08-11-2020, 04:49 PM | #101 | |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dreamland
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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That's a recommendation for regular perks. Combat perks follow their own rules. And I personally think that power perks should follow their own rules, too, on how many you can buy. I've never put a limit directly on those myself because sometimes you want or need a lot to really have the right 'feel' for your power (but also limited Modular Abilities can cover that well and 'give' you far more perks than any limit would establish). |
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08-11-2020, 05:31 PM | #102 | |
Join Date: Aug 2018
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
These new spells sound like great choices for Wizardly Dabbler perks.
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As is, the more spells we add to the repertoire with additional sourcebooks, the more inherently powerful Ritual Magic becomes compared to the standard system! It's especially powerful when we keep in mind that the various gate/summoning spells and metamorphosis into various animals all require distinct skills, and having the Path gives you access to ALL of them as default techniques. Even with the Magical Styles perk allowing use of Thaumatology's optional rule for magic spells (skills) defaulting to one another at -4, it still seriously lags behind "Path of X" in terms of the breadth of options you get and how cheap it is to level up a vast swath of spells. |
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08-11-2020, 05:45 PM | #103 | |
Join Date: Aug 2018
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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As for Magery 2, my headcanon is that Magery 1 mages can use "Extra Effort" rules from GURPS Powers to temporarily have Magery 2. Given that EE requires a successful will roll every MINUTE (and spending FP) and that failure risks CRIPPLING the ability (magery gone for a while) it seems like it would be very difficult to keep it boosted +100% for the entire one-hour-minimum (60 cumulative successes) needed to do Quick and Dirty Enchantment. If a mage SOMEHOW succeeds at this, they deserve their Powerstone IMO. Even though William Headly did not explicitly create his staff (maybe he just FOUND his signature gear) my headcanon is it includes a Manastone and that he created it himself, so giving Headly a means of temporarily boosting Ritual Magery 1 to Ritual Magery 2 via exploiting Powers' EE rules satisfies my headcanon. This is probably actually noncanon/illegal (something about being unable to use Extra Effort on Talents, and that Magery isn't technically a "power" because it lacks a "power modifier") so you could keep it off-limits to standard mages and perhaps require either a "Rules Exemption" perk or a Cosmic +50% enhancement to purchase the privilege of using EE with Magery. |
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08-11-2020, 05:55 PM | #104 | |
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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Even if the EE idea you're talking about were possible, Headley doesn't have Path of Enchantment, so with his Thaumatology-6 default and -11 from prerequisites, his effective Manastone level would be 0. Really don't think he made his own manastone. |
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08-11-2020, 06:13 PM | #105 | |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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---- My instinct, if using these spells under ritual magic, would be to allow Average skill spells to be cast at +1 skill relative to what the prerequisite count would suggest (so college skill +1 for these), since Very Hard spells are canonically cast at -1 compared to hard spells.
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08-12-2020, 04:38 PM | #106 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
I've just realised a problem for those who rely on Ack. It's undoubtedly possible to create an IQ/H or IQ/VH spell that works the same way, but allows you to lie about who you are.
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08-12-2020, 04:44 PM | #107 |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
A casting of Identify Spell by the mage can clear that up (I would allow the mage receiving the Ack to count as its subject, meaning no range penalty for Identify Spell, but I'm not certain the rules unambiguously support that).
