THE TECH COLLEGE Posted 11-9-90 By S. John Ross (SJ note: This is a possible ROLEPLAYER article; it might even become "official" and make it into the second MAGIC book. Comments are welcome; the GURPS Fantasy board is the appropriate place.) A common joke at conventions is "Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistiguishable from technology," a reversal on the near-infamous quote from Arthur C. Clarke. Here, then, are the contents of the grimoire databases of the future. This article is designed to shore up the slight low-tech bias in GURPS Magic, by presenting spells designed to directly modify, analyze, power, and interact with higher technology. "Higher Technology," however, needs some arbitrary definition for the following spells to be clear. In this article, the terms "device," "machine," "gadget," and so on are used interchangeably. In general, the spells of the Tech college affect any item which uses electricity for power. There are some spells (such as Glitch and Power) which can be used for or against items that work on basic mechanical principles (as opposed to electrical or electronic ones) or are powered by things like gasoline. Most of the information spells may also be used on such devices. The second factor is the "black box." An item is a black box if it's workings are not apparent, or understandable by watching it work or opening the casing. A catapult is not a black box. You can watch it and see that it uses tension of wood and rope to store kinetic energy to throw the missile. A computer is a black box. You can open it up, break it apart, and watch it run and never know how it does it without the right training. This is an important distinction. Glitch, Malfunction, Flaw, Upgrade and the Information spells (as well as any cross-college spells) are the only ones listed below that can be used on devices which are not a black box. Note that many of the spells listed here are "TL" skills. They are learned like mundane skills of this sort. If you learn to identify the workings of TL 10 devices, for instance, you will be at a penalty when trying to magically understand items of another Tech Level. The penalties are as for normal skills, see page B185. The only exceptions to this are Malfunction, Glitch, Upgrade and Flaw. The penalty for higher tech still applies, but you may affect items of lower technology with no penalty. This college shares a few spells and prerequisites with the Air and Making and Breaking Colleges (particulary the latter). In fact, the Repair and Rejoin spells should be considered as belonging to both Tech and Making and Breaking. It is presented here as a separate college for purposes of single-college magery and cosmetic reasons. Note that while these spells are primarily intended for High- or Ultra-Tech campaigns, some of them (especially Malfunction and he like) work well in more primitive settings. Seek Machine Information Tells the caster the direction and approximate distance of the nearest machinery of any sort. Caster can also specify that he is looking for a specific sort of device; lasers, computers, light sources, etc. Use long distance modifiers (p. B151/M10). Any known examples of technology may be excluded if the mage specifies them before casting. Cost: 3 Time to cast: 10 seconds Item: Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost to create: 100. Reveal Function/TL Information Cast sucessfully, this spell will reveal a single function of the device it is cast upon. Additional applications of the spell will reveal additional uses, or how to activate functions which are already known (which button to press, etc). Cost: 8 Time to cast: 10 minutes Prerequisite: Seek Machine Item: Staff, wand or jewelry. Cost to create: 1,500. Toughen Regular This spell will make any inanimate object more difficult to break. It increases the DR of the subject by the amount of energy placed into the spell (max 8). Unless otherwise noted, all equipment has 1 hit point per 5 pounds of weight, and DR 3 (plus 1 DR per TL above 8). Weapons and military devices are armored, and have DR 8 plus 4 per TL after 8. See p.UT119. This spell is also part of the Making and Breaking college. This spell has no effect on the DR of armor. Cost: 1 per point of DR, maximum 8. Same to maintain. Time to cast: 5 seconds Duration: 1 hour Prerequisite: Shatterproof Item: Any item may be toughened permanently for 15 points per DR. Seek Power/TL Information; Area This spell may be cast in either of two ways. The standard useage tells the caster if there are any sources of electrical power (Including power cells, etc., but not solar cells or chemicals that could be combined to produce power). Known sources may be ignored, if the