Throwing together some technosorcery styles

[DataPacRat]

I'm aiming at getting the GURPS crunch to match the fluff for a setting, and the hivemind of this forum has often provided me with good ideas. :)

Background: In the far-distant futures, multiple inhuman civilizations have risen and fallen, leaving behind various superscience gadgets, relics, feral nanotech, ambiently-hosted AIs, and other weirdness, which are close enough to magic that it's easier just to use the Magic system than Ultratech or Gadgeteering. In one continent-sized cylindrical hab, a new species or six are on their way up again, and some of Our Heroes are going to have been taught at one of the few magical schools.

After flipping through Thaumatology, a few Pyramids, and the like, I'm leaning towards Ritual Threshold Magery as the core system, plus a few further details like throwing in cantrips from The Least of Spells. (Ritual Magery being that instead of every spell being learned individually, you learn a Ritual Magic skill, a College skill, and each spell as a Technique, with lots of defaulting; Threshold Magery tosses powering spells with FP in favor of keeping track of a Tally, which if it exceeds a Threshold, can lead to calamities.)

I haven't really worked out any crunch for the next part, but I'm thinking of divvying the overal magic system into a half-dozen or so styles:
* Wet-nano: Animal, Body Control, Food, Healing, Plant
* Dry-nano: Air, Earth, Fire, Illusion & Creation, Light & Darkness, Making & Breaking, Movement, Protection, Sound, Technological, Water, Weather
? Wet + Dry nano: Necromantic
* Memetics: Communication & Empathy, Mind Control
* Ambient AI bargaining: Knowledge (incl divination), Warning, Magery with Pact limitations
* Relics, self-mobile: summon/create animals/monsters
* Relics, other: Magery with gadget limitations
* Misc: Environmental effects (hauntings, regions which inflict effects on visitors, etc); "magical" substances (dragon's blood, healing herbs, etc)

There are a couple of effects that I want to not be available - teleportation and other dimensions (thus ruling out the Gate college), soul manipulation (as distinct from minds), and true creation and destruction of matter. For some of the rest, I'm willing to throw in some technobabble that we in the present-day don't /quite/ have a perfect grasp of the fundamental laws of physics, so a few things we think are impossible aren't, quite; eg, violating conservation of mass-energy while still obeying some sort of conservation of mass-energy-information. And with the feral ambient nano, I can posit a lot of "ninja nano did stuff while you weren't looking" effects.

For the nano-based magics, I'm thinking of fluffing mana levels as the amount of nano that happens to be floating about.

For the gadget-limited Magery, I'm thinking of basing the style on the Weird Science skill instead of the Ritual Magic skill, maybe stat the gizmos' costs and weight with the "Metatronic Gadgets" table from Pyramid 3-46. And perhaps some interesting plot complications might arise if nobody around knows enough on the topic to have more than CP in Weird Science.


... So, that's the shape of my thoughts so far. What suggestions can you think of to improve things?

[johndallman]

If you're using nano availability as your "mana level" equivalent, it seems obvious that people will take to collecting materials from places where it works well, discover that the "magic" can be carried around, and try feeding it. Pretty soon you'll have a system of magicians carrying around nanomachine cultures, and the things will start to evolve towards specialisation for particular tasks. Amusingly, this seems especially likely for the mixture of wet and dry nano you propose for necromancy.

Violating conservation of mass-energy has the problem that very small inefficiencies in the process can produce very large explosions. If the nano has any of its safety programming left, I suspect that conversion won't work in space habitats.

[DataPacRat]

Originally Posted by johndallman

If you're using nano availability as your "mana level" equivalent, it seems obvious that people will take to collecting materials from places where it works well, discover that the "magic" can be carried around, and try feeding it. Pretty soon you'll have a system of magicians carrying around nanomachine cultures, and the things will start to evolve towards specialisation for particular tasks. Amusingly, this seems especially likely for the mixture of wet and dry nano you propose for necromancy.

An alternative might be to use this fluff as the basis behind Powerstones. (Or Threshold Magery's equivalent, 'Buffer Objects'.)

