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Old 04-27-2018, 01:27 AM   #1
Goldgardian
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Default TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

So, me and some buddies are going to be playing a space opera game where "ArcanaTech" is what enables FTL travel and stuff, it's mostly just fluff, other than making energy generators, starship engines, and Stardrives register as magic.
We're using various source materials, Namely Ultratech, Starships, Magic, Thaumaturgy: Magic traditions, and some stuff from Transhumanisim.

I'm gonna be playing the role of ship's doctor and mage, using my high IQ to be good at magic as well as surgery and other doctoring skills. A spell combination I thought up that could potentially work wonders is Draw Power + maintain Spell. I wanted to know if I cast it on the ship's main reactor...

A. How much juice can I draw from something that's (For all intents and purposes a TL 10 starship fusion reactor)

B. If I were to cast maintain spell on Draw power, could I run around using the ship's power to cast my spells?

C. would I have to stay close to the reactor for the duration to get the benefits, or could I run down to the planet and do whatever?

D. If I have to stay close to the reactor, could I throw a second maintain spell on Telecast using power from the ship, and move it around? potentially having the away team take the little scrying orb with them when they head out and channel my spells through the orb?
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Old 04-27-2018, 09:03 AM   #2
Fred Brackin
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

A. You can draw as much power as s allowed by the spell description. You need to know your reactor's rating in MW. I know this is a problem if you're trying to use Spaceships .

B. No. Draw Power must be targeted to a specific spell.

C+D. See B for a general answer but after you cast a spell you can move around and Maintain it (unless perhaps it's one of those that requires Concentration).
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Old 04-27-2018, 08:21 PM   #3
Kelly Pedersen
 
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Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

Fred's answers are all correct. Note, however, that you'll probably not want to tap the reactor directly, for safety reasons - any decent-sized spaceship at TL 10 will almost certainly have far more power than you can safely channel. The average mage who can cast Draw Power (HT 10, Magery 2) can draw 10 megawatts safely, but any spaceship of TL 9 or higher is probably producing 10 times that much, meaning trying to tap it straight is basically a quick trip to heart attack town.

Fortunately, you can cast Draw Power on other sources. While it can be argued whether or not you can cast it directly on a power cable, a power outlet is generally agreed, I think, to be a valid target. And an outlet can have a much smaller, and thus, more manageable fraction of the reactor's power available. In fact, in a setting like you're describing, where mages with Draw Power are a common thing, I'd expect special "mage outlets" to be wired into the ship, each conveniently set to conduct 10 MW by default, but capable of being upped to some larger number if a mage is capable of handling the higher amount, or just needs to risk it. 40 MW sounds about right for the maximum, the largest amount an HT 10, Magery 4 wizard can channel safely.
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Old 04-27-2018, 09:36 PM   #4
malloyd
 
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Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

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Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
I'd expect special "mage outlets" to be wired into the ship, each conveniently set to conduct 10 MW by default, but capable of being upped to some larger number if a mage is capable of handling the higher amount, or just needs to risk it. 40 MW sounds about right for the maximum, the largest amount an HT 10, Magery 4 wizard can channel safely.
Note that an "outlet" that will carry 40 MW is *huge*, the connecting wires on it need to be almost a foot across - or bigger if you want to make them out of superconductors.
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Old 04-28-2018, 12:03 AM   #5
jeff_wilson
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Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

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Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
Fred's answers are all correct. Note, however, that you'll probably not want to tap the reactor directly, for safety reasons - any decent-sized spaceship at TL 10 will almost certainly have far more power than you can safely channel.
I don't recall the maximum power available being a concern. The current spell description and FAQ don't mention a requirement to draw all available power, and the implicitly grandfathered 3rev FAQ leaves it up to the caster's choice.
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Old 04-28-2018, 07:56 AM   #6
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

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he connecting wires on it need to be almost a foot across
That's why we switched to EPS conduits. Much cheaper than all that solid copper, too.
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Old 04-28-2018, 09:04 AM   #7
Kelly Pedersen
 
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Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

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Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
Note that an "outlet" that will carry 40 MW is *huge*, the connecting wires on it need to be almost a foot across - or bigger if you want to make them out of superconductors.
This is true (well, at least I assume it is - I lack any electrical engineering knowledge). Personally, I'd probably handwave this with some superscience or something, and assume that a TL 10 magi-tech culture can build somewhat more space efficient multi-megawatt cables.
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Old 04-29-2018, 08:36 AM   #8
malloyd
 
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Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

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That's why we switched to EPS conduits. Much cheaper than all that solid copper, too.
I thought that was a compatibility issue.
The cables couldn't power the Technobabble Problem-solver because nobody could figure out how the reverse the polarity of the electrons.
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Old 04-30-2018, 04:57 AM   #9
Culture20
 
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Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

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Originally Posted by jeff_wilson View Post
I don't recall the maximum power available being a concern. The current spell description and FAQ don't mention a requirement to draw all available power, and the implicitly grandfathered 3rev FAQ leaves it up to the caster's choice.
It’s hidden in the first four words of the spell description: “Identical to Conduct Power...” (which does have the restriction)
Of course it’s based on magery squared, so if you don’t have a magery level cap and power is more important, boosting magery over IQ would be useful for Draw Power. A common TL10^ magery-12 doctor response about a dead crew: “well, take us to the antimatter reactor prototype on Fentox VI and I’ll have them all back to full health in ten minutes. Five if you need me to ignore the mandated coffee break.”

Last edited by Culture20; 04-30-2018 at 05:14 AM.
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Old 04-30-2018, 05:48 AM   #10
a humble lich
 
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Default Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast

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Originally Posted by Culture20 View Post
It’s hidden in the first four words of the spell description: “Identical to Conduct Power...” (which does have the restriction)
Of course it’s based on magery squared, so if you don’t have a magery level cap and power is more important, boosting magery over IQ would be useful for Draw Power. A common TL10^ magery-12 doctor response about a dead crew: “well, take us to the antimatter reactor prototype on Fentox VI and I’ll have them all back to full health in ten minutes. Five if you need me to ignore the mandated coffee break.”
I read this very differently. Looking at Conduct Power I don't see anywhere it says that the mage must conduct as much power is available. The closest I see is "The maximum power a mage may safely serve as a conduit for is..." Which is ambiguous. It never says that the mage can choose to conduct less power than is available, but I don't see it saying that the mage must draw all available power either.
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