caster specifies them before casting. This spell may also be cast to detect forms of chemical fuels (gasoline, diesel, or similiar compounds or synthetics). Both specific sources and types may be excluded in this use of the spell. Base Cost: 1/4 (minimum 1) Prerequisite: Seek Machine Item: Staff, wand, jewelry or headgear. Cost to create: 120. Dampen Area Use of this spell will slow the electrical current flow in the affected area, causing all devices powered by electricity to cease to function. This does no permanent damage to most items, but computers may be harmed or destroyed by being slowed or shut off! Barring this, any affected item will work normally when it leaves the affected area. Note that that the rules assume all Ultra-Tech items are powered by electricity unless otherwise noted or ruled by the GM. Duration: 1 minute Base cost: 2 to cast, 1 to maintain. Time to cast: 3 seconds Prerequisites: Seek Power, Reveal Function Control Machine/TL Regular This spell allows the caster to control one device completely, and cause it to do anything that it has the power and capabilities for. It could be used to make a gun fire all of it's ammunition, or make a robot strangle his evil creator. It could not aim the gun, or even move it. It could not order a computer to reveal information, as that requires a subtelty which this spell lacks. This spell cannot control an AI. This will exclude many forms of robot and android. If an AI is part of the device being controlled (an intelligent computer in a vehicle, for instance), and has some influence and connection with the function you are attempting control of, then it may resist (if it is so inclined) with its will+TL. This spell cannot make a device perform any function which the caster is unaware of. Duration: 5 seconds Cost: 1 for up to a 5 lb device, 2 for up to 15, 3 for up to 50, 4 for up to 100, and 1 per each 100 lbs thereafter. Prerequisite: Reveal Function Item: Headgear of Jewelry. Energy cost to create: 500 Resist Electricity Regular Cast only on living things, this spell renders the subject impervious to damage from electricity. This includes electrical stun effects, critical failures on experiments, etc. This spell also protects carried, nonliving equipment. This is also an Air spell. Duration: 1 minute Cost: 2 Prerequisites: At least 3 air spells and Drain Power Item: Jewelry or clothing. Always on. Wearer is perpetually immune. Cost to create: 950. This must include platinum thread, decorations, etc., of at least $1,500. Catch Lightning (VH) Blocking By using this spell, the mage can "catch" an incoming blast of electricity, either from a lightning spell, an electrolaser, or any other form of electrical missile. Damage done does not harm the caster, but fuels him! Every 2 points of damage rolled restores 1 fatigue point to the caster, up to his original. There is a risk, however, from exposing yourself in such a way. Any excess is doubled, and taken as damage!! DR that applies to the attack is subtracted (for good or ill) before the energy affects the caster. Note that this spell may be used to catch a bolt of electricity that was not aimed at the caster. If the flight-path goes through the casters hex or an adjacent one, the roll can be made normally. The spell is at a cumulative -4 for each additional hex of distance. Duration: Instantaneous Cost: None Prerequisites: Lightning, Resist Electricity Fuel/TL Regular This spell is used to power internal combustion motors. It will not power a steam engine (Fire magic is needed for that!). One ST spend on this spell will provide the eqivalent of up to 5 horsepower. Multiply this by 10 for each doubling of fatigue (2 will grant up to 50 horsepower, 4 for up to 500, etc). Common H-P requirements; 5 for a lawn mower, 150 for a mid-sized car and 250 and higher (sometimes much higher) for larger vehicles such as garbage trucks and tractor-trailer rigs. Thus, to power most land vehicles for the duration costs 4 ST. You can spend less fatigue and underpower an engine, but 50 horsepower will move a car very slowly. This spell can be used to exceed the normal power put out by the engine, but it may damage it. For a 25% increase, roll against the TL of the engine, +4. Subtract 1 from the roll for each additional 10% increase. A failed roll indicates that when the spell expires, there will be some sort of repairable damage (the worse the roll, the worse the damge). A critical failure means the destruction of the motor. A rule of thumb for repair bills: a roll missed by 1 is $50 worth of damage (very minor), but missed by 2 is $100, by 3 is $200, etc., up to the cost of the motor. Note that while this is a ``TL'' spell, very few cultures will have any use at all