Urban Arcana conversion

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

Hello all!

I've been thinking about converting my favorite D20 setting, Urban Arcana, to GURPS.

Urban Arcana is a D20 Modern setting, which is what happens if the D&D world starts leaking in the modern world. Your typical D&D mage who has to prepare his spells every morning (now he's not using a book, but a smartphone with a "Spellbook.PDF" file in it. :P ), your typical cleric with the ability to Turn Undead, but new classes like a pilot with a supernatural ability to meld his mind to the vehicle he's piloting and an uncanny ability to wreck vehicles (if attacking a vehicle, he can ignore some of it's hardness, which is a pretty straightforward conversion in GURPS, ignoring part of a vehicle's DR), or a techno mage which is the modern mage who can use his magic in new ways through magic/technology interaction (say, casting a sleep spell toward a camera, and have it travel to the control panel and affect the guy watching the cameras). Elves, dwarves, drow, goblins and such are now on the streets, but most people don't see them as they are. They just were taught from birth that monsters and magic don't exist, and try to rationalize it any way they can when they see magic and monsters. Some people are "aware", that is they can see the magic. Also, the new arrivals forgot the "Common" language of the old world, and had it replaced with the local language of the region they arrived in.

So let's deal with the obvious first: new arrivals suffer from the "Low TL" disadvantage (possibly TL-3 or TL-4, most D&D settings are either TL-3 or TL-4). They also have the "Zeroed" Advantage, have "Cultural Familiarity" with the culture they were born in (and given that inevitably, some people from their culture have arrived in the same town and set out to get together for mutual protection, they can probably find their culture easily), lack the "Cultural Familiarity" of the place they land in, have a "Claim to Hospitality" among their peers unless they committed serious crimes (elves with elves, dwarves with dwarves...). They have few resources but decided to stick together and can help people by giving them shelter for a day or two (exception: the drow elves. You all know most drow elves spend most of their time stabbing each other in the back). Also, new arrivals just dropped in the modern world with what they happened to carry on their backs, so I'm thinking TL-3/TL-4 level of wealth worth of equipment (including a few silver coins or some such that they could pawn at a jewelry store).

Most people from the modern world have the "Mundane Background" disadvantage, and people who would not be "aware" should have a disadvantage making them unable to recognize and admit the supernatural happening right in front of their eyes. In the Urban Arcana setting, anyone who accepts the existence of magic can learn any form of magic that can be learn, even people from the modern world.

Then, there should be templates for the most common D&D races, but I'm sure most of the work has already been done (Though I can't see the GURPS disadvantage for drow and orcs being blinded by bright lights like sunlights or halogens. It probably isn't worth that much since it can be ignored by common sunglasses.). So next there should be class conversions.

The Vancian Magic could probably be simulated by Modular Ability spell slots that are each single use, are set in the morning and replenished each day (how much would that be priced, I have no idea...). Converting the spells themselves would involve building them with abilities and apply the appropriate limitations I suppose. More exotic spells such as "Synchronicity" (For it's duration, all traffic lights in your path are green, you get a bus or taxi after 6 seconds of looking for it, you always have an elevator/waiter available when you need one, and people always let you pass without even noticing (allowing you to run through a crowd unhindered) could probably require more work...

I had plans on converting the arcane classes into "Arcane Paths", basically a set of supernatural abilities having the previous abilities as prerequisites (and for spellcasting classes, a spell slot would have a certain number of spell slots right below it as a prerequisite).

So, what does it look like so far?

[Dwarf99]

I always wanted to play a Smartphone Wizard. I wanted mine to be a RPM caster.

[Phantasm]

The standard Dungeon Fantasy racial templates should work for Urban Arcana, I believe, given that DF has a lot of D&D roots.

One thing, though: are you converting the setting or the mechanics of the setting? I would convert the setting to GURPS based on the feel of the setting rather than the game-mechanical bonuses and limitations inherent in D&D settings in general.

I disagree with "Vancian magic is the only magic" bias, but that's my preference (and personal loathing of Vancian magic in general). It works (kinda) with a class-based system like D&D, but I much prefer to use the standard magic system, Realm Magic, Syntactic Magic, or Ritual Path Magic for modern urban fantasy settings in GURPS.

[CousinX]

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

I've been thinking about converting my favorite D20 setting, Urban Arcana, to GURPS.

I'm passingly familiar, and much more familiar with stock D&D, so I get what you're going for.

I'd recommend looking to the Action and/or Monster Hunters lines, to "modern up" the DF templates and rules. In fact, apart from being 400 points and using different magic rules (RPM vs. classic spell magic), Monster Hunters looks a lot like "modern fantasy adventurers."

