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Old 08-24-2013, 11:08 PM   #1
oneofmanynameless
 
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Default Professional Magician Skillset

So I'm trying to make a character that is a professional Magician and I'm wondering what skills I should give him.

Obviously he needs Slight of Hands, Performance, and probably Pick Pocket, maybe smuggling, holdout, filch, and maybe even ventriloquism. But otherwise does all of stage magic just get summed up with Hobby Skill (Stage Magic) (or is it a professional skill or an expert skill)? What about creating new tricks? Thoughts?
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Old 08-24-2013, 11:19 PM   #2
Christopher R. Rice
 
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Default Re: Professional Magician Skillset

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Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless View Post
So I'm trying to make a character that is a professional Magician and I'm wondering what skills I should give him.

Obviously he needs Slight of Hands, Performance, and probably Pick Pocket, maybe smuggling, holdout, filch, and maybe even ventriloquism. But otherwise does all of stage magic just get summed up with Hobby Skill (Stage Magic) (or is it a professional skill or an expert skill)? What about creating new tricks? Thoughts?
I defined it as a Professional Skill (Stage Magician). You should look at Supers p. 53 for stage magician skills. There's a template and everything.
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Old 08-24-2013, 11:51 PM   #3
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Default Re: Professional Magician Skillset

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Originally Posted by Ghostdancer View Post
I defined it as a Professional Skill (Stage Magician). You should look at Supers p. 53 for stage magician skills. There's a template and everything.
Well that solves almost all of my problems. Now I just have to learn how to actually play a character that is a master of misdirection.
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Old 08-25-2013, 12:32 AM   #4
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Default Re: Professional Magician Skillset

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Well that solves almost all of my problems. Now I just have to learn how to actually play a character that is a master of misdirection.
Watch a crap ton of stage magic/con man movies. The Prestige, Now You See Me, The Illusionist, Ocean's Eleven (and successive films), and The Sting for starters.

You might also want to check out the TV series: Lie To Me, Psych, and The Mentalist.

Watch what the characters do. Mimic them. :-)
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Old 08-25-2013, 12:38 AM   #5
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Default Re: Professional Magician Skillset

For modern magician I'd stronly suggest recent "Now you see me" movie. It clearly depicts three stages of magician skill (maybe first one not so clearly, but anyway):
- Hobby Skill (<Type> magic) - basically, one-trick show, usually juggling or some kind of tricked equipment, but easy trick, like fire "magic";
- Professional Skill (Magician) - general skill of magician, his SOP;
- Expert Skill (Stage Magic) - knowledge of stage art and its history, famous magicians and their tricks.
Spoiler:  

I'd use that Expert Skill for invention as well, using rules for invention if you're going to create something really new, not to adapt or modify old trick. Actual implementation mught require a lot of other "crafting" skills: Electrician, Mechanic, Engineering and other, especially for modern tricks.
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Old 08-25-2013, 12:47 AM   #6
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Default Re: Professional Magician Skillset

Oh yeah, Hidden Lore (Tricks) from GURPS Psis

Quote:
Originally Posted by GURPS Psis p. 8
Tricks: You know the tricks, props, and routines used to
fool audiences and marks, whether done by stage magicians
or street hustlers. This doesn’t allow you to perform these
routines! Roll to recognize any magic trick for what it is; this
isn’t a Quick Contest.
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Old 08-25-2013, 12:50 AM   #7
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Default Re: Professional Magician Skillset

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I'd use that Expert Skill for invention as well, using rules for invention if you're going to create something really new, not to adapt or modify old trick. Actual implementation mught require a lot of other "crafting" skills: Electrician, Mechanic, Engineering and other, especially for modern tricks.
Hmmm, I used Engineer (Ingenieur) to build stuff. Worked quite well.
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Old 08-25-2013, 12:58 AM   #8
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Default Re: Professional Magician Skillset

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Oh yeah, Hidden Lore (Tricks) from GURPS Psis
I'd say that Hidden Lore is only applicable before TL 8. Now with a little Research one can find secrets of most of the tricks. So it isn't more a Hidden Lore but just an Expert Skill.
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Old 08-25-2013, 01:02 AM   #9
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I'd say that Hidden Lore is only applicable before TL 8. Now with a little Research one can find secrets of most of the tricks. So it isn't more a Hidden Lore but just an Expert Skill.
Most of the popular or debunked tricks, absolutely. Stuff that hasn't been debunked or are "custom" wouldn't be. With Hidden Lore you could guess what's going on even if you hadn't seen it done before. That's why it's Hidden Lore.
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Old 08-25-2013, 01:17 AM   #10
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Default Re: Professional Magician Skillset

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I'd say that Hidden Lore is only applicable before TL 8. Now with a little Research one can find secrets of most of the tricks. So it isn't more a Hidden Lore but just an Expert Skill.
Hidden Lore is IQ/A. Expert Skill is IQ/H. Are you saying that ease of research has actually made assessing magician's tricks harder?

:-P
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