for internal combustion beyond TL 8, and the spell will be very unusual in such a background. Duration: 10 minutes Cost: See Above Time to cast: 5 seconds Prerequisites: Transfer Power, Apportation, and 1 spell each of the Animal, Plant, and Earth Colleges. Item: Any engine may be powered permanently for a cost equal to 100 times the energy required to cast the spell on the subject. Malfunction/TL Regular Causes an item to cease working, for no reason other than the casting of the spell. This does no permanent harm, but the item will not work until the spell has expired. AIs can resist with IQ. Unlike most other Tech spells, this spell will work on anything that is technically defined as a machine, not just "black boxes." This is also a Making and Breaking Spell. Duration: 1 minute Cost: 1 per full pound of subject weight. Minimum 1. Prerequisites: Dampen, Find Weakness Item: Wand, staff, jewelry or glove. Energy cost to create: 300. Glitch/TL Regular Causes something to go wrong. This spell will affect anything that can be affected by Glitch. An item under the effect of this spell will not stop working, but the owners may wish it would. The nature of the malfunction will depend on the device, and will not always be apparent to the users. Casting it on the radar system at an airport would cause erroneous readings, a car would steer opposite to your intent, or speed up uncontrollably. Computers would eat data, and guns will backfire. A grenade would fail to go off - until you checked it out. The GM should be creative. The better the skill roll, the more dangerous or confusing the glitch. On a critical success, the caster may choose (within the limits of the device) what goes wrong! Duration: 5 minutes Cost: 1 per 5 full pounds of subject. Minimum 4. Time to cast: 3 seconds Prerequisites: Magery, Malfunction Flaw/TL Regular A permanent Malfunction or Glitch - caster's choice. This is the High-Tech equivalent to a Curse. The problem with the device persists until some overwhelming positive event proves that it has past. If this spell (at Glitch level, not Malfunction) is cast on a PC robot or Artificial Intelligence, the GM has the option of treating it as a -1 Curse spell (p.M54). Otherwise, use the following guidelines: If the device has an operator that needs a skill of some sort to make it work (a computer, a vehicle, a weapon, etc, but not a flashlight or a walkman), then the Flaw stays put until the user(s) score a very good roll in an important situation, despite the problem and any inherent penalties to use. At this point, the flaw eliminates the success, but the device is normal again. In addition, "repairs" may be attempted on a Flawed device. This is the only way (barring counter-magic) that simple devices that require no skills can be un-cursed! It takes at least a day with good tools to look into the device and try to find some structural anomaly that could be the key. Only on a critical success is the Flaw removed, however, and a critical failure could be dangerous! Duration: As above. Cost: Twice the cost to cast a Glitch or Malfunction (depending on the nature of the Flaw). Minimum 10 for Glitch or 20 for Malfunction. Time to cast: 15 seconds Prerequisites: Magery 2, Glitch, and at least 2 spells from each of 10 different colleges. Upgrade/TL Regular The antithesis of Flaw, this spell improves the performance of a machine. If it is cast on a PC AI or robot, treat it as a +1 Bless for all purposes except cost. It is not, however, a "Blessing" in the true sense. Ethical beliefs have no bearing on who can use it. A gadget under the effects of a magical Upgrade will perform 100% better than before. This does not effect weapon damage, but nearly any other aspect of the device will be improved. Computers work twice as fast, ranges and accuracy for guns are doubled, and power is twice as efficient. What the item does is not actually changed, just the way it does it. Thus, a force shield will not give twice as much PD, but the cell will last twice as long. Effective TL of the device is unaffected. A TL 7 computer still can't run TL 9 software. The duration of an Upgrade is also determined differently that with a true Bless spell (except for PC `bots, as noted above). At the end of each day after casting, the GM should make a roll against the caster's spell skill, at -5. If the roll succeeds, the Upgrade remains. If the roll fails, performance reduces to a "mere" 50% increase, which lasts till the end of the next day. The device is then back to normal. Duration: As Above. Cost: 1 per full 5 pounds of subject (Minimum 15). Time to cast: 1 minute per point of ST required Prerequisites: Magery 2, Control Machine, and at least 2 spells each from 10 different