06-28-2022, 11:53 AM | #51 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Brazil
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Re: GURPS MAGIC: Day in the life of a spell inventor...
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07-01-2022, 05:06 PM | #52 | |||
Join Date: Aug 2018
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Re: GURPS MAGIC: Day in the life of a spell inventor...
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YJ's Amazo was definitely very different from the one you saw in the earlier JLU series, one of the key contrasts which dashed my "maybe YJ could be in the DCAU" hopes. I'm not sure how to get that w/ Power Theft Only Neutralize unless you maybe had multiple versions of Neutralize as Alternative Attacks for storing different heroes' power patterns? AA switches as a free action but it seems like switching between power sets gained by Alternative Neutralize attacks should at least require a ready. Quote:
While your efforts to make sense of spell invention using GURPS Magic are heroic, I think they're doomed due to ill-considered game design and the rush to get the product out the door. Quote:
No, the prototype TESTER does :) this is why we have acolytes, so they can invest the character point in case it's a flub. If it succeeds THEN the wise inventor can spend the point too. Allowing the purchase of adequately hamstrung MA for spell invention seems realistic (as realistic as MAGIC goes) to me. Limiting it to "spells I personally invented" takes away the "I just pull spells out of nowhere" type of Cosmic Power you might be envisioning. |
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07-01-2022, 06:27 PM | #53 | |||||
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Brazil
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Re: GURPS MAGIC: Day in the life of a spell inventor...
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So, completely broken. Quote:
The mutant Rogue also has this, but with Uncontrollabe Trigger (skin contact) that is also an Affliction I guess... If she actually kills the target (or gets close to) it becomes permanent. Besides her "psiquic vampirism", Rogue also has Super Strenght, Super Resistance and Flight. But those arent her natural powers however, she stole those from Captain Marvel if Im not mistaken (which I believe it was another girl than the one most know - you know how comics are); also, if Im not mistaken this occured during the judicial battle over the name of the hero "Captain Marvel" for Shazam, so the writters of Marvel placed Captain Marvel into a coma in case they needed to "kill the name". Anyway, in both cases it's a permanent theft of power (Rogue can still neutralize on top of that), but that's NOT a power that could be allowed for players under any circumstances - just imagine a player turning into a 750 thousands CP sheet due to the 101 pages of notes of powers he stole. Quote:
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"Character Points" is a game mechanic; it's not a fundamental building block of the universe. We dont go study in the college and say "oh, I love the classes of history of science from X teacher; I expect to gain 1 full CP by the end of this month in the skill History (Science) by the end of the month, just because of how good the teacher is!" Likewise, our good mage-inventor is unaware that secretly the universe is conspiring to make him less knowleadgeable in other areas should be persist on prototyping his spells, because he just simply dont think about his magic mastery in terms of "character points spent on spells skills". To think that a highly skilled mage-inventor would pass the burden of prototyping to assistants instead of doing it himself is absurd. Quote:
Stop thinking about those rules being applied to player characters, and think about those rules being applied to realistic NPCs that didnt have the fortune of being Min-Max by some "higher power" fine tunning them. Those were the guys that supposedly invented ALL spells in the world up to the moment the players decided to join in a tavern. |
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07-03-2022, 01:30 AM | #54 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: GURPS MAGIC: Day in the life of a spell inventor...
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07-17-2022, 10:00 PM | #55 | |
Join Date: Sep 2011
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Re: GURPS MAGIC: Day in the life of a spell inventor...
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A few names were changed for consistentency/clarity: inventor is now researcher; researchers means "lead researcher [inventor] and his assistants"; invention is "viable incantation" or simply "incantation" [and is not the same as the spoken ritual part of a spell, despite the name]; and prototype is "spell creation." Inventing New Spells Required Skills First, the researcher must know Thaumatology to have any chance of success creating a new spell. At the GM's discretion, a particular spell might also require skill in one or more related subjects. For instance, inventing a new Plant spell might require Botany or Herbalism skill. If so, the researcher’s Concept roll is made against the lower of this skill or his Thaumatology skill. The researcher describes the spell he wishes to develop. The GM then writes the spell up in standard format, including class, college, energy cost, casting time, duration and prerequisites. He may decide that the intended spell has prerequisites, which must be learned or invented before research on the intended spell can even begin. Concept After determining required skills, the GM makes a secret "Concept roll" against the researcher's Thaumatology skill to see whether he comes up with a viable incantation. This requires no special equipment. Modifiers: subtract the prerequisite count for the new spell. -5 penalty if the new spell will belong to a college in which the researcher knows no spells. -5 penalty in a low-mana zone. Each researcher involved (in a group effort) may roll once per day. Prerequisite count doesn't affect the time required - the basic concept for a new spell is often a simple insight ... it's the implementation that’s potentially tricky. On a success, proceed to the Spell Creation stage. On a failure, the researcher makes no breakthrough but may try again the next day, at no additional penalty. On a critical failure, the researcher comes up with a “flawed incantation" that looks good but that will never work in practice - go on to the Spell Creation stage, but it is doomed to failure. [post 1 of 2] Last edited by Curmudgeon; 07-17-2022 at 10:12 PM. |
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07-17-2022, 10:01 PM | #56 |
Join Date: Sep 2011
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Re: GURPS MAGIC: Day in the life of a spell inventor...
