Pyramid #3/28: Thaumatology II

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by Steven Marsh

Well, magic issues have been pretty darn popular, and I love weird/alternate magic systems and rules. Assuming that sales on this issue aren't horrifying, it seems very likely that we'll revisit Path/Book magic in the future. (And, of course, Path/Book magic articles don't need to be limited to issues marked "Thaumatology" . . .)

Well, maybe we can get an issue with Path/book magic, and with Realm magic. Both systems need some love. Realm magic really needs some love. Path/book magic has at least a sort of generic worked example, Realm magic only has the example settings, and they're not that detailed.

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Steven Marsh

Assuming that sales on this issue aren't horrifying, it seems very likely that we'll revisit Path/Book magic in the future.

Perhaps you could consider it even if sales on this issue aren't fantastic.

There are people (like myself) who would buy an issue about Path/Book Magic but won't buy this one. Perhaps there are enough of us. After all, Path/Book Magic does get a lot of love on the Fora.

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Perhaps you could consider it even if sales on this issue aren't fantastic.

There are people (like myself) who would buy an issue about Path/Book Magic but won't buy this one. Perhaps there are enough of us. After all, Path/Book Magic does get a lot of love on the Fora.

Personally, I have a subscription, and will continue to have it in the foreseeable future. This means that I can't actually vote with my $ to what issues I like or don't like. However, so far the decision has been easy, I like all of them!

Personally, I would have liked alternative magic systems, particularly some Books (we've got enough paths already), and some realm magic (I feel that a fully worked out example that is at least somewhat more universal than the pseudo-Polynesian at the example setting in the back of the chapter would be extremely useful.). Thaumatology I had some very good examples of path/book magic, with the brilliant "The Magic of Stories" and the creep-a-licious "Red Diabolism"

[dataweaver]

Well, Paths and Books did get two articles in 3/13; so I can't complain that they've been completely ignored. (I especially appreciated that issue's article on Fairy Tale Magic.) Still, count me with those clamoring for more Path/Book love.

Realms, too. In fact, I have a few ideas of what I'd like to see for this. Not sure if it's enough for a Pyramid article, but I'll look into it.

As I said on the related thread, the Alchemy articles was worth the price of admission by itself. It is to Alchemy as the first chapter of Thaumatology is to the standard magic system. If you have any interest in the standard Alchemy system, I highly recommend it.

I appreciated the "Ceremonial Magic Made Easy" article too, but for a very different reason: the article isn't so much about making ceremonies easier to use as it is about making the standard magic system's Ceremonies feel more like a Path/Book Magic ritual does.

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

Well, Paths and Books did get two articles in 3/13; so I can't complain that they've been completely ignored. (I especially appreciated that issue's article on Fairy Tale Magic.) Still, count me with those clamoring for more Path/Book love.

Realms, too. In fact, I have a few ideas of what I'd like to see for this. Not sure if it's enough for a Pyramid article, but I'll look into it.

As I said on the related thread, the Alchemy articles was worth the price of admission by itself. It is to Alchemy as the first chapter of Thaumatology is to the standard magic system. If you have any interest in the standard Alchemy system, I highly recommend it.

I appreciated the "Ceremonial Magic Made Easy" article too, but for a very different reason: the article isn't so much about making ceremonies easier to use as it is about making the standard magic system's Ceremonies feel more like a Path/Book Magic ritual does.

Oh yeah, the Alchemy article is worth the cover price by itself. Almost every issue of Pyramid includes one article that more than makes the purchase worthwhile.

[aesir23]

I'd appreciate more on Realms, too. I haven't yet used them, but they seem to have a lot of potential. I'm certainly more interested in Realms than I am in the standard magic system.

And I didn't mean to criticize this issue or the people who bought it.

It just doesn't have any support for the rules I use (path/book magic and magic as powers), so I can't justify spending my extremely finite monetary resources on it.

I'd hate for that fact to send the message that they shouldn't print an issue that does support those rules.*


*Ugh. Sorry about that twisted syntax.

[Steven Marsh]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Perhaps you could consider it even if sales on this issue aren't fantastic.

There are people (like myself) who would buy an issue about Path/Book Magic but won't buy this one. Perhaps there are enough of us. After all, Path/Book Magic does get a lot of love on the Fora.

See, the problem is that we really only have tangential ways to measure sales. If (say) we release a book of U.S. Civil War weapons of the South, and it sells poorly, but people on the forums say, "Well, gee, we really want U.S. Civil War weapons of the North -- we'd totally buy that!" . . . do we take a chance on another U.S. Civil War weapons book and hope we don't lose our shirts?

I wasn't there for the original book's genesis, but I strongly suspect that the original GURPS Thaumatology grew out of the success of GURPS Magic. In other words, the success of the "conventional" magic system laid the foundation for the market of the "unconventional" magic system. If an issue that's devoted to slightly unconventional aspects of the conventional system does poorly (and I strongly suspect it won't), then that may say something about the demand for magic material.

Forum support and comments are encouraged, but at the end of the day we look at sales. As an example, fans have said that they really want adventures, but the two issues that have heavily featured adventures have been among the poorest sellers. Now, you might say, "Well, gee, those weren't the adventures we wanted," which might be true . . . but it might be just as true that the vocal demand for adventures is greater than the paying audience for them. When the dust settles, we look at past performance as a good indicator of what future projects are in high demand.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by aesir23

It just doesn't have any support for the rules I use (path/book magic and magic as powers), so I can't justify spending my extremely finite monetary resources on it.

I'd hate for that fact to send the message that they shouldn't print an issue that does support those rules.

Yeah, but that's exactly the message you're sending.

By clamoring to reduce the numbers of sales for an issue with rules on Magic, you are explicitly reducing the possibility of there being another issue with rules on Magic.

Besides, the issue is worth it for the Alchemy article alone.

[dataweaver]

Originally Posted by aesir23

I'd appreciate more on Realms, too. I haven't yet used them, but they seem to have a lot of potential. I'm certainly more interested in Realms than I am in the standard magic system.

Realms in particular, or Syntactic Magic in general? My own interest involves expanding on Realm Magic in particular, especially considering that Noun/Verb Magic got three distinct alphabets in Thaumatology.

Originally Posted by aesir23

It just doesn't have any support for the rules I use (path/book magic and magic as powers), so I can't justify spending my extremely finite monetary resources on it.

True enough. I suppose that you're going to have to tide yourself over by using Psionic Powers and Powers: Divine Favor. :P

(In the latter vein, you might want to look at doing with Realms and magic as powers what Divine Favor did with, well, Divine Favor and magic as powers.)

[dataweaver]

Concerning the Yellow Goblin Magic article, I would have liked a box in there somewhere summarizing other colors and their mystical meanings, as a way of setting up Yellow Goblin Magic as one of a group of color-based Magical Styles.