[Thaumatology] Verbal Path Magic

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

It's a nice extension of the material in MH1. You don't have to have it if you've got MH1 -- but then, you don't have to have anything in GURPS other than Characters and Campaigns, as long as you're willing to build the rest. Might be worthwhile if you use RPM a lot. If it's just a touchstone for reference when you compare magic systems, MH1 is probably enough.

Well, I'm unemployed, so until that changes (and maybe not even then, depending on the job) what I spend money on is pretty limited. Since I don't use RPM much, I think I'll stick with just MH1 for that purpose - unless I suddenly get rich (a nice fantasy, but unlikely), in which case I may expand my GURPS library to something closer to 'one of everything.'

I'm working on a character for this system, but Magnús Þorláksson isn't quite ready for posting, yet.

[Prince Charon]

OK, he seems to be ready.

Magnús Þorláksson, 1689

Age: 12

Attributes

ST 9 [-10]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 11 [20]; HT 10 [0]

Secondary Characteristics

HP 9; Will 11; Per 12 [5]; FP 10

Social Background

Languages: Icelandic (Native) [0]; Swedish (Native) [4]; Latin (Accented/Native) [5]; English (Accented) [4]; Danish (Accented) [2]; Mohawk (Broken) [2].

TL: mature 4^

Cultural Familiarity: 17th-century Western European [0]; 17th-century Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) [1].

Subtotal: 34


Advantages

Magery 0 [5]
Mage-harp (Path/Book Adept 3, Magery 2; Breakable (DR5, -15%, SM-4, -15%), -30%; Can be stolen by ST (Will not immediately work for thief), -15%) [17]
Musical Ability Talent 2 [10]
Patron (Family; 9 or less) [10]
Temperature Tolerance (cold) 1 [1]

Perks

Controllable Disadvantage: Weirdness Magnet. [1]
Dabbler (Current Affairs: Business 9, Headline News 8, Magic 9, Politics 8, Regional: North Atlantic 9). [1]
Dabbler (Liberal Arts: Accounting 7, Mathematics (Applied)/TL4^ 7, Mathematics (Surveying)/TL4^ 6, Philosophy (Aristotelian) 6, Public Speaking 7). [1]
Dabbler (Paths: Path of Creation 8, Path of Destruction 8, Path of Motion 9, Path of Strengthening 9, Path of Weakening 9). [1]
Signature Gear (Mage-harp). [1]
Style Familiarity (Nýr Galdr). [1]

Subtotal: 49


Disadvantages

Code of Honor (Professional) [-5]
Curious (12) [-5]
Duty (Schooling, 12 or less; Non-hazardous) [-5]
Sense of Duty (friends) [-5]
Social Stigma (child) [-5]

Quirks

Afraid of night-trolls. [-1]
Can't talk to pretty girls. [-1]
Fond of cats. [-1]
Imaginative. [-1]
Responsive. [-1]

Subtotal: -30


Features


Skills

Alchemy/TL4^ [IQ/VH] [1] 8
Astronomy/TL4^ [IQ/H] [1] 9
Brawling [DX/E] [2] 11
Detect Lies [Per/H] [1] 10
Expert Skill (Natural Philosophy)/TL4^ [IQ/H] [1] 9
Group Performance (Conducting) [IQ/A] [1] 12**
Heraldry [IQ/A] [1] 10
Hobby Skill (Riddles) [IQ/E] [2] 12
Knife [DX/E] [1] 10
Literature [IQ/H] [2] 10
Mathematics (Pure)/TL4^ [IQ/H] [1] 9
Musical Instrument (Harp) [IQ/H] [4] 13**
Poetry [IQ/A] [2] 11
Singing [HT/E] [2] 13**
Research [IQ/A] [2] 11

Mathematics (Thaumaturgical)/TL4^ [IQ/H] [1] 11*
Musical Composition (Nýr Galdr) [IQ/H] [2] 13***
Path of Communication [IQ/VH] [1] 10*
Path of Control [Will/VH] [1] 10*
Path of Protection [Will/VH] [1] 10*
Path of Sensing [Per/VH] [1] 11*
Path of Transformation [IQ/VH] [4] 12*
Symbol Drawing (Futhark) [IQ/H] [1] 11*

*Includes +2 from Magery Talent.
**Includes +2 from Musical Ability Talent.
***Includes +4 from combined Magery and Musical Ability Talents.

Techniques

Nothingness to Food (H) Transformation-6 [5] 10

Subtotal: 41

Total: 94


Equipment

Cloak
Clothes
Boots
Knife
Mage-harp

Notes

Musical Composition (Nýr Galdr) is the core skill of this style of Verbal Path Magic. (There are a few different words for 'new' in Icelandic, so I'm not totally sure that I picked the right one.) Mathematics (Thaumaturgical) is a complementary skill of Alchemy, and of Musical Composition (Nýr Galdr) & all Paths in this style. Symbol Drawing (Futhark) is a complementary skill of Musical Composition (Nýr Galdr) & all Paths in this style. Musical Instrument and Singing are complementary skills of all Paths in this style. It is somewhat debatable how great a connection there is between modern Nýr Galdr and any historical form of galdr or seidr practiced on this Earth. Certainly, the forms practiced in the Viking Era did not use Verbal Path Magic, as that was invented after the printing press, which made books so much more widely available.

Magnús is a student caster at a magic school outside Hólar, Iceland, who happens to be naturally talented in Transformation - as soon as he started learning it, it just fell into place, much quicker than his other studies (the points are mechanical, in other words, and do not directly represent time spent in study). Puberty has recently hit him, leaving him a bit out-of-sorts when meeting girls, especially the pretty ones. His older brother, father, and grandfather are each named Þorlák Þorláksson, as was his great-grandfather, though his great-great-grandfather is said to have been named Þorlák Snorrisson. He got the name Magnús from his mother's father, Magnús Sweynsson. His family is greatly involved in trade, and this has resulted in him learning a number of languages. One of his friends in school is the son of a Mohawk trader that his father is friends with.

(It makes sense to me that a student, especially a child, would have more Dabbler perks than would otherwise be the case. By the time he's an adult, he might have only Current Affairs, or that and a general 'things I sort of know' type of perk. He'd also have a higher ST and IQ.)

Nothingness to Food is far more a means of showing off and snacking without ruining one's next meal than a practical application of magic. As the name suggests, it is an effect which, for a fraction of an hour, transforms nothingness into a small amount of food. As the duration elapses, the 'food' fades slowly enough to not damage your stomach if you've already eaten it, though you will be hungry again. Magnús mostly uses it to conjure sweet honeycakes for himself and his friends.

Magnús was built partly using the Apprentice template from GURPS Historical Folks p12 (and the 4e conversion hosted at RPK's MyGURPS.com, p5).


Thoughts?