GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by starslayer

or is it 30 minutes due to fixed duration?

30 minutes. I basically took No Smell (Sorc13) and replaced the afflicted Metatrait with Broom Flight.

Originally Posted by starslayer

I would potentially look into greater enhanced move.

Enhanced Move is +200% (thus [+20]) per level to the Affliction - you'd have to drop all of the Enhanced Dodge to squeeze a single extra level in.

Originally Posted by starslayer

However with that said- what is the default move of a broom, and would you need to buy that up- or are you afflicting a person, but only if they HAVE a broom (in which case the -40% broom's only does not apply, but some other limitation for 'only on a broom' will)?

You use the move of the person riding it. Or, rather, you double their Basic Speed and use this for Air Move (and, as I noted there, it's likely appropriate to let the character buy up Air Move if desired). It's probably not strictly RAW, but I don't see it as being any different really from a weapon using its wielder's skill and strength to deliver its followup.

Originally Posted by starslayer

I have one question about sorcery- what does the -15% Sorcery limitation actually constitute:
Is it:
Costs 1 FP
Magical (IE vulnerable to anti-magic and low manna zones?)

That's what it was back in the Pyramid article where it was introduced, and that's still an option. The revised system, however, allows you to replace "Costs 1 FP" with "Requires Two of - Gestures (must be free to move), Magical Words (must be free to speak; ruins stealth), and Costs 1 FP." I prefer the new setup - it allows for more interesting options.

[Carlos]

Finally I see a room for a Diablo-like Sorcerer in Dungeon Fantasy, blasting his way to the gold.

Great job, PK!

[zoncxs]

How would you handle conjured equipment? like Conjure Sword or Shield or such. at first I thought to make it like a buff spell but what limitation can we put on it to only effect the caster? I thought about snatcher too but that falls into the same problem, what limitation can you put on it to limit what you can "snatch"?

I want to be able to conjure a sword of pure [insert element here]. If I build it as an innate attack then I end up having to spend 1 FP per attack, is I do it as an affliction then I can give it to anyone.

[A Ladder]

Originally Posted by zoncxs

How would you handle conjured equipment? like Conjure Sword or Shield or such. at first I thought to make it like a buff spell but what limitation can we put on it to only effect the caster? I thought about snatcher too but that falls into the same problem, what limitation can you put on it to limit what you can "snatch"?

I want to be able to conjure a sword of pure [insert element here]. If I build it as an innate attack then I end up having to spend 1 FP per attack, is I do it as an affliction then I can give it to anyone.

You could create it as an Affliction that grans an Innate Attack with the melee Limitation and then have the Afflction have a Limitation that is "Can only be cast on self" -X%.

As for the limitation value of X...I dunno what that would be.

Using Healing as an example it's +50% to be able to use healing on your self and others. Since Afflictions default to being usable on your self and others I would suggest that "Can only be cast on self" to be worth -50%. However, I feel like that makes Flaming Swords really cheap points wise. YMMV.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by zoncxs

How would you handle conjured equipment?

There's something to be said for "spend 1 fp to grant a metatrait for 1m", where the metatrait is "has natural attack X". This basically trades a lower fatigue cost for being slower -- normally you pay your fatigue and attack instantly, in this case you instead pay a fatigue and take a ready action, and then next turn you can attack.

[Hannes665]

Hi. Was wandering how much limitation would it be on Sorcery Empowerment to have no access to hardcore improv? Regular improvisation is available but not hardcore.

[weby]

Originally Posted by Hannes665

Hi. Was wandering how much limitation would it be on Sorcery Empowerment to have no access to hardcore improv? Regular improvisation is available but not hardcore.

Technically none. The cost of the Sorcerous Empowerment is equal to the Modular Ability for the regular improvisation. So it is a campaign switch.

That said, if you have both types of sorcerers(those who can and those who cannot) in game there would obviously have to be a cost difference. Technically in such case the ones getting an additional advantage over the base cost of the modular ability should cost more and those who do not would pay base cost. But the pricing is of course up to the GM.

Though really if you were building the Sorcerous Empowerment with the modular abilities rules in powers you would pay 4 base+4/point and likely not double dip by taking -10% for magic, as the modular abilities the "subject to external interference" that the PM magic provides lowers the cost to 4 pt/level and the base list is worth 4 points for a long list in most settings. So you could see the about 15% of the cost as an UB to allow hardcore Improvisation.

Technically the ability to hardcore improvise a spell is worth a of points as it is basically an extremely hard to use modular ability as alternate power. Thus either as a alternate ability or the primary ability with the Sorcerous Empowerment as alternate power. As the limitations are maybe -30% to -60% of 4 base(long list)+3 points/point(subject to interference and costly) for the whole cost of the Sorcerous Empowerment. The modifiers being for things like the one use with reload and the penalty to the roll. So really if you see the Sorcerous Empowerment as being a 4+4/point and find high enough modifiers to bring the total cost close to -80% then this is almost in line with being the rest of the cost. But by first though it is closer to only about -50% and thus would be a primary ability with Sorcerous Empowerment as alternate.

But in the basic Sorcery the thing is hand waved away. Likely with a thought similar to "The requirement to take the fairly useless low point modular ability and the ability to hardcore improvise roughly cancel each other out as costs"

[PK]

Originally Posted by Hannes665

Hi. Was wandering how much limitation would it be on Sorcery Empowerment to have no access to hardcore improv? Regular improvisation is available but not hardcore.

I'd call that a -10% limitation, as it's removing something that's useful, but is also much more difficult and less likely to be done on a regular basis.

Originally Posted by weby

Technically none. The cost of the Sorcerous Empowerment is equal to the Modular Ability for the regular improvisation. So it is a campaign switch.

While this can be a campaign switch without changing the cost, that doesn't address the situation where most sorcerers can use HI while one of them can't.

Don't think of this as having to make a universal ruling about power features and their value -- just look at the specific situation of Sorcerous Empowerment losing one of its inherent abilities.

[PK]

Originally Posted by zoncxs

How would you handle conjured equipment? like Conjure Sword or Shield or such. at first I thought to make it like a buff spell but what limitation can we put on it to only effect the caster? I thought about snatcher too but that falls into the same problem, what limitation can you put on it to limit what you can "snatch"?

I would look to the Weapons of Pure Magic from Antoni's "Mystic Power-Ups" from Pyramid #3/60: Dungeon Fantasy III. For the weapons, my instinct would be to use Magical (-10%) and then a custom, nominal limitation (-1% or -2%) to require the expenditure of 1 FP for however many minutes it remains available.

[weby]

Originally Posted by PK

While this can be a campaign switch without changing the cost, that doesn't address the situation where most sorcerers can use HI while one of them can't.

Indeed, thus my longer explanation where by costs of other GURPS rules that hardcore improvisation should likely cost points if it is not a campaign feature, as the basic sorcerous empowerment is priced at normal prices to other modular abilities and the hardcore improvisation is an extra bonus you get.

Though I did also offer an alternate explanation where the base modular ability would cost less and the rest be UB to allow hardcore improvisation. (And because I need to write long or people tend to complain that I am not giving the full picture, I also offered a third option)