British Military Combatives in the Queen's Service

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fwibos

I like the fighting style, but when facing supernaturals, you might want to add joint strikes and manipulation. It will allow them to cripple attackers more quickly, and ST 30 matters less when you can't move your legs.

Gurkha Close Combat Training is an attempt to represent the realistic combative training that Gurkha light infantry receive with their kukris and in hand-to-hand in general. It's not meant to be a specific style developed for either the Queen's Paranormal Rangers or the organisation as a whole.

Those styles will be built on Combat Bando and other Burmese thaing; with the active quick-reaction Ranger teams adding Gurkha kukri techniques, as well as elements from other commando unit FCCT-esque sentry removal systems and a serious focus on military methods of securing detainees, tactical police arrest techniques and high-risk riot suppression training.

And Bando is an excellent style for breaking limbs, whether that's done on the ground using naban grappling techniques or with low joint kicks originating in lethay kickboxing. It also trains you to expect the foe to ignore any pain short of physical destruction of limbs or psysiological incapacitation*, for one thing because the aim is to teach you to do the same.**

*Usually through blunt trauma or lack of oxygen to the brain, both of which are useful against foes that still rely on human metabolisms, but less so against animated corpses or such. Hence the reliance on armed methods of dispatching such foes.
**Obviously, like with any extravagant claim made by proponents of a martial art, the reality is usually less impressive. In any case, it's not the style, it's the stylist. But at least it does no harm to the self-image and confidence of the recruits to have them trained in a brutal, aggressive style emphasising physical and mental conditioning.

Originally Posted by Fwibos

Against strong supernaturals, a two man team (one to grapple, one to stabby-stab) might be the way to go. I know it's more efficient to do one-on-one man defense against monsters, but it's much more useful to win.

As noted above, hand-to-hand against supernaturals resembles knife duels of agile escrimadors rather less than it recalls a rugby scrimmage with knives, ideally ending in a pileup on top of a threat that's already been shot until it's a mess of bleeding meat.

[Icelander]

The rules that apply to magic and the paranormal seem like they would be relevant information.

At the core, I'm using the Path/Book system from Thaumatology p. 121-165, of the Effect Shaping variety (p. 133-134). There are many different varieties, with pretty much any system which has sincere believers (or has had, historically) having the potential to work. There are also other supernatural abilities which use different systems; such as Alchemy and Symbol-based Enchantment (runes, knots, etc.) and such Advantage-based Powers as Shamanism (p. 207) and Soothsaying (p. 208).

Assisting Spirits (p. 90-94), Mortals with Supernatural Servants (p. 209-210) and Spirit Vessels (p. 211-214) all exist in the setting and are major sources of quick and easy power. Consequently, they are also a major source of supernatural terror.

My Path/Book magic is mana-sensitive, using the Ritual Space and Mana and Aspected Space rules (p. 126), which does not, however, replace the normal ritual space requirements (p. 128). I use Path/Book Magery, with the options of Limited Non-Mage Ceremonies and Magery Adds to Rituals (p. 123).

What that means is that people without Magery can attempt to use Path/Book magic in the setting, but will suffer a -5 penalty to ritual rolls. Magery comes in 1-point increments that reduces this penalty, until it reaches 0, with only very rare people having Magery higher than 0 and that usually only after having been trained.

Magical aptitude is to some extent inborn, but most magical traditions include advanced methods to induce and raise Magery (sometimes Limited Magery) with sufficicent dedication and sacrifice. If anyone in the setting has Path/Book Adept, it would be some powerful spirit, as no mortal has demonstrated anything close to that level of facility with magic.

Most other supernatural abilities are also mana-sensitive and suffer the same penalties as Path/Book magic for local mana and things that influence it. There are very rare exceptions, mostly esoteric disciplines known by heirs to powerful magical traditions which used to work last time magic was active in the world, but even if these can ignore the penalty for Very Low and Low Mana, they still cannot work in areas of No Mana.

The most important paranormal gifts known to the Shadow Court of Britain which can sometimes ignore mana level penalties are Advantages-as-Powers connected with spiritualism or prophecy, like Detect (Spirits), Medium, Oracle, Precognition, Psychometry and Spirit Empathy. With rare exceptions, these are Uncontrolled Only or purely passive powers, however.

