3rd Edition magic questions

[Themoopanator]

In the 3rd edition magic system, where it explains the cost of a spell what does it mean by energy points ? And what does it mean when it gives you a list of items like metals and jewels and money ? I get that you might need that stuff for enchanting but I don't know why you would need items or money to cast a spell (it's usually A LOT of money too). I thought it would just be based around a cost of ST from your character/ their power stone.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer this question!

[simply Nathan]

Originally Posted by Themoopanator

In the 3rd edition magic system, where it explains the cost of a spell what does it mean by energy points ?

Yes, that's the energy needed to cast the spell, right next to the duration and time to cast. That's the part of the spell labeled "Cost", which is the base energy before your discount for high skill; it can come off your FP, Powerstone, and in a pinch your HP.

Originally Posted by Themoopanator

And what does it mean when it gives you a list of items like metals and jewels and money ?

The much bigger energy cost, almost always in hundreds or thousands, as well as the special materials, are the cost of enchanting the spell, not for standard casting.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Themoopanator

In the 3rd edition magic system, where it explains the cost of a spell what does it mean by energy points?

For 3e, this is fatigue points, marked off your ST, or hit points, marked off your HT. See Casting Spells, on p146 of the 3E Basic Set.

And what does it mean when it gives you a list of items like metals and jewels and money?

I'm not completely clear what you're talking about here. If you mean lines like:

Originally Posted by Beast-Soother, p155

Item: Staff, wand or jewelry. Energy cost to create: 600.

That's saying that an enchanted item of this spell can take the form of a staff, a wand or a piece of jewellery, and that enchanting it costs 600 energy points. Since that's way more than anyone has on tap at once, you need to use Slow and Sure Enchantment, explained on p153.

[Themoopanator]

Hang on a second then, so why does it have 'cost' and 'energy points' ?

Usually cost will be like 2/3 or something + maintaining cost (I thought this was what you took off of ST/HT/Powerstones.

Then, it also has energy points or whatever which is in the 100s. This never made sense to me because my characters have a base of like 10ST and their power stones would have to be HUGE to deal with this.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Themoopanator

.

Then, it also has energy points or whatever which is in the 100s. This never made sense to me because my characters have a base of like 10ST and their power stones would have to be HUGE to deal with this.

This is in the "Item" section and that means "magic item i.e. a ring or something that casts the spell for you or on you. It is completely separate from casting the spell yourself and does not apply to such a thing.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Themoopanator

Then, it also has energy points or whatever which is in the 100s. This never made sense to me because my characters have a base of like 10ST and their power stones would have to be HUGE to deal with this.

That's for enchanting an item with the spell.

[Themoopanator]

So the energy level (in the 100s one) is the energy level required of the item used to cast it. So if it requires 200 and the item they have is only 100, they can't cast the spell ?

[johndallman]

Just to be clear, "enchanting" a spell in GURPS means creating a permanent magic item that can do the spell. Magic item building is part of the basic GURPS magic system, rather than a set of add-on rules.

[simply Nathan]

Originally Posted by Themoopanator

So the energy level (in the 100s one) is the energy level required of the item used to cast it. So if it requires 200 and the item they have is only 100, they can't cast the spell ?

The cost to cast a spell will usually be 20 or less, the costs in the hundreds are what you need to enchant an item that casts the spell for you.

[Warlockco]

Once you get access to Technology Spells and have access to a power grid, you can do all types of broken stuff with magic if you have enough skill.