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

[snip...]
a pilot with a supernatural ability to meld his mind to the vehicle he's piloting
[...snip]

Might I humbly suggest my own One With the Ship on pp. 11-17 of Pyramid #3/30: Spaceships, for the Interface Pilot and supporting rules for melding one's mind with their vehicle?

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

[snip...]
or a techno mage which is the modern mage who can use his magic in new ways through magic/technology interaction
[...snip]

As it happens, I'm also working on a "Techno-Mystic" template for Monster Hunters and similar settings, which I'll be sending in to Pyramid any week now. (No idea when an issue will come up that it could show up in.) I know that doesn't help you much now, but all to say that I agree it's a cool idea.

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

So let's deal with the obvious first: new arrivals
[...snip]

This sounds a lot like "Banestorms," the phenomenon by which Yrth (the world of GURPS Banestorm) was populated with humans and other races. They started out with just Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs (I think), and then the Dark Elves botched a spell to get rid of the Orcs, which accidentally brought humans and a bunch of other "standard fantasy races" to their world. In a lot of ways, that setting is a kind of "reverse example" of what you're thinking about, so it might be worth looking at for ideas.

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

Then, there should be templates for the most common D&D races, but I'm sure most of the work has already been done (Though I can't see the GURPS disadvantage for drow and orcs being blinded by bright lights like sunlights or halogens. It probably isn't worth that much since it can be ignored by common sunglasses.). So next there should be class conversions.

No need to reinvent the wheel in either case. Use the races from DF3, or if you want something that's maybe a little closer to the "Forgotten Realms specifics," I did variant templates for a Waterdeep campaign.

Use the Adventurer templates from DF1, the Hero templates from Action 1, or (best of all, IMO) the Champion templates from MH1.

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

The Vancian Magic could probably be simulated by Modular Ability
[...snip]

I'm not a fan of D&D/Vancian magic myself, but another way to do something very similar is to use the Ritual Path Magic rules, but disallow Ritual Adept. This means that casters can't sling spells in combat, as it takes several minutes to cast a spell. However, they can prepare Conditional Rituals and Charms which allow them to activate specific spells in combat-useful time-frames.

This way, you don't have to go through and define each D&D spell, because you're using the endlessly-flexible RPM rules ... but you can have a say in what spells the PCs prepare for "quick-casting."

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

I had plans on converting the arcane classes into "Arcane Paths", basically a set of supernatural abilities having the previous abilities as prerequisites (and for spellcasting classes, a spell slot would have a certain number of spell slots right below it as a prerequisite).

So, what does it look like so far?

I think it could be pretty cool. I know nothing about "Arcane Paths," but they sound easy to simulate with GURPS Powers. Depending on what in particular you want them to do, you might not even have to do much work ... you could use the elemental powers from DF9: Summoners and/or Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers, etc.

Personally, I usually go for "flavor conversions" rather than direct stat-to-stat mapping. As I said, I'm inclined to chuck out things like spell slots and memorization in favor of the many awesome magic options GURPS already offers. YMMV of course.

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

The standard Dungeon Fantasy racial templates should work for Urban Arcana, I believe, given that DF has a lot of D&D roots.

One thing, though: are you converting the setting or the mechanics of the setting? I would convert the setting to GURPS based on the feel of the setting rather than the game-mechanical bonuses and limitations inherent in D&D settings in general.

I disagree with "Vancian magic is the only magic" bias, but that's my preference (and personal loathing of Vancian magic in general). It works (kinda) with a class-based system like D&D, but I much prefer to use the standard magic system, Realm Magic, Syntactic Magic, or Ritual Path Magic for modern urban fantasy settings in GURPS.

Yes, my thinking exactly.

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

Thanks CousinX!

Personally, I like the Vancian Magic system, call it nostalgia or whatever you like, but I find it has it's charms.

I really like the classes from Urban Arcana, I like the feel they give and would enjoy converting them, the only thing I regret with D20 Modern is that there isn't so much customization possible. Say, in D20 Modern, if I want to play a (techno) mage who's good at CQC (Close Quarter Combat), well I just can't. If I want a mage sacrificing high level spell slots to get a ton of lower level ones to get more boring but practical effects, well, I can't. The reverse, getting more of the flashy spells in exchange for less spells overall, is equally impossible. BAB and Defese bonuses from the class are too low... Even with taking levels in more fighty classes, the result isn't going to be even close to what I'm aiming for. In a system like GURPS, all I would need would be to sacrifice a few points I would use in spells and use them to buy up the Karate or Knife skills (or both) and a few defenses (Combat reflexes, that kind of things). Or buy just the minimum amount of low/high level slots and spend the saved points in the other type of slots. In short, my idea for this conversion would be to play as close to D20 Modern as possible, just with more customization.