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I predicted GURPS:Dungeon Fantasy several hours before it came out and all I got was this lousy sig. |
08-12-2020, 04:48 PM | #108 |
Join Date: Dec 2013
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
I would call that an opportunity for in-game intrigue, rather than a problem with Ack. ;)
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08-13-2020, 04:07 AM | #109 | |
On Notice
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Sumter, SC
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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1) This is so Rube Goldberg that it isn't funny which violates the second rule of a game (first being keep it fun) - keep it simple. 2) This relates to point 1: Occam's Razor suggests Headly either found the staff or had it made for him. 3) We KNOW William Headly could NOT have done as you suggested because his Thaumatology skill is 14 and "College skills have the core skill as a prerequisite and may never exceed the core skill." (B242) So he can never get to the skill 15 needed to even use the Path of Enchantment. Worse yet Path of Enchantment is NOT amount the three paths (Communication & Empathy, Gate, and Necromancy) he does have. That means per RAW that he is -6 (ouch) to Path of Enchantment in addition to the -11 for Staff (B242, M235) But his skill is below that critical 15 so even if he knew both Path of Enchantment and Staff it would do him no good. Oh BTW that "-10" for Powerstone was a test to see if anyone who replied actually knew the rules; it's actually -11 (M232). 4) The Multiple spell success chart (derived from the Powerstone table in The Compleat Powerstone) shows that this only has a 25.9% chance of being able to work. And then there is only a 16.2% chance the thing will have no quirks. The cumulative chance on that is around 4% or a 5 or lower on a 3d6. 5) You omitted the list of pro and cons of Paut Talisman vs Powerstone which showed the other advantages of the method. Here is the full list again: Pros of Paut Talismans vs Powerstones *Magery 2 and spells not required to make: Since Paut involves Alchemy, Magery 2 and the 11 spells needed to learn Powerstone are not required. *Faster process at higher energy: It takes 100 days to make a 6 energy Paut Talisman rather then 120 days for a 6 point Powerstone via the Slow and Sure process. *Option for better base success rate: Since Talisman making is not enchanting, with high enough skill a 16 can succeed and only an 18 is a critical failure. *Better cumulative success rate: Since a 6 energy Powerstone takes multiple castings there is only a 90.7% chance the item will survive the process rather then the 95.4% for a 6 energy Paut Talisman. *No quirks: Unlike a Powerstone, a Paut Talisman will have no quirks - either the process works or it doesn't. *Fixed "recharge" rate: The break even point for a Paut Talisman vs a Powerstone is 2 energy in normal mana. A Paut Talisman recharges far faster in low mana then a Powerstone. *Multiple Talismans can be used together: There is nothing in the RAW that says that multiple Talismans cannot be used together. This allows a mage to use as many Paut Talismans as they can can wear. *Other Talismans can be made: Since all elixirs are based off of the alchemy skill the crafting of other Talismans is possible. Cons of Paut Talismans vs Powerstones *Expensive: At $700/energy point a Paut Talisman is far more expensive then a Powerstone of the same energy. In fact, a Paut Talisman does not become less expensive until around 40 energy which is effectively impossible to make. *Practical Energy limitation: Since each dose (energy point) is -1 for each dose beyond the first Paut Talismans beyond 6 energy are extremely rare. *Paut Talismans cannot be made more efficient: They must be separate items and cannot be part of another magic item. *Requires activation in Low Mana: a Talisman requires a roll against the effective skill of the alchemist who originally created it. *Fixed "recharge" rate: the Classic version of Charge Powerstone and the Mana Pool quirk dramatically changes the break even point in terms of "recharge" rate. *Must be Worn to "recharge": A Talisman must be worn to come out of dormancy. "A talisman stashed in a chest or backpack will lie dormant indefinitely." *Amount of Energy cannot be improved: The energy of a Paut Talisman is set at creation. More energy can be added to a Powerstone after creation vis the Powerstone spell. What sane mage would go though the convoluted (and insanely risky) method you suggest rather then learn Alchemy at 20 and put 5 points into the Paut technique?
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Help make a digital reference for GURPS by coming to the GURPS wiki and provide some information and links (such as to various Fanmade 4e Bestiaries) . Please, provide more then just a title and a page number. Last edited by maximara; 08-15-2020 at 09:27 AM. |
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08-13-2020, 07:30 AM | #110 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
Possibly with Hide Thoughts or False Aura as a prerequisite.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
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magic, trivial spells |
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