TL2 Fantasy Tips

[tshiggins]

From what you initially posted, it appears that this will have a narrow focus for a campaign of limited duration, perhaps?

If you'd like to make references to some deeper lore for your players, though, maybe have them find an ingot of orichalcum marked as originating in Atlantis?

I gave that some useful magical properties in my Facets campaign -- basically, it enhances enchantments and when used to create a shape of a Platonic Solid with bound, equally-powerful powerstones on the points, all the powerstones count as one (and recharge as such).

You also said you wanted an Eastern European focus, which takes you sorta far from Atlantis, but if you put an old trading post at some version of Constanța for your setting, then you might easily justify it as taken in some Thracian raid and then stolen by some monster and lost in a dungeon, somewhere.

Throw in a group sponsored by some horribly powerful evil meddler (Baba Yaga or someone) who is after the same valuable ingot, and the dungeon-crawl the players expected has the potential to go unexpectedly sideways as someone shows up to steal the loot from them. :)

I know the views of the history, legends and mythology of that region differ from Western European perspectives of them, and they're considerably darker than even the original Grimm's Fairy Tales.

The foundation of The Witcher stories in that cultural milieu is what takes them so far into fantasy-horror, as I understand it.

There have been a couple of good fan efforts to convert creatures in The Witcher to GURPS, so maybe look for those. Toss in some references to a beneficent serpent fertility deity that kinda-sorta resembles the Glykon, too, as a source of clerical healing and helpful potions, maybe?

GURPS does not assume that the point of magic is to compete with warriors in combat, and it certainly doesn't try to match damage output of spells with that of weapons. If that's your only goal, you'll have to tailor the available spells to make sure that's what you're getting. Maybe an Explosive Fireball spell can only be prepared for one turn, and so on. Traditionally, it's said that magic in GURPS isn't as damage-oriented as it is in D&D, but that wizards need to use their spells creatively.

In basic GURPS, magic definitely enhances rather than replaces melee combat.
For instance, a mage with a properly-prepared staff (it has the "Staff" enchantment) can use "Shocking Touch" to hit every other second for an additional dice of electrical damage, in addition to the crushing damage done by the staff -- which is also an excellent defensive weapon.

Moreover, since the staff has a reach of two hexes, the mage can stand behind some fighter-tank and thump people from the second rank, and the "Shocking Touch" extends down the length of the weapon.

Give said mage a few seconds to prepare, and his first strike with the staff does an extra 3d6 or so, which ignores metal armor, plus the crushing damage, and leaves him in good shape defensively for whomever tries to step in over the collapsed body of the guy he just one-punched, because the target focused his defenses on the much more dangerous-looking fighter. :)

GURPS magic can be devastating, but you have to think about how best to use it, given the particular circumstances and the spells available.