Arcane Paths is just the first word that came to my mind to convert the classes into a series of abilities each having the previous one as a prerequisite.

But thanks!

[CousinX]

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

Personally, I like the Vancian Magic system, call it nostalgia or whatever you like, but I find it has it's charms.

Sure, I get that. I didn't even like it in old-school D&D, so that particular element isn't so nostalgic for me. But it's weird, I do like that same feature in RPM, the ability to prepare a handful of specific spells to be cast later....

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

I really like the classes from Urban Arcana, I like the feel they give and would enjoy converting them, the only thing I regret with D20 Modern is that there isn't so much customization possible.

I'm with you there, I enjoy making new templates and bringing over the feel of a setting, and I also love the flexibility that GURPS offers over class-based systems. When our group plays DF, it's usually with 300-point characters, so they can easily afford a Racial Template and/or Multi-Professional Lens on top of their 250-point primary class template, to add a little flexibility and customization.

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

Arcane Paths is just the first word that came to my mind to convert the classes into a series of abilities each having the previous one as a prerequisite.

Ahh, okay. That's way easy then, basically the same approach taken in Psionic Powers ... just make a list of related abilities and assign them levels, often by starting with a bunch of Limitations to provide a low "level 1 cost," then buying those off and adding Enhancement at higher levels.

[fifiste]

Synchronicity seems to be a spell that grants you a somewhat limited serependity.

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

I'll change gears and not exactly convert the classes from Urban Arcana, and do with the typical GURPS magic system. I might do an alternate Vancian Magic later on.

New spells:

EMP:

The EMP spells deals 1D damage (bypasses any DR not specifically coming from EMP shielding) point spend on the spell to any unshielded electronics in a 50 meters radius coming from the point of impact.

Prerequisite: Lighting, Shutdown.
Cost: Up to Magery FP (no discount in cost possible).
Casting time: 1 turn

Burglar's Buddy:

This spell disables any security equipment (cameras, IR or Motion detectors, alarms) in a radius of 4,5 meters around the caster, for it's duration.

Cost: 2 FP for 5 minutes, can be maintained for 1 FP.
Prerequisite: two air spells.
Magery 1
Casting time: 4 turns

Dataread:

This spell allows the caster to read any electronic storage information he can touch without the appropriate equipment. It does not allows him to break any form of encryption (at least, not without using an appropriate skill), merely to read the content of an USB drive or a DVD-ROM without plugging it in a computer/putting it in a DVD drive.

Cost: 1 FP.
Prerequisite: One air spell.
Magery 0.
Casting time: 1 turn.

Degauss:

This spell wipes any electronic storage device clean of any data that the caster can touch.

Cost: 2 FP
Prerequisite: Dataread, Haywire.
Casting time: one turn

Haywire (air spell):

This spell causes an electronic device to behave randomly, as if someone was pushing buttons at random, for five minutes, at which point it reboots and starts working normally again. Useful for playing a prank or create a diversion, but not much else.

Cost: 1 FP.
Casting time: 1 turn

Machine Invisibility (Air spell):

This spell causes the target to become invisible to electronic devices for five minutes.

Cost: 4 FP to cast, 2 to maintain.

Prerequisites: Haywire, Degauss.
Casting time: 10 seconds

Recharge (air spell):

Allows the user to recover 1 FP per 5 seconds of putting his fingers in an electrical outlet or similar electricity source. One minute of Recharging allows one to cure any temporary afflictions brought by magic, and provides a +2 bonus to HT to resist poison or disease for one minute after the recharge. It goes without saying that you are a sitting duck while recharging (any defense ends the spell prematurely), and that you are immune to the damage... As long as you are concentrating on recharging your stamina. Losing concentration would result in you getting injured by the electricity...

Recharge only regenerates FP lost by physical excertion, not from lack of food/water/sleep or casting spells.

Prerequisite: 3 air spells.

Magic SMS (Air spell)

This spell allows you to send a message up to 25 words to a specific electronic device of your choosing (a device you can see, a device you had interacted with in the past, a cellphone you know the number of...). The message behaves as an ordinary SMS, e-mail, or other electronic text message after being sent.

Cost: 2 FP

Prerequisite: 2 air spells.

Casting time: 1 second.

