Spell research without enchantment

[Taneli]

As a campaign premise, use your judgement as the GM to decide what kind of stuff the would-be spell researcher needs to acquire with the money specified in the spell research chapter to get their spell research going.

I would probably go with some nice lenses of mystical materials, enough incense to kill all dragonflies on site (spying silly buggers), and some mundane s... assistants with no imagination nor aspirations.

[Varyon]

I'd say just allow research to be done without the appropriate equipment, but penalize it in some way - skill penalties, additional required rolls, higher chance of disastrous critical failures, taking longer, invented spells being less reliable and/or quirkier without further work, etc. As others have suggested, you could also have various objects/reagents/places of power/whatever stand in for the standard method of using enchanted tools.

EDIT: Alternatively, maybe enchantment is the only sort of magic that can be researched by the above methods. If you want to invent/discover new spells rather than rely on what you've learned from the Gods, Ancients, or wherever the original spells came from, the first step is to make the tools that allow you to make the tools.

[hal]

The alternative is to use the GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition approach to spell research - which does NOT require a magical lab. GURPS MAGIC for 4e is the first time the requirement for a magical lab was ever introduced, so I'd dare say that the original approach since GURPS 2nd edition is sufficiently useful as to get by without a magical lab.

;)

[Whitewings]

Originally Posted by hal

The alternative is to use the GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition approach to spell research - which does NOT require a magical lab. GURPS MAGIC for 4e is the first time the requirement for a magical lab was ever introduced, so I'd dare say that the original approach since GURPS 2nd edition is sufficiently useful as to get by without a magical lab.

;)

The requirement was in 3rd, I'm pretty sure, and I don't have access to 2nd Edition anything.

[Taneli]

GURPS Magic 2nd edition is the 2nd edition of GURPS Magic for GURPS 3rd edition, or the final version of GURPS Magic released for GURPS 3e.

An unfortunate naming convention, same happened with GURPS Space, twice.

[StevenH]

Originally Posted by Whitewings

The requirement was in 3rd, I'm pretty sure, and I don't have access to 2nd Edition anything.

From Magic, 2e, for GURPS 3e.



"PC mages may research and "invent" new spells. Only a mage can invent new spells. These may be brand new, or variations on existing spells; in general, variations should be easier to invent!"


Procedure:
1) Player tells GM what sort of spell, in general, is wanted.
2) GM decides whether the spell is possible. This is not revealed to the player.
3) If the GM determines it's possible, the GM figures out what the exact powers, prereqs, etc. will be. This is also not revealed to the player.
4) The mage must now spend time researching the spell. The number of weeks is determined by the GM. Each week requires the full attention of the mage, and 2dx$100 worth of magical ingredients. At the end of each week, the GM makes a "research roll" against the mage's IQ+Magery, minus a penalty set by the GM. This deends on the difficulty of the spell. A very simple spell might be at -5 for 8 to 10 weeks. A very complex spell like Force Dome would be researched at -10 or worse, for years.

There is some detail about the prereqs of the spell, which are typically unknown to the researching mage. If the mage has all of the prereqs, a successful set of research rolls allows him to be able to learn the spell (if he has the character point to do so). If the mage doesn't have the prereqs, they don't learn the spell, but do learn which of their spells are prereqs for it, and one of the missing ones. They then have to get the prereq, and start researching all over again; if successful, they either learn the spell or another of the missing prereqs.

Critical failures during research can give false information, summon a demon, cause your family's hair to turn purple and reek of dead centipedes, or whatever else enters the GM twisted mind. Note that if the spell is impossible, the mage will just be researching forever until he gives up on it, or the number of critical failures has overrun the world with detrimental magical effects.

For spell variants, the mage must know the spell he is trying to vary. Variations are typically easier than brand new spells.

Once the spell is researched/created, the mage can then do whatever he likes with it: learn it, teach it to others, sell it, whatever. Anyone who sees you cast the spell can research it themselves at +2.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Taneli

GURPS Magic 2nd edition is the 2nd edition of GURPS Magic for GURPS 3rd edition, or the final version of GURPS Magic released for GURPS 3e.

An unfortunate naming convention, same happened with GURPS Space, twice.

This is why, if there will be confusion, it is better to use Classic: (bookname). In this case it would be Classic Magic 2e