Publishing a Magic Book

[Street]

I would like to work with some other people on a new GURPS Magic Book. I'm willing to invest my own time and resources for the project. I've posted before about this project and here is the current state of affairs. If anyone is interested in working with me I'm ready to get busy.

There are 12 types of magic in this system that are divided into coincidental & vulgar magic. The first three levels of a type are limited to coincidental effects, and the highest levels of a type are divided into two levels of more advanced magic.

The Twelve kinds of magic in alphabetical order are:

Control, Destruction, Feeling, Influence, Penetration, Production, Revelation, Restoration, Transformation, Travel, Understanding, and Vanishing

These are the degrees of power for each type of magic:

1) Awareness
2) Sympathetic
3) Coincidental
4) Manipulative
5) Miraculous

1) Awareness

Allows the Mage to sense things with their magic.

2) Sympathetic

The Mage can effect things they're personally connected to.

3) Coincidental

The Mage can work magic as long as it doesnt defy physics.

4) Manipulative

The Mage can manipulate and bend the laws of physics.

5) Miraculous

The Mage can now create impossible miracles.


Here are the types of Magic with examples for each level of power:

Understanding

Power: Wisdom / ESP

Knowledge: Realization - Unveiling the inner knowledge within.

Description: The Power of Understanding manifests as inspiration and insight, granting effortless access to answers and discoveries beyond conventional understanding. It endows the practitioner with the gift of foreknowledge. The key to unlocking this power lies in the realization that all knowledge already resides within oneself.

1) Elevated Mental Attributes
2) Predicting Outcomes
3) Seeing the Past
4) Seeing the Future
5) Stopping Time

Feeling

Power: Empathy / Telepathy

Knowledge: Association - Recognizing the interconnectedness of all things.

Description: The Power of Feeling enables one to empathize and understand others deeply, perceiving their thoughts and emotions without the need for words. It stems from the profound insight into Association, the intrinsic link that binds all living beings together.

1) Reading Mindstates
2) Bonus to Social Attributes
3) Mental Shield
4) Reading Thoughts
5) Mental Link

Production

Power: Attraction / Creation

Knowledge: Synchronicity - Uniting the threads of existence.

Description: The Power of Production empowers a wizard to draw situations and desires into their reality. This ability stems from a profound understanding of Synchronicity, the cosmic principle that everything is interconnected and influences each other. It acknowledges that the power to attract lies within, awaiting manifestation.

1) Sensing Opportunity
2) Arranging situations
3) Attracting Wealth
4) Produce Small Objects
5) Win Lotteries & Elections

Influence

Power: Charisma / Hypnotism

Knowledge: Possession - Will shaping the realm of the mind.

Description: The Power of Influence grants a wizard the power to captivate others. Known as Possession, it allows one to enchant and charm, eliciting positive perceptions or even gaining control over anothers thoughts and actions. The essence of this mastery lies in the understanding that ones will can wield dominion over the minds of others.

1) Sensing Willpower
2) Social Influence
3) Hypnotic Suggestion
4) Mind Control
5) Altering Identities

Penetration

Power: Escape / Intangibility

Knowledge: Spiritualism - Perceiving the world as a realm of spirit.

Description: The Power of Penetration delves into the realm of Spiritualism. It unveils the truth that the world is fundamentally composed of spirit, allowing a wizard to transcend physical boundaries and become intangible. Chains and locks lose their hold, dissolving effortlessly under the wizards touch.

1) Find Exits
2) Open Locks
3) Escape From Restraints
4) Escape From Prisons
5) Becoming Intangible

Control

Power: Energy / Telekinesis

Knowledge: Evocation - Harnessing the forces of the spiritual realm.

Description: The Power of Control enables a wizard to command powerful forces. Through evocation, the practitioner can manipulate energy and bend it to their will. This understanding arises from recognizing that spiritual entities are themselves embodiments of force and possess the capacity to shape and impact the physical world.

1) Quick Reactions
2) Bonus to Physical Abilities
3) Influencing Physical Outcomes
4) Moving Objects
5) Controlling Natural Forces

Restoration

Power: Renewal / Healing

Knowledge: Forgiveness - Liberating from suffering caused by transgressions.

Description: The Power of Restoration holds the gift of healing. It grants the ability to alleviate pain, cure diseases, and bring renewal to the afflicted. This power emerges from the understanding of Forgiveness, recognizing that suffering often stems from transgressions. By embracing forgiveness, a wizard becomes a conduit for healing and restoration.

1) Sense illness
2) Relieve Pain
3) Protection from Disease
4) Heal Sickness / Damage
5) Resurrection

Vanishing

Power: Stealth / Invisibility

Knowledge: Misdirection - Manipulating attention and perception.

