10-03-2014, 11:07 AM | #1 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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GURPS Magic: Death Spells
GURPS Magic hasn't had a new supplement in such a long time that people probably thought it was dead. Not quite . . . but death was in the equation. Specifically, GURPS Magic: Death Spells, a compendium of killer curses for murderous mages.Fireballs are dandy Sometimes, you just want to do damage, to beat down the enemy and take him for ransom or teach him a lesson he won't forget. Occasionally, the less-lethal touch isn't for your victim's benefit but for your own – you'd rather avoid desecrating the temple or facing a murder charge. GURPS Magic provides a wealth of spells that serve such purposes: fireballs and lightning bolts, magic that induces sleep or paralysis or sickness, and dozens of other possibilities that offer the option of victory without death. And sometimes, you want your target dead, dead, dead. Then GURPS Magic is more limited. Fortunately, we're unearthed a new chapter of the grimoire which fills that need. GURPS Magic: Death Spells is an exploration of "one casting, one kill" wizardry. It examines what constitutes a death spell, offers several distinct game mechanics for such curses, and then provides 48 grim examples – two for each of the 24 standard colleges. Yes, that does include Food, Healing, and Protection and Warning. As is the custom of our people, these deadly one-shots come with a user's manual. Asides discuss special defenses against insta-kill curses, giving "death magic" its own college and mana aspect, getting clerics in on the act, interactions with the Resurrection spell, the forensics of magical murder, and even committing sorcerous suicide. On the meta level, there's also advice on keeping all this stuff balanced and introducing it into an ongoing campaign. Whether you're a grim-dark cultist with a mysterious "NPC" tattooed on your forehead, a holy hero who wants to make sure Evil goes down and stays down, or a munchkin mage in search of the ultimate weapon, it's time to crack open a new spellbook. — Store Link: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-0148
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
10-03-2014, 11:24 AM | #2 |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
Shut up and take my money...I swear it's not cursed!
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10-03-2014, 12:35 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Mannheim, Baden
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
A truly elegant little supplement. Some of the spells are really unique. The tips for balancing Kromm mentions is a mini-spell-design system for deadly spells. Not saying it couldn't be expanded into something much larger (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
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10-03-2014, 01:30 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Oldenburg, Germany
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
That's the part that I found the most interesting. I probably won't use the spells themselves - I dislike "Save or Die" effects.
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GURPS Repository • Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles - translating German folk tales into English! |
10-03-2014, 01:37 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Austin, TX
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
This is a great little supplement (but then, when did the Good Doktor ever write a bad one?). I already have plans for the Murder Blossom. Mwahahaha!
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Play Ogre? Want an interactive record sheet? Want a random dungeon? How about some tables for that? How about a random encounter? |
10-03-2014, 06:12 PM | #6 |
Fightin' Round the World
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New Jersey
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
I just got this today - I'm impressed. Very cool stuff. Much of it will work its way into my DF game - just the place for Save or Die!
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Peter V. Dell'Orto aka Toadkiller_Dog or TKD My Author Page My S&C Blog My Dungeon Fantasy Game Blog "You fall onto five death checks." - Andy Dokachev |
10-04-2014, 05:25 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
Occult games tend to be full of them too. The "And then I killed him" spells are a staple of Mage: the Ascension or Mage: the Awakening games, and I quite missed it in GURPS magic for my GURPS Cabal game. Even Path/Book magic has death spells (the Evil Eye and Doom), but Magic missed it. When I saw Death Spells in DF Magic Styles, I was already planning on stealing them and adding them to my collection of Appropriate Cabal Spells, then this book came out. Wonderful! I'm not sure I'd use all of them, but that's the point behind generic magic systems, I can pick and choose what I want, and this is a rich vein to mine!
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My Blog: Mailanka's Musing. Currently Playing: Psi-Wars, a step-by-step exploration of building your own Space Opera setting, inspired by Star Wars. |
10-04-2014, 10:17 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
Pretty cool book, not read it all yet.
I noticed an errata, the Yen sign was not converted into multiplication under Aggravated Injury on page 7
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My GURPS publications GURPS Powers: Totem and Nature Spirits; GURPS Template Toolkit 4: Spirits; Pyramid articles. Buying them lets us know you want more! My GURPS fan contribution and blog: REFPLace GURPS Landing Page My List of GURPS You Tube videos (plus a few other useful items) My GURPS Wiki entries |
10-05-2014, 07:30 AM | #9 |
Fightin' Round the World
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New Jersey
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
So most of these spells are Magery 3, and have a die limit on casting - like, Doomtouch being 1-8d.
Do higher levels of Magery affect these normally? Magery 6 allows Doomtouch 1-11d? I'd say yes, because if you have Magery 6 and death spells in your game, you clearly want bodies stacked up high and wide. But I just wanted to make sure of the authorial intent here.
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Peter V. Dell'Orto aka Toadkiller_Dog or TKD My Author Page My S&C Blog My Dungeon Fantasy Game Blog "You fall onto five death checks." - Andy Dokachev |
10-05-2014, 01:50 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Midwest, USA
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Re: GURPS Magic: Death Spells
My jaw dropped open when I saw this. Ordering now.
Look out, my Dungeon Fantasy PC's! ;-)
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. "How the heck am I supposed to justify that whatever I feel like doing at any particular moment is 'in character' if I can't say 'I'm chaotic evil!'"? —Jeff Freeman |
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death spells, magic |
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