For Mana Levels, I use the rules for Very Low Mana, Continous Mana, Variable Mana (all p. 58) and Aspected Mana (p. 59). The mana level on Earth ranges from No Mana through Very Low Mana in most places, with the average mana level in 2012 being between -9 or -8. Some areas are Low Mana (-7 to -3), but there are only a few places on Earth where the mana level is universally lower than -5, with most of the places of power instead being Aspected toward certain types of magic and/or having the mana level rise to a peak during certain times with historical resonance at that spot.

Factors that influence local mana appear to be complex. Most theories in historical magical systems have some validity, with ley lines, places of power, connection to ancestor spirits, faerie stones, the history of the area and natural vegetation (all lack thereof) all having an impact somewhere. One of the strongest correlative factors appears to be between local belief in the supernatural as it relates to the area in question, as well as lack of modern technological artifacts or structures built with modern means.

From the sidebar on p. 60 'Technology Disrupts Magic', I take the middle option, i.e. that technology reduces the local Mana Level by up to -(TL-3). This penalty applies in full when rituals are attempted within a place that is completely built by modern technology, changed completely from its state of nature, and both mage, target and the environment are exposed to a lot of high technology while casting. If only some of those aspects hold true, it will be reduced or halved and if the only technology around are minor handheld devices on the mage or target, the penalty is divided by four, rounded down (which translates into -1).

As the modifier for technology used to shape the environment as well as the presence of technological artifacts in the ritual space applies to the local Mana Level and not just the individual ritual, anything which suffices to push the modifier above -10 results in the area counting as a No Mana Zone, making any kind of supernatural power use impossible.

A consequence of this is that the mana levels are generally higher in developing countries than highly industrialised ones, as well as pockets of relatively high mana being more widely available in wilderness areas where the locals have traditionally believed in supernatural powers. Apart from such areas, places with a long history, a lot of local supernatural folklore and that have previously been home to organised societies of powerful magicians may pack a surprising amount of metaphysical punch, leading to pockets of paranormal power existing in the middle of otherwise high-tech metrapolises, like London, Rome and Alexandria.

For almost all conscious use of magic, I use Mandadory and Significant Modifiers (p. 82). Specifically, I use some form of Decanic Correspondances, Decanic Natures, Zodiacal Correnspondances and Planetary Correspondances (p. 247-253) or an equivalent that applies within the worldview of the magical tradition that the magician is using.

I also use the Magical Laws (p. 14-15, 86-87, 243-246) with the Overcoming Distance option (p. 87); the Significant Dates option (p. 87, 246-247); the Materials option (p. 87, 244); Magical Languages (p. 87-88); the Sacrifice option (p. 54-58, 88, 246); and both Purity and Magical Patina options (p. 88-89), depending on the type of ritual and the magical tradition in question.

In addition, Sacred Architecture (p. 89) works to modify local Mana level. The relevant skill is Thaumatology, in this setting the skill of understanding and using the universal laws of magic that underlie all the magical traditions.

Symbol Drawing skills, in addition to being potentially useful for Symbol-based Enchantment, can also be used to assist rituals within the appropriate magical tradition*, granting a bonus as detailed on B224.

In addition, some magical traditions allow the use of other skills in a similar manner to Symbol Drawing, i.e. with success granting half the margin of success as a bonus to the Ritual Magic roll, and/or as Complementary skills. Examples include Thaumatology for all traditions, Meditation and/or Autohypnosis for introspective ones, Body Control for many Eastern traditions, Poetry for those based on many ancient Indo-European traditions, Mathematics (Pure) for Qabala and others, Theology or Philosophy for magical traditions closely associated with a certain worldview, etc. In any case, using Symbol Drawing or a non-magical skill to aid in the roll for a ritual does not take penalties for local mana level.

Finally, any use of the supernatural is subject to a penalty if done within the awareness of sceptics. Aside from the Skeptic Perk (GURPS Psionic Powers p. 24) which works as written against most any supernatural power (and is obviously common among scientific investigators into the occult), there is also a penalty for skeptics without any specific traits.

