Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-29-2021, 02:54 PM   #1
johndallman
Night Watchman
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

Medium [10] is a supernatural mental advantage. You can detect the presence of, and communicate with, immaterial spirits, including dead people, nature spirits, spirits of places, and so on. This advantage probably dates back to the first edition of GURPS Horror.

The basic advantage implements the kind of mediumship found in traditional spiritualism. You cannot see spirits, but you’re aware of their presence near you, and you can call out to them at longer ranges: they will hear you, but are not compelled to come. You can speak with any spirit in your presence, provided you share a language with them. You do not get a reaction bonus from spirits, or any control over them. They may find you interesting, but they can also mislead you. Personally, I'd also let a Medium communicate with people using astral projection, but that's somewhat setting-dependent.

Several advantages and skills are useful with Medium. Detect (Spirits) will tell you about spirits that are bound, in possession of somebody, or just too distant to talk to. An appropriate See Invisible can give you a better idea of what kind of spirit you’re dealing with, and Spirit Empathy lets you use your social skills and reaction bonuses on them. If the spirits are angelic or demonic, Blessed and/or Religious Rank may be useful. Detect Lies, Exorcism, and appropriate Hidden Lore specialisations can be relevant, as are languages. It’s not clear if you need to speak aloud to be heard by spirits, but I’m reasonably sure that you are the only one that can hear their replies: to let them speak aloud, buy Channelling so that they can use your voice. The Autotrance perk may be helpful, too.

Powers has enhancements that let you make it easier for spirits to become visible, to make spirits visible to you while you’re talking to them, and to dispense with the need for a common language. Common limitations are (Immediate) Preparation Required, for a ritual or séance, and a limitation to a particular kind of spirits. Powers also implies that you can talk to spirits within a yard of you, but is not explicit on the point. To force spirits to become visible or substantial, buy an Affliction that negates their Invisibility or Insubstantiality.

Searching for Medium in the GURPS corpus is complicated by Medium-sized equipment, Medium encumbrance, and Medium range. In Banestorm, Sahudese spirits can speak for themselves, while DF mystical types have limitations to particular kinds of spirits, except for Necromancers. Fantasy’s coverage of Shamans includes using Medium, and other advantages, and Metro of Madness has a couple of NPCs who are either Mediums or delusional. The Church in Worminghall regards contact with spirits as perilous to your soul, making it LC0, and Horror Magic makes it part of the Forgotten Wisdom style. Steampunk has advice and a template for Victorian spiritualists, and Thaumatology points out the value of this advantage in spirit-based magic.

My experience of Medium has been shaped by the occult WWII campaign I play in, where we had a medium with a spirit guide Ally from the beginning. Ghosts, elementals and demons have all been significant, and although our original medium left, we have developed two more, plus one who only does elementals. It seems as if the post-war world will have some of the dead as an accepted part of society, and there’s no telling how that change things.

Has Medium been important in your games?
johndallman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 04:17 PM   #2
kirbwarrior
 
kirbwarrior's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dreamland
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

I've never known how to actually run Medium in a game. The concept sounds neat, but there's a lot of oddly weird parts of it that I'm not entirely certain exactly how it works and precisely what things only a Medium can do. Unless it's literally as simple as "You can hear spirits talk* and spirits that hear you talk know you have Medium**."

*Do spirits have a trait that makes it so their voice can't cross to the physical world?
**I'm guessing this is optional in choosing to speak in a way that makes it obvious.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by cosmicfish View Post
While I do not think that GURPS is perfect I do think that it is more balanced than what I am likely to create by GM fiat.
kirbwarrior is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 05:05 PM   #3
johndallman
Night Watchman
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

The Spirit meta-trait on p. B263 can speak aloud, but the updated one on p. 134 of Fantasy has Mute (Substantial Only, -10%) [-22]. Medium is clearly unnecessary if all spirits can speak by themselves. Spirits can usually hear material people, but settings where they can't would seem plausible.
johndallman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 07:39 PM   #4
Tyneras
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Kentucky, USA
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

I've never used it in my games, but it really feels like a package of Detect (Spirits, Common) (Vague, -50%) and a Perk: Can Talk to Spirits.

