Artifact Spells For Dungeon Fantasy

[scc]

Artifact Spells appear in the D&D 3.5 books Secrets of Xen'drik, where they are spells that appear on giant stone tablets (left by giants), reading one will allow a character to cast a spell that is more powerful then usual for it's level precisely once, and if the character wants to cast it again they'll have to trek back to whatever dungeon they originally found it in and study it again. For adding these to DF I figure that if the character studies one of these spells it's treated as a VH spell known at the 1 point, or maybe even lower.

The question is what spells to offer, Death Spells and Artillery Spells might seem like good options but they're balanced against existing spells, where as Artifact Spells shouldn't be, and they aren't really good fits, save-or-die and anti-horde spells being not good choices to allow players access to in DF, so what do people suggest?

[Dustin]

The normally off-limits-for-DF spells in the Gate and Time categories (DF1, p20) seem like good candidates. Maybe wizardly versions of the heavy PI 5/6 spells normally restricted to Clerics and Druids (it's a nice way to limit Raise Dead/Resurrection, for instance).

I would also consider removing prerequisites for what is more of a location effect than an actual spell skill, or allowing casting at penalties. These penalties could potentially be mitigated by certain exotic spell components or minor artifacts that require questing to obtain, forming the basis of an adventure or a whole campaign.

[Anders]

Spells are primarily balanced by their energy cost, so I would use normal spells and cut energy cost in two or three.

[Refplace]

Spells or any trait that can only be used once (or powered by character points) generally have their cost divided by 5. So thats another way to get what you describe.

[Anders]

The spell can be cast from the stone slab with a successful Thaumatology spell (possibly modified by the prerequisite number, if you want to make it hard). Energy cost is divided by five (see preceding post).

[scc]

Originally Posted by Anders

The spell can be cast from the stone slab with a successful Thaumatology spell (possibly modified by the prerequisite number, if you want to make it hard). Energy cost is divided by five (see preceding post).

The stone slab is functionally immovable, it's at least 6 feet tall, 2 thick and like 10 long, and every time you want to cast the spell you must study it again, which means journeying to where ever it is.

Probably a good way to give characters access to ways to bring the dead back.

[Anthony]

Artifact spells don't really make sense under GURPS Magic, because the way they work is essentially Vancian magic -- it counts against your available prepared spells, which is a significant drawback to going off and memorizing it, as that spell slot is now unavailable until you use the spell up. Since GURPS mages don't have spell preparation, this doesn't really make sense conceptually and also isn't a balancing factor.

That said, magical artifacts that embed spells in your brain seem like an interesting idea. I'd be tempted to count them as a spell 'on' until cast, but make them not cost fatigue (or cost fatigue as part of memorizing them, rather than when you cast).

[Ruien]

As Anthony points out, this concept was invented under Vancian magic, so to be applicable to GURPS Standard Magic, we really want to translate the concept more than the implementation.

The main drawback of carrying this prepared spell around under the Vancian system is that it consumes a spell slot until it's used. To mimic that, I would allow a character to prepare the spell by temporarily segregating some of their FP into this new spell. For instance, a wizard with 18 FPs may find an Artifact Spell of Secret Spell: Mass Invisibility. I might even give them an energy discount on it -- say, 2 to cast, 2 to maintain. The player puts 8 FP into this, which is enough for a 2-hex area for 2 minutes including maintenance.

Now, they operate as if they had 10 FPs, which recover normally. The 8FP dedicated to the memorized spell cannot be freed until used, at which point it can be cast at (say) IQ skill. After that, the spell is gone and those FPs are freed up for normal recovery.

As for appropriate spells, a good option might be the Secret Spells in Magical Styles: Dungeon Magic. This is one of my favorite supplements, and it's likely that you have at least some of the colleges unrepresented by PCs, so the secret spells there make good "one time use" candidates. Not overpowered, but fun and good variety. For instance, I'd try Blast Ball (at an additional discount) if you don't have any mages in the Order of the Sun.

[scc]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Artifact spells don't really make sense under GURPS Magic, because the way they work is essentially Vancian magic -- it counts against your available prepared spells, which is a significant drawback to going off and memorizing it, as that spell slot is now unavailable until you use the spell up. Since GURPS mages don't have spell preparation, this doesn't really make sense conceptually and also isn't a balancing factor.

Originally Posted by Ruien

As Anthony points out, this concept was invented under Vancian magic, so to be applicable to GURPS Standard Magic, we really want to translate the concept more than the implementation.

The main drawback of carrying this prepared spell around under the Vancian system is that it consumes a spell slot until it's used. To mimic that, I would allow a character to prepare the spell by temporarily segregating some of their FP into this new spell. For instance, a wizard with 18 FPs may find an Artifact Spell of Secret Spell: Mass Invisibility. I might even give them an energy discount on it -- say, 2 to cast, 2 to maintain. The player puts 8 FP into this, which is enough for a 2-hex area for 2 minutes including maintenance.

No it doesn't, it only occupies a spell slot if you choose to prepare it (And that's IF you prepare spells, 3.5e's default spell caster is actually the sorcerer), if you choose not to prepare it you don't loose it, and if you do prepare it and decide you want to cast another spell in that slot that's fine and you don't lose the spell either, you only lose it if you use it.

[Latro]

Buy the spell as a one time advantage like a favor.