For any ritual or other supernatural working done while others are aware of what you are doing, there is a penalty for non-believers who pay attention to the casting. Take the number of people who are actively thinking about you while aware of the effect you are trying to achieve and who believe strongly that you will not succeed. Consult the Speed/Range Table, substituting number of skeptics for the number of yards. The penalty thus starts at -1 for three people and continues indefinitely if someone should try to perform magic on live TV.

Being 'aware' is defined as pretty much anyone who is directly watching you while recognising that you are trying to use a supernatural power to accomplish a specific goal. It also applies to people further away, as long as they have enough information to be able to think about you with sufficient precision to identify you (the metaphysics appear to match the Laws of Magic, more or less).

Whether this works in reverse, i.e. with strong believers granting a bonus to magic use, is unclear. It seems, at least, that people with a positive attitude can mitigate the penalty from strong skeptics, at least if their opinions are strongly held, but it appears much more complicated and difficult to focus sufficiently to be able to help with the ritual. It is entirely possible that normal Ceremonial Magic with huge crowds is viable in the setting, but each member of the crowd would have to have some understanding of the metaphysics of magic in addition to just raw belief in order to contribute anything useful. As a result, the usual effect of performing rituals with a crowd of witnesses is that it is made much harder, or at best, if the witnesses are mostly positive, that it is equally difficult as doing so in secret would be.

*A researcher with Thaumatology might discover ways of applying the bonus for such symbols while using a Ritual Magic skill associated with a tradition that is completely different from that which gave rise to the symbolic lexicon, but so far, this remains advanced and arcane theory only.

[aesir23]

I know the martial arts question is settled (Bando + Gurkha kukri fighting, both awesome choices), but just for fun I found a couple of schools in Cambridge that might be suitable for a PC that wants some extra training or a background in civilian combat training.

There is one MMA gym, for a practical unarmed fighting.

And one school that teaches FMA, including knife fighting. (This one also teaches Jeet Kune Do, Savate, and Canne du Combat. Which I find fairly awesome.)

[Icelander]

Metaphysics of Magical Languages.

A language where there are many living speakers appears to dilute the impact of words spoken by any one user, possibly due to the enormous levels of mutual contradictory belief, statements and wishes that are channeled through mental pathways shaped by the linguistic elements available to it.

As such, trying to perform any form of magic with an element of language, whether that's a ritual chant, a written formula or a poetical spoken curse, using any of the 12-20 most commonly spoken languages in the world today carries a penalty of -5. Less common languages range from -4 (Polish, Burmese or Nepali) to -2 (Endangered dialects of larger language groups, most languages with less than 500,000 total speakers). Most forms of Arabic, despite their popularity, enjoy at worst a -2 penalty, with scholarly Classical Arabic being only -1, equal to modern Icelandic for well-educated speakers. Languages with a similar or lower number of speakers as Icelandic might also impose only a -1 penalty, particularly if they are not closely related to other living languages, and a few almost extinct languages in areas of the world where there is still a thriving faith in a consistent magical tradition have a modifier of 0 when used within that tradition.

Languages that are not currently living languages for any significant number of people usually carry no modifier, at least if fairly widely known or easy to learn. This includes such standbyes as Latin (various forms), Ancient Greek (ditto) and Old Norse, but also the purer forms of Gaelic (Modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic), Classical Hebrew and Classical Tibetan*, at least if care is taken to avoid neologisms from closely related popular and living languages. In addition, many other archaic and pure form languages still in common use might rate a modifier of 0. A few, particularly if there exists a significant amount of material on paranormal subjects in it, may even grant a bonus, as suggested below.

With increasing rarity and the influence of some other murky factors (sometimes taken to yield clues about the origins of magic), obscure or ancient languages may grant a bonus of +1 (Modern Sanskrit, Middle Irish, Archaic Chinese) to +3 (Avestan, Sumerian, Vedic Sanskrit, Archaic Egyptian). Some reconstructed or revealed (sometimes through contact with spirits) languages may even grant +4 to +5, such as the Enochian language known to the magicians of the Queen's Shadow Court and the Proto-Sumeric used by a terrifying magician encountered by my PCs in one campaign.

