Control (Shaping)

In the powers book is the Control Advantage. And I'm glad we have the control advantage, but I have a few complaints with it:

• quantity and finesse of control scale together
• It gives massive arbitrary bonuses
• Its priced fairly for someone who uses those massive bonuses for every single thing they do

I was building a powers based magic system and had the thought that I didn't want the ability to move a cubic yard of dirt to also include the ability to give anyone in that hex -5 to basically everything. I wanted something that acted like the shape spells from magic. And so I decided to wing the advantage:

Control (Shaping): Rather than using the standard rules for control, base the rules off of the shape spells, like shape earth or shape water. You can control level x level /2 cubic yards. Notably, this cannot be used to give arbitrary combat bonuses. The cost is the same as any other level of control, and can only be taken for solids and liquids.

Is it any good? Well, I haven't tested it yet. But my Tuesday night game is going to be playing in a game with it for the next few months, so in a while I'll be able to tweak costs and tell you how well it did or didn't work. I do know that shape earth is one of the most widely used and best liked spells in Gurps Magic. We'll see if this is overpowered, or if its just fun.  Hopefully it will play out like having a mage with shape earth, which I've played before and seems to constantly be useful but never quite be broken.

I look forward to reporting on this tweak!

 

Realm Powders

Realm Powders are mystic substances that grants simple and concrete powers to those who consistently use a specific powder. Over time, these substances infuse the partaker with the ability to see and interact with the "Realm", a version of the world defined by energy rather than by matter. Each substance has a unique and localized organic source, as well as a very specific combination of powers it grants.

Realm Powders are from my game "Murder in the Court", an aborted campaign about a murder in a fantasy version of the imperial Chinese court. While that game had issues that led it to end early, realm powders were not one of them. They served as our mystical element, and a lot of successful game-play was driven by what individual powders could or couldn't do, both in PC and NPC hands. I share it with you now, as an example of a "Powers System I've Used"

Anchored Illusions as a Power

Perhaps no ability says "Magic" more than that of illusion. Part of this is because its the type of effect a clever slight of hand artist can pull off. Illusions require clever thinking to use for greatest effect.  They're also one of the broadest pieces of magic. An illusion can do ... well, pretty much anything. Or at least seem to do anything. Make people who aren't there, change faces, build rooms -- the limit is how much you can do at once.

Anchored illusions take time to make and time to dissipate. The illusionist can't make a person that will hold a conversation, but he can disguise a door and it will stay disguised for a long time. The illusions are anchored to objects, and either don't respond to the environment, or their behavior must be painstakingly created.

Death Magic as a Power

Sometimes your dark mage is a necromancer, and sometimes he just likes playing around with death. In either case, he needs the power of death magic. This is perhaps the most combat oriented power imaginable -- the only thing you cause with it is death.

Pyromancy as a Power

Pyromancy is the magic of fire -- one of the true classics in the wizardly arsenal. From Gandalf to Harry Dresden, wizards have thrown fire around as their primary weapon. This power is not an comprehensive power over all aspects of magic related to fire, but is limited to the art of throwing fire around and shaping it, with some ability to resist it.  This is a very combat oriented ability. Its also famous for getting out of control. Check page 433 of the basic set for rules on setting things on fire. You'll need it when dealing with pyromancers.

Necromancy as a Power

I like magic as powers. It just feels so straightforward and easy to balance (or at least to keep track of). You have the magic that you have, not some crazy spell list. If you need additional powers, you have rules for stunts. Yet I've never really been happy with just listing allies. So here is a set of powers that lets a necromancer control undead, create undead, and build up massive armies with soft limits rather than hard ones, and without too much hand-waving.

The powers given here are using multiplicative modifiers, which I recommend doing any time you use a powers system.