What's the best GURPS thaumatology system for a minor godlike boss being? - Page 2

SolemnGolem · 09-28-2020, 12:26 PM

I've got GURPS Thaumatology, GURPS Magic, most of the Vol. 3 Pyramids, and all of the Magic/Thaum spinoff supplement books for GURPS 4th Edition.

My scenario: The PCs are going to free a dark godling from its slumber and they have to defeat it. They could do this by sealing it away and dropping its Cradle into the Void, or they could try to fight it.

The godling is not intended to be omnipotent - it's intended to be around as tough a fight as a large dragon. Theologically, it is strongly associated with undeath, void, destruction, creation (especially deceptive creation such as illusions) and mind control (especially rage, fear, disgust).

I'd rather not go through the standard Magic system (spells-as-skills), since I'd prefer for a godling to have a very flexible and powerful spellcasting ability. The spellcasting should be rather akin to the godling warping and rearranging its own proximal reality.

Of the remaining systems, I can see four faintly-related systems giving flexibility: Syntactic Magic (from Thaumatology) for Verb/Noun costs, Realm Magic (ibid) for conceptual divisions of existence, Ritual Path Magic (which seems like a worked version of Syntactic), and finally Dungeon Fantasy's Incantation Magic (which seems like an action version of RPM, exchanging the time commitment instead for a cumulative skill penalty).

I'd like to showcase a godling who could wield magic with extreme flexibility (albeit in a limited number of theological associated realms) for one combat, after which the godling will be destroyed or sealed away.

Which system would be best for this? I'm leaning towards:

Realm Magic is likely to be too much work to be worthwhile, since one of the first steps for the GM is to conceptually define all the possible realms and then back-deduce the costs of spellcasting depending on fraction of total, and also adjusted for level of potency. For just one single combat, the frontloaded design work isn't really economical.
Syntactic Magic seems more on point with what I need, but the version in Thaumatology is more of a toolkit for design than an actual worked example itself.
Ritual Path Magic stylistically emphasizes slow spellcasting, with various roleplaying bonuses given for investigative work and equipment preparation.
Incantation Magic does away with the slow speed, and focuses on a cumulative penalty which can be counteracted by high skill levels and also by taking longer.

I'm thinking that I could give the godling arbitrarily high levels of skill in the Incantation framework, which could balance out almost any spell effect desired, and then use the Incantation Verb/Noun definitions to suit whatever combat need arises. The godling would still have an Energy Reserve and would still have to spend it during spellcasting, but this is more a means of keeping track of ultimate power exhaustion in the encounter, than a means of limiting what it's capable of actually doing per spellcasting.

Any thoughts? Has anybody actually gamed with the four systems and could they offer any insights as to how they play?

09-28-2020, 12:26 PM	#1
SolemnGolem Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: The Hall of Fallen Columns	What's the best GURPS thaumatology system for a minor godlike boss being? I've got GURPS Thaumatology, GURPS Magic, most of the Vol. 3 Pyramids, and all of the Magic/Thaum spinoff supplement books for GURPS 4th Edition. My scenario: The PCs are going to free a dark godling from its slumber and they have to defeat it. They could do this by sealing it away and dropping its Cradle into the Void, or they could try to fight it. The godling is not intended to be omnipotent - it's intended to be around as tough a fight as a large dragon. Theologically, it is strongly associated with undeath, void, destruction, creation (especially deceptive creation such as illusions) and mind control (especially rage, fear, disgust). I'd rather not go through the standard Magic system (spells-as-skills), since I'd prefer for a godling to have a very flexible and powerful spellcasting ability. The spellcasting should be rather akin to the godling warping and rearranging its own proximal reality. Of the remaining systems, I can see four faintly-related systems giving flexibility: Syntactic Magic (from Thaumatology) for Verb/Noun costs, Realm Magic (ibid) for conceptual divisions of existence, Ritual Path Magic (which seems like a worked version of Syntactic), and finally Dungeon Fantasy's Incantation Magic (which seems like an action version of RPM, exchanging the time commitment instead for a cumulative skill penalty). I'd like to showcase a godling who could wield magic with extreme flexibility (albeit in a limited number of theological associated realms) for one combat, after which the godling will be destroyed or sealed away. Which system would be best for this? I'm leaning towards: Realm Magic is likely to be too much work to be worthwhile, since one of the first steps for the GM is to conceptually define all the possible realms and then back-deduce the costs of spellcasting depending on fraction of total, and also adjusted for level of potency. For just one single combat, the frontloaded design work isn't really economical. Syntactic Magic seems more on point with what I need, but the version in Thaumatology is more of a toolkit for design than an actual worked example itself. Ritual Path Magic stylistically emphasizes slow spellcasting, with various roleplaying bonuses given for investigative work and equipment preparation. Incantation Magic does away with the slow speed, and focuses on a cumulative penalty which can be counteracted by high skill levels and also by taking longer. I'm thinking that I could give the godling arbitrarily high levels of skill in the Incantation framework, which could balance out almost any spell effect desired, and then use the Incantation Verb/Noun definitions to suit whatever combat need arises. The godling would still have an Energy Reserve and would still have to spend it during spellcasting, but this is more a means of keeping track of ultimate power exhaustion in the encounter, than a means of limiting what it's capable of actually doing per spellcasting. Any thoughts? Has anybody actually gamed with the four systems and could they offer any insights as to how they play?