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Old 05-03-2015, 08:51 PM   #30
Grouchy Chris
 
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: The City of Subdued Excitement
Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

Quote:
Originally Posted by jeff_wilson View Post
The addition of the Link spell effectively removes the requirement to keep wearing or carrying:

"Postpones the activation of one or
more linked spells cast in its area of
effect, until a certain thing happens in
the Link’s presence."

As I said before, the trap-layer can act as the user and initiate the first zap, which the effect of the Link holds until later and parcels it out under its description. The example under Link shows it time-shifting the Continual Light effect past when it would otherwise end, so it ought to time-shift a Create Fire effect past when it would otherwise end.
I think that's a rather strained interpretation of the rules. The rules for Link do not allow indefinite maintenance at zero cost for the linked spell when cast directly by a mage ("Linked spells may not benefit from cost reductions for high skill," p. 131). I think it's pretty clear this was done to prevent such things as permanent Fire Cloud spells, and I think this roundabout method of getting a permanent Fire Cloud by casting it with an item violates the intention of the rules.

I think it's iffy whether you can use "always on" items to cast area spells with zero cost that last indefinitely (especially since whether the item is "always on" will depend on the radius of the area the spell is cast on), and I think it's iffy to say the Link spell discriminates between spells cast directly by a mage and spells cast with an item. Moreover, the rules for Link seem to be designed to prevent you from making a permanent Fire Cloud. So given all that, I would have to see an official ruling on this before I could accept that such a thing is allowed.

But you have made clear, at least, that the question of what the rules allow along these lines is more complicated than I realized. These kinds of complications are part of the reason I'd like to know if there are any published rules extending the magic system on trap-building before I'd want to make my own rules.
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