Going unrestricted GURPS Magic. What about errata, house rules, recommended books?

[Calliban]

In our next campaign, PCs are from modern-day Earth and discover a way to travel back and forth to a Medieval Fantasy world, fueled by GURPS Fantasy: Portal Realms ideas. They'll then be able to develop Magery and learn spells - which may possibly also work back on Earth.

We will be using GURPS Magic basic spell system, plus Alchemy. Not sure about other sub-systems yet - but I am open to suggestions!

I think I'll be removing any spells from the game, and I am well aware some of them could create huge problems to my sanity as a GM, such as infinite money and recursive time travel. Which is where I am looking for some help.

Are there any current errata or recommended house rules on handling GURPS Magic spells? Any recommended books other than Magic - including specific Pyramid issues? Any problematic spells or spell-combos I should be aware and prepared for? Any other advice?

[ehrbar]

Well, this is my set of recommended house rules/unofficial errata for GURPS Magic, plus a discussion of some possible economic exploits (same link as in my signature block).

[Fred Brackin]

Anyoner not trying to amke money out of two-wy worldspaning travel isn't really entering intot he proper spirit of the thing. Look at Infinite Inc and the Pip[er stories its' based on.

Some considerations. You can't make infinte money in the LT world as they don't have infinite money. They may not even have as much hard currency as their native economy could really use.

Making money in the HT world may be limited by the economic surveillance state that exists. Start selling "scrap" bronze by the cubic yard and somebody official will probably start asking where you're getting it from. Even if it's all properly noted on your tax forms the IRS will wonder why it doesn't show up on somebody else's tax forms. You might have to let the Government in on your secret and they might be happy for someone making it possible for the Army to cut their ammunition costs.

There would be a few exceptions. I'd be fairly sure you could pull what I call the "Antiques Roadshow" scam at least once. Your official story would be that you'd pulled a Tang dynasty stone lion-dog or a Navaho chief's blanket out of Grandma's attic. This could be worth millions.

If you want to go into the antiques business to cover doing this multiple times you're going to have to do a lot of overseas travel as a cover and declare your fake finds in both countries of origin and end sales. True expertise in the applicable Law Skills is almost certainly needed. Many countries have a "Thank you for finding this amazing antique. You can visit it in our museum" attitude. That means they'll simply grab it without compensation. They are governments. They can get away with things like that. The basic principles of Pirate Treasure simply don't apply any more.

Sometimes it's a matter of how "antique" you're talking about. Finding expensive ceramics a century or two old is probably okay but ancient Roman Coins are "Hand it over.".

A specific exception that might not be in your range of possibilities is the Classic car reconstruction business .Buy an old wreck and then cast Rebuild /TL6, 7 or 8 as appropriate on it and you sell it as a high end reconstruction. Your PCs might have trouble learning the right spells thpough.