I'm not sure spirits have any way to notice a Medium beyond Body Language to notice they notice. That certainly fits with various recent fiction where the spirit is shocked that the medium can see them.
__________________
GURPS Fanzine The Path of Cunning is worth a read.
Tyneras is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 07:51 PM   #5
Sorenant
 
Sorenant's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

Would replacing the "detect the presence of" part with See Invisible (Spirit) and "communicate with" par with a new Speak with Spirits advantage be better?

Also, Sahudese Spirits can speak for themselves but they still have the Spirit meta-trait, so Medium (or See Invisible) are still useful to find them.
Sorenant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 08:08 PM   #6
kirbwarrior
 
kirbwarrior's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dreamland
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyneras View Post
I've never used it in my games, but it really feels like a package of Detect (Spirits, Common) (Vague, -50%) and a Perk: Can Talk to Spirits.
It might be worth more than a perk, but I'm not sure what I'd apply Affects Insubstantial to. Maybe Mute (-120%) [5]. That comes out to 15pts. Of course, Detect (Common, Vague) is a pretty useless advantage so I don't know if it being 10pts is appropriate.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by cosmicfish View Post
While I do not think that GURPS is perfect I do think that it is more balanced than what I am likely to create by GM fiat.
kirbwarrior is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 08:21 PM   #7
Tyneras
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Kentucky, USA
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

Quote:
Originally Posted by kirbwarrior View Post
It might be worth more than a perk, but I'm not sure what I'd apply Affects Insubstantial to. Maybe Mute (-120%) [5]. That comes out to 15pts. Of course, Detect (Common, Vague) is a pretty useless advantage so I don't know if it being 10pts is appropriate.
I'd justify it being a Perk as Spirits are a subset of mute things and insubstantial things, Powers elaborates on what qualifies as a spirit for medium and narrows it a bit. There's also no guarantee that the spirits will be useful or helpful, being driven mad because you can hear the spirits and they whisper horrible things in your ears endlessly crops up from time to time.

The Detect (Common, Vague) was based purely off how the point costs worked out. If we consider spirits occasional, then it becomes Detect (Spirits, Occasional) (vague, -50%) [5] plus the perk, bringing it down to a 6 point trait.
__________________
GURPS Fanzine The Path of Cunning is worth a read.
Tyneras is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 08:35 PM   #8
Ulzgoroth
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

The one aspect that seems beyond 'instead of being totally unable to perceive spirits, you're only mostly unable to' is the summons. It's effectively just sending out an invitation, but it's not tagged with any limitations besides its lack of coercive effect. No range, no required connections to the subject...
__________________
I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident.
Ulzgoroth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 08:38 PM   #9
Tyneras
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Kentucky, USA
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth View Post
The one aspect that seems beyond 'instead of being totally unable to perceive spirits, you're only mostly unable to' is the summons. It's effectively just sending out an invitation, but it's not tagged with any limitations besides its lack of coercive effect. No range, no required connections to the subject...
I always thought of it as the equivalent of yelling into a thick fog "Hey! Come over here please! I'd like to talk to you!"
__________________
GURPS Fanzine The Path of Cunning is worth a read.
Tyneras is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2021, 08:52 PM   #10
kirbwarrior
 
kirbwarrior's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dreamland
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Medium

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyneras View Post
I'd justify it being a Perk as Spirits are a subset of mute things and insubstantial things, Powers elaborates on what qualifies as a spirit for medium and narrows it a bit. There's also no guarantee that the spirits will be useful or helpful, being driven mad because you can hear the spirits and they whisper horrible things in your ears endlessly crops up from time to time.

The Detect (Common, Vague) was based purely off how the point costs worked out. If we consider spirits occasional, then it becomes Detect (Spirits, Occasional) (vague, -50%) [5] plus the perk, bringing it down to a 6 point trait.
Oh, part of my point is that the bigger the grouping of Detect, the less useful it is when you put Vague on it. Honestly, I could see both being perks.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by cosmicfish View Post
While I do not think that GURPS is perfect I do think that it is more balanced than what I am likely to create by GM fiat.
kirbwarrior is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
advantage of the week, medium, path/book magic, spirits

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:58 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.