In all cases, using a language known only at Accented level is grounds for a -1 penalty and Broken causes a -3 penalty. This can be reduced or eliminated for individual rituals with enough research, through use of the Research and Linguistics skills. Lack of Cultural Familiarity with the culture where the language which forms the intended ritual effect was used is good for another -3.** This penalty can in turn be reduced or eliminated by a roll against a relevant skill, usually Research in combination with one or more of Archeology, Anthropology, Area Knowledge, History, Theology or similar skills.

This means that unless one is an expert on the culture and language of the magical tradition in use, the penalty from incanting rituals in a dead language might be greater than doing so in a modern one. Of course, that assumes that functioning rituals even exist in the modern language in question. Untrained people have essentially no chance of successfully accomplishing any supernatural stuff at all, unless aided by spirits (usually malignant). Even competent wizards probably could not reliably perform their magic in front of skeptical witnesses in controlled circumstances, especially not since most laboratories would be No Mana or Very Low Mana -10 at the very best.

One interesting side effect of the language issue is that the ability to apply magical knowledge is disproportionally concentrated in small societies at the margins of the modern world, where the spoken language is still closely related to an ancient language, and there is a strong tradition of magical theory. If many people within that culture combine a belief in some form of the supernatural with the study of a dead language as a liturgical language, it is possible for a very high proportion of their religious leaders to have the ability to dabble in the paranormal. Some marginal societies that are still at mostly Stone Age in technology (or very so within only a couple of generations), as well as esoteric religious societies in East, Southeast and Central Asia, India and the Near East, may have systems where elders, priests or other special caste or class learn a very rare language with a strong magical tradition and also have a body of rituals that are effective as magic without any changes, once the magic has returned.

By 2010 or so, the senior people in these societies will have successfully adapted their ancient rituals in order to get rid of any accidental corruptions over the time while magic did not work and have fairly impressive abilities. Their acolytes who will have had almost twenty years living in a world with magical potential will have become full-fledged magicians, shamans or monks with supernatural powers. Any such religious order effectively functions as a powerful paranormal society that can affect things on a global scale if they choose.

Take Tibetan monks in a very old temple that has seen constant use for hundreds of years, originally built using the local version of Sacred Architecture, and they operate at local Mana of -5, at worst, with a +3 or more for Sacred Architecture and +3 or more for the long history of use, both of which apply to uses of the magical tradition to which the monks belong. Furthermore, their daily language is worth a +0 modifier, with the Sanskrit that their chants are usually composed in offering the potential for a further +1 to +3, depending on what variety is used as a liturgical language there. What this means is that instead of the -8 to -16 that Western magicians have to start with before they start accumulating bonuses, these monks might have a +3 or more to ritual use or other supernatural abilities while in their temple. Of course, when they leave it, they might find that their magic doesn't work any more, but properly prepared, they ought to be able to bring their impressive supernatural abilities to bear somehow.

Adventuring Magic

Trying to use magic anywhere but in a prepared ritual space located somewhere with decent local mana would have an average penalty of -13 to -14 (mana level + the penalty for lack of ritual space). Trying to do the magic on the fly adds a -5 penalty for near-instant use and a -2 for trying to do it on a time-scale of minutes. A quickly prepared area that's either outside in a natural area or in a very old building and is not completely filled with technological artifacts might squeek by at a -10. Finally, a fairly well chosen sanctum, maybe a room in an old house located on a ley line where the mage has spent a week on preparing it properly might net him only a -7 to -8 penalty.

The best possible sanctums might be Low Mana for a -5 locally, grant a +3 to +5 for Sacred Architecture to certain types of magic and have up to +5 in bonuses for having been used all through history during the periods of magical activity, most of them probably also Aspected toward certain magic types. For the right type of magic, they could give a bonus of up to +5 or so. On the other hand, these would be historical monuments of immense importance and not all that easy to gain access to in order to perform strange and time-consuming rituals.

