Iconic Forgotten Realms Spells - As Powers and/or New Skill-based Spells

[jamesfoxbr]

I loved this section because I'm running a Forgotten Realms campaign in GURPS 4Th too!

[Snaps]

Originally Posted by Icelander

But the Modular Ability already comes out to -90% in modifiers, for a modified cost of 2 CP per point of the pool. Adding Limited Use wouldn't make it any cheaper. Which is nonsense, because, as noted, a spell that you can cast once and then can't use again until you can memorise again the next day is much less useful than one that you can use all day after you memorise it. Fortunately, in GURPS Supers, I came across a cost modifier that suited me perfectly. It was One Use Only, something which you could use only once and was then lost forever. That reduced cost by 1/5.

One thing you might be overlooking is that an ability bought with Modular Points can have its own Limitations as well.

So if your Modular Abilities are already reduced to 80% with Limitations you could then build a Meteor Swarm power with a limited Use Limitation to further reduce the cost of the ability.

Using this you could get the same costs as you are getting now and still stay RAW.

I for example am making a Mage I'll be playing this week who uses an Energy Reserve to reduce the cost of all his magic. It takes him energy to shift around his modular points, then take more energy to actually use an ability bought with them.

A quick example would be:

Modular Points 50 (Costs Fatigue 16, -80%) [100 points]

Then use those 50 points to buy:

Burning Attack 50 (Costs Fatigue, 8, -40%; Limited Use: 1 per day, -40%) [50 points]

Not sure how Limited Use would effect these Modular Points. Would it sort of lock them up so that the points couldn't be used until the next day or would it just stop you from using your modular points for an innate attack or burning attack? I'd probably rule that the Modular points are spent for the day and can't be accessed until the next day. (More than fair I think for a whopping 50d burning attack)

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Snaps

Not sure how Limited Use would effect these Modular Points. Would it sort of lock them up so that the points couldn't be used until the next day or would it just stop you from using your modular points for an innate attack or burning attack? I'd probably rule that the Modular points are spent for the day and can't be accessed until the next day. (More than fair I think for a whopping 50d burning attack)

That's the only sane way to interpret it IMO - you run into the same question with Alternate Attacks, and I'd use the same answer there, too.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Snaps

One thing you might be overlooking is that an ability bought with Modular Points can have its own Limitations as well.

So if your Modular Abilities are already reduced to 80% with Limitations you could then build a Meteor Swarm power with a limited Use Limitation to further reduce the cost of the ability.

Using this you could get the same costs as you are getting now and still stay RAW.

I for example am making a Mage I'll be playing this week who uses an Energy Reserve to reduce the cost of all his magic. It takes him energy to shift around his modular points, then take more energy to actually use an ability bought with them.

A quick example would be:

Modular Points 50 (Costs Fatigue 16, -80%) [100 points]

Then use those 50 points to buy:

Burning Attack 50 (Costs Fatigue, 8, -40%; Limited Use: 1 per day, -40%) [50 points]

Not sure how Limited Use would effect these Modular Points. Would it sort of lock them up so that the points couldn't be used until the next day or would it just stop you from using your modular points for an innate attack or burning attack? I'd probably rule that the Modular points are spent for the day and can't be accessed until the next day. (More than fair I think for a whopping 50d burning attack)

That's a good point, but it does run into the problem that with the various Affliction-based spells, a Limited Use (1/day) might only reduce the total cost by 4 points total, from, say, 80 points to 76. That's not a fair price break for an ability usable only once during the day, as opposed to one that you can use again and again and again after you memorise it.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Refplace

I think Affliction builds work for the Power Words.
Power Word Stun and Kill practically write themselves. I do not recall the other ones, been a few decades since I messed with D&D.

Depends on the desired level of fidelity. The point of the Power Word spells in D&D is that they don't allow a resistance roll, but work (or not) based on the total HP of the target.

Which is why an Innate Attack with some form of 'all or nothing' limitation would work for Power Word Kill. I guess Innate Attack with Symptons and No Wounding would work for the others.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

For the Iconic spells I would add Agannazar's Scorcher (basically a higher range Flame Jet),

The 2nd Edition spell is very different from the 3rd Ed one. The 2nd Ed one does cyclic damage to one target and has a linked Persistent, Drifting 1 hex wide Cone that only lasts for 1 turn. I don't quite know how to handle that.

The 3e one is easy.

Aganazzzar's Scorcher
Innate Attack 2d+2 burn [Cone 1 yd (+60%), Costs Fatigue 6 (-30%), Magical (-10%), Reduced Max Range /10 (-15%), Requires Gestures (-10%), Requires Words (-10%), Takes Extra Time 1 (-10%), Trigger: Occasional; Red Dragon scale (-30%)]
Total CP 6.

Bam. Takes two turns to cast, one of Ready and one of Concentrate. A 10 yds long, one hex wide cone that does 2d+2 burn to anyone within that area. If you want, you can aim for Acc 3, but it's not required.

Then just raise the damage by 1d+1 burn per level of Magery above 2 and increase the range slightly for a higher level caster.

