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Old 04-25-2016, 10:44 AM   #1
Chaorain
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Default Fae magic as powers

I want to create Fae magic as a power. Namely I want to a pixie to be able to throw a fireball and have the people it hit become convinced that they got burned, yet no actual damage happens. Here is what I came up with:
Illusion (base cost 25, Independent +40%, Linked +10%, Dispellable -10%, Ranged +40%, Based on Will +20%)[45] + Affliction (base cost 10, Advantage (Delusion (I got hit with a spell)) +100%, Malediction +150%, Linked +10%, Duration Permanent +150%, Based on Will +20%, Area Effect +50%)[58]

This comes to a total of 103 points, however I'm not sure I built it right. I want the defense to make a single will roll when hit with the spell, even if they know it is an illusion cast by a pixi they must still save or their subconscious thinks it's real. I got the "Dispellable" modifier from Powers, Channeled Energies (page 24). The end effect should be that Cold Iron dispels both the illusion and the belief that it is real. Also the "Based on Will" modifiers are supposed to force the subject to make a single will save, for convenience.

I am not sure I built this power correctly, am I missing anything? Did I do the modifiers correct? Also Malediction and Ranged both have a 1/2D at 10 yards, what does that imply for this power?

EDIT: Also I want Pixi Fae magic to be linked to their wings, if they lose their wings the loose their magic, what kind of modifier is that?

Last edited by Chaorain; 04-25-2016 at 11:00 AM. Reason: Forgot a question.
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Old 04-25-2016, 11:41 AM   #2
Imion
 
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chaorain View Post
(...)
EDIT: Also I want Pixi Fae magic to be linked to their wings, if they lose their wings the loose their magic, what kind of modifier is that?
Personally, I would not use a modifier here. Take for example Enhanced Move. Common sense would dictate that, ignoring the more outlandish options, you would need your legs to use it. Should it therefore get Accessibility: Only while you got all of your legs? IMO no. If loosing your wings is akin to loosing your legs then I'd say that no modifier is called for and you just loose access to your magic.
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Old 04-25-2016, 09:40 PM   #3
mr beer
 
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

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Originally Posted by Imion View Post
Personally, I would not use a modifier here. Take for example Enhanced Move. Common sense would dictate that, ignoring the more outlandish options, you would need your legs to use it. Should it therefore get Accessibility: Only while you got all of your legs? IMO no. If loosing your wings is akin to loosing your legs then I'd say that no modifier is called for and you just loose access to your magic.
I agree that Enhanced Move is already priced in for using your legs but there isn't the same common sense association between wings and using magic.
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Old 04-25-2016, 09:46 PM   #4
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

OK, there's a problem here. If you throw an illusionary fireball at someone you don't need a delusion that they got hit by a spell because they did get hit by a spell. It didn't do anything but they got hit by a spell. What you need is a delusion like "I am currently on fire!". As for the wing thing... is that it? Are they done for the rest of their lives?

Last edited by David Johnston2; 04-25-2016 at 09:50 PM.
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:32 AM   #5
Lia Valenth
 
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

If the only spell you want to make is a fireball that deals no damage but they think it did, why not use Innate Attack with Side Effect?
Example;
Innate Attack (No Wounding, -50% ; No Incendiary Effect, -10% ; Area of Effect (2 yards), +50% ; Side Effect: 15pt Delusion (this attack did damage and caught things on fire), +65% ; Based on Will, +20%) [8.75/level]

So they make a Will save at -1 per 2 points of "damage" or believe they took the damage. Also, excluding extremely high levels, it seems better priced for this singular ability. If you want to be able to use a lot of different "spells", such as "binding them with ice", or creating "corrosive fog", then your version would work better.
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:36 AM   #6
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

GURPS Fantasy has an example of how this would work on p. 168. It's for the standard magic system, but is easily adapted to a powers-based system.
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:52 AM   #7
AnSR
 
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

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Originally Posted by Chaorain View Post
Also I want Pixi Fae magic to be linked to their wings, if they lose their wings the loose their magic, what kind of modifier is that?
Questions about this:
  • Do the wings grow back, if a pixie loses them, or is it "once gone, always gone"?
  • Is the strength of their magic in direct relation to their "wing power?" So, if I have 1 wing, do I have less power than a dude with a plume of 43 wings?
  • Do all PCs have wings?