Spell Creation
A success - or critical failure - on the Concept roll gives the researcher a viable incantation. He (or an assistant) must invest 1 character point in learning the new spell before it can be tested as a spell [Without the minimum investment of 1 character point, nobody “knows” the spell well enough to cast it. If nobody casts the spell, nobody knows what alterations to the spell are necessary, or just helpful. The first person to try making a Breathe Steam spell by just making a Steam Jet spell issue from his mouth doubtless became painfully aware that incorporating aspects of Resist Fire would be a good idea, if it worked at all.]. A magical workshop is required with accoutrements that cost $(prerequisite count +1) x (400 energy) x (the setting’s prevailing price per energy point). The researcher and his assistants may choose to offset up to 90% of this investment by enchanting the supplies themselves; 10% of the cost is consumable supplies which must be purchased. Once built a magical workshop may also be used for future research — the non-consumable portion of the workshop may be reused indefinitely (though critical failures may damage or destroy some of that equipment.) [Note that it is implied that the researcher could enchant the necessary accoutrements. Scroll spell aside, any enchantment requires either the Enchant spell, or an Enchantment spell that has Enchant as a prerequisite. The Enchant spell has Magery 2 as a prerequisite, implying that only mages with Magery 2 can research new spells, which makes sense. Creating a new magical effect or application probably should require unusual insight or talent regarding magic itself. On the other hand, Magery 1 researchers may be possible, but they would have to purchase their accoutrements, not having the option of enchanting.] The Spell Creation roll is a roll against the new spell itself, cast ceremonially (this can be done alone.) This process is closer to Slow and Sure Enchantment p. 22, rather than Ceremonial Magic p. 12, so where the two conflict use the Slow and Sure rules. +1 bonus for any assistant who knows one of the skills involved (Thaumatology, new spell, a prerequisite spell or skill) at 20+, to a maximum bonus of +4, though the ceremonial magic penalties of -1 to skill per assistant offsets this bonus. [In effect, one can have up to four assistants without impairing the ability to cast the spell.] The GM makes this "Spell Creation roll" in secret. Modifiers: All modifiers listed for Concept rolls; + 1 per assistant with skill 20+ in one of the skills required for the spell, to a maximum of +4; - 1 to -10 (GM's discretion) if the researcher must make do with anything less than quality tools, texts and facilities. On a success, the researcher proves his incantation and creates the spell. On a failure, he may try again, provided he has the time and money (see below). On a critical failure, an explosion or accident occurs. This inflicts at least 2d damage to the researcher and each assistant - and destroys the facilities, which must be rebuilt at full cost before making another attempt. If the researcher was working with a flawed incantation, he will never get the spell to work (this is why the GM rolls in secret!), but a critical success on the Spell Creation roll lets him realize that his incantation is flawed. Time Required Each Spell Creation roll requires (energy cost/number of researchers) days, with a minimum of one day. Cost Divide costs by 10, if the researcher already has a magical workshop. [The only cost in that case is restocking the 10% of the workshop that constitutes the consumables.] Each researcher who wishes to attempt a Spell Creation roll must pay the facilities cost “up front” before making his first attempt. In addition, each attempt to “perfect the spell” has a cost equal to the cost that the mage would charge to cast the spell for a client. Testing and Bugs The majority of new spells have shortcomings, or "bugs." Critical success on the Spell Creation roll means there are no bugs; success by three or more gives 1d/2 minor bugs; and any other success gives 1d/2 major bugs and 1d minor bugs. Minor bugs are annoying, but not critical. Major bugs arc catastrophic! To find bugs requires testing. Once per week of testing, roll vs. the new spell. After testing, any remaining bugs surface on any casting of the spell that fails by 5 or more. A major bug always surfaces on a critical failure. New Spells and Enchantment As noted in Required Skills, a new spell does not contain an Item option within the description the GM generates. Creating an Item option for a spell is treated as if the researcher were creating a new spell, with the additional prerequisite of Enchant or one of the other Enchantment college spells, which increases the prerequisite count. Despite using the rules for Inventing New Spells, the result of a successful Spell Creation roll is not a spell, but the process whereby the spell can be placed in a magic “item.” I.E., a successful Spell Creation roll adds an Item section to the original new spell, no more, no less. [post 2 of 2] Last edited by Curmudgeon; 07-17-2022 at 10:26 PM. |
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