RPM Rituals: Official, Semi-, Quasi- and Un-official

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

In those conditions, yes. I might even allow up to three if the GM is the one who decides when it's used and the spell gives exact parameters for its use.

Excellent!

Edward Alvin Smith and his non-Adept, energy-efficient artifice-limited magical approach thanks you.

Without Ritual Adept, in a world of Very Low Mana (-10) to Low Mana (-5), with a maximum of three levels of Magery, characters feel every point of energy they have to gather.

And firing bullet Charms at maximum RoF, while no doubt impressive, quickly became much less attractive once the players realized that each and every Charm would take 30 minutes + the time to gather energy (which is probably 30 to 60 minutes for rituals within the capabilities of PCs) to replace.

Especially when the PCs realize that Ghostkiller Bullets don't inflict any extra damage on other incorporeal spirits than ghosts and Rend the Void (Outsider Bane) bullets don't seem to affect malevolent spirits that come from unpleasant unearthly worlds that are still within a theoretical cosmology of a unified universe. Charms designed to destroy specific types of supernaturals may receive a cost reduction and certainly are Lesser effects when more generic bonus damage that works against normal, physical beings would be Greater, but that comes at a cost when shooting at unknown foes.

[Icelander]

Has anyone written up the Chaperone spell from GURPS Thaumatology in RPM form?

It's similar, but not identical to Bless, from Pyramid #3/56. It should probably come out as somewhat more expensive than Bless, but not dramatically more expensive.

[Icelander]

Edward Alvin Smith (PC) learned alchemy- and artifice-based ritual magic in the strange Land of the Nommo, another world which he accidentally visited when lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Smith was lost for 23 years, but does not believe that more than a couple of years passed for him, though his memories of the time among the Nommo are in many ways hazy and unreliable, the result, his friends believe, of coping mechanisms that preserve his sanity.

The ultraterrestial sojourn has wrought many changes on Smith, not the least of which is that he is able to consume food and medicine meant for Nommo, but drugs and elixirs designed for humans no longer work reliably on him. Of course, his barely-noticeable gills that become visible in areas of high magic might have something to do with this.

In any event, Smith knows how to make a Nommo elixir of Minor Healing, which works well on himself. On other humans, however, there may be minor side effects, which Smith has been led to believe will not be regarded as acceptable. No matter how harmless he says that a craving for fish and invigorating baths in sea water are, it seems that other people are unwilling to roll the dice on becoming de facto Deep One hybrids, complete with unblinking fishy stare and a general air of Innsmouth.

Being an accommodating sort of eldritch abomination, Smith took this for constructive criticism and set out to obtain a more palatable formula for medical elixirs. Before the start of play, he'd been successful in obtaining a Grimoire collection for the purpose, written in medieval Arabic (a Moroccan dialect with some Berber influence), a language he understood from his studies of African archaeology.*

The Grimoire is Al-Risalah al-Mawt ('The Treatise of Death'), writtten by an otherwise unknown Moroccan physician and scholar who signed it Zahid al-Talib, which may or may not be his actual name, given that it translates to something like 'Altruistic (or Self-Abnegating) Seeker of Truth'. The work is not dated, but as best Smith and his allies can tell, it was written in the mid-9th century and from cryptic notes and hints in the work, Zahid al-Talib was probably born under the Idrisid dynasty, and seems to have traveled to the regional trade hub of Sijilmassa, where he embarked upon a career in trans-Saharan trading.

I want the grimoire collection to contain useful healing magic, but also the fruit of Zahid's secretive and illegal investigations into the nature of death, the limits of the body and the boundaries between life and death. For Science, obviously.

The rituals I've determined are in there are:

Cleanse Disease
Cure Disease
Death Touch
Diagnose
Hunger
Immobilization (Pyramid #3/43)
Minor Healing
Palliative (Pyramid #3/56)
Panacea
Restful Rest (Pyramid #3/56)
Succor (GURPS Thaumatology)

I'd like to add a couple of truly disturbing 'medical' rituals and/or alchemical formulas. Any suggestions?

*Before he disappeared, Smith was a keen amateur archaeologist of ancient African cultures, having some interesting beliefs about Ancient Astronauts, pre-historic inhuman civilizations, the influence of ultraterrestial languages on African languages of widely divergent geographic range and similar not-at-all Delusions.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I'd like to add a couple of truly disturbing 'medical' rituals and/or alchemical formulas. Any suggestions?

"Hand of Gory" has a descriptive name in Arabic, but English-speakers invariably use this one. It allows you to animate a freshly severed human hand, diverting nerve impulses from your own hand to the animated one.

"Necromancer's Eye" does the same thing with a freshly extracted human eye, which is very useful when carried by a hand.

"Clean removal" allows you to remove a human body part quickly and painlessly, closing the wound, so that there won't be in infection unless it's subsequently interfered with, and preventing shock.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

"Hand of Gory" has a descriptive name in Arabic, but English-speakers invariably use this one. It allows you to animate a freshly severed human hand, diverting nerve impulses from your own hand to the animated one.

Creepy, but what does it do? As in, what game effects does it have?

If the hand can move fast and fight, this definitely becomes a Greater effect, which means that it's extremely energy-inefficient. Of course, that might be because Zahid al-Talib never managed to develop a very useful ritual from this tangent of his researches, which is plausible enough.

Originally Posted by johndallman

"Necromancer's Eye" does the same thing with a freshly extracted human eye, which is very useful when carried by a hand.

