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Old 12-09-2015, 09:07 AM   #11
T.K.
 
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Join Date: Nov 2013
Default Re: Spellcasting that breaks mana

Why not use Threshold-Limited Magic, Thaum. p. 76?

- Switch the "Tally" from personal to ambient or a sum of ambient+personal;

- Make "Tally Recovery" extremely long to force mages to deplete ambient faster than it can regen itself;

- Make Ambient Threshold much bigger than Personal Threshold if using both, like 300 ambient and 20 personal, so mages will normally pick draining ambient for bigger/impactful effects;

- Make passing "Thresholds" and "Calamities" permanent and dangerous. Get the "Calamity Table" on Thaum. p. 77 and apply it large scale to ambient;

- Watch greedy players dry the world like it's not even funny.
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Old 12-09-2015, 10:42 AM   #12
Sombreiro
 
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Default Re: Spellcasting that breaks mana

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
Ritual Path Magic has the option to draw energy from the land, blighting it..
Sorry, but I'm not being able to find it, thaumatology book, right? I've looked from page 121 and on, but I've found nothing, many paths, the closest would probably be this Energy Accumulating System, but it uses spirit energy, instead of land, as you've said, so I guess this is not what you meant.

Quote:
Originally Posted by starslayer View Post
If no one is going to be learning this 'on the chopping block' art, then there's no reason to price that out.
Didn't get what you meant by 'on the chopping block'. I like pricing cause after sometime I let my PC's by the styles they discovered ingame, either by getting friendly with those who have it, or by building one of those on his next character.
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Old 12-09-2015, 10:52 AM   #13
Nereidalbel
 
Join Date: May 2013
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Default Re: Spellcasting that breaks mana

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Originally Posted by Sombreiro View Post
Sorry, but I'm not being able to find it, thaumatology book, right? I've looked from page 121 and on, but I've found nothing, many paths, the closest would probably be this Energy Accumulating System, but it uses spirit energy, instead of land, as you've said, so I guess this is not what you meant.
RPM has its own book, and is not to be found in the basic Thaumatology book.
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Old 12-09-2015, 10:53 AM   #14
Sombreiro
 
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Default Re: Spellcasting that breaks mana

Quote:
Originally Posted by T.K. View Post
Why not use Threshold-Limited Magic, Thaum. p. 76?

- Switch the "Tally" from personal to ambient or a sum of ambient+personal;

- Make "Tally Recovery" extremely long to force mages to deplete ambient faster than it can regen itself;

- Make Ambient Threshold much bigger than Personal Threshold if using both, like 300 ambient and 20 personal, so mages will normally pick draining ambient for bigger/impactful effects;

- Make passing "Thresholds" and "Calamities" permanent and dangerous. Get the "Calamity Table" on Thaum. p. 77 and apply it large scale to ambient;

- Watch greedy players dry the world like it's not even funny.
Yeah, I was already discussing this wuth a friend of mine, for example, the first calamity, which gives Nightmares for 4D days, would let all the animals in the forest aggressive for 4D WEEKS, we decided that a land suffers 1 more level.

I was thinking of putting up a proportion of 3000, cause 300 would dry out too fast, as I would be using the Aura option, people would wipe them out before they even learnt their spells properly, but with 3000(And a Regen of probably 500 per day), a family of what, 20 mages, doing 10 spells a day, 200 spells of say what, 2~3 points, would average 500. If it was 300, they would destroy the entire land they live on a single day hahaha, like this they can train once a day in secret.

So, to destroy a land's mana, it would be by taking a 29 on the calamity roll, meaning the land no longer has mana to be cast with. 24 "living scar" would lower the Mana-Level, for 3D months(which would be the end of the land if those who are casting these spells care not about the land, as the cost and recovery will be messed up).

I'll be playing like that, probably, if I don't find a better fitting style.
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Old 12-14-2015, 02:21 AM   #15
T.K.
 
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Default Re: Spellcasting that breaks mana

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sombreiro View Post
Yeah, I was already discussing this wuth a friend of mine, for example, the first calamity, which gives Nightmares for 4D days, would let all the animals in the forest aggressive for 4D WEEKS, we decided that a land suffers 1 more level.

I was thinking of putting up a proportion of 3000, cause 300 would dry out too fast, as I would be using the Aura option, people would wipe them out before they even learnt their spells properly, but with 3000(And a Regen of probably 500 per day), a family of what, 20 mages, doing 10 spells a day, 200 spells of say what, 2~3 points, would average 500. If it was 300, they would destroy the entire land they live on a single day hahaha, like this they can train once a day in secret.

So, to destroy a land's mana, it would be by taking a 29 on the calamity roll, meaning the land no longer has mana to be cast with. 24 "living scar" would lower the Mana-Level, for 3D months(which would be the end of the land if those who are casting these spells care not about the land, as the cost and recovery will be messed up).

I'll be playing like that, probably, if I don't find a better fitting style.
Sounds good.

As you already did, numbers should be tweaked to suit your needs and the campaign feeling.

I believe that would be the easiest setup to work what you need.
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Old 12-14-2015, 03:15 AM   #16
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Default Re: Spellcasting that breaks mana

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sombreiro View Post
As I've said on first quote, mages are just appearing, so these guys are learning old texts in secret;
Just rumours of these guys coming back is going to get more than just mages mad at them. Normal folks might not care to check the mage are not these guy and lynch on sight. There no way the common folk will not have legend of spell caster that destroyed the land for farming either.
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Old 12-14-2015, 07:47 AM   #17
Jasonft
 
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Default Re: Spellcasting that breaks mana

If you can find any of the guidebooks for the Dark Sun setting for AD&D you get to see what happens when such mages take over an entire world. Hint: Lots of desert and arcane spell casters are hated by everyone.
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Old 12-14-2015, 10:51 AM   #18
Jerander
 
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Location: Rochester, MN
Default Re: Spellcasting that breaks mana

Off the top of my head, without reading all the other responses in depth:

1) A "staged" ER with limitations: say, 20-pts with the Accessibilty, "Only in Low Mana or stronger zones", 20-pts with "Only in Normal Mana or stronger zones, 20-pts with "Only in High Mana or stronger zones, and 20-pts with "Only in Very High Mana zones". Adjust ER amounts based on any ratios you find appropriate.

2) Magery with an Accessibility limitation, "Can only use ER". I think there's an official limitation for this, but don't recall what/where it is.

3) Affliction (Advantage, Mana Damper) which Linked to the ER. Give it a limitation that triggers it automatically only when so many pts are pulled from the surrounding environment. Maybe with Alternate Attacks based on similar Accessibilities as the ER, above. (One trigggers when 20-pts are pulled from a Very High Mana zone, one triggers when 20-pts are pulled from a High Mana zone, etc.). EDIT: And the Affliction puts the Mana Damper on the surround area *only*. That's worth a limitation as well, I believe...

Last edited by Jerander; 12-14-2015 at 11:08 AM.
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