Description: The Power of Vanishing encompasses the art of Misdirection. It allows a wizard to control focus and attention, rendering themselves unseen and secrets concealed. Meticulous study and practice grant the ability to achieve complete invisibility as the wizard manipulates perception and directs attention elsewhere.

1) Safeguard Secrets
2) See in The Dark
3) Stealth
4) Disguise
5) Invisibility

Travel

Power: Direction / Teleportation

Knowledge: Unity - Dissolving the illusion of separation.

Description: The Power of Travel operates on the understanding that all separation is illusory. By harnessing this power, a wizard can navigate without traditional directions and locate objects or places that are lost or hidden. A skilled practitioner can transcend distance, stepping from one location to any desired destination.

1) Locate Lost Objects
2) Find Directions
3) See at a Distance
4) Teleport Objects
5) Make a Portal

Transformation

Power: Developing / Shapeshifting

Knowledge: Personification - Authoring ones own identity.

Description: The Power of Transformation allows a wizard to assume the form and essence of another being, whether it be an abstract concept, an animal, or even a deity. The essence of this mastery lies in the understanding that one has the power to create and define their own identity, refusing to be shaped by external forces. The power of transformation can also be used to improve who you already are.

1) Sense Others Attributes
2) Bonus to Attributes
3) Developing Attributes
4) Shapeshifting
5) Transmutation

Destruction

Power: Curses / Annihilation

Knowledge: Pragmatism - Dissolving the constructs of right and wrong

Description: The Power of Destruction holds immense power that should be wielded with caution. It encompasses the ability to curse, annihilate, and disrupt the natural order. However, the utilization of this power draws one away from their true path and blurs the distinction between right and wrong.

1) Sense Black Magic
2) Protection from Curses
3) Curse Enemies
4) Cause Physical Damage
5) Kill & Destroy

Revelation

Power: Visions / Rapture

Knowledge: Above as Below - The symbiotic connection between gods, angels, and humanity.

Description: The Power of Revelation unveils profound visions and grants enlightenment to the practitioner. It is rooted in the understanding of the symbiotic connection between gods, angels, and humanity. By tapping into this power, a wizard gains access to celestial knowledge, perceiving the intricate tapestry that binds all realms and entities together.

1) Sense Spirits
2) Speak with Spirits
3) Banish Spirits
4) Summon Spirits
5) Spirit Travel


This system of magic can connect to occult themes, for interesting role playing.

Each type of magic connects to one of the 12 signs of the Zodiac. And each Zodiac sign connects to one of 10 planets in Astrology. The 10 planets and 12 signs connect with the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot.

Control:
Energy / Telekinesis
(Aries / Emperor) + (Mars / Tower)

Transformation:
Developing / Shapeshifting
(Taurus / Hierophant) + (Venus / Empress)

Understanding:
Wisdom / ESP
(Libra / Justice) + (Venus / Empress)

Revelation:
Visions / Rapture
(Pisces / High Priestess) + (Neptune /
Hanged Man)

Feeling:
Empathy / Telepathy
(Virgo / Hermit) + (Mercury / Magician)

Influence:
Charisma / Hypnotism
(Leo / Strength) + (Sun / Sun)

Penetration:
Escape / Intangibility
(Gemini / Lovers) + (Mercury / Magician)

Travel:
Direction / Teleportation
(Sagittarius / Temperance) + (Jupiter /
Wheel of Fortune)

Production:
Attraction / Creation
(Capricorn / Devil) + (Saturn / World)

Restoration:
Renewal / Healing
(Aquarius / Star) + (Uranus / Fool)

Vanishing:
Stealth / Invisibility
(Cancer / Chariot) + (Moon / Moon)

Destruction:
Curses / Annihilation
(Scorpio / Death) + (Pluto / Judgement)

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Street

I would like to work with some other people on a new GURPS Magic Book)

As a word of advice 'Gurps Magic" means the system in Basic and expanded in Gurps Magic. You're not working with that.

This appears to be based on the Gurps adaptation of Mage:The Ascension from 30 years ago and I'm guessing here but I think you might be trying to get other peopler to help you create "rotes" for that system.

The closest modern version of this would probably be Realm Magic from Gurps Thaumatology though it doesn't use that terminology.

Maybe if you got Gurps Thaumatology and studied the right chapter from it you might be able to speak the same language as modern Gurps players. Without doing that no one seems to really understand what you're trying to do and all these attempts seem to do is breed misunderstanding. Even I am really only guessing at what you're trying to do and I can't actually help you.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

As a word of advice 'Gurps Magic" means the system in Basic and expanded in Gurps Magic. You're not working with that.