Ah!

Now this is both creepy and actually useful, providing a low-tech 'video bug' that can be hidden to spy on foes. Obviously, a version of it that works on the ear might also be developed.

Originally Posted by johndallman

"Clean removal" allows you to remove a human body part quickly and painlessly, closing the wound, so that there won't be in infection unless it's subsequently interfered with, and preventing shock.

An excellent and admirable medical procedure, especially at TL3, when it was written. Should it perhaps come in Ointment form, which is rubbed on the limb which is to be removed, and activated by cutting with a knife?

The less magic looks like it violates natural laws (or perhaps the relevant benchmark is rather the expectations of the majority of people), the easier it is to perform, in setting. So, subtle and mystical ritual effects are efficient, blatant and obvious ones are extremely expensive for what they do.

Also, Ointments can't really be used in combat, unless perhaps you've pinned your foe, which makes the ritual less prone to abuse as a weapon. Well, there's the old 'make a Charm from a knife, activated by using it for cutting' trick, but I figure this has to be statted so that while it does extra damage, it really requires a limb braced properly in order to automatically remove it.

I'll ponder how to write it up, unless somebody wants to take a stab (slash?) at it?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Creepy, but what does it do? As in, what game effects does it have?

It can move itself, walking on its fingers, carry small things, and do anything else you can manage with one hand without using the mass or strength of your arm. So its fighting ability is negligible, but it's excellent for small thefts, poisoning, and bugging.

Now this is both creepy and actually useful, providing a low-tech 'video bug' that can be hidden to spy on foes. Obviously, a version of it that works on the ear might also be developed.

Indeed.

An excellent and admirable medical procedure, especially at TL3, when it was written. Should it perhaps come in Ointment form, which is rubbed on the limb which is to be removed, and activated by cutting with a knife?

That makes a lot of sense. Note that it can be used on an eye, ear, nose, and so on.

I'll ponder how to write it up, unless somebody wants to take a stab (slash?) at it?

My knowledge of RPM is slight.

[starslayer]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I'd like to add a couple of truly disturbing 'medical' rituals and/or alchemical formulas. Any suggestions?

Sever the root - Gives an alternate form called 'rootless' which has unhealing(total) and draining (life force).

A stronger version gives dependency(life force)

the body has been cut off from the root of its own life force, and as a result no longer heals and will begin to waste away. Under medical analysis the subject is no longer doing any restorative processes, no new blood cells are being produced, all cells no longer divide- the body runs entirely on 'reserves' with no replacements.

Obviously extremely painful, and deadly with a long duration; it seems to have been a 'development spell' that led to the following:

Root Tap - allows the temporary enchantment of a vampiric weapon as per imbuments (Notably a vampiric weapon so long as you have say a cow around it MUCH cheaper than a healing spell for equivalent healing). Normally cast upon blood transfusion equipment, if cast upon transfusion equipment it gets a -50% style bonus on the casting (IE it only costs half as much energy). If cast upon a regular weapon it warps the weapon to have a spike in the handle which must be gripped tight enough to penetrate the palm and has a blood groove that feeds into the palm spike.

Uncap Root - afflicts an alternate form containing: Instant regeneration, regrowth, lecherousness with 6 resistance, compulsive carousing with 6 resistance, gluttony with 6 resistance, increased consumption 2, OPH extreme sweating, Low pain threshold (any other 'excess' disadvantages you feel are appropriate). Ultimately this turns into a very inexpensive way to bring a person from the brink of death back to full health, but those side effects.... (Scientific analysis of an individual so afflicted will reveal all of their cells to be in an impossibly excited state, going through divisions at a blurring rate and restoring more completely then thought otherwise possible). Normally prepared as a powerful tincture or pill

Sustain Root - Afflicts unkillable 1 on the target (potentially via alternative form with side effects as per uncap root if you want to make it less expensive to cast). Even when suffering what seems to be lethal damage the subject's 'life force' never really stops acting on the body, and will start to restore them so long as they have not been completely destroyed. Normally prepared via tincture or pill, often based on a radioactive element (uranium, radium, etc)

[starslayer]

For clean removal: Have it afflict the appropriate lost limb disadvantage with time spanning- this potentially means that should a particularly gifted surgeon (or one with healing magic) be able to repair the limb and reattach it before the spell's duration is up it will resume function.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by starslayer

For clean removal: Have it afflict the appropriate lost limb disadvantage with time spanning- this potentially means that should a particularly gifted surgeon (or one with healing magic) be able to repair the limb and reattach it before the spell's duration is up it will resume function.

Is that legal?

Afflicting Disadvantages with RPM is not meant to Afflict permanent ones, is it, especially not if the Duration/Time-spanning modifier is only for a period which the target has until the effect becomes permanent. At least, I don't think it's legal to use Altered Trait, One Leg with a duration of 10 minutes to represent cutting off a leg that can only be reattached within ten minutes, but is otherwise permanently lost.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

It can move itself, walking on its fingers, carry small things, and do anything else you can manage with one hand without using the mass or strength of your arm. So its fighting ability is negligible, but it's excellent for small thefts, poisoning, and bugging.

So, somewhat less energetic than the disembodied Hand in 'Independent Body Parts' in GURPS Horror p. 15?

Maybe, instead of having Move equal to DX/2, it can have Move equal to (caster's DX + target DX) / 5. And ST figured the same way, but divided by 3, as the HP for an extremity.