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Old 11-17-2013, 02:11 AM   #31
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

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Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ View Post
My view of this is different. I find Chinese Elemental Powers to be much, much easier to use. I've played in games with Psionic Powers and Divine Favor, but those have a steep buy in. It's a lot of work for both the players and the GM to learn those systems. That's not the case with Chinese Elemental Powers. The new powers' adherence to the powers rules that everyone already knows makes them extraordinarily easy to use. I can drop them into a game without any trouble at all. We already had complicated systems. I like that we now have one that's elegant and easy to use. That's something we didn't have before.
Yep. A good quickstart power catalogue for someone running an Eastern Martial Artists campaign. Psionic Powers are a totally different beast (one which I really admire, but wouldn't ever use without personal customisation).
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Old 11-17-2013, 09:38 PM   #32
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

I like the little egg about alternate abilities. That raised a question for me, what if I want all the different abilities to be one power? If any part goes down the. They all go down. But still allow for separate usage.
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Old 11-18-2013, 01:45 AM   #33
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

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Originally Posted by zoncxs View Post
I like the little egg about alternate abilities. That raised a question for me, what if I want all the different abilities to be one power? If any part goes down the. They all go down. But still allow for separate usage.
If you're refering to the Overlapping Abilities box on p21, thats just Multiple Copies of the Same Advantage from the Uniqueness box on Powers.p12; which refers to buying the same Advantage with different power modifiers - you pay full price for the most expensive and 1/5 price for the others because they represent the same ability, so you don't get any usage benefit from having the same thing multiple times, thus the cost discount.
The advantage is that disabling one ability does not disable the others, since they have different power modifiers.

Alternative Abilities as listed on Powers.p11, and used for Divine Favor is a different thing, which just happens to use the cost scheme, but is otherwise not the same.
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Old 11-18-2013, 08:59 AM   #34
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

Thanks very much for this new book. I have had a Chinese fantasy game on the back boiler for years, at least since DnD 3rd ed.
My Seven-element magic system was missing something.

The new download has given me something to show that demonstrates a 'new flavour' in a game to my brother, who hates to 'repeat a game', meaning that 'cos we've done fantasy, he won't consider Chinese Myth.
I don't see his point, but...

Now we can do something he hasn't done.

The chances of running my longest-burning project have just come that much closer. Thanks.
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Old 11-18-2013, 11:19 AM   #35
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

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Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker View Post

I get the impression it's going to be one of the "couple of new concepts but 85% worked examples" books
That would be accurate. On the other hand, as the author of GURPS Powers and editor of GURPS Thaumatology, I'm acutely aware of all the people asking for worked examples because they have trouble "getting it," so we need to provide such material!
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Old 11-18-2013, 12:51 PM   #36
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

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That would be accurate. On the other hand, as the author of GURPS Powers and editor of GURPS Thaumatology, I'm acutely aware of all the people asking for worked examples because they have trouble "getting it," so we need to provide such material!
In fact that was precisely the design intent of CEP: To provide a body of "magic as powers" abilities comparable to the colleges of mana-based magic or the paths and books of ritual magic/spirit magic. The underlying system was already present and pretty much fully worked out in Powers. But not everyone wants to build multiple sets of abilities from scratch. And the Chinese five-elements system has interesting nuances that seemed worth exploring for their own sake.

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Old 11-18-2013, 07:05 PM   #37
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

One thing I was thinking about today when comparing it to some of the magic systems in the setting was about how it compared power wise.
My initial thoughts had been to use an AA to better balance it against my Magic as Powers system. However I realize it has an even better option.
Using Meditation for Extra Effort leads to high scores there and you can use Abilities at Default and temporary Enhancements with the Meditation skill (even a suggestion for Chi abilities in Powers) and that gives them plenty of flexibility within their element.
Using the options for extra effort, and temporary powers/enhancements really gives them a different feel then Divine favor or the Control Magic method (even though I allow them to use the rules from Powers).
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Old 11-18-2013, 07:12 PM   #38
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

I have finally skipped enough meals to get this book, and it was worth $8 of food and then some!

As to the discussion about crunch vs. worked examples goes, I can say that the worked examples help tremendously. While I adore Divine Favor and am waiting for the opportunity to really dig into Psionic Powers, this book is both immediately useful and a fantastic foundation for personalized expansion (something I'm beginning work on). Even with my weird setting, it is directly useful.

And with regard to Chapter 2, it really helps to see more of the goodness from Powers worked out. It's easy to cherry pick the rules I like from Powers, but sometimes it's less simple to integrate them so thoroughly into my writeups. This has definitely helped. I'm really glad this book was released, and I don't really get the concerns about it "just being a worked example" book.
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Old 11-18-2013, 07:26 PM   #39
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

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I have finally skipped enough meals to get this book, and it was worth $8 of food and then some!
It's nice to know I'm not the only one who does this. >__>
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Old 11-18-2013, 07:31 PM   #40
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Default Re: GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers

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And with regard to Chapter 2, it really helps to see more of the goodness from Powers worked out. It's easy to cherry pick the rules I like from Powers, but sometimes it's less simple to integrate them so thoroughly into my writeups. This has definitely helped. I'm really glad this book was released, and I don't really get the concerns about it "just being a worked example" book.
I'm glad that was useful to you. I think I went through three versions of it, and both Kromm and PK contributed suggestions and critiques. It certainly helped me gain a deeper understanding of the more arcane parts of Powers.

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