Comparmentalized Mind and ritual components of spellcasting

[Plane]

2008:

Originally Posted by Kromm

Yes. This is wholly mental, and also entirely on your internal clock and not dependent on anybody else's reactions. For this purpose alone, you can think of CM as ATR (Mental actions only). That's why it's very expensive.

I think I remember hearing that CM is not fully like taking two Concentrates with ATR though, since you still only get a single "step" plus parry penalties do not reset... so it's probably closer to "Extra Attack" in a way?

I understand how CM allowing faster spellcasting works if you have skill 20+ in a spell so it is "Ritual: None" (magic is a purely mental thing at that point), but for lesser skill levels where you're also doing physical movement components to spellcasting, should there be some problems relying on Compartmentalized Mind to speed it up?

I always found it strange that aside from the visuals (and whether or not you're bound) that there wasn't any mechanical differences for having skill 20+ (no ritual) compared to having skill 9 or less ("both hands and both feet free for elaborate ritual movements")

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One way I thought this could be interesting is you could say that every second you do ritual components, you could say that leg movements count as a step (except you don't change hexes) and that hand movements count as a parry.

So for skill 9 you would need to spend 2 parries per turn (probably 1 each hand) and be -4 if you actually need to parry something during the casting... plus waste your 'free step', whereas skill 10-15 you only need to do a single gesture (1 parry)

Now in terms of "2 concentrates per second" using my proposal that would mean using up 2 parries at skill 10-15 and 4 parries + 2 steps at skill 9 or less.

You don't normally get 2 steps during a concentrate maneuver so this is one place I would propose having a "Committed Concentrate" where like a Committed Attack: Determined (MA100) you swap out your +2 to skill to get an extra step, and as a penalty incur a further -2 to active defenses and losing ability to retreat.

In terms of "cannot parry with the hand(s) he used to attack, block if he attacked with his shield or cloak, or dodge if he kicked" I guess the GM might give the player the choice of "cannot dodge" or "cannot parry" ?

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Another option might be something like "allow the use of a leg parry instead of the use of a step". A leg parry does a similar penalty as a Committed Attack (per MA123 you lose your retreat) so maybe that's less complex?

Something like a "Move and Concentrate" where each second worth of leg movement requires a Movement Point might be another thing to think about in terms of allowing Compartmentalized Mind to allow faster casting where rituals are still needed?

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another consideration would be the spoken verbal elements: I know that talking is normally a free action, but there's meant to be realistic limits on how much you can speak each second

Someone casting a spell that normally takes 10 seconds via Cereminal Magic would be expected to be required to speak magic words aloud for 100 seconds: very conspicuous.

Now, if you had 100 levels of Compartmentalized Mind, you could take 100 Concentrate Maneuvers in a single second: so yeah you can focus on the words, but can you actually speak them physically with the required speed?

This seems like a situation where Alternate Magic Rituals (pg 99 of GURPS Magic) would be useful, since you could just allow them to take a penalty for not completing the words/gestures if they are using Compartmentalized Mind instead of Altered Time Rate.

But in settings where it's mandatory to do hand/leg/tongue movements, shouldn't there be some physical toll and natural limitation?

[Eric Funk]

Hello Plane,

I have been pondering this as two mages in my party have bought this (on the way up to ATR I think).

Magic Rituals (pp. B238, M8 ) says at skill 15-19 (which you most likely are if you can afford Compartmentalised Mind) spells require "a word or two OR make a small gesture (a couple of fingers)"...

With several levels of CM a wizard could easily have three active spells activated at once. Personally I would stipulate their STAFF could only be in one position for the turn regarding its conductive benefits and if a spell specifies "hand" or "breathe" then that conduit may be occupied...

But they are not physical actions or Maneuvers. I agree the mental exercise of CM 100 [5000cp] is interesting but quite a border case. : )


You might benefit from Martial Arts' three pages on Multiple Attacks (MA126-128) where they talk about the combinations and multiplication of ATR, Extra Attack, Rapid Strike and All-Out-Attacks. From my reading they only affect what happens during your "Act" phase (not during defense against enemy maneuvers).

OTOH if you want to take an extra Step on your turn you can buy a "Giant Step" (+1 step) for 1 FP. (MA131)...

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Eric Funk

Personally I would stipulate their STAFF could only be in one position for the turn regarding its conductive benefits and if a spell specifies "hand" or "breathe" then that conduit may be occupied...

But they are not physical actions or Maneuvers. I agree the mental exercise of CM 100 [5000cp] is interesting but quite a border case.

The border case is just to make for an easier-to-understand example, but really doing the gesture for two spells at once (or doing them consecutively in half the normal time) goes beyond the 'mental only' conception of Compartmentalized Mind IMO.