[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: No-Mana Shutdown

[johndallman]

No-Mana Shutdown [-20] is an exotic physical disadvantage, normally only possessed by magic items built as characters. It means that they shut down completely in no-mana areas, but return to life as soon as magic starts operating again. This appeared in GURPS Thaumatology for 4e, and does not appear in any other publication.

This disadvantage should only be taken in settings where there are no-mana zones. Its pricing is based on Nocturnal, since although no-mana zones are generally rarer than daytime, they are often permanent, and an item could end up trapped in one indefinitely. Items that are damaged by no-mana zones should take Dependency (Mana), and if they stay conscious and only lose special abilities, those abilities should be bought as Mana Sensitive.

At the start of my Infinite Cabal campaign, one of the players wanted to play a magically animated suit of armour, but was talked out of it, once he realised this disadvantage would apply, and that no-mana worlds would exist. Has No-Mana Shutdown been used in your games?

[TGLS]

Shoulda played a magic suit of armour with mana enhancer.

[jason taylor]

That would be one to give to an Elf especially if you rule that the Good People treat Mana like Oxygen.

[Tyneras]

I generally treat any permanent magical item as having this, such as golems or permanent undead, though I don't think I've explicitly put it on a character sheet since none of them were PCs or important NPCs.

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by johndallman

No-Mana Shutdown [-20] is an exotic physical disadvantage, normally only possessed by magic items built as characters. It means that they shut down completely in no-mana areas, but return to life as soon as magic starts operating again. This appeared in GURPS Thaumatology for 4e, and does not appear in any other publication....

Except that by default magical items shut down in no-mana areas. By GURPS Magic (p. 6): "No Mana: No one can use magic at all. Enchantments and permanent magic effects are suspended and do not function while within a no-mana zone, but resume when taken to an area with mana."

(And yes, I understand the philosophical distinction between "that's just the way it works" for non-character magic items and "my character may shut down" for magic item-characters.)

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Alden Loveshade

Except that by default magical items shut down in no-mana areas. By GURPS Magic (p. 6): "No Mana: No one can use magic at all. Enchantments and permanent magic effects are suspended and do not function while within a no-mana zone, but resume when taken to an area with mana."

(And yes, I understand the philosophical distinction between "that's just the way it works" for non-character magic items and "my character may shut down" for magic item-characters.)

GURPS Magic is incorrect. Sanctity based spells and magic items do work in no mana areas as long as the Sanctity is not none and even there there is a big exception: Objects of Power.

Objects of Power come in two types: Minor (creates an area of High Sanctity within a given radius, no matter the true Sanctity of the area) and Major (Very High Sanctity within a given radius, affecting the area so strongly that even after the object has moved on, the location will remain an area of High Sanctity for 1 week per day the object was in the location). The default area is a 5-hex radius.

Objects of Power have a base Power of 25

To use Christianity as an example the Ark of the Covenant would be a Major Object of Power while the Grail and Spear would more likely be Minor Objects of Power. The Grail and Spear would also likely count as Enchantment through Deeds items.

Important Note: Since some deities (like Roma Arcana's Isis) favor mana based magic their Objects of Power may increase Mana rather then Sanctity levels.

There is something akin to this in enchantment called the Mana Pool "quirk" which raises the local mana by one or two steps. Unlike an Object of Power it is limited to Powerstones.

As the GURPSwiki points out:

Important Note: if the item built this way does not have the Mana Sensitive (-10%) limitation then mana and sanctity have no effect on the item (the item is effectively technological in nature or boosts the mana/sanctity level). Even with that limitation the item doesn't have a Power level per say so figuring exactly how that Mana/Sanctity Sensitive limitation works will fall to the GM to figure out. Items with No-Mana Shutdown are clear on how no mana effects them.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by maximara

GURPS Magic is incorrect. Sanctity based spells and magic items do work in no mana areas as long as the Sanctity is not none and even there there is a big exception: Objects of Power..

That's because even though they use magic mechanics they aren't magic. They're holy.

[AlexanderHowl]

The same applies to the default rules for RPM, magical items only stop working in desecrated areas (which are just as likely to be no mana or no sanctity areas as very high man or very high sanctity areas).

[maximara]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

That's because even though they use magic mechanics they aren't magic. They're holy.

Except when you look at GURPS Thaumatology which shows how you got from Magery to Power Investiture that argument falls apart as in many respects Sanctity can be viewed as a form of extremely aspected mana

In fact in the RAW there is nothing that prevents Power Investiture (Mana Replaces Sanctity) from existing and it can be argued this is the way Isis of the Roma Arcana setting operates. Heck, for all we know her Objects of Power effect Mana not Sanctity.

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

The same applies to the default rules for RPM, magical items only stop working in desecrated areas (which are just as likely to be no mana or no sanctity areas as very high man or very high sanctity areas).

Uh no. "For the purpose of standard magic, a desecrated area is considered no mana, most places are normal mana, a place of power (pp. 32-33) that gives +1 to +3 is high mana, and one that gives +4 or +5 is very high mana." (RPM p. 43)

Now there is a variation: "Mana level and Ritual Path energy-gathering modifiers do not have to be conflated! Even if both types of magic exist in a campaign, the GM may rule that their “ambient energies” are totally unlinked; e.g., a grove might be low mana (for standard magic) but a +2 place of power (for Ritual Path magic). This is especially likely if the two represent very different traditions (e.g., holy vs. Hermetic)."

But with the tools Thaumatology provides one can put together something akin to the AD&D1 system where "All magic and cleric spells are similar in that the word sounds, when combined into whatever patterns are applicable, are charged with energy from the Positive or Negative Material Plane. When uttered, these sounds cause the release of this energy, which in turn triggers a set reaction. The release of the energy contained in these words is what causes the spell to be forgotten or the writing to disappear from the surface upon which it is written."

This is a form of Energy Accumulation magic but the local mana and sanctity doesn't matter. Rather functionality is dependent on how good the connections to the planes that power the magic are.

The Slayer's anime has a form of arcane magic where one channels the power of a Dark Lords but there is also Holy and Shamanistic magic as well. Heck, in "Wandering Around? The Runaway Shrine Takes a Trip!" of Slayers a Temple turns out to be a train and the crystal there absorb all magic arcane and divine to power it.

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by maximara

GURPS Magic is incorrect. Sanctity based spells and magic items do work in no mana areas as long as the Sanctity is not none and even there there is a big exception: Objects of Power.

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

That's because even though they use magic mechanics they aren't magic. They're holy.

I was, indeed, referring specifically to magic items using the rules in GURPS Magic, not to holy items. One of my current PCs has a minor holy sword. Its "spells" are described using GURPS Magic, but its power comes not from mana, but from the gods (that is, its spells can be affected by the sanctity of an area, not by mana level).