Violating conservation of mass-energy has the problem that very small inefficiencies in the process can produce very large explosions. If the nano has any of its safety programming left, I suspect that conversion won't work in space habitats.

I'm thinking less in terms of that sort of rapid energy release, and more in allowing something like reactionless thrusters, or maybe not-quite-but-seems-to-work-like zero-point generators. Just enough to keep players who attempt to over-rely on exploiting their knowledge of modern physics off-balance. :)


For large and rapid releases of energy... maybe I should throw in the possibility of Words of Power? (36 energy to cast, 360 FP worth of effects, controllable only on a crit-success IQ roll.) Maybe theme them as 'root access commands', but lacking any knowledge of the scripting language.

... Say, has anyone written out any suggestions for sample Word effects, those 360 FP worth?

[LoneWolf23k]

Some enterprising mages might try injecting nanos into their bloodstreams to increase their nano availability.

Those who survive this attempt might qualify for one level of Mana Enhancer advantage.

[LoneWolf23k]

Originally Posted by DataPacRat

For large and rapid releases of energy... maybe I should throw in the possibility of Words of Power? (36 energy to cast, 360 FP worth of effects, controllable only on a crit-success IQ roll.) Maybe theme them as 'root access commands', but lacking any knowledge of the scripting language.

... Say, has anyone written out any suggestions for sample Word effects, those 360 FP worth?

The first thing that came to mind was "Disassemble", turning the ambient Nanites into a short-lived "Grey Goo" that consumes everything in an area.

[DataPacRat]

It looks like the school itself is going to be plot-relevant, so I'm jotting down some thoughts.

I want magic to be relatively rare compared to a typical fantasy setting; so I'm estimating that with a catchment area of around 10 million people (around a sixth of the Known World, with another five similarly-sized schools scattered around the continent), there are maybe a hundred students in this school at a time (on the loose order of one in five thousand), and around eight teachers. Say, three focusing on dry-nano, two for wet-nano, and one each for memetics, AI-bargaining, and relic-monster taming. (Gotta unearth 'em all!) I'm thinking each of those categories will be its own Magical Style, with a certain amount of crossover (eg, for necromancy).

I'm thinking the standard course is 3 years, providing 15 CP of directly-magical training. I know that by hours-based learning, there's enough time in a year for 10 CP/year, but from what I've read in GURPS posts and books mentioning college, the latter level of study seems to be limited to students who are particularly dedicated and focused on their studies. And with magical knowledge being fairly uncommon, even 15 CP of Ritual Threshold Magery seems enough to set up a graduate for a lifelong, relatively cushy job. ... I haven't decided whether nootropics (presumably from geneered plants leftover from one of the fallen civilizations) would be available, or their price. If they're around, then an obsessed student who can afford them, and gets the study-time bonus from Single Minded, and who stays an extra year past the usual three, could end up with 104 CP of education. (And would likely need a few Disadvantages to reflect their likely burnout and social isolation.)

Call it around 30 students in 1st year, 25 in 2nd, 25 in 3rd, and another 20 post-grads hanging around for advanced studies and acting as TAs and tutors. Plus maybe a hundred servants of various sorts, fifty or more lab-equipment craftsmen, at least a half-dozen guards, and maybe fifty people mainly off-site who carry in supplies from outside the school's town.

I'm guessing that the main attraction for the teachers isn't necessarily the salary, or being able to pass on knowledge, but the school being the centre of magical learning, where they can perform their own personal research with maximum efficiency and minimized costs. Hm... architecture-wise, maybe each of the eight teachers has their own personal lab, plus a teaching lab/classroom; and there are an assortment of smaller-and-more-basic labs available for the wealthier students to rent. Suites for the teachers, dorms for the students; kitchen and servants' quarters and workrooms and stables; and outside the school, the town itself, and then the surrounding farms and manors.

Haven't worked through the implications of Ritual Threshold enchantment enough to figure out how much magical gear will be available, or of what sorts but magical heating and lighting seems a minimum.