colleges. Schematic (VH) Information Casting this spell places complete, detailed plans for it in the head of the caster. The caster can then "browse" through it at his leisure, but to understand what he sees, appropriate Engineering, Mechanic, Electronics or Armory skills (or similar) will be needed! This can be very helpful in troubleshooting or stealing ideas about secret technology. The duration listed is the amount of time that the image stays in mind. When the spell is allowed to expire, the vision fades. This spell will also give detailed plans for entire objects based on only a fragment of it (which must be either a pound of relatively intact material or 1% of the total mass of the actual device, whichever is less). This is at double cost, based on the size of the intact object, not the fragment. A casting of this spell for 1 fatigue will reveal the rough size of the whole object without giving any clues to its nature. This spell will work on non black box machines. Use of this spell will grant +3 to skill for purposes of repairing machines under the influence of a Flaw spell. In a Cyberpunk setting, this spell would be highly illegal, as a mage with his brain wired to a recieving computer could store the schematic in his brain in a form that is saleable! Duration: 30 seconds Cost: 2 per cubic yard of subject's volume. Mimimum 2. Same to maintain. Time to cast: 5 seconds Prerequisites: 5 other information spells, 1 of which must be Reveal Function. Item: It is rumored that a mage who is a skilled programmer could enchant database software to record the schematic of a device by touching it! Details are unknown, but such a magic object would be Legality 0, at least!! Rebuild (VH) Regular This is a powerful spell. With Rebuild, you can begin with only a part of an inanimate object (use the guidelines for Schematic) and recreate the whole. This is a higher version of repair, and should be considered a part of the Making and Breaking college, as well as Tech. With enough power and raw materials, you could rebuild a starship from a scrap of bulkhead! The device reforms over the period of casting. It takes an additional 1 second per 1000 pounds after the casting is finished to completely reform. All raw materials must be present, or the device will be restored incompletely. You can rebuild Precursor items from scrap, but they may be missing vital rare elements. This could be dangerous if the missing elements are neccesary to regulate vast amounts of power! Raw materials will, on the average, cost about 40%-50% of the finished product. Note that this spell (and schematic) are not TL spells. They require no actual "Technoccult" knowledge on the part of the mage. Duration: Permanent Cost: The cost of this spell is more efficient for larger objects. For an item up to 100 pounds, the cost is 3 per 10 pounds of the final weight of the device. For an item up to 1000 pounds, the cost is 3 per 100 pounds of weight over 100, plus 30. For any other item, the cost is 3 per 500 pounds over 1000, plus 57. Round up in all cases. To rebuild the Van Rijn in GURPS Space would require 4,814 fatigue, but a Smartcar could be rebuilt with 63. Minimum cost is 25. Time to cast: 1 round per 10 ST required to cast the spell (round up). Prerequisites: Magery 3, Repair, Schematic, and at least 5 spells of each element. Troubleshoot/TL Information This is a sorcerous "diagnosis" for machinery. It will work on a non-black box. Casting this spell on a broken or malfunctioning object will tell the caster the location and general cause of the problem, but grants no information or bonus to skill as regards fixing it. For instance, casting this spell on a clock radio that won't work, the spell could say "The wire to the outlet is loose inside." It won't tell how to fix it, or even warn you to unplug it before doing so, but it will reveal at which point the connection is loose or severed. If a part is missing, it will tell you which part and where is goes, but not which wires to solder to which part when installing it. If the trouble is magical, the spell will say so, and maybe give a hint as to what spell is responsible, if it is not readily apparent. Duration: Instantaneous Cost: 1/2 per cubic yard of the item in question. To reduce cost, large machines can be done a little at a time. Time to cast: 20 seconds Prerequisites: Schematic, IQ 13+ Transfer Power/TL Special When this spell is cast, the mage becomes a power conduit, and invisible link between an active source of power and an item in need of it. The spell has two "subjects;" the source and the consumer. For instance, the spell could be cast on the fusion plant in a starship and a blaster pistol in the mage's hand. While the spell