Implications of Gurps Magic on a Merchant Princes-like setting - advice needed

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Black Leviathan

I wouldn't rely on a spell difficulty or college to determine the danger of specific magics. Very simple magical effects could blow your economy off kilter. I'd go through the whole list, look at the description and think about how it could be used in your setting. Categorize them as "Safe", "Risky" or "Game-breaking". Just toss out any game-breaking magic outright as Lost Magics. Let the players have access to any of the safe spells at the start of game. If prerequisites are lost magics, tough luck, there are lots of other spells that are available. Consider letting the players get their hands on Risky magics as the game progresses and they can do less harm to the setting.

This is the best way to handle things IMHO. People tend to gravitate to the flashy spells and fail to realize that other spells are just as powerful but in different ways.

Take Copy for instance. Enough people know it and you have the equivalent of the Printing Revolution without actual printing presses.

Preserve Food, Create Food, and Essential Food would similarly be powerful spells in TL4. Armies of that time generally had to trade with or raid the local area for food as it just wasn't practical to have a mammoth supply train with the army. Heck, this was a problem clear into TL5.

Personally I would go for a more "standard" magic was a forgotten science method with what remaining being the Ritual Magic system with a very limited spell list.