Changed magic rules for a game
Feb 5, 2013 4:25:41 GMT -8
Post by daniel on Feb 5, 2013 4:25:41 GMT -8
The following are not house rules, the yare just for a specific game. The effect I want to achieve is to use Gurps for the actual mundane world, since the system is good at representing what I need it to represent. And it’s a solid reliable kind of thing, what I am changing is the way magic works. The reasons are I want to portray magic as being very unknown and odd and even dangerous. So I am dropping 90% of the magic stuff from gurps and replacing it with something that’s more kind of like Fate? Sort of?
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Magic
Those who wish to use magic will have to take the Magery advantage at at least 1, this is an alteration from the Base Gurps rules there is no Magery 0. In Addition when picking magery you are required to determine the nature of your magic, this nature colors your access to magic and some of the result of your spells. It will impact peoples reactions as well as some of the effects of critical successes and failures
A negative aspect is -5, Neutral is 0 and a positive aspect is at a +5 i am not going to do a list but for a guide line most elemental and nature aspects tend to be neutral to positive. Fire, demons, outsiders and such would be a negative while light the sun or the divine would be considered positive aspects.
Changed from core rules
You do not learn spells(invest skills in them), your Margery score and your IQ -10 is made into a single stat. This stat is used to roll for any "magic" you wish to preform. I am going to use this very openly so its up to you to describe your desire and its magnitude i will assign a value to it and you roll. I want to put as few mechanics to this as possible on your end but there are ways to make your chances better.
Tools of magic: Having 'tools' of magic will aid you in preforming desired acts of magery, but they are a double edged sword. Anything can be a tool of magic, but it has to be something central to your magic. It can be a symbol of your fate, it can be a book it can be a musical instrument or the classic staff or wand. The tool has to be declared and you need to invest [1] point into it, the tool has to be used in the preforming of the magic not just in your possession. Attempting to preform Margery without at least one of your chosen tools is more difficult
The Ritual: Making a ritual of a difficult casting, or just one you have the time to make shore is more likely to succeed or be effective. Rituals are just that, it can be anything from a dance to carving, a song or a series of complex moments. Attempting to preform a ritual in a stressful situation is difficult and will require an effort of will. A ritual has to be at least a minute long to be significant so it is not suited for the heat of battle in most cases.
"Paying the price" Usually equated with the darkest kinds of magic a price can be paid for increased potency or reaching further then your personal power might safely secure. The price can be anything from some of your own blood, the strength of your body witch is the most common (Using FT) to acts such as the sacrifice of life or valuable objects sometimes both. Such things should not be done lightly as they do have lasting and strong effects on the caster.
The effect: The effect of casting a spell will vary on the degree of success or failure, badly failing will bring down additional consequence the effects of a badly botched difficult bit of magic can be very detrimental. There is a reason why mages are rare and powerful and old ones are rarer still, similarly grate success will bring its own rewards both are colored by the Nature of your magic
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I have not been able to play-test any of this so its all just kind of a mental construct so far with a bunch of ideas i taught would be cool.
I am looking for anything in the way of suggestions either to the existing things (the mechanics of this will be kept hidden from the players at all time its an online game) or suggestions for additions are welcome as well. I would appropriate somebody more experienced then me to eye it a bit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magic
Those who wish to use magic will have to take the Magery advantage at at least 1, this is an alteration from the Base Gurps rules there is no Magery 0. In Addition when picking magery you are required to determine the nature of your magic, this nature colors your access to magic and some of the result of your spells. It will impact peoples reactions as well as some of the effects of critical successes and failures
A negative aspect is -5, Neutral is 0 and a positive aspect is at a +5 i am not going to do a list but for a guide line most elemental and nature aspects tend to be neutral to positive. Fire, demons, outsiders and such would be a negative while light the sun or the divine would be considered positive aspects.
Changed from core rules
You do not learn spells(invest skills in them), your Margery score and your IQ -10 is made into a single stat. This stat is used to roll for any "magic" you wish to preform. I am going to use this very openly so its up to you to describe your desire and its magnitude i will assign a value to it and you roll. I want to put as few mechanics to this as possible on your end but there are ways to make your chances better.
Tools of magic: Having 'tools' of magic will aid you in preforming desired acts of magery, but they are a double edged sword. Anything can be a tool of magic, but it has to be something central to your magic. It can be a symbol of your fate, it can be a book it can be a musical instrument or the classic staff or wand. The tool has to be declared and you need to invest [1] point into it, the tool has to be used in the preforming of the magic not just in your possession. Attempting to preform Margery without at least one of your chosen tools is more difficult
The Ritual: Making a ritual of a difficult casting, or just one you have the time to make shore is more likely to succeed or be effective. Rituals are just that, it can be anything from a dance to carving, a song or a series of complex moments. Attempting to preform a ritual in a stressful situation is difficult and will require an effort of will. A ritual has to be at least a minute long to be significant so it is not suited for the heat of battle in most cases.
"Paying the price" Usually equated with the darkest kinds of magic a price can be paid for increased potency or reaching further then your personal power might safely secure. The price can be anything from some of your own blood, the strength of your body witch is the most common (Using FT) to acts such as the sacrifice of life or valuable objects sometimes both. Such things should not be done lightly as they do have lasting and strong effects on the caster.
The effect: The effect of casting a spell will vary on the degree of success or failure, badly failing will bring down additional consequence the effects of a badly botched difficult bit of magic can be very detrimental. There is a reason why mages are rare and powerful and old ones are rarer still, similarly grate success will bring its own rewards both are colored by the Nature of your magic
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have not been able to play-test any of this so its all just kind of a mental construct so far with a bunch of ideas i taught would be cool.
I am looking for anything in the way of suggestions either to the existing things (the mechanics of this will be kept hidden from the players at all time its an online game) or suggestions for additions are welcome as well. I would appropriate somebody more experienced then me to eye it a bit.