Mundane Magic

dfinlay · 05-03-2016, 07:30 PM

So, I'm working on a low-powered fantasy campaign at the moment. I already have a formal magic system that's modified Effect Shaping RPM. However, I would also like to have what (for lack of a better term) I'm calling mundane magic. These are things like "Silver is associated with strength, so I wear silver jewelry to grant me strength in battle" and "One who settles in a new region without introducing him/herself to the local spirits will be less protected from misfortune" or "when fording a river, one should always give a small offering to the current (say, a few berries) to avoid offending it".

Basically, they're mundane things that anyone can do, mage or no, and probably without a skill role other than (for more obscure things) the knowledge skill to have heard of the ritual. I want these sorts of things to have an actual effect but on the other hand I don't want them to get too gamest ("What's the list of trinkets we can get? I'll take one of each. Wait, do they stack?") nor too blatant (even a +1 ST is very significant in GURPS, especially with KYOS, so how do I make something grants strength, for example, without it being blatant and extreme?). I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts about how to do this or if perhaps there's some write-up/system I'm missing that's already made.

05-03-2016, 07:30 PM	#1
dfinlay Join Date: Dec 2008	Mundane Magic So, I'm working on a low-powered fantasy campaign at the moment. I already have a formal magic system that's modified Effect Shaping RPM. However, I would also like to have what (for lack of a better term) I'm calling mundane magic. These are things like "Silver is associated with strength, so I wear silver jewelry to grant me strength in battle" and "One who settles in a new region without introducing him/herself to the local spirits will be less protected from misfortune" or "when fording a river, one should always give a small offering to the current (say, a few berries) to avoid offending it". Basically, they're mundane things that anyone can do, mage or no, and probably without a skill role other than (for more obscure things) the knowledge skill to have heard of the ritual. I want these sorts of things to have an actual effect but on the other hand I don't want them to get too gamest ("What's the list of trinkets we can get? I'll take one of each. Wait, do they stack?") nor too blatant (even a +1 ST is very significant in GURPS, especially with KYOS, so how do I make something grants strength, for example, without it being blatant and extreme?). I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts about how to do this or if perhaps there's some write-up/system I'm missing that's already made.