Theory of Powerstone quirks

[hal]

I didn't want to hijack another person's thread, but I thought this approach for determining quirks for powerstones per GURPS MAGIC could stand a more detailed approach for GMs who want to at least have some form of rhyme or reason for the whys of their quirks.

So, lets start with the definition of Quirks in GURPS POWER UPS 6.

"QUIRKY EFFECTS
What minor drawbacks are fair? That can be tricky to nail
down, but here are some rough guidelines:"

The publication goes on to list a few:

• Penalties to Success Rolls:
• Reaction Penalties:
• Bonuses to Rivals’ Rolls:
• Disadvantage Effects:
• Social Inconveniences:
• Extra Contingencies:
• Restricted Options:
• Extra Expenses:
• Extra Time:
• Extra FP Costs:

Now, that's just from the GURPS POWERUPS 6. But what if you married THAT concept with GURPS THAUMATOLOGY page 247 titled "Zodiacal Correspondences"? What if you merged that in with Planetary Correspondences? Why stop there however, when you can pull out material for inspiration that includes Mergmetic Astrology in the form of Decanic Correspondences? Let's say for the sake of argument, that the powerstone is enchanted during the time period of the Scorpio 3rd decanic period? You look up the places that are associated with Akton, and you discover that certain locations are associated with this individual. You note that Akton's energies are strongest in alcoholic wards, whorehouses, crackdens, slave markets and the adge of the Abyss. So as GM, you inform the player whose character is creating a powerstone "your mage inadvertantly allowed stray energies to infuse the powerstone - and is now quirked. It will only recharge while inside any place that sells alchohol, drug dens, or houses of prositution. Otherwise it will not try to recharge as it should." Now, what if while using the energy from the Powerstone, you decide that the player character has to make a saving roll vs HT as if they were consuming alcohol - where every point of energy taken counts as one drink? Now you're tying in the activity of the magic affecting its user in a way that is linked with the mythology of Decanic energies no?

That's kind of a serious set back is it not? But what if instead, you look to planetary correspondences - and the gemstone is being enchanted such that the enchantment ends on a Monday. Planetary influence wise, we're talking about the Moon. As GM, you might decide "ok, the gemstone will only recharge if it is kept within a white cloth." Conversely, you could state "it will only recharge while within 6 feet of a pearl. Wait, you don't like that idea? Well, the creature most associated with the Moon is the cat. So what if the use of the stone will cause a cat to come seeking out the gemstone user, and stay with the character for a number of hours equal to the energy used? And what if - the GM tells the player to roll a reaction roll for said cat when it appears? A really BAD reaction might mean the cat will follow the character - arching its back, hissing non-stop in his presence, and biting and scratching should the player character attempt to befriend the cat. On the flip side, what if the cat LOVES the player character and decides to beg for food, snuggles up affectionately, and even lies on the player character's chest or lap and goes to sleep? Now picture introducing a NEW cat to the picture when the player uses the powerstone one more time?

In general, the Moon issue is a little bit more "interesting" because it is relatively more random, doesn't really affect the sales price of the gemstone, and is a minor quirk.

[hal]

GURPS never really introduced any set of rules for Gemstones, or the crafting of gem stones using a Jeweler's skill etc. For those who have the inclination - hunt down a copy of DIFFERENT WORLDS #10 and utilize Katheryn Shapiro's Gem Types & Values. In it, you will find quite a few different gemstones listed, as well as minimum value and maximum value in silver coins (this was designed for use with D&D style games back in the 1980's and possibly Runequest as well). The thing to note is that she states up front that a silver coin is worth $5 in an era that is close to that of GURPS when it first came out. I think you will find it is worth hunting down on Ebay.

In any event - some thoughts you might want to consider:

Flawless Rating: each gemstone has a flawless rating that is from 3 to 18 (for use with GURPS 3d6 system). At a flawless rating of 18, the gemstone is flawless and worth more per carat than would be a flawless rating of 3. The innate flaws of the gemstone can result in some unexpected mana flows during enchantment that can result in "quirks" for said enchantment on a roll of a 16. Rolling vs Flawless rating and using the resulting roll as a modifier to reaching rolls, you could find that a flawless stone of 12, when rolled against, might result in a success by 3 with a roll of a 9. So you roll against reaction table with a +3 modifier and rolling an 11, it becomes a 14, which is a good reaction right? So make the quirk a really MINOR one. When you roll in a reaciton table - you might get a modifier 3, which is a VERY bad reaction right? So you HOSE the enchanter's creation by saying "the gemstone doesn't provide power unless condition is met, and won't recharge except on wednedays while in a bed of salt crystals dyed blue that exceed the weight of the gemstone proper." On reaction rolls of 9 or so, it might be that the powerstone makes the mage character more sickly such that for 1 month per energy point used, the mage suffers a -1 HT saving roll vs diseases.

Now the player needs to know the spell curse disease, or carry a potion to cure disease, or become a germaphobe.

As always, ideas here are presented with an eye towards a rough draft concept that others can polish or modify for their own needs.

[Varyon]

If nothing else, I like the idea of a "Flawlessness Rating." DF8 has random rolls for determining what type of gem has been found as treasure, as well as how many carats it is (with an equation that gives the $ value based on the carats and the type of gem). Adding Flawlessness to that would be interesting, and of course would modify the value (which modifies its value as a Powerstone - or just Power Item for DF purposes). Of course, seeing the details of flaws often requires a jeweler's loupe, or even a microscope, so depending on the setting TL you could have a case where, say, a Flawlessness 15 and Flawlessness 18 gem look identical, and thus are actually priced the same, despite the latter being better as a Power Item (if you have a quick magical method of determining the item's worth as a Power Item, you can potentially get a steal... but if it's easy then whoever does the appraisal may have already done it and priced the gem appropriately). Offhand, you could say that 8-13 can be distinguished with the human eye, 6-7 requires a jeweler's loupe or similar to distinguish from 8 while 14-15 is similarly difficult to distinguish from 13, and 3-5 or 16-18 requires a microscope or similar to distinguish from 6 or 15, respectively. For nominal pricing, while it probably understates things a bit (or maybe more than a bit), you might have 10-11 be the normal price, and every +1 to Flawlessness is +1 SSR to price - x1.5 for 13, x5 for 15, x0.5 for 8, x0.15 for 5, etc.

[hal]

Gemstones whose flawlessness rating is poor, can be improved by the jeweler by cutting the gem into smaller stones. As an example, Citrine (quartz) can have a size up to 500 carats - requiring 500/15 quality rolls for flawless ratings. Rolling 33 rolls on 3d6 will produce variants of the stone, which - if cut successfully along flaw lines, could result in two or more smaller stones with predetermined flawless levels equal to those values already rolled. If the jeweler wants the best cut to have the highest flawlessness, he'd roll against the skill at some penalty, to isolate the best ratings into a lesser stone.

Example: a 40 carat stone would require 3 rolls, giving us 10, 11, and 17. As such, 38/3 = 12.67 or 13 flawlessness rating. The jeweler could try to cut this stone into a 15 carat stone of flawless rating 17 and a stone of 11 flawless rating of about 30 carats (10 +11 all divided by 2). If the jeweler fails this cut roll, he instead gets a 15 carat stone rated at 10, and a 30 carat stone rated at 14 (11 + 17 all divided by 2). A critical failure ruins the best rating by 5 by introducing new flaw lines.

Just some musings...