics or deep knowledge of a craft. And some traditions may embed the specific instructions in long philosophical texts. But one GURPS Magic spell per page isn't hard to envision ...
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10-24-2010, 03:52 PM | #20 | |
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Re: Spells written down are how many pages?
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