Also still need to work out tuition. My instinct is somewhere on the order of each year of tuition costing around 3-8 years' worth of a subsistence farmer's income, depending on just how extravagant the teachers' personal labs are, and how much extra income the school gets from other sources mundane (eg, forestry, owning an inn) or magical (being the top experts to which the wealthiest go for divination or enchanted items)

After reading a bit about the earliest days of some of Europe's first universities, I'm leaning towards the school having gone through troubles that led it to have essentially seceded from the surrounding kingdom, becoming sovereign over its own affairs. Offering enough goodies to the nearby nobility for a good portion of those nobles to urge against wiping them out, while being prickly enough (and with enough explosions, both intentional and accidental) that the less-friendly nobles don't actually want the bother of trying to control the place. Haven't decided how I want the place to be run; maybe the teachers elect one of their members to be Headmaster, for when a single figurehead individual is useful? And there has to be a student-body-wide student's union of the sort which actually goes on strike now and then, depriving the teachers of tuition revenue, lab-assistants, and a certain amount of moral high ground when engaging in politics with third-parties.

And, of course, each of the teachers is their own individual, with their own quirks and goals, such as wanting to arrange for the school to be taken over by their clan, or maximizing the number of students who take Pacts with their preferred patron-AI-demon-entity, or trying to keep a particular secret hidden, or etc.

Oh, and the whole place is multispecies, though with the locally-predominant species predominating. Probably sapient fluffdino raptor types (though those might just be mainly the nobles, with the farmers and townies being another type).


... Anything in there that doesn't hang together, or could be improved? Anything I'm outright missing?

[DataPacRat]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

Some enterprising mages might try injecting nanos into their bloodstreams to increase their nano availability.

Those who survive this attempt might qualify for one level of Mana Enhancer advantage.

Hm... interesting, but I'm not sure whether that would quite fit with some future plot points I want to play with, involving leaving the continent-sized hab and discovering what's up with the rest of the universe. On the other hand, if the Weird Science mage throws together a two-ton, DR 2 thingummy that manages the trick, that could provide some interesting entertainment.

Definitely something I need to think about, though; thank you for the suggestion. :)

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

The first thing that came to mind was "Disassemble", turning the ambient Nanites into a short-lived "Grey Goo" that consumes everything in an area.

Sounds like it would be some combination of 4-FP Disintegrates (4d dmg each) and Ruins (2 FP/lb, age things 5 years per casting). Maybe 50 of the former, a total of 200d damage, plus about 180 lbs Ruined by 5 years (or 18 lbs 50 years, etc).



I'm looking for the best way to balance Weird Science Magery (with gadget Limitations) versus the other more college-oriented Magical Styles. Maybe have each of the latter Styles limited to their respective colleges, while Weird Science is limited to 2 CP in the core skill, but unlimited in which colleges can be based on it?

[DataPacRat]

At TL3, with handwritten text on parchment, how long does it take someone to pen out a Basic Library, or a Small Collection?

One of the teaching techniques at this TL is for the students to make a copy of their text, while their teacher reads it aloud and provides commentary; and I'm trying to figure out how that'd mesh with a three-year magic-education program.

LTC1 suggests that a Small Collection (offering -2 to Research on 1 skill) would be 20 linear feet, consisting of 10 "volumes", worth $3500 and weighing 500 lbs. I remember from somewhere that the cost is roughly half from materials and half from labour; LTC3 suggests an average scribe makes $800 per month, so $1750/$800 = a bit over 2 months, around 66 days. So, over three years, a maximum of something on the order of 16 Small Collections could be written. Which is interestingly close to my previous estimate of a typical student being taught 15 CP over three years.

Am I anywhere near the right order of magnitude, here?

[DataPacRat]

Welp, I think I'm almost done finished jotting down all the details I'm going to need, both for the styles and for the school and its town. I'd appreciate any feedback you can offer, such as if I made any silly mistakes, or am missing something important.

(I haven't really figured out how the "Magic of the Unearthed" subschool would actually work, but it's getting late now and it's probably going to only be used by NPCs, so I can probably fudge it with a few Pokemon tropes. If you've got any ideas on properly GURPSifying them, I'd appreciate some direction.)

