[Sorcery] is too expensive(?) for 150 pt game - Page 3

rsqrdroberts · 10-14-2015, 05:55 PM

Hi. I was fairly excited when GURPS: Thaumatology: Sorcery first came out. I still like the basic idea, but I'm less enthusiastic about how it actually works out for low to mid power games.

First off, there is a great review of the system at https://blindmapmaker.wordpress.com/...ology-sorcery/

The one negative gist of the review is that combat spells are MUCH, MUCH cheaper than affect spells, e.g. Sunbolt vs. No-Smell.

It turns out that for my game with 150 pt starting characters, a starting mage who wants to learn **just** No-Smell would have to invest 70 pts in Sorcerous Empowerment, and then another 13 points for No-Smell. That's 83 points for one spell. That is way too expensive for a 150 pt game. Since the cost of Invisibility would come out to about the same order of magnitude as No-Smell that makes my translation of the Bandit Mage (http://gurpswiki.wikidot.com/m:bandit-mage) unworkable.

With the regular Magic system I can currently get Invisibility with Magery 2 along with 2 pts in each of 5 Light&Dark for a total of 35 pts, which is still pretty high, but doable.

I've tried adding Costs Fatigue (B111), but that is only -5% per FP. I'm normally not going to go beyond 5 FP per spell. I also considered Skills for Everyone (Powers 162), which doesn't even add a power cost modifier at all (why?).

Does anyone have any ideas about how to use Sorcery in a 150 - 200 point fantasy game?

10-14-2015, 05:55 PM	#1
rsqrdroberts Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico	[Sorcery] is too expensive(?) for 150 pt game Hi. I was fairly excited when GURPS: Thaumatology: Sorcery first came out. I still like the basic idea, but I'm less enthusiastic about how it actually works out for low to mid power games. First off, there is a great review of the system at https://blindmapmaker.wordpress.com/...ology-sorcery/ The one negative gist of the review is that combat spells are MUCH, MUCH cheaper than affect spells, e.g. Sunbolt vs. No-Smell. It turns out that for my game with 150 pt starting characters, a starting mage who wants to learn just No-Smell would have to invest 70 pts in Sorcerous Empowerment, and then another 13 points for No-Smell. That's 83 points for one spell. That is way too expensive for a 150 pt game. Since the cost of Invisibility would come out to about the same order of magnitude as No-Smell that makes my translation of the Bandit Mage (http://gurpswiki.wikidot.com/m:bandit-mage) unworkable. With the regular Magic system I can currently get Invisibility with Magery 2 along with 2 pts in each of 5 Light&Dark for a total of 35 pts, which is still pretty high, but doable. I've tried adding Costs Fatigue (B111), but that is only -5% per FP. I'm normally not going to go beyond 5 FP per spell. I also considered Skills for Everyone (Powers 162), which doesn't even add a power cost modifier at all (*why?*). Does anyone have any ideas about how to use Sorcery in a 150 - 200 point fantasy game? __________________ “Bob loses saving throw vs. shiny with a penalty of -5. Bob takes 2d8 damage to the credit card.” ― Charles Stross, The Fuller Memorandum