09-05-2020, 12:58 PM | #111 |
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
An average person with IQ 10 and single point on Ember spell would have it at skill level 9. This gives him a success rate of ~1/3 so he'd need to spend 3 FP to start a fire with it, which is equivalent to sprinting for 45 seconds. Isn't this a little harsh and impractical?
I understand it's not a problem for individuals with Hedge Magician, Magery, or characters with a lot of CP, but for the common folk that these spells seems to be aimed to it doesn't seem like worth the effort of spending 200 hours/point to cast a very tiring spell when simple tools can do the same with ease. Is there any official rule that could help these people? Neither Time Spent nor Task Difficulty affects spellcasting. What kind of trait would be best suited for mages that although not really trained on these spells, can improvise them in a pinch thanks to their knowledge of thaumatology? Say a wizard that learned his magic mostly from the Grimoire of True Flame and only knows fire spells, but he understands magic enough that he could try casting any IQ/A spells. I was thinking Cosmic Power (Least Spells Only, -40%; Requires Thaumatology Roll, -10%) [5] which is a bargain compared to buying multiple spells at one point each but can't be used as freely as a truly learned spell. Finally, could there be a IQ/A version of Apportation, maybe that only holds the object in place rather than move around? Some sort of spell for mages to hold their books on air and flip without moving their hands, allowing them to read in a comfortable position or just to flaunt their magic? |
09-05-2020, 01:41 PM | #112 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
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09-05-2020, 01:50 PM | #113 |
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Kentucky, USA
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
If one uses solo ceremonial casting (Pyramid 28, p.19) and waives the need to know the spell at 15+ (reasonable for IQ/A spells) then a peasant could probably get enough bonuses for a solid +2 or +3 depending on the spell.
If I had a time machine and could rewrite Magic, I'd just let time spent apply to spells and just have hedge wizards and apprentices take forever to cast anything.
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GURPS Fanzine The Path of Cunning is worth a read. |
09-05-2020, 01:58 PM | #114 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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09-05-2020, 02:01 PM | #115 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
Quote:
__________________
Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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09-05-2020, 02:39 PM | #116 | |||
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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A family without any fire-starting tool at home seems very unlikely, a flint costs just $2. If they're so poor they don't have any, then I'm unsure they'd be able to afford the time (and maybe expense) of training the spell. Quote:
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If you were to include optional rules, the Sympathetic Materials from Thaumatology might work better. The book says casting magic within a circle of ashes gives the spell +1, if a flint can give +1 or +2 bonus for being very related to the spell, the effective skill level of the caster raises enough to make single casting success reliable. The time required to learn the spell would still be a barrier, though. Last edited by Sorenant; 09-05-2020 at 02:50 PM. |
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09-05-2020, 03:48 PM | #117 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
Quote:
__________________
Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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09-05-2020, 04:06 PM | #118 | |
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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The tools are tiring and takes time to use, but it doesn't require months of study. The time and resources spent on learning IQ/A spells could be instead used to learn trade skills like Smithing which is IQ/A or working to make a living. The special conditions you mention are rare for someone living a normal peaceful live. Casting Ember with SL-9 costs in average 3 FP compared to average 4 FP of rubbing sticks together with SL-10 Housekeeping, so it's not significantly less tiring. It's definitely faster, so it has an edge when time is a concern but again that's a rare situation for a normal person which I don't think justify learning the skill. Edit: Is it reasonable to expect an average person to have multiple points on an IQ/A spell? Merchant, Politics and Streetwise are all IQ/A skills that could be useful to anybody, yet it's not something one would expect an average person to, in GURPS terms, have even a single point on it. Last edited by Sorenant; 09-05-2020 at 04:32 PM. |
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09-05-2020, 04:42 PM | #119 | |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dreamland
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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09-05-2020, 05:15 PM | #120 | |
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Re: GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells
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By the way, I got around reading Mailanka's review linked in this thread and he wrote my thoughts better than I've ever could. |
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Tags |
magic, trivial spells |
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