---

The "Tower of the Sphinx" Magical Style and substyles:

* Common Skills: Thaumatology [college skills are capped at this skill's level], Expert Skill (Natural Philosophy), Philosophy (Xianism school), Research/TL3. =4
- Likely common advantages: Ritual Threshold Magery 0, Ally (familiar), Ally Group (student body), Patron (a teacher, or Tower of the Sphinx as a whole), Academic Rank, Talent (Academic, Sage), Wealth. Technique: Memory Palace. Perks: Style Familiarity (Tower of the Sphinx magery) or Lapsed Practitioner (Tower of the Sphinx magery), Citizenship (Sphinxtown), Special Exercises (IQ), Extra Option: Brute-Force Spell ([particular spell]), Extra Option: Faster Casting ([particular spell]), Extra Option: Stabilizing Skill ([particular skill] for [specific college]), Intuitive Cantrip ([specific college]), Secret Words.
- Likely common disadvantages: Duty (to school), Secret (soap opera dramas), Social Stigma (Second-Class Citizen: Foreign Student)

* "Magic of Things" (aka dry-nano) subschool skills: Ritual Magic (dry-nano), Alchemy/TL3. College skills: Air, Earth, Fire, Illusion & Creation, Light & Darkness, Making & Breaking, Movement, Necromancy, Protection, Sound, Energy/TL3, Metal, Water, Weather.
- Potential advantages: Perk: Rote Alchemy ([specific elixir])

* "Magic of Life" (aka wet-nano) subschool skills: Ritual Magic (wet-nano), Cooking, Diagnosis/TL3, Esoteric Medicine, First Aid/TL3, Herb Lore/TL3, Naturalist, Pharmacy/TL3 (Herbal), Physiology/TL3 (various sapient species), Surgery/TL3, Veterinary/TL3. College skills: Animal, Body Control, Food, Healing, Necromancy, Plant.
- Likely advantages: Magery with gadget limitations (ingredients: collection of herbs, animal parts, etc), Animal Empathy, Plant Empathy, Talent (Animal Friend, Beastmaster, Green Thumb, Healer), Unaging (limitation: dependant on regular doses of alchemical concoction). Perk: Sanitized Metabolism
- Likely disadvantages: Addiction (Laudanum: cheap, highly addictive, legal) (-5), Pacifism (any level), Vow (vegetarianism).

* "Magic of Minds" (aka memetics) subschool skills: Ritual Magic (memetics), Autohypnosis, Body Language, Brainwashing/TL3, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Dreaming, Fast-Talk, Hypnotism, Intimidation, Meditation, Mental Strength, Mind Block, Propaganda/TL3, Psychology (Applied), Psychology (Clinical), Public Speaking. College skills: Communication & Empathy, Mind Control. Also: Languages (modern)
- Likely advantages: Charisma, Empathy, Indomitable, Talent (Born Entertainer, Empath, Mesmerist, Smooth Operator, Talker). Technique: Mind Modification [Powers the Weird p7]. Perks: Autotrances, Extra Option: Intimidating Curses, Thaumatological Doublespeak
- Likely disadvantages: Callous, Phobia (Madness)

* "Magic of Spirits" (aka ambient AIs) subschool skills: Ritual Magic (ambient AIs), Hidden Lore (ambient AI lore), Law (Supernatural Contracts), Psychology (ambient AIs). College skills: Knowledge (including divination), Warning.
- Particular AIs offer access to particular colleges and spells, at their discretion; see 'Assisting Spirits' in Thaumatology p90-94. (To do: List some of the more well-known AIs, and what they offer in exchange for what)
- Likely advantages: Magery with Pact limitations. Perks: Spirit Contract (with particular AIs), Standard Operating Procedure (Magical Lawyer), Extra Option: Knower of Names
- Likely disadvantages: Code of Honor (Oathbound) [Horror p23], Corruption [Horror p147] or Spiritual Distortion [Thaumatology p94], Duty (to patron AI), Fanaticism