A dabbler in magic who has a single 'magical' language at Broken or Accented and maybe reduces the CF penalty by 1 will have a -3 to -4 penalty to his magic use in addition to mana, technological and skeptic penalties. Combined with the -5 he has if he doesn't have Magery 0***, this leads to most dabbling being as fruitless as it is in our real world, even if someone had plenty of time, had collected a bunch of magical materials, was willing to sacrifice heavily and was at a fairly good magical location. A scholar-mage with Magery 0 and Latin at Accented (Spoken) and Native (Written) as well as a couple of points spent on appropriate CF for the period during which his grimoires were composed would have only -2 as a further penalty, as long as he took care to avoid too much technology. The same would apply to someone who used a rare language in the modern world which he happened to speak at Native level and had CF with the culture at the time of composition of the rituals he used. Anyone with less than -2 penalty for language would probably be a highly knowledgable scholar of a fairly esoteric subject or a person from a primitive culture still existing in the modern day.

All in all, in order to use magic at all, massive situational bonuses from the Mandatory and Significant Modifier chapter in Thaumatology are neccessary and it will neither be quick nor very powerful. About the only exceptions are those willing to be assisted by spirits and sacrifice living, intelligent beings, but they still have to have the knowledge to do either in a way that actually helps them accomplish their rituals.

*Comparatively greater effectiveness of some languages beyond their rarity level are hotly debated by scholars, some of whom assume that these are descendants of 'original' languages of magic.
**Cultural Familitarity is a levelled trait, 1/level to reduce penalties. Defaults between related cultures, spatially and temporally.
***Which he's unlikely to have unless he is an enormously powerful natural talent, one-in-a-million type of thing, or he's been instructed by someone who really understands magic.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

... and such Advantage-based Powers as Shamanism (p. 207) and Soothsaying (p. 208).

This is clearly a setting where anything magical is of interest, and hence the ability to detect it is highly significant. You may well wish to ban the Detect (Magic) advantage, and consider the rules for IQ+Magery rolls to notice magical items.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by aesir23

I know the martial arts question is settled (Bando + Gurkha kukri fighting, both awesome choices), but just for fun I found a couple of schools in Cambridge that might be suitable for a PC that wants some extra training or a background in civilian combat training.

As crazy as it sounds, I'm not even running a game in this setting. Four NPCs associated with this group appeared as rivals-cum-allies in a game set in Boston in 2010 a few years ago.

I'll be sending out prospectii for a new campaign soon and several campaign ideas might feature this group at different times in its history. One campaign seed, naturally, would have the PCs be new recruits to the Shadow Court/QPR/Marlowe Fellows.

Originally Posted by aesir23

There is one MMA gym, for a practical unarmed fighting.

While an excellent sport, it's rather far removed from the necessary qualities in a style for no-holds barred combat with supernaturally dangerous foes. Even aside from the lack of weapons training, it lacks the emphasis on situational awareness, dirty fighting, teamwork, stealth and striking first that a truly practical martial art needs.

The philosophy of fighting that most of the Rangers hold to will be that if it is necessary that there should be violence, they should take care to make it one-sided violence without any rules. Even when seeking to capture foes or disable potential threats without lethal injury, they'll prefer to open with an overwhelming and brutal assault from surprise, preferably one using some kind of weapon (less-than-lethal shotloads, TASER, baton or at least an improvised blunt object) and then finish by piling on the victim, applying cuffs and other restraints any way they can, even if they have to break bones and tear ligaments to do it.

After all, they never end up in court defending what they do*. If they are attacking people are all**, it's because there is a clear and present danger to someone associated with the Shadow Court and/or a lot of innocent people. So neutralising the threat is more important than any other consideration.

*Truly dangerous people they tangle with are placed in one of several psychiatric institutes with whom they have an arrangement (if they survive being neutralised, that is), while more-or-less innocent people influenced or possessed by spirits are simply drugged and left unconscious somewhere after the spirit is dealt with.
**Which they dislike and try to avoid, because of the potential for discovery, if nothing else.

Originally Posted by aesir23

And one school that teaches FMA, including knife fighting. (This one also teaches Jeet Kune Do, Savate, and Canne du Combat. Which I find fairly awesome.)

That sounds pretty cool. Given that travelling to London more than once a week is impractical and that the hypothetical QPR unarmed combat instructor will only visit once a week, this place looks like a good place for people who live in Cambridge to stay in shape and get in extra sparring sessions.

