[RPM] Ritual Path Magic: doing the WEIRD stuff

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Greater Destroy Matter or Lesser Control Spirit to Bestow a Bonus, Malfunction number -5 (32). Since most objects don't have a malfunction number, you'd start at 19 (no malfunction possible) and then penalize the roll. In this case, -5, so the device goes AWOL on a 14 or higher on the operation roll.

Why a Greater Destroy Matter? I was going with the thought that "if it can happen without magic, then it's a lesser effect," and I've known people that break everything mechanical or electronic they touch. And they aren't even wizards or in Chicago. I do like the lowering of the Malf. rating, though. I'm totally stealing that.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Humabout

Why a Greater Destroy Matter? I was going with the thought that "if it can happen without magic, then it's a lesser effect," and I've known people that break everything mechanical or electronic they touch. And they aren't even wizards or in Chicago. I do like the lowering of the Malf. rating, though. I'm totally stealing that.

Yeah, it's Lesser, damn post also ate my Lesser Control Chance effect. See above. I was trying to respond to multiple threads at once. While I can read and type simultaneously on two different computers - doing that while also catching up on Haven is hard. ;-) I edited it while you were responding.

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Yeah, it's Lesser, damn post also ate my Lesser Control Chance effect. See above. I was trying to respond to multiple threads at once. While I can read and type simultaneously on two different computers - doing that while also catching up on Haven is hard. ;-) I edited it while you were responding.

Cool, I thought I was missing something. :)

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Humabout

Cool, I thought I was missing something. :)

Negative. :-)

[ajardoor]

I like how RPM rituals tend to have cooler names than the standard magic spells (although the bland names for Magic serve a purpose - the standard system means a long spell list while a RPM-er just has a few solid and regular rituals fully written up in advance).

Like, "Prolong the Suffering" instead of "Minor Healing".

"Crush the Mind" or "Unnerve Adversary" instead of "Fear".

"Awaken the Great Turtle" instead of "Earthquake".

"Dance of Karma" instead of "Bless".

"Dance of the Spheres" instead of "Planar Summon".

"Remold the One" instead of "Shapeshifting".

[Diomedes]

Originally Posted by ajardoor

I like how RPM rituals tend to have cooler names than the standard magic spells (although the bland names for Magic serve a purpose - the standard system means a long spell list while a RPM-er just has a few solid and regular rituals fully written up in advance).

Well, the GURPS: Magic spells are renamed easily enough, but since the book is meant to be a setting-neutral reference, it makes sense to make the names precise and descriptive rather than evocative.

[Prince Charon]

Glad this thread appeared, it might help me model an Epic Curse cast in my Five Earths thread (link in the .sig), though I'm not sure the casters were using RPM - if standard RPM doesn't allow Slow and Sure Ceremonial magic, they'd have to be using a variant, or an Effect Shaping system (which would be irrelevant to this thread, of course).

To briefly clarify terms, Dp-Earth is Dieselpunk Earth, a TL(6+1)^ Weird War II worldline in the year 1941, and Inp-Earth is Infopunk Earth - a modern, TL8 Earth in the year 2013, with a variety of magic-users and other empowered characters (which allows a fair bit of technurgy, pushing the more advanced nations to TL8^, TL(8+1)^, or TL9^).

June 27: The Scandinavian Federation astronef Gustavus Adolphus (see March 25, above) arrives at Dp-Earth. After two orbits, it enters the atmosphere, landing in Canada. Also on Dp-Earth, the Thule Society begins a ritual that will take months to complete, becoming active on October 31st, on Inp-Earth; the fact that the casters are on one worldline, and the effects will be on another, greatly reduces the ability of anyone who might object to predict and interfere with the curse.

Sept. 25: Scientists on Inp-Earth develop what many call 'hard light', though this description is not strictly accurate. The widespread belief among precogs on Inp-Earth that something big involving the undead will occur on Hallowe'en causes the chromatic Lantern NGOs to increase the number of anti-Black Lantern drills they perform in training. An increasing number of spellcasting groups begin long-term rituals to counter, directly or indirectly, what they think might happen. A number of US Navy psykers predict that the Iowas will be of some importance on Hallowe'en, but not due to their guns.