* "Magic of the Unearthed" (aka relic-control) subschool skills: Ritual magic (relic control), Archaeology, Expert Skills (Egyptology-equivalent, one per xenoarchaeo civilization), History (various), Occultism, Tactics. Also: ancient Languages (Accented at best, probably Broken, likely written-only). College skills: ?.
- ? To do: come up with a spell-list of summon/control spells. Graduates are crosses between Indiana Jones and Pokemon trainers. Eg, Summon [Element] Elemental, Control [Element] Elemental, Create [Element] Elemental, Golem, Simulacrum, Doppelgänger, Dancing Weapon, Dancing Shield, Create Servant, Create Warrior, Create Animal, Create Mount, Control Creation, Dispel Creation, Animate Object, Animation, Machine spells
- Likely advantages: Allies (animated relics). Perk: Teamwork
- Likely disadvantages: Curious, Dependents (non-combat-worthy animated relics), Kleptomania, Phobia (being alone)

* "Are you sure that's really magic?" (aka Weird Science) subschool skills: Weird Science (ritual magic) [capped at 2 CP], Expert Skill (Advanced Technology) [Pyramid 72 p17], Electronics Repair/TL5^ (xenoarchaeo-electronics), Mathematics/TL3 (Applied), Physics/TL3^ (optional specialty: xenoarchaeo-physics). College skills: all 23 (capped at Weird Science).
- Likely advantages: Magery with gadget limitations (xenoarchaeo gizmos), Increased Threshold with gadget limitations, Rapid Magical Recovey with gadget limitations, Safer Magical Access with gadget limitations. Gadgeteer (Specialized: Magical Electronics, -80%) (5). Perk: Intuitive Repairman (a Magery gadget), Perks: Cutting-Edge Training (Electronics Repair (xenoarchaeo-electronics)) of 2 or more levels

[DataPacRat]

... And since the forum has a character-limit per post, here are my notes on the town and school, which I could also use feedback and constructive criticism on:


Sphinxtown:

Some decades ago, eight wizards got together at a particular town to exchange resources, make bulk purchases of common magic-useful goods to save money, and help each other train up apprentices. This soon turned into something we'd recognize as a formal school. However, they soon had some disagreements with the local baron over what demands he placed on them, and once the complications finished ensuing, they found themselves de jure in charge of their town, and the surrounding fields to around four miles out. Since then, the teachers have been somewhat neglectful rulers, preferring to ignore managing the town as much as they can get away with, unless something interrupts their studies and researches.

* Realm Management:

The wizards have their own sources of income, including tuition from their students and selling magical goods and services (Independent Revenue Stream); since they created the whole arrangement for their personal benefit, they make sure at least some of the taxes go directly to themselves (Corrupt), even though they don't bother trying very hard to extract taxes from the residents (Light Taxation). They are very much eggheads, and can happily spend a lot of their time thinking about the best ways to do things (Maneuver Mastery: Plan). Given the near-nonexistent size of the city-state's military, they prefer focusing on avoiding military conflicts in the first place, which is where the practitioners of the Magic of the Mind shine (Soft-Power Oriented). Their experiments blow up their labs often enough - amongst other magical accidents - that the locals tend to blame them for pretty much anything unusual that befalls the town (Superstitious Populace). They really prefer focusing on those experiments over doing governmental-style paperwork, and are much less skilled at the latter than they really should be by now (Unreliable Management).