Granted, after 2008 or so, there will be a private gym in both Cambridge and Oxford where long-term 'Marlowe Fellows' will instruct new ones even on days when the QPR instductor is not in town, but genuine martial art enthusiasts might not want to spar with the same few people all the time. And it's never a bad thing to add new styles and new ways of thinking about combat to the repertoire.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

This is clearly a setting where anything magical is of interest, and hence the ability to detect it is highly significant. You may well wish to ban the Detect (Magic) advantage, and consider the rules for IQ+Magery rolls to notice magical items.

I'm fine with both being possible. Of course, Magery 0 is mostly confined to exceptionally competent trained mages and a few very rare natural talents with the theoretical potential to become extraordinary powerful with training. Detect (Magic) is even rarer. Usually only certain types of magic or powers (usually Spirits) can be detected, depending on the tradition of the possessor of the power. In any event, no known human in the world has reliable and broad Detect Powers that work all the time and in easily predicable ways, with the apex probably being found among natural mediums and shamans with Detect (Spirits). Most of them are unreliable, Uncontrallable Only or only work in dreams and give only cryptic hints.

It's very much a design goal that if any part of the world experiences a sufficiently powerful magical event, the few trained seers and mages around the world will all learn about it in their own way in short order, but no one will be able to pin-point it precisely or know exactly who is involved.

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Icelander

As crazy as it sounds, I'm not even running a game in this setting.

Ha! That seems like a shame, I'd be quite thrilled to play in this setting.

I'd be tempted to steal it for my own games except,
A: I have no players at present.
and
B: I can't pass up the fun of doing my own campaign design.

Originally Posted by Icelander

While an excellent sport, it's rather far removed from the necessary qualities in a style for no-holds barred combat with supernaturally dangerous foes. Even aside from the lack of weapons training, it lacks the emphasis on situational awareness, dirty fighting, teamwork, stealth and striking first that a truly practical martial art needs.

FWIW, I agree with this assessment. In particular I think that MMAs strong tendency to encourage ground fighting is very dangerous in any situation where you might have multiple and/or armed opponents. I wasn't suggesting it for "official" training for your organization, but rather as a background for individual PCs who want to be unarmed combat specialists.

Since there are no PCs it's rather a moot point.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Ha! That seems like a shame, I'd be quite thrilled to play in this setting.

I'd be tempted to steal it for my own games except,
A: I have no players at present.
and
B: I can't pass up the fun of doing my own campaign design.

Let's say that I reserve all commercial and moral rights in the unlikely event anything connected to the setting is ever published, but that anyone is free to make any non-commercial use of it they wish. That applies particularly to using any elements in it for gaming, which I strongly encourage any interested parties to do.

Originally Posted by aesir23

FWIW, I agree with this assessment. In particular I think that MMAs strong tendency to encourage ground fighting is very dangerous in any situation where you might have multiple and/or armed opponents. I wasn't suggesting it for "official" training for your organization, but rather as a background for individual PCs who want to be unarmed combat specialists.

I doubt that any NPCs or PCs that aspire to the quick-reaction teams of the Queen's Paranormal Rangers will have any particular desire to be unarmed combat specialists. Some might want to be close-quarter specialists, but I imagine that would include a full-range of trapping, grappling, joint-manipulation, use of melee weapons and incidental striking with elbows, the live hand, blade pommels, gun stocks and a variety of improvised weapons. Not to mention using firearms at short ranges.

Unarmed combat is mostly a just-in-case thing for the Marlowe Fellows, i.e. academics, researchers, scientists and analysts who might have to take care of themselves well enough to be able to escape an attack, not the ex-military or ex-police Rangers who go out and look for supernatural trouble.

Originally Posted by aesir23

Since there are no PCs it's rather a moot point.

Well, there might be in the future. There probably will be more NPCs as well, even if the game is set somewhere else in the world than the UK, and I like to have NPCs be fully-realised people with backgrounds, hobbies and histories. I also might do some work on the organisation in order to be prepared for a hypothetical game later, even if it no game that has it as a central feature is selected for this campaign cycle.

Or maybe I'll write a series of short stories, who knows?

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Or maybe I'll write a series of short stories, who knows?

If you do so, let me know. I'd love to read them, it's a very promising setting.