[maximara]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I would be very dubious of the idea that riding a horse counts as "resting". The mage could actually rest while someone else was riding the horse.

<shrug> D&D magic is higher powered in many respects compared to Gurps Magic. Huge area effects and no concerns about maintenance costs. You'd need a fairly exotic mage with a largish Energy reserve and probably 50 pts of FP Regeneration to really match the capabilities of a D&D Phantom Steed.

IMHO D&D is best simulated in GURPS with Wild Mana: "any success on a spellcasting roll counts as a critical success, and costs 0 FP, while any failure is treated as a critical failure, with the spell’s full normal energy cost."

This is different from Very High Mana where, a mage who spends FP (Fatigue Points) to cast a spell on his turn gets those FP back at the start of his next turn. Second, all failures are treated as critical failures – and actual critical failures produce spectacular disasters! In settings with Continuous Mana, High Mana cover the +8 to +10 to skill range. It should be mentioned that originally Very High Mana was "Anyone can cast spell, if he knows them. Mages can do so at no energy cost!" but was changed by Magic during Classic.

Yes, when a spell fails in Wild Mana it is a spectacular disaster (even more so when an actual critical failure is rolled) but GURPS Magic in a Wild Mana setting is not only on par with most D&D spells but has more utility spells to work with.