October 31: The Thule Society's Hallowe'en Curse does not go exactly as planned. The intention was to raise as zombies the dead on Inp-Earth who died loyal to Hitler and/or the Third Reich, with as much of their equipment as was available, to strike at the Inp-Earth Allies in a manner they could not be prepared for. This is rather hard to accomplish, especially as it involves trying to raise not only men, but tanks, planes, and ships. As a result of this, combined with the number of rituals directed against it, relatively few zombies rise, though many ghosts do. Likewise, many of the ghosts who manifest are enemies of the Third Reich, whether being enemy combatants, or Wehrmacht personnel who hated the Nazis. Few of the ghosts are able to deal damage directly to solid matter (as seen, for example, when the ghost of a U-boat fires two torpedoes at the USS Constitution, a wooden sailing frigate operated by the US Navy as a museum ship, doing no damage whatsoever), but they are quite capable of causing hallucinations, Terror effects, and other traumatic disruptions. They are also capable of 'damaging' each other, as seen when the ghost of the Bismark is rammed and sunk by the ghost of the HMS Hood, or when the shades of many sailors, seemingly commanded by a ghostly lady in 18th Century dress, fire a broadside at the U-boat, discorporating it. Similar situations prevail on land and in the skies, as Rommel and Patton are seen on Germany, leading a force of ghost-tanks together, against the undead Waffen-SS, and the Battle of Britain is fought again. Interestingly, the areas surrounding the former Death Camps are relatively safe, as any Nazi ghosts rising nearby, or daring to approach, are immediately torn to shreds by the vengeful spirits of their victims. The living are not all helpless, themselves, as anyone either properly empowered, or merely strong-willed, can harm the spirits that approach them - indeed, many ghost-planes are shot down by properly empowered missiles, or rammed by jets, and several ghost-ships are rammed and sunk by the Iowas that are in the Atlantic, in accordance with the prophesy, while the 'living' battleships take no damage beyond blown circuit breakers and disturbed crews. Before the night is over, thousands of Lanterns and other empowered folk arrive in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa by suborbital aerospace craft, and while anti-Black Lantern tactics don't work as well on other undead, the training did prepare them for the general horror that spirits can inflict, turning the battle from a stalemate to a rout. The vast majority of the ghosts on both sides are gone by sunrise.


Mostly, I'm wondering if the Hallowe'en Curse is possible as an RPM ritual, whether the indirect countering spells (though that took advantage of the curse, itself to call up the spirits of the Nazis enemies to fight) are possible in RPM, and just how much energy such spells would require.

[Christopher R. Rice]

That's pretty much just a large-area Greater Create Undead effect. So yeah, possible. If you could bullet point exactly what it does I might be able to help you write it up better.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

That's pretty much just a large-area Greater Create Undead effect. So yeah, possible. If you could bullet point exactly what it does I might be able to help you write it up better.

Work across the 26 light-second gap between the two Earths (and a dimensional barrier, but it's permissive enough for this purpose not to matter) - if the casters and the effect were on the same planet, they'd have been noticed much sooner, their locations pinpointed, and the spell disrupted, either directly, or through assassination and/or carpet-bombing.

Cause all the dead on Inp-Earth who died loyal to Hitler, the Nazi Party, and/or the Third Reich, along with the ships and other vehicles and equipment associated with those dead, to rise as either zombies or ghosts of a type capable of being observed and inflicting some form of harm on living people on Inp-Earth.

Allow the ghosts to dissipate with the sunrise, unless they wish to remain, and are powerful enough to maintain themselves.


The indirect counterspells take advantage of the Concept (or however you want to phrase it) of the main Curse to call forth spirits who would oppose the spirits called forth by the Curse, for whatever reason, and tend to affect smaller areas, usually near the casters.

The more direct counterspells failed to prevent the spell, but greatly reduced the number of zombies who would otherwise have risen, and maybe some of the ghosts.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Work across the 26 light-second gap between the two Earths (and a dimensional barrier, but it's permissive enough for this purpose not to matter) - if the casters and the effect were on the same planet, they'd have been noticed much sooner, their locations pinpointed, and the spell disrupted, either directly, or through assassination and/or carpet-bombing.

Cause all the dead on Inp-Earth who died loyal to Hitler, the Nazi Party, and/or the Third Reich, along with the ships and other vehicles and equipment associated with those dead, to rise as either zombies or ghosts of a type capable of being observed and inflicting some form of harm on living people on Inp-Earth.

Allow the ghosts to dissipate with the sunrise, unless they wish to remain, and are powerful enough to maintain themselves.


The indirect counterspells take advantage of the Concept (or however you want to phrase it) of the main Curse to call forth spirits who would oppose the spirits called forth by the Curse, for whatever reason, and tend to affect smaller areas, usually near the casters.

The more direct counterspells failed to prevent the spell, but greatly reduced the number of zombies who would otherwise have risen, and maybe some of the ghosts.

Okay! This I can work with...hmmm lemme see.

The first part is going to be a large Range with Extradimensional. The second part is a huge area effect. The only Nazis part is flavor, but important one, I might reduce the final energy cost by -5%. Dissipation = Duration. Remaining because of their own personal power is a flavor thing and would be resolved by the GM.

The counterspells would just be that. Spells that nibbled at the larger spell. Normally, that's not allowed, but this is part plot device and part spell, so seems fine to me.

Interesting by the way!