I've mainly used three systems of magic in my Gurps games: Magic as Powers, Ritual Path Magic, and magic as technology. This is quite a bit less less than I thought I've used, and I'm actually somewhat surprised by it. I've tinkered with several of the systems, but the main ones I've run for players are Magic as Powers, Ritual path magic, and magic as technology.
I use Magic as Powers because I understand it. I know the advantages, I know the limitations, and I get to read what players put on their sheets. It also lets me shape magic systems to be whatever I want them to be. I find super flexible magic systems intimidating, because most anything is available. I prefer settings where magic has tighter rules and more character than your typical RPG magic system.
Which makes it ironic that the other magic system I use is RPM. So why do I use RPM when I say I don't like super flexible magic systems? Because of what its bundled with. Sometimes I just want to get a game off the ground quickly without doing any setting building or creating documents for players to read or convincing them they want to play this game. And I use monster hunters for that. It features exotic abilities and investigative play, which I enjoy, and enough combat for most players to have fun. RPM just comes along for the ride. Its not a bad system: Because its so flexible, but has the rules stated outright, it makes it easier to GM the player side of the magic. The NPC half of magic is still quite difficult, but I don't actually have to run NPC mages.
I do have a couple of tweaks I usually give my RPM mage monster hunters: I often forbid connection adept, requiring them to have some connection to their spell target, and require them to otherwise follow their template precisely.
Given that I usually use magic as powers, my post about Power Systems I've Used from earlier this month describes a lot of the magic systems I've used.
I've also a number of magic as technology systems. There is actually a pretty good correlation between systems I've put on my blog, and systems that have I've used in my games. I did not expect this: perhaps its because these are the systems I got the most excited about, or that I thought were the most presentable.
Mystral Energy, Mystral Weapons, Mystral Automotons, and Mystral Blooded were features of my Seed of Illrium Game. This was a play by post game that petered out fairly early. One of the players got really into the system. I enjoyed it, but haven't found another occasion to use the magic system (or its setting). My favorite aspect was applying the blaster design article from pyramid to a lower-tech situation.
Vasic Stones have showed up various times in my games, usually part of one campaign or another in Lost in Dreams, a series of solo play by post games that have historically been mechanically light. Its tied to a specific setting that I have struggled to introduce players to, but that is one of my earliest and best-loved settings. Vasic magic is all about moving energy, material, and magic from one world to another.
Wember is less of a magic system and more of a set of magic items sharing similar limitations. The magic is woven into cloth, which gives the wearer protection against something, but only as long as the threat is present. It allows walking through fire, going without food for long periods of time, or blocking a single blow. Wember was the first magic system seen by the longest running character of Lost in Dreams.
Soul Gem Magic also featured in Lost in Dreams for a short while. Soul Gem magic is about preserving the skills and memories of the dead. In the game I had anticipated it being used by craftsmen or to ask the dead questions, but it turned out to be exceptionally useful for translating langauges.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about these magic systems, and I hope you find them useful, or that they inspire you to build magic of your own. Have fun exploring the world of the impossible!
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