Can we have a powerstone quirk thread?

[maximara]

Originally Posted by hal

One of my biggest problems with QUIRKS are these:

What is the true valuation of any given quirked powerstone. Some quirks BADLY render the power stone unfit for use, while others are only mild inconveniences.

And at least one, the Mana Pool quirk, is a boon.

Since it raises the local mana level by at least 1 step it works as a Mana Enhancer item. More over per the RAW Mana Pool works in no mana area because it raises the local mana level.

Unless the quirk is aspected to a certain college(s) such a powerstone will demand top dollar.

I should point out the way powerstone is worded it seems to be the only spell that is immune to the Power 15 adjusted to mana level rule. Otherwise it couldn't recharge in low mana unless it had been enchanted at skill 20 for normal mana.

[hal]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

So then it's impossible to "damage the mesh" by putting pressure on it?

Using the same analogy as I used before?

None of the other spells in GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition, save for enchantment spells, can damage the "mesh". Essentially, the "Mesh" or "Weave" of magic items can only be constructed/impaired/destroyed by Enchantment spells per GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition.

This is why that particular case/spell (Charge Powerstone) is an anomaly.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Um...what? So far as I know quirked powerstones are the product of messing up an enchantment roll. Since there are a LOT of rolls made in enchanting a large stone, most large stones are quirked.

Yep. Magic Items 1 has a table for this. Including prices for 0-quirk stones. A 100-point stone costs $1,4M. A 0-quirk 100-point powerstone costs $25M.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by hal

Using the same analogy as I used before?

None of the other spells in GURPS MAGIC 2nd edition, save for enchantment spells, can damage the "mesh".

None of the other spells in GURPS Magic are messing with the "water flow".

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by maximara

I should point out the way powerstone is worded it seems to be the only spell that is immune to the Power 15 adjusted to mana level rule. Otherwise it couldn't recharge in low mana unless it had been enchanted at skill 20 for normal mana.

Powerstones _don't_ work in Low Mana unless they started at Power 20. No magic item does.

[hal]

Originally Posted by maximara

I should point out the way powerstone is worded it seems to be the only spell that is immune to the Power 15 adjusted to mana level rule. Otherwise it couldn't recharge in low mana unless it had been enchanted at skill 20 for normal mana.

I don't think it quite works that way Maximara. Take for instance, the following:

Mage with skill 15, creates a 1 point powerstone on his first session with the enchantment process. By luck of all lucks, the mage manages to critically cast his spell on the very first try. Rolling 2d6 to see what the new power level is (per pg 17 of GURPS MAGIC), the mage's powerstone goes from a base line of 15 power, to (on an average roll of 7 on 2d6) to 22. This permits the powerstone to go from being operational in a normal mana zone to a low mana zone.

Likewise, the powerstone can be enchanted by someone with a skill of 20, and craft a powerstone to power 20. Either way, the powerstone is now at skill 20, and is capable of still obeying the limit placed on the functionality of powerstones.

The real question is - can an inert powerstone with energy in it, still function as a powerstone if its power level (aka skill level) below 20 in a low mana zone?

To the way the rules are worded, no. A magic item does not function as a magic item if its "power" is lower than 15 for a normal mana zone, or lower than 20 for a low mana zone.

[hal]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Powerstones _don't_ work in Low Mana unless they started at Power 20. No magic item does.

Ninja'd me. :)

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by hal

It is't messing with the ENCHANTMENT itself, it is messing with the natural process the enchanted item works through. If you wanted to say that a failure affects things, simply say that regardless of whether or not the spell succeeds in imparting energy, the "recharge process" is still harmed.

Charge Powerstone can be a very powerful spell, because the slow recharge rate and need to spread out powerstones are key limits on magic in the standard rules. So it needs a special limit, and whoever wrote that spell chose the rule about quirks. I agree that it would also have been perfectly fine to say that a failure drains the stone empty, or removes 1d energy, just like Youth.

Edit: the GURPS Wiki does not list it as published before GURPS Grimoire although I don't know how hard they searched https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Charge_Powerstone

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

Charge Powerstone can be a very powerful spell, because the slow recharge rate and need to spread out powerstones are key limits on magic in the standard rules. So it needs a special limit, and whoever wrote that spell chose the rule about quirks. I agree that it would also have been perfectly fine to say that a failure drains the stone empty, or removes 1d energy, just like Youth.

Edit: the GURPS Wiki does not list it as published before GURPS Grimoire although I don't know how hard they searched https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Charge_Powerstone

Actually the text implies that the spell appeared in Magic Items 1 (1990) some four years before Classic: Grimoire: "The old version of this spell is the only spell that can be combined with Powerstone Recharging Rack. "

[Racer]

Recharging Stone has stick figure appear on top surface , that seems to be performing some type of indecipherable semaphore .