04-29-2014, 02:23 AM | #21 |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
Just to be clear... I actually have some suggestions, but I want to make sure they are needed before making them; less temptation for the GM to assume they are this way.
Without any such feedback, my ideas might be completely unnecessary. I will also acknowledge that the few changes to 4e Magic might neuter some as well. ^^' A lot of this still seems like unreasonable expectations, possibly on both the GM and players. I get that (as was pointed out earlier) the GM probably doesn't want to have to start combat too far away, especially if maps are involved... but if I take everything Nereidalbel has suggested as explanations for why the Mage is too weak... its the player designing/running his made poorly and/or the GM/other players being jerks. Not everyone needs to face off against the same types or numbers of opponents, and even in a combat heavy game there should be plenty of foes that the mage is the best (perhaps only one) qualified to face. Anyway, the phantom suggestions to which I keep alluding:
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My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
04-29-2014, 06:46 AM | #22 | |||||
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
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I rather do like allowing Imbue (with the Magical PM) to work with spells. |
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04-29-2014, 11:56 AM | #23 |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
Oh good, at least one person (Nereidalbel) was able to decipher my early morning ramblings (apologies, I had a late "night" and allowed myself to comment when I was well within the "impaired" range).
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My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
04-29-2014, 12:42 PM | #24 |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
If it makes you feel any better, I was 10 shots of rum into the night. More on-topic, you may want to look into RPM mages for 4e. There is a lot of fun to be had with RPM.
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04-29-2014, 12:47 PM | #25 |
formerly known as 'Kenneth Latrans'
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Wyoming, Michigan
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
Before RPM people were always talking about Ritual Magic and Magic as Powers. Far as I can tell the general attitude is just "Anything other than Hawthorne magic as written" or "Don't fix the existing Hawthorne with houserules and options from the books; just go for another system from the ground up regardless of how different it is in balance, feel, and play style"
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Ba-weep granah wheep minibon. Wubba lubba dub dub. |
04-29-2014, 12:52 PM | #26 | |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
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04-29-2014, 01:55 PM | #27 | |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
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Tweaking the setting to intentionally nerf magic excluded; the idea is balance, not "Mostly no mana setting with no Mana Enchancer allowed and/or anyone not a mage probably has at least 1d worth of Magic Resistance, more if they aren't mooks." I've got no personal play testing results because right now I just can't play. This thread actually underscores some of the problem though; I know next to nothing about the RPM system, but using Powers means its expensive to be a Mage, but you get what you pay for... like the instant fireballs that hit hard enough to easily compete with the rest of the party's melee damage. Compared to tweaking the rules or Advantages for the default GURPS Magic system (which can more easily had unintended results) or just making up a new Spell (Fast Fireball? >.>), worrying about Skill Levels and the like, it almost seems easier. A spell you haven't learned very well e.g. didn't want to pay a lot of CP for can have all the restrictions of the Spell Descritpion plus additional levels of Takes Extra Time, Takes Extra FP, etc... while to be an expert, you just buy relevant Advantage with the minimal Limitations required by your GM/setting. If your mage is so skilled that he can fly all the time without any issue... buy Flight at the full price (or with just the Magic Limitation). Addendum: Even the traditional GURPS Magic System has its place; I find it just fails when it needs to live up to its name of being Generic and Universal. For settings where one doesn't need to balance Magic against anything else... s'good.
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My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
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05-03-2014, 08:19 PM | #28 |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dreamland
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
On the note of mage-only enemies, a flying, diffuse creature with low HP (oh, say, a skull spirit from DF) is very hard to deal with unless you are a mage (Explosive Fireball beats diffuse).
I think a large part is to focus on any outlying issues with Magic. For instance, there is a huge focus on skill 15, due to the -1 FP. There are many tiny spells that probably don't require an entire skill to cast (Light? Haircut?). You can hide those in other skills. That's a huge thing, actually. Skills are treated a very specific way in GURPS. Magic seems to break this, asking mages to have upwards of 50 (or way more) skills to truly be useful. |
05-04-2014, 02:28 AM | #29 | |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: Two long standing house rules.
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Tags |
house rules, magery, magic, wild talent |
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