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

Chain Lightning,

I mean to get on that at some point. It will be mechanically tricky, though.

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

Dimension Door,

The 2nd Edition version was nothing more than a personal Teleport spell with a limited range. Is there any reason why the Teleport spell from GURPS Magic is a poor fit? As long as the caster's skill is fairly low, he'll not be going far.

For a version where the caster creates a magical gateway that several other creatures can step through (and they can all carry as much as they want), you'd want something like:

Dimension Door
Warp [Extra Carrying Capacity: Xtra-Heavy (+50%), Tunnel (+40%), Costs Fatigue 12 (-60%), Limited Number of Targets 3* (-20%), Magical (-10%), Range Limit: 100 yds (-40%), Requires Words (-10%)].
Total CP 50.

*Renamed Limited Use, to account for the fact that a maximum of 3 people (including the caster) may step through the gate until it closes. Value chosen because Limited Use 1 and Tunnel would exactly cancel each other out, meaning that only the caster could step through. Adjust this number upwards for more powerful mages, with the most powerful being forced to buy Extended Duration for the Tunnel as well.

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

Disintegrate,

For that I'd really need the 'all or nothing' modifier for Innate Attack.

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

Faerie Fire,

Should be easy as a GURPS Magic spell in the Light and Darkness college. Requires Colors as a prerequisite.

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

Leomund's Secure Shelter ... Sanctuary,

A bit of a hassle, but probably doable somehow. No idea how as yet.

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

the Protection from Alignment spells (you can use the versions from DF), the various divine buffs/debuffs (Bane, Bless, Prayer...)

I'd have to take a long hard look at how these differ from normal buffs from GURPS Magic and see about implementing them.

[weby]

Well, I ran a short game with D&D in gurps rules. It was not based on third edition D&D, instead it was on the Redbox/bluebox etc. version.

I handled magic as powers only, no gurps magic. The mages had slots for their spells.

Level 1 mage was for example(not 100% by raw but)
Modular Abilities 25pt (Grimoire) (Preparation to change(10min), -20%; once/day -40%, need focus to change(breakable, stealable, sm -6) -20%)[16]

Then I did the spells and the red book spells first level all were possible to build at 25 points or less. Most came to 20-25 points. Though Magic missile was a bit hard to get that low so I just went with accuracy(+14) and high armor penetration(5) on it and called it close enough..

The thing thus is that I put the limitations on daily use and such the modular abilities and not on the spell. Not fully sure if that is correct or not but the resulting thing worked fine enough for my use.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Refplace

The Power Word and Monster summoning spells.

My World of D'y'r't game worked from D&D amterial of various vintages and the vanilla Gurrps Create Animal spell seemed to meet whatever use Summon Monster filled. It didn't mimic the way D&D magic worked but it filled the same role.

Nobody seemed to miss Magic Missile that much. Posibly because a beginning Gurps wizard is so much less limited than a D&D one.

I got up to some pretty high powered magic and worked with some of the major bad guy casters of the Realms (Szass Tam) and didn't really have any problems that needed any of the solutions being discussed.

There were some issues about resolving the differences between a D&D Lich and the one from Magic but those were quite solvable. It was magic item conversion that came up most often.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I got up to some pretty high powered magic and worked with some of the major bad guy casters of the Realms (Szass Tam) and didn't really have any problems that needed any of the solutions being discussed.

How would Szass Tam in your campaign topple a castle tower in ten seconds or so?

Destroy an army of some 500 orcs* sent by a rival Zulkir?

What solutions did you use for that?

*Averaging ST 12, HP 14, wearing heavy mail (DR 5/3), carrying heavy shields and having weapon skills 12.

[Icelander]

Because tomorrow I game out a battle where the most powerful enemy priests will make extensive use of it, here is the infamous Flame Strike:

Flame Strike
Takes 9 seconds to cast. Calls down a 10' diameter pillar of flame that starts 40' above the target. Does 10d burn, with half of that being divine fire that can affect creatures normally immune to fire.

Innate Attack 5d burn [Area Effect 3 yds* (+100%), Guided (+50%), Increased 1/2D Range x10 (+15%), Link (+10%), Overhead (+30%), Gadget: Can Be Stolen (-15%), Magical (-10%), Requires Gestures (-10%), Requires Will Check (-5%), Requires Words (-10%), Takes Extra Time 4 (-40%)]. Cost 54 CPs.
+Innate Attack 5d burn (divine fire)** [Area Effect 3 yds* (+100%), Cosmic (+50%), Guided (+50%), Increased 1/2D Range x10 (+15%), Link (+10%), Overhead (+30%), Costs Fatigue 20 (-100%), Gadget: Can Be Stolen (-15%), Magical (-10%), Requires Gestures (-10%), Requires Will Check (-5%), Requires Words (-10%), Takes Extra Time 4 (-40%)] Cost 42 CPs.
Total Cost 96 CPs or 20 CPs to memorise as single use spell.

*Actually a cylinder 40' high and 10' wide.
**Ignores protections from ordinary fire.