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Old 04-19-2021, 03:34 AM   #11
Tiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Default Re: Spells as Temporary Mitigators

Quote:
How many wizards got bad eyesight from pouring over dusty tomes at night using candles ?
As a nitpick this may be true in a fantasy universe, but not our own. Aside from physically destroying your retinas by looking at the sun or a laser it's been conclusively proven that reading in the dark etc don't make you hard of sight. Straining your eyes tires muscles out and may be painful but it won't make you blind. I think this is a false association due to eye pain, perhaps reinforced because high IQ people are more likely to have genetic eye problems or because non-intellectuals want to discourage you from reading at night.

Eyesight, like almost everything, is 50+% genetic.

Last edited by Tiger; 04-19-2021 at 03:38 AM.
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Old 04-19-2021, 08:36 AM   #12
ericthered
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Default Re: Spells as Temporary Mitigators

I'd price the mitigator based on convenience.



Glasses are -60%, and they're actually quite convenient. They can be stolen or broken, yes, but they can be worn constantly, aren't fatiguing, and are fairly cheap.



Compare that with a spell that costs 1 FP every minute to maintain... I know which I'd find more convenient.
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Old 04-19-2021, 09:40 AM   #13
Polkageist
 
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Default Re: Spells as Temporary Mitigators

Shuckster's point about mitigators being a discount on something OTHER than a known skill is a good one. It'd be like needing glasses, and having the tools, equipment, and ability to create a new set on demand. Beyond even the foresight and convenience of going to the store and ordering a dozen pairs of your prescription ($$! Time!). Since we're already talking about magic, it'd be something like a magical glasses case that always has your glasses in it, kinda like a cornucopia quiver.

For a magical spell or ability to count as a mitigator under these circumstances, it needs to be limited to addressing that disability only, be 'breakable' by circumstances more easily come by than something that would disable a standard sense, and likely granted by some artifice or enchantment that the user doesn't have a direct effect on.

Hm, so I'm going to backtrack a little bit. Thinking about it, knowing the spell to mitigate muteness or blindness has a cost and inconvenience of having a spell on. Generally you know it well enough to not have to pay the FP for maintenance, but turning it on might be tiring or a daily drain on the ER to wake up and be able to see. So that may very well be a good cause to call it a 'mitigator' with the -70% for it being magical.

If the magical effect is stuck to the person and is generally always on or available I would go so far as to say that's just an alternative feature quirk. The mute who can telesend isn't incapable of talking, they're just able to talk in a different way from everyone else. Oh, a better example would be the blind person who sees like a standard person with Clairvoyance. Walking into a low-mana area would be like walking into a dark room for them, and they have the feature where they can't really ever be blindfolded or 'dazzled' by bright light because they don't see with eyes, but they still see and the things that bother their sight are simply different.
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Old 04-19-2021, 10:14 AM   #14
mburr0003
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Default Re: Spells as Temporary Mitigators

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Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Compare that with a spell that costs 1 FP every minute to maintain... I know which I'd find more convenient.
The maintenance cost is relatively simple to get around and most casters will be reaching to overcome that anyway, no, it's the spell's footprint that is a greater mitigator.

Having a -1 to all spells because you keep Wizard Ear up practically all the time is more of a hassle, especially if you have to cover more than one sense, missing limb, or just have a small handful of useful "always on" spells* (unless you're allowed to purchase Reduced Footprint Perk, in which case the difficulties of maintenance and spell's on quickly become a non-issue).


* And Utility Casters (which let's face it, that's what GURPS Wizards are) usually do. I know my mages generally 3-4 spells constantly on at all times, and if not allowed to buy that Perk, those penalties add up fast.
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Old 04-19-2021, 10:46 AM   #15
Willy
 
Join Date: Dec 2020
Default Re: Spells as Temporary Mitigators

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiger View Post
As a nitpick this may be true in a fantasy universe, but not our own. Aside from physically destroying your retinas by looking at the sun or a laser it's been conclusively proven that reading in the dark etc don't make you hard of sight. Straining your eyes tires muscles out and may be painful but it won't make you blind. I think this is a false association due to eye pain, perhaps reinforced because high IQ people are more likely to have genetic eye problems or because non-intellectuals want to discourage you from reading at night.

Eyesight, like almost everything, is 50+% genetic.
Well my doctor sees this the other way, it is proven that to much time staring at computer screens, or a LOT of reading can be difficult for eyesight. I´m a example for this I´ve read 5000+ books and now guess how nearsighted I´m. I read some nice studies about it, sadly i´m a non native english speaker and nearly all of them are new enough to be the mainstrean opinion of science. Even if I´m wrong then there of course the question about getting older, then you get reduced senses by default. Hard of hearing or farsighted are quite common, you need only to get old enough, same goes for the taste and all other senses too.
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Old 04-19-2021, 11:00 AM   #16
Shuckster
 
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Default Re: Spells as Temporary Mitigators

Thinking about this and considering blind-fighting is a skill, not an advantage or equipment, theres a reason knowing blind-fighting isnt a mitigator for blindness. However, consider this:

Blindness (Mitigator, Enchanted item of Wizard Eye -70%)

held by a mage that can use that item but does not know wizard eye?
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