remains, and the fusion plant is operable, the pistol is powered by the plant. The electricity provided by the plant is converted to (or influences) mana, and this, in turn, magically produces electricity and powers the pistol. This actually takes power from the source, but in this case the strain is negligible. The penalty for range is calculated as a regular spell, but for the total distance between source and caster and caster and consumer. If in the above example the blaster is in the mage's hand and the fusion plant is 3 yards beneath the catwalk he is standing on, the total distance is 3 yards, for a -3 to the roll. If the source cannot be seen, the roll is at a -3. The consumer must be visible to the caster. Once the link is established, the distance does not matter. This counts as spell "on." The source of power need not be electrical. Any "power" may be tapped. See Energy Conversion for details on alternate forms. For non-electrcal sources (only) use the following: a 1 ST/ sec is equal to the power of an B cell, 2 ST/sec is equal to a C cell, and so on. A caster using non-electrcal power may, if he wishes, contribute his own fatigue each minute, with each point multiplying effective power by 10. This option is not available if using electrical sources, however! Duration: 1 minute. Cost: None to the caster, but the spell "costs" 1 to maintain, due to the strain of the energy's passage. This is not reduced by high skill. Prerequisites: Magery, Seek Power Power/TL Regular This powers a device magically, replacing the electricity needed to run it. Fatigue cost is directly related to the power cell(s) the spell is replacing. 1 fatigue point, for purposes of this spell, is equal to an A cell, 2 for a B cell, 4 for a C, 8 for a D and 16 for an E. For items which require electricity, but have no listed power cell requirements, extrapolation is required. A typical ground vehicle would require from 8 to 24. A microframe computer would use 16 fatigue, and a mainframe would require over 100! Note that the progression of ST cost does not equal the power progression of power cells. Powering items which require less than an A cell still require 1 point (but high skill can eliminate this, as always). This spell will not power an internal combustion engine, but see fuel, below. Duration: 1 hour or until the power cell is "used up." Think of it as placing a ball of energy into the device which is expended at the same rate as the normal fuel source. This spell may not be maintained. It must be recast. Cost: See above. Time to cast: 5 seconds Prerequisites: Transfer Power Item: Any item may be permanently powered (never requiring a fuel source) for a cost equalling 250 times the amount to power it with this spell. Thus, a permanently charged blaster pistol would require 1000 energy. Drain Power/TL (VH) Regular This spell allows a mage to drain power cells to restore his own lost fatigue. An AA will restore nothing. An A will restore 1 ST, a B will restore 2, a C will restore 4, and so on. The caster need not take all of a large cell's power. Note that if all the power is drained from a rechargeable cell, the cell is "burned out" and will not recharge. If the caster cannot see the cell, he is at a -3 to the skill roll. Duration: Permanent, until the fatigue is lost normally! Cost: None to the caster. The cell loses power. Time to cast: 2 seconds per point of fatigue restored to the caster. Prerequisites: Recover ST, Power, Magery 2 Item: Wand, staff, or jewelry. Must touch the subject. usable only by a mage. Energy cost to create: 950. Energy Conversion (VH) Special This spell converts energy from various forms into usable ST for the mage. This does not restore fatigue, but reduces the cost of spells. A mage standing by a waterfall could tap into the tremendous kinetic energy there! This spell works a lot like Transfer Power, except the mage can now make use of the energy himself instead of merely "passing it on." This spell is cast near a power source, any power source that is "active," that is, presently producing power or in motion. The GM must classify the source in terms of ST per Second. Simple sunlight (on Earth, anyway) is not enough for 1 ST/sec. Casting it in a storm, or in a crowd, would give a continuous 1 ST/sec. Casting it in an electrical storm, or near a running car or small generator, would grant 2 ST/sec. Standing in the middle of a main road in the late evening, or near a small ship's power plant, would grant 3 ST/sec. Power sources greater than 30 MW, or 40,000 horsepower (ship's plants, or the Washington D.C. Beltway at 6 PM), will grant 4 ST/sec. This reduces the cost of spells by its ST/sec rate. That is, if a mage wants to cast a Darkness