Power: Holy Light

[Icelander]

A PC who is both a GURPS Magic style spellcaster and GURPS Power style wielder of various powers has flown into the divine light revealed as the astral shell of a dead god was punctured. As a result, he has gotten religion and a status as some sort of holy champion of Su'en (or Nannaru), the benevolent god of the moon. So far, the main theological themes appear to be the defence of the innocent and the cleansing of wickedness, primarily supernatural evil and curses.

I'm wondering how best to represent a power of being able to call on silver-blue moonlight without casting a spell. It could emenate from a palm, hand, wand, staff or the entire body of the PC and last as long as he chooses, without active concentration. The brightness ought not to be inferior to what he could easily replicate with Light and Darkness College spells for just a few FPs (he has Energy Reserve 70).

The tricky part is that I want worshippers of Su'en (extremely small group, considering that the organised faith has been moribund for two millenia) to see the light at full brightness and beauty, probably getting a bonus to morale and Fright Checks within it. Those whose hearts are pure and souls are pleasing to Su'en (people with Charitable, Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents), Selfless, Sense of Duty and similar Disadvantages, as well as an absence of nasty mental traits) should in game terms get similar lighting effects, if not quite the same feeling of contact with divinity.

Regular people should get half effects and those filled with cruelty or selfishness should see only a dim flicker. Manifestations of supernatural evil, possessed servitors or active and willing agents of it should see no light at all.

What power do I want and do I use Enhancements or Limitations for this effect?

[Nereidalbel]

Create Light with Accessibility: Half Power and a custom PM. Oh, and Non-Wounding, so, no lasers burning people.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Create Light with Accessibility: Half Power and a custom PM. Oh, and Non-Wounding, so, no lasers burning people.

Wouldn't you need 9-10 levels of Create Light to be able to light up a pitch black room?

Which is absurdly overpriced compared to using spells for the same purpose.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Wouldn't you need 9-10 levels of Create Light to be able to light up a pitch black room?

Which is absurdly overpriced compared to using spells for the same purpose.

Nope, energy is 1,000 x (level squared) kJ of work. For visible light, only 3 levels would be required to match search lights with a 3 mile beam visibility range (so they run on electricity, it's still the same amount of energy to produce the beam). This would cost [30] before any modifiers, and it should be more than enough to light up a small village.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Actually you'd just need Create Visible Light 1 which is 10/level. See the Light spell in GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery (p. 19) for more info.

[lvalero]

It seems like your "divine light" wielder could benefit a lot of from the rules of Sorcery. He could have Sorcery with limitation "One College" (Light&Darkness spells) or "Two colleges" (L&D plus Healing) to get a big discount!

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Icelander

A PC who is both a GURPS Magic style spellcaster and GURPS Power style wielder of various powers has flown into the divine light revealed as the astral shell of a dead god was punctured. As a result, he has gotten religion and a status as some sort of holy champion of Su'en (or Nannaru), the benevolent god of the moon. So far, the main theological themes appear to be the defence of the innocent and the cleansing of wickedness, primarily supernatural evil and curses.

I'm wondering how best to represent a power of being able to call on silver-blue moonlight without casting a spell. It could emenate from a palm, hand, wand, staff or the entire body of the PC and last as long as he chooses, without active concentration. The brightness ought not to be inferior to what he could easily replicate with Light and Darkness College spells for just a few FPs (he has Energy Reserve 70).

The tricky part is that I want worshippers of Su'en (extremely small group, considering that the organised faith has been moribund for two millenia) to see the light at full brightness and beauty, probably getting a bonus to morale and Fright Checks within it. Those whose hearts are pure and souls are pleasing to Su'en (people with Charitable, Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents), Selfless, Sense of Duty and similar Disadvantages, as well as an absence of nasty mental traits) should in game terms get similar lighting effects, if not quite the same feeling of contact with divinity.

Regular people should get half effects and those filled with cruelty or selfishness should see only a dim flicker. Manifestations of supernatural evil, possessed servitors or active and willing agents of it should see no light at all.

What power do I want and do I use Enhancements or Limitations for this effect?

That is such a complex mechanic that I wouldn't try to design it from parts. Instead I'd eyeball and slap a point value on it. As you should know complex advantage designs are disproportionately expensive designs. I'd go for a base cost of 25 points that would give full illumination (to the faithful) and +1 to checks for the faithful over two yards

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by lvalero

It seems like your "divine light" wielder could benefit a lot of from the rules of Sorcery. He could have Sorcery with limitation "One College" (Light&Darkness spells) or "Two colleges" (L&D plus Healing) to get a big discount!

He already has Magery 4 and knows several Light and Darkness spells. Practically speaking, being able to glow and give off illumination without casting a spell is worth saving 1 second of actions occasionally and maybe a savings of 1-2 FP out of his 70 Energy Reserve from time to time.

It's not worth more than 3-5 CPs, realistically. Apart from the bonus for a tiny group of NPCs (which haven't been encountered so far), the light is basically several Accessory Perks (Flashlight, Lantern, etc.) with a modification that not everyone sees the same amount of light.

[zoncxs]

So then make a new advantage:

Holy light [5]

As a free action, once per turn, you can turn on your inner light to illuminate your surroundings. Those who belong to your faith can also see your light as bright as the sun* while those who don't only see it as bright as a torch. Those who are viewed as evil in your religion don't see the light at all. This light is treated as what ever source fits your religion. (Moon light, sunlight, fire, etc.)

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by zoncxs

So then make a new advantage:

Holy light [5]

As a free action, once per turn, you can turn on your inner light to illuminate your surroundings. Those who belong to your faith can also see your light as bright as the sun* while those who don't only see it as bright as a torch. Those who are viewed as evil in your religion don't see the light at all. This light is treated as what ever source fits your religion. (Moon light, sunlight, fire, etc.)

Being treated as fire has game-material benefits that do not apply to to moonlight or sunlight, in that fire damage sets things on fire. Of course, that's not relevant as long as no actual damage is being done. Sunlight seems to be a more common weakness for supernatural monsters than moonlight.

Other than that, 5 points seems about fair.