[Magic] Collegio Januari And Gold In Them Thar Spells

[Darekun]

Just picked up GURPS Infinite Worlds: Collegio Januari. I'm liking it so far, some neat ideas for "Infinity, repopulated" :J

I usually ignore templates, but I was curious what they did for spells, and I noticed this little gem:

Spells of Janus: Planar Summons (H) IQ+1 [4]-14† and Plane Shift (VH) IQ [4]-13† for the Collegio's home Earth and for four other worlds.
[…]
† +1 for Magery.

If I'm reading that right, it means they have ten spells at [4], and Magery 1. (They also have prereqs at [1].)

Is this an erratum?

Reducing each of those spells by 1 level would free up 20 points, enough to increase their Magery to 3, increasing all their spells by 2 levels for a net +1 for those.

Reducing each of those spells by 2 levels instead would free up 30 points. If Magery 4 is available, they could get it, increasing all their spells by 3 levels for a net +1 for those. If Magery 3 is the cap, they could get it, increasing all their spells by 2 levels; this wouldn't net any change for those primary spells, but their other spells would go up by 2, they'd meet more Magery prereqs, and they'd have 10 more points to play with.

Since those primary spells are all Gate, the same comments apply but more with Gate-college Magery.

Personally, I'd say the mistake was making spells skills in the first place - it only benefits the Johnny One Spell types that were a complaint in 3ed, and causes pitfalls like this. They should be Perks, or better yet, a single "Spell Knowledge" advantage at 1/level, so enhancements and limitations can be applied en masse to Magery and spells. But that ship has sailed.

If it was a goal to keep Magery low, an increase to IQ(with corresponding decrease to Will and Per) could be substituted, at least partly. One level would cause Per: 10 to hit the "GM approval required" floor, but those 10 extra points could be left in Per. If that's not a worry for this template, it could be entirely substituted.



(This is also my first thread started, and I'm not confident of my tagging. Should I have used a different set of tags? Should I not worry, as others can fix it?)

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Darekun

Just picked up GURPS Infinite Worlds: Collegio Januari. I'm liking it so far, some neat ideas for "Infinity, repopulated" :J

I usually ignore templates, but I was curious what they did for spells, and I noticed this little gem:



If I'm reading that right, it means they have ten spells at [4], and Magery 1. (They also have prereqs at [1].)

I don't think you are. My count is 6 spells. Which means, yes, they could save points by increasing their Magery to 2. But not every character has to be optimized. I think that's supposed to be a typical member of the order (once you add a few more spells) not a PC.

[mljluk]

Actually, I think the template only adds up (arithmetically) if it's 10 spells at 4.

Which is 'sub optimal' I guess from an optimisation standpoint, but if you view the template as the minimal magery template for graduation, then it isn't so bad. I can't see a PC member of the Collegio having magery any less than 3 (if allowed) regardless.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by mljluk

Actually, I think the template only adds up (arithmetically) if it's 10 spells at 4.

Yeah. Five versions each of Planar Summons and Plane Shift @ four points each.

Real people usually aren't point-optimized.

[lexington]

Very much sub-optimal but if it's supposed to be a member of the order then that doesn't apply. Real people don't even get to see their character sheets, let alone design them to have optimal stats.

[Anaraxes]

At the same skill level, more points plus lower stat implies someone with more training and experience, whereas fewer points and higher stat implies a prodigy or "natural". They're both valid concepts and builds. I could wish for more game-mechanical advantages to the former to make it less "suboptimal", and for more differences to showcase the difference between the concepts.