spell, and has this spell active in a lightning storm, then he can do one hex (Cost: 2) for no fatigue loss to himself, by taking power from his environment and converting it to mana. The casting time of the spell is unimportant, as all fatigue is lost at once. The reason power available is expressed in "per second" is Blocking spells. A mage can cast two spells in a second if one is a Blocking spell, but the power made available by Energy Conversion must be split between them or used only by one. When a mage uses this spell, he sets up a "recieving area" in which he skims residual energy from his surroundings. No signifigant power is lost by his "victims." If the source of power is distant, power will be reduced by 1 ST/sec for each 10 yards of distance. This spell counts as spell "on." This is a powerful spell, and GMs should be careful to watch for its abuse. Duration: 1 minute Cost: 6 to cast, 1 to maintain (the intitial 6 is to set up the "reception," the 1 to maintain is again from the strain of conversion, and cannot be provided by the spell, or reduced by high skill). Time to cast: 10 seconds Prerequisites: Power, IQ 14+, and 1 spell from each of the four elements. Recharge/TL Regular This spell is used to recharge power cells. Cells must be recharged one at a time. 2 fatigue will recharge an A or smaller cell, 4 will recharge a B, 8 a C, and so on. If another power source is available nearby, this may be used like Transfer Power, with that source providing all or part of the needed energy. If the power cells are rechargeable, cost is halved. Duration: Until the cell is used up again. Cost: As above. Time to Cast: 10 seconds Prerequisite: Transfer Power Item: Any Item. Cost to create: 650. Control Computer/TL Regular; Resisted by IQ Allows the caster to take complete control over one computer, and make it do anything within it's capabilities and programming. You can also stop it from doing things it does automatically, if you have a general famailiarity with it's programming. You could, for instance, make a computerized teller spit money at you at TL 7 or 8 (such devices are outtdated as soon as the credit trasactor exists), but it might still send an alarm unless you know at which point in it's program it checks for appropriate Identification. You can't tell the computer "I have inserted a card that is legal," when you haven't. You can't lie to the machine; you can only control it. This is also the spell for controlling sentient robots and androids. Any AI resists with IQ, but normal computers do not resist. Duration: 1 minute Cost: 6 to cast, 3 to maintain Time to cast: 3 seconds Prerequisite: Control Machine Item: Staff or wand. Energy cost to create: 4,500. Tech Magic In The Campaign A world in which these spells exist must be carefully thought out by the GM. The implications of such powers are widespread and complex. If magic is known and acknowledged by the common man, many spells are likely to be controlled by law. Spells like schematic would be Legality 2, while Control Computer might be entirely forbidden in some societies. And, as these are skills, what might the government do with someone who knows them? At high TLs, mindwipes could selectively remove forbidden knowledge, but many campaigns have no such technology. Magical forgetfulness is an option, if it is known, or the authorities might enlist or kill, depending on the individual involved and legal policy. Travel is likely to be affected, as well. Even if teleportation is "miracle" technology, workers of magical miracles can pull it off with no trouble. Circles of mages could be hired by starships to continually Upgrade the FTL drive, for double speed! For that matter, enchantment spells and technology might join completely, and the creation of sorcerous power plants, drives, and weapons could make for a strange setting, indeed! ("Toss another newt tongue in the hyperdrive, Juran, we're gonna need all she's got!") Enchantment itself could be affected by technology. Wands will often be made of plastics, and what if "jewelry" is read "cyberwear?" Groups like the Organization are likely to have "enforcerers," or might even have control over a powerful magical industry dealing in alchemically created super-narcotics and sale of illegal grimoire or instruction programs (computer wizardry tutors? Why not!). Of course, the entire face of espionage is likely to change. Magical countermeasures might exist, as well. Mana-flow detectors could be linked to computers to close files if computer-influencing magic is nearby. In short, the modern or futuristic Magic campaign requires every bit as much thought, if not moreso, than a medieval one. Be sure and share with us what you come up with! Have fun.