[Raekai]

Originally Posted by mook

You may also be surprised at just how easy it is to run GURPS as a more "Fate-like" game. Officially, there are a few gems to help with this -- the Action series, Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys, the Template Toolkits -- but basically just use range bands, much simpler +/- modifier lists, metacurrency and lots of wildcard skills, you're off.

The nice thing about this is, it's still GURPS, so when you play that gritty post-apocalyptic game down the road where every bullet and liter of water matters, you don't have to change systems, just tweak a few dials.

This isn't the first time that content from your blog has been helpful (so, thank you)! I like the metaphor of dials. I've been trying to dial-in on the same thing. I've implemented Fate/Destiny/Impulse/Plot Points, I've used range bands, and I'm using the niches from GURPS Template Toolkit 1 as wildcard skills.

So, what is my problem? I think it really is powers/abilities/magic. Other narrative systems do a decent job of keeping those things abstract, which I think is easier if the system has a smaller resolution. Get a +2, affect a zone, create an aspect, whatever... It feels harder to do in GURPS.

For GURPS, I really like advantage-based powers systems. I think Sorcery is really neat. But I have to figure everything out to use it. I have to create more powers, etc. There are looser magic systems out there, especially in GURPS Thaumatology. I like Ritual Path Magic, but it doesn't quite do what I want. Honestly, the closest thing that I've found is Wildcard Powers from GURPS Supers, which I re-tooled just a bit on my blog. But I think I get stuck in thinking, "Okay, my player wants to throw a fireball. How strong of a fireball can she get for 10 points? How much damage? How much area?" Not to mention (and it's already been kinda mentioned) that points don't always line up with utility. In GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery, the No-Smell spell (p. 13) is 63 points!

So, right now, I'm having another internal struggle between (a) the Raekai that wants to use advantage-based power systems "because they're technically the most fair" and (b) the Raekai that says, "Well, no, because you've seen otherwise. Just use a flexible magic system!" Or use Wildcard Powers in an even more abstract way (e.g., 10×3 points represents influence, 20×3 points represents control, 40×3 points represents mastery, and 80×3 points represents supremacy—that kind of sounds like Realms or Effect Shaping).

What do I want from a magic system? I want something that can be somewhat powerful and flashy in an instant; though, it can also benefit from a slower ritual. To me, Ritual Path Magic puts the slower part first with the quick and flashy part as an after-thought. The magic system in GURPS Discworld is in the right direction.

Originally Posted by GURPS Discworld, p. 194

Every magic-worker has a skill level with each Magical Form. Applying a penalty that depends on spell complexity determines the caster’s Base Spell Skill. While different sorts of magic encounter different sorts of difficulty, some general guidelines apply:

Simplest, basic applications of a Form (e.g., lighting a pipe using Elementalism, giving someone an itch or making him sneeze with Physiomancy): 0 Slightly more complex/powerful, but straightforward, effects (e.g., using Psychomancy to make someone ignore you for a moment, or Magianism to suppress a simple magical boobytrap for a second): -1 or -2

Displays of raw, but short-term, power (e.g., fireballs for Elementalism, long-distance scrying for Divination, determining the last thing that a fresh corpse saw for Necromancy): -3

Graduate-level stuff (e.g., using Sortilege to curse someone so that he always comes third in competitions, or Summonation to summon and simultaneously confine a serious demon): -4 or -5

Intricate or showy spells (e.g., using Magianism to divert, analyse, and take control of any and every spell cast in a given area, or Psychomancy to swap the personalities of everybody in a room between their bodies repeatedly at random while making sure that none of them notice that this is happening): -6 to -10*]

It goes on to also give some great examples. I like that. It's free-form. I don't have to worry about how many points a seemingly-simple spell like No-Smell would cost. I would actually like a bit more detail or examples—e.g., 8d damage is equivalent to 4d damage in a small* area, 2d damage in a medium* area, 1d damage in a huge* area, etc.
*Whatever that means.

Just... rambling, I guess.

EDIT: I also want to that that GURPS Powers: Divine Favor is pretty neat as a "flexible" magic/powers system. It's weird (to me) in that it has an upper limit in terms of points one can put into it. Does that theoretically mean it should have an upper limit in power? Anyway, it's also really expensive on the lower end too, which makes it hard to use reliably.