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#1 |
Join Date: Jul 2005
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The standard spell magic system in GURPS assumes that spell casting is relatively common and magic items rare in the extreme. This is a perfectly valid setting assumption; I do not speak against it generally. But I have a setting in mind that's almost the opposite: magical power objects are by far the most common method of performing magical feats, and simple casting is uncommon at best. So what would be the least change needed to the spell magic system to express this element? I keep specifying spell magic because I like its structure and I know it best, and because the other systems, other than Magic as Powers, seem to be based on the same "casting common, items rare" assumption.
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#2 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Maybe gadget-limited Magery?
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#3 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Well, first you'll want to define what you mean by magical power objects. Do you mean enchanted items that confer the ability to cast one or two (or perhaps more) spells? Objects like wands/fetishes that grant the general ability to cast known spells (possibly with some limitations, like One College Only or similar)? Rare spell-casting (with focus objects or otherwise), but a lot of invisibility cloaks and flaming swords and the like?
The first and third imply making spellcasting difficult but enchantment relatively easy; the second is basically Anders' suggestion of Gadget-Limited Magery (although if wands are really common, it might just be Magery with Requires Wand -10% or similar). What option are you looking for?
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#4 | |
Join Date: Jul 2005
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#5 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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If it's the former, you may want to have enchantment roughly follow the default rules (but allow it to go faster and/or be cheaper), but only allow enchanting (or make non-enchanting markedly more difficult). Characters can still learn spells from other colleges, they just can't cast any (so can only use for enchanting). I'd probably price Magery as One College Only - or maybe halfway between that and full-blown Magery, considering you can still learn other college spells and get the Magery bonus, you just can't cast them. You may want to reduce the difficulty for unusable spells - this will make it easier for your enchanters to know several spells to enchant into items. This puts all the complexity on the enchanters, as the end users can just pick up any wand they meet the prerequisite for and go to town (provided they also have the relevant use skill - Broadsword for a Flaming Weapon sword, Innate Attack for a Wand of Fireball, etc). "Golf Bags of Holding" may be common, with a combat "mage" having several different wands for dealing with various situations (Fireball, Stone Missile, Sunbolt, etc). If it's the latter, things are a bit more complex. I'd probably make most spells easier to learn, and give a discount to Magery as you're dependent on having a specific wand for each spell (somewhere between -20% and -50%, perhaps). This makes the end user have to deal with complexity (enchanter still has to), as he or she needs to both have an appropriate wand and know how to cast the spell. This will result in more focused combat mages. Which approach appeals more to you? *I'll note I'm using "wand" as a generic term for your spellcasting items - they could be an amulet, a ring, a sword, a quiver... whatever is appropriate.
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GURPS Overhaul Last edited by Varyon; 05-25-2021 at 12:28 PM. |
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#6 | |
Join Date: Jul 2005
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#7 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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If you then change the rate of Slow and Sure enchantment from the usual one point per day to something faster, such as Magery level points per day, that makes enchantments substantially easier and thus cheaper.
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#8 |
Join Date: Jul 2005
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I've decided to change the prerequisites for Enchant to Scroll and any five other spells. There's no deep reason for this beyond wanting specialist mages to be a viable option and considering 84 CP in spells (assuming IQ 12, Magery 2 to be typical for the mage population as a whole) a quite sufficient barrier to entry (seriously, that's about eight and a half years of full-time study). Also, S&S takes 1 day per 100 points. So our conjectural average mage with Ignite, Seek, Create, Extinguish and Shape Fire will need just over two weeks to make the needed tools (I'd allow "modular" items, like a bracelet into which charms are inserted if the base item is first enchanted with Staff).
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#9 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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If you want magic items to dominate over casting one's own spells, one easy way is to require ceremonial casting for all magic use except when casting the spell stored in an item. Then litter your setting with magic items so the players don't have to make them. |
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#10 |
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Using standard rules, however common or rare magery is in a given setting, enchanters will always be a subset of mages. And given the extremely broad range of spells an effective enchanter needs, that makes them an even smaller subset, and the extremely isolated and disciplined lifestyle enchanting requires makes that already-reduced subset even smaller. So if the setting reflects the rules, then spell casting is going to be more common, and the use of enchanted objects much rarer.
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Tags |
enchanting, enchantment-only magery, magic, oco (enchantment), spell, spell casting, variant rules |
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