This appears to be based on the Gurps adaptation of Mage:The Ascension from 30 years ago and I'm guessing here but I think you might be trying to get other peopler to help you create "rotes" for that system.

Actually, to me, it looks more like the way powers are gained in Vampire: The Masquerade or Wraith: The Oblivion. However, the coincidental/vulgar split is very definitely reminiscent of Mage: The Ascension.

[Street]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Even I am really only guessing at what you're trying to do and I can't actually help you.

If you can't help or don't want to, why are you posting?

[Inky]

It seems like, we've been through all this before, the OP is not asking for help designing a magic system, he has made a magic system (or most of one, I'm not sure how much of the actual mechanics he's done, although from what he's posted before probably much more than he's mentioning in this summary) and he's asking if anyone wants to collaborate with him on putting a book together.

Apparently, SJ Games doesn't accept that many proposals for new books (they all have to be checked by a staff editor before publication, and they've basically only got one staff editor for GURPS at the moment and he wears a number of other hats as well, so that limits how many they can do), so if you're thinking of this being an official SJ Games book, Street, before you start asking for someone to collaborate with you it might be wise to contact SJ Games ( https://www.sjgames.com/gurps/wish-list-gurps/ might be useful - yours probably comes under 'Thaumatology') and ask if they're actually interested in it.

[Street]

Originally Posted by Inky

It seems like, we've been through all this before, the OP is not asking for help designing a magic system, he has made a magic system (or most of one, I'm not sure how much of the actual mechanics he's done, although from what he's posted before probably much more than he's mentioning in this summary) and he's asking if anyone wants to collaborate with him on putting a book together.

Apparently, SJ Games doesn't accept that many proposals for new books (they all have to be checked by a staff editor before publication, and they've basically only got one staff editor for GURPS at the moment and he wears a number of other hats as well, so that limits how many they can do), so if you're thinking of this being an official SJ Games book, Street, before you start asking for someone to collaborate with you it might be wise to contact SJ Games ( https://www.sjgames.com/gurps/wish-list-gurps/ might be useful - yours probably comes under 'Thaumatology') and ask if they're actually interested in it.

Yes that's quite helpful Inky. There is nothing to stop me from writing a book that is not approved by sjgames however?

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Street

Yes that's quite helpful Inky. There is nothing to stop me from writing a book that is not approved by sjgames however?

GURPS is not an open license game. You can write whatever you want and post it somewhere, clearly labeled as fan work, but you can't publish or sell a GURPS book except through SJGames.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Street

If you can't help or don't want to, why are you posting?

Because the two or three previous times you tried this nothing but miscommunication resulted.

I am trying to convey to you that what you are saying is not very clear to the usual posters to this forum (myself included) and suggest perhaps why it is not clear.

You need to explain what it is that you are wanting to get from other people. Again frtom previous attempts most people really don't seem to understand how your magic system works in any sort of mechanical way. I certainly don't.

It's only some jargon that I think I might recognize from those very, very old Gurps: World of Darkness books that gives me any clue. I doubt that many of the usual posters here even have those books and fewer have tried to work with their game mechancis recently.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

GURPS is not an open license game. You can write whatever you want and post it somewhere, clearly labeled as fan work, but you can't publish or sell a GURPS book except through SJGames.

This is true.

To the OP:
Gaming Ballistic has a license to publish Dungeon Fantasy RPG books, which is 90% to 99.44% GURPS-compatible, so you may want to contact them if you can work this into that genre. But only trusted third-party publishers with specific licenses issued by SJG are able to publish GURPS and DFRPG books - and there aren't many of those. (The only other licensee I'm aware of is Amarillo Design, who handle Prime Directive, an official Star Fleet Battles conversion.)




(IMO, the sheer amount of poorly written, poorly edited (if at all), and utter crap put out by small independent third-party publishers that did stuff in That Other Game under the OGL when it was first put out is argument enough to not have a "GURPS OGL". SJG has prided themselves on their reputation for quality for close to a quarter century (or more!) now; and a "GURPS OGL" could destroy that rep.)

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

You need to explain what it is that you are wanting to get from other people. Again frtom previous attempts most people really don't seem to understand how your magic system works in any sort of mechanical way. I certainly don't.

Beyond that, Street, what do you want from people that you're not in a position to do yourself?

You're running against the unfortunate syndrome where, in most cases, a request like yours translates to "I have this great idea, now someone do all the hard work of editing, writing it up professionally, doing all the layout, etcetera!" The typical gamer prepared (and skilled enough) to do the latter generally has ideas of their own.