[Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Hello there!

Sorcery has become my groups go-to magic system for a number of fantasy games, and we've greatly enjoyed creating new spells for the numerous wizards to play around with. Two particular cases have come up recently and I was hoping the hive-mind could help out.

1) We have made a Blink spell based on Warp (Blink Only). Blink specifies that you warp in a random direction up to 10 yards when you use it, ending up in a safe space. Who determines what qualifies as "Safe"? An unlucky roll on a Blink may place a wizard in an empty hex behind the enemy line, separated from their allies. The hex is clear, but certainly doesn't seem safe. Additionally, is the blink direction restricted by obvious barriers, or when backed into a corner will most Blinks fail because there is no other free space 10 yards past the wall?

2) We have made some summoning spells based on Ally, and we're looking for the proper way to represent the ally themselves being magical and vulnerable to instant dispelling. Dependency seems close, but most dispelling effects are instant and don't have a duration. What would be the appropriate way to reflect that the creature is killed (or at least banished) by a dispelling? Is this included in the summonable enhancement already?

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

That is up to the GM to design how it works in their world. I use "random space that seems empty" in my games.

Add magic to the modifiers for ally: Ally(Magic:-10%, summonable...)

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

That was my first thought, I just wasn't sure if Magical on ally would cause them to disappear when dispelled, or just prevent someone from summoning them in an area with no mana.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Safe is "open space on the ground" Water only counts as open space if you can breathe it. Assuming there is only one safe space in ten yards of you, no need to roll, you'll end up there. The proper way to represent the summonable ally being magical is to put the magic power modifier on the Ally advantage.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Both and more. Basically anything that stops of hinders magic in the setting will effect it, be it supernatural or mundane.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Also some spirits that can be banished simply have the Feature Vulnerable to Banish, Pentagrams, and such.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

The GM does. Your power is not under your character's subjective control in this instance. If it were I'd charge a -20% to -30% Accessibility limitation that requires you to make a Perception roll each time. With the full -10 for "instant use" + +10 for "in plain sight". Pricing breaks down as something like: "Requires Per Roll, Own Roll, -5%", "Hard to Use, -10 to rolls (One Particular rolls, -20%), -12%", "No safe spots when blinking, -20%." I'd let Observation stand in for Perception if better. Scanning Sense could be used normally.


Treat this as a form of Susceptible (Allergy) (see GURPS Bio-Tech, p. 213 and p. B158) in combination with my rules for Will-based Susceptible disadvantages (Pyramid #3/58: Urban Fantasy II, p. 10). I'd call "Banishment" a a Very Common effect for a flat -4/per -1 penalty. Since you just want them to be affected by it you'd need to figure the cost of the enhancement and then subject the first level. The trait would look something like this:

Banishable: Susceptible 1 (Banishment, +200%; Requires IQ vs. Will roll, Own Roll, +10%) [-12] + No Susceptible Penalty 1 [-4]. -8 points.

So if the target is hit with a banishing spells they must make an opposed roll of the spell's powers vs. their Will. Failure means they leave reality. If any banishment effect works automatically simply figure levels as equal to their HT-2. If they get hit they go poof. This assumes that they cannot easily come back to the reality they were banished from. If that's not the case then I'd treat Susceptible as an Occasional threat worth -1/per -1 penalty, in other words: a quirk or possibly a feature.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

I wouldn't give points for susceptibility to banishment, it is always a feature. Most things that are susceptible to banishment spells aren't susceptible to things that affect humans like hypnotism.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

I'm sorry, but your wrong. Can be turned is sometimes a feature and yet GURPS Zombies (p. 66) lists it as a possible quirk. Being susceptible to banishment could be a setting feature (as could any trait) worth 0-points or a quirk.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Since it's for Sorcery, the Ally should already have the Sorcery power modifier, and thus be susceptible to this.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Well, it probably should be consistent with the same creature type in the campaign.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

I agree with this completely. Unless there is a real reason - pick one method and go with that.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

One general thought I've had for Ally with the Magical limitation - it's probably reasonable for lack of the power source to turn off the Ally part of the trait without making the physical presence of the being go away! That summoned demon is still standing there, it's just that it now doesn't have any supernaturally-imposed allegiance to you anymore... Of course, that sort of switch should be established when the player buys the trait, not sprung on them later. Still, it can make for an interesting change to ring on Summonable Allies.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Another way to do this may be to use the No-Mana Shutdown disadvantage from GURPS Thaumatology (p. 119) as a part of a "Summoned" meta-trait.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

That would shut the summoned being down, though, whereas I'm talking about the wizard's summoned demon walking into the no-mana zone, getting a thoughtful look on its face, turning back to the party, and saying "I'd like to renegotiate my contract."

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Ahhhh! I see. Hmmm. That's Reprogrammable with Mana-Sensitive/Magical modifier.

Edit: Also, "Summonable (Magical, -10%), +90%."

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

So I'm calling vulnerability to being dispelled a feature, because magical summoned creatures can gain traits that otherwise wouldn't be available to players. This will probably make dispelling magic more common, since summoned creatures can be pretty powerful.

Another question has occurred to me with using Ally in Sorcery. In general if something shuts down one aspect of your alternate ability, all of it is shut down. Sorcery is just an applied version of alternate abilities, so it's got the same caveat attached. When a conjured creature is "killed" they cannot be recalled for a full day, would this count as Ally being shut down (and thus prevent all other spell casting)? The same question applies to the appearance roll, does failing this prevent spell casting for the rest of the day?

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

No. It's not that you can't use the summoning power again. It's just that there's nothing there to summon at the moment.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

I'd actually argue, as I suggested above, that there doesn't have to be a modifier on Summonable to do this. The way I see it, Ally as an advantage is providing an NPC who is loyal to you. I think it's reasonable to say that the Magical limitation on Ally itself can be interpreted to be limiting the "loyalty" bit, rather than the "physical presence" bit.

All this discussion of summoned Allies being magically bound is making me think that there should probably be a variant on the Conjured enhancement where, instead of a reaction roll when you conjure the new ally, it's a contest of Will instead. That's probably the usual Based on Will +20% enhancement, just applied to Conjured instead of the full Ally advantage, so turning it into a +120% enhancement.

Re: [Sorcery] Questions about Warp and Ally
 

Actually, Minion (Magical, -10%), +45% is a better fit in some cases. The critter doesn't go away in a no-mana zone, but your control does.

Requires Will vs. Will roll is orth -15% - not +20%. But I like the idea.