Name: Sphinxtown
Total Area: 50 square miles
Realm Size Value: +6
Resource Points: 10 (2 Agriculture Points (Animal Husbandry 1, Farming 1), 1 Luxury/Precious Goods Point, 1 Natural Resource Point, 6 Workforce Points (Mental 5, Physical 1))
Starting Resource Point Value (RMp6): $4,200
Buying/Selling Resource Point Value (RMp37): $1,251
Starting Resource Points total: 5
TL: 3^
Cultural Traits: None
Realm Inhabitant Racial Traits: None (several species, average CP value 0)
Population: 2,000
Citizen Loyalty: Neutral (11; +0)
Infrastructure Rating: IR3
Control Rating: CR3
Conformity Rating: ConR2
Openness Rating: OR4
Government Type: Oligarchy (magocracy)
Economy Type: Capitalism
Defense Bonus and Terrain: 0; plains
Education Rating: ER2
Management Skill: 12
Habitability: Neutral (11; +0)
Reaction-Time Modifier: +4
Realm Enhancements (+55%): Independent Revenue Stream 35 (+35%), Maneuver Mastery (Plan, +20%)
Realm Limitations (-55%): Corrupt (1 level, -10%), Light Taxation (effective CR2, -5%), Soft-Power Oriented (-10%), Superstitious Populace (-5%), Unreliable Management (-25%)
Social Resonance: 0
Patron Value: 10
Enemy Value: -20
Base Realm Value: $840k
Realm Value: $840k + starting RPs (21k) + cost to raise military units ($390k) = $1.251M
Military Resources: $28,000/month
> Logistics +50%, short-range only -50%
Revenue: $42,000 + Independent Revenue Stream: $14,700 = $56,700/month
Starting Revenue: $5,460
Inhabitants' Status: -2 to 3
Inhabitants' Wealth: Struggling to Very Wealthy


* Mass Combat:
- Military Resources: $28,000/month
- Showboat for the Magic of Things: TL3^ Airship: TS 20, Class Air T2, Mobility SA, Raise $300k, Maintain $10k
- Guard: 6*Medium Infantry (60 individual troops), Troop Quality: Inferior: TS 9, WT 6, Mob Foot, Raise $90k, Maintain $18k
- Militia (City Stats p10): 40 Medium Infantry (400 individual troops); Equipment Quality Basic, Troop Quality Average. TS 120, WT 40, Mob Foot, Raise $0, Maintain $0 for first 2 months, afterwards Maintain $240k
- Other: The 1 wizardly headmaster (Magery 3+), 7 other wizardly teachers (Magery 2+), 20 wizardly teachers' aides (Magery 1+), and 80 wizardly students (Magery 0+). And all the enchanted gear that they've kept for themselves rather than selling.


* City Stats:
Population: 2,000 (Search -1)
Physical and Magical Environment:
Terrain: Plains
Appearance: Average (+0)
Hygiene: -1
Normal Mana (Uncommon Enchantment)
Culture and Economy:
Language: Xian
Literacy: None
TL: 3^
Wealth: Average (x1)
Status: -2 to 3
Political Environment:
Government: Oligarchy
CR: 3 (Corruption -1)
Military Resources: $28k
Defense Bonus: +4 (Improvised Fortifications)


* Boardroom & Curia:

The Tower of the Sphinx

The school itself, as opposed to the town as a whole.

Mission Statement: Research new forms and techniques of magic; teach magic to the next generation. Oh, and keep the town running, to keep those annoying nobles from trying to interfere in matters far beyond their comprehension again.

Capabilities:
TL: 3^
Members: 28
> 1 headmaster, 7 other teachers, 20 TA grad students; does not include 80 undergrad students
Wealth: Very Wealthy Plus (x40)
Contacts: Magical skills-18 [15], Teaching-18 [3]
Member Traits: Magery 1 [15], Magery +1 to 2 (28% of members, -50%) [5], Magery +1 to 3 (3% of members, -100%) [0]
Notable Resources: Classrooms, teaching labs, teachers' personal labs, dorms
Reaction-Time Modifier: +2
Costs and Values:
Startup Cost: $784,000 + (contact, contact groups, member traits; points as percentage, +38%) = $1,081,920
Resource Value: $5,409.60/month
Patron Value: 10
Enemy Value: -20
Ally and Dependant Value: The headmaster is practically an archmage, the students might be youths just starting their training, and there are the various servants and cooks and such.
Social Attributes:
Type: Teaching, Research, Commercial
CR: 4
Loyalty: Neutral (11; +0)
Rank: Academic Rank 1-3 [3/level]
> Undergrads are Academic Rank 0 [0]
Income Range: $700 (Average) to $70,000 (Filthy Rich)
Reputation: +2 (helpful wizards); -2 (dangerous wizards)