I like the idea from a story point of view. I can see great character possibilities.
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Old 04-26-2016, 10:52 AM   #8
Chaorain
 
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

Ok so let me clarify a few things.
1) Wings basically act as magic broadcasters, different species have different broadcasters, i.e. A gemstone embedded in the forehead is typical. If they lose their broadcaster they lose their magic. There is one species that lacks a broadcaster but can still use magic, they are ment to be a violation of nature and have all sorts of weird stuff going on.
2) If someone, say a cleric that's not using illusions, restores the broadcaster, typically through a spell designed to regrow lost limbs, they get their magic back.
3) Strength is not directly related, how strong you are affects the size of your broadcaster only during youth. If you get strong later in life it doesn't grow as much. The growth never affects chance to hit the broadcaster in combat. Your magical style, what type of spells you cast, can also affect the colour. Though someone who cats water spells for a living is not prevented from casting fire spells, though they may take a modifier for that purpose.
4) PCs get to choose their race and not all have wings, most races capable of magic don't have wings.
5) The delusion is a placeholder, if the illusion is a fireball they think they got hit with a fireball. If it was a cutting spell they might think they lost a leg.
6) My basic idea won't work. There is nothing that prevents someone from saying they cast a 100d fireball, but I had an idea.

What if I use the Illusion power by itself as the base power and construct additional spells as alternate abilities, kinda like Sorcery. The modifier in GURPS Fantasy is only for Magery but it does what I want. There is another modifier in GURPS Powers-Ups 8 (page 18) that removes part of the damage from an attack. Both these modifiers are -20% so I was thinking, a custom modifier that makes temporary effects that can be dispelled by cold iron or magic would be worth -20%. This would not require a will roll as that would be a separate modifier.

A couple of examples are wounds that disappear when touched with cold iron or if the pixi tried to heal a person they could act as if they were healed but the wounds would still be there, if they took too much damage they could die thinking they were at full health. Also the wounds would reappear if touched with cold iron.

What do you think?
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Old 04-26-2016, 11:02 AM   #9
Anders
 
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

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Originally Posted by Chaorain View Post
What if I use the Illusion power by itself as the base power and construct additional spells as alternate abilities, kinda like Sorcery.
Sounds workable. I'd use the Mental and Stigmata enhancements. 75 points should be able to give you most fun magical effects as Alternative Abilities.

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Originally Posted by Chaorain View Post
The modifier in GURPS Fantasy is only for Magery but it does what I want. There is another modifier in GURPS Powers-Ups 8 (page 18) that removes part of the damage from an attack. Both these modifiers are -20% so I was thinking, a custom modifier that makes temporary effects that can be dispelled by cold iron or magic would be worth -20%. This would not require a will roll as that would be a separate modifier.

What do you think?
Limitation value for Magery are generally doubled because they affect so many skills. So -10% would probably be a fairprice for the limitation. Sounds fine.

You can also look up Salve Healing from Pyramid #3/13. Magic doesn't really heal wounds, but it allows you to function normally until you heal on your own. But get hit in combat and the spell may collapse.
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Old 04-26-2016, 11:16 AM   #10
Chaorain
 
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Default Re: Fae magic as powers

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Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Sounds workable. I'd use the Mental and Stigmata enhancements. 75 points should be able to give you most fun magical effects as Alternative Abilities.
I'm hesitant to use Mental and Stigmata because they are designed to inflict real damage on a single person. I'd like it to be able to hit multiple people. I was thinking the base power should just create illusions, not do damage. Leave that for the alternate abilities. Also I'm not worried about a point cap, Sorcery suggests having the most powerful spell become an alternate ability and the Illusion power become the alternate if need be.



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Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Limitation value for Magery are generally doubled because they affect so many skills. So -10% would probably be a fairprice for the limitation. Sounds fine.
-10% sounds good.


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Originally Posted by Anders View Post
You can also look up Salve Healing from Pyramid #3/13. Magic doesn't really heal wounds, but it allows you to function normally until you heal on your own. But get hit in combat and the spell may collapse.
I remember reading about that. I'll look it up again.
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