Secret pocket (Gate spell):

This spell allows you to turn one pocket of a garment of your choosing into an extradimensional storage space for five hours. You can store 500 grams of equipment in that pocket per FP you spend into casting the spell, provided the equipment you want to store can fit through the pocket. Only you and people you specify can access the equipment. for other people, the pocket is merely an empty pocket. Once the duration expires (and if you don't maintain the spell, at the same cost you paid for casting it), the object are violently ejected from the pocket, breaking brittle items like glass bottles unless you succeed in a DX-4 roll to catch them.

Prerequisite: Magery 1

Casting time: 20 second

Shutdown (air spell):

Shutdown causes any electrical device in a radius of 4,50 meters per FP spend to power the spell around a point you designate to simply cease to function for five minutes.

Casting time: 1 second.
Prerequisite: Haywire.

Wire Walk (Air Spell):

This spell allows you to teleport yourself (and willing allies at an extra cost) to a phone anywhere on Earth. The phone rings, and as soon as the person picks up, you and your equipment turn into pure electromagnetic waves carried along the communication network before rematerializing at your destination. You need to know the phone's number for this spell to work, and someone needs to pick it up.

Cost: 5 FP per person you wish to transport.
Casting time: 20 seconds.
Prerequisite: 8 air spells.

Most of these spells deal with technology, and air spells are the ones dealing with electricity, so these are mostly air spells. :P

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

Now, for some supernatural abilities, here is the Speed Demon arcana path:

Sense the weak spot (10 points):

Your supernatural affinity with vehicles give you an Armor Divisor of (2) when purposely trying to damage a vehicle, by any means you want to use (using melee weapons, explosives, ranged weapons, ramming with another vehicle, a spell...). Key word being purposely. Stray shots and collateral damage from area of effect attacks don't count, you have to have actual intent of destroying the vehicle.

Vehicle empathy (10 points):

Your affinity with vehicles and their inner working has grown. You can use any technical skill by merely touching the vehicle and without any penalties, as long as the objective is to sabotage it in some way (unlock the door, disable the alarm, hotwire it...). This ability has "Sense the weak spot" as a prerequisite.

Need for Speed (10 points):

You can push vehicles beyond their limit. Any vehicle you pilot has it's top speed increased by 25%. This ability has "Vehicle Empathy" as a prerequisite.

The vehicle is my body (10 points):

A vehicle you pilot reacts as if it was your body, moving in ways an organic body would, when you will it to. You can spend eight FP to negate the handling penalty for a vehicle for one minute. These FPs count as having been spend for spellcasting for every rules purpose. This ability has "Need for Speed" as a prerequisite.

The vehicle answers to me (10 points):

As long as you touch a vehicle, you can drive it as if you were at the driver's/pilot spot. Your hands are free to do anything you want, but you must spend actions as usual to drive the vehicle. If someone's already on the driver's seat, and isn't willing to let you drive, make a Quick Contest of the skill appropriate to the vehicle against him. The winner has control over the vehicle for one second. A tie means the vehicle goes straight ahead without changing speed. This ability has "The Vehicle is my body" as a prerequisite.

Perfect handling (10 points):

Your understanding and empathy with vehicles has grown to the point where you reduce any penalties to vehicle piloting due to high speed to -1. This ability has "The Vehicle answers to me" as a prerequisite.

Life to structural integrity (10 points):

You can sacrifice your own life force to fix a vehicle you touch. Any HP you spend doing that fixes 3 HP worth of damage to the vehicle. It can fix any part of the vehicle: windows, tires, anything. This ability has "Perfect Handling" as a prerequisite.

Vehicle to body (10 points):

A vehicle you pilot, as well as anyone in it, can use your own Dodge Bonus if it would be better (due to handling penalties). This ability has "Life to Structural integrity" as a prerequisite.

[Angle]

I'm not a fan of D&D/Vancian magic myself, but another way to do something very similar is to use the Ritual Path Magic rules, but disallow Ritual Adept. This means that casters can't sling spells in combat, as it takes several minutes to cast a spell. However, they can prepare Conditional Rituals and Charms which allow them to activate specific spells in combat-useful time-frames.

This way, you don't have to go through and define each D&D spell, because you're using the endlessly-flexible RPM rules ... but you can have a say in what spells the PCs prepare for "quick-casting."

I myself came up with some templates for DF based on using RPM. I had wizards take their magery with Requires Grimoire or Ritual Mastery, -40% and disallowed them taking Ritual Adept, while Sorcerors took their magery with Limited, Tradition -20%, No conditionals, -20% and required Ritual Adept without connection [30] and Gathering Mastery (1 sec per energy gathering roll), [35]. Make liberal use of the suggestions in Pyramid #66 The Laws of Magic and you're golden.