From: nsbos0340@alpha.nsula.edu (A little fish in a big pond) Subject: Magitech game For my current campaign (I'm just starting it up after a three week break from GMing other than planning), I've got several things I'm doing which I would like comments on. First off, this is an attempt at a realistic, projected future history game, set in 2031 (which is the point at which things start looking a little like cyberpunk; government troubles, powerful corporations, cybertech being embraced by youth, the great Webnet is part of everyday life, etc.). The kicker is that magic resurfaced around 2012, and mages are now *almost* common (there's about 1 per several thousand people). The game is set at 150 +45 +5 points. With that in mind, thanks in advance for checking it out for me :) The Magic System: Magery Advantage (25 points, no levels) o Allows learning and casting of spells o Add your Will to Spell Fatigue o Use Will to resist transformative and affective spells (transformative - something which attempts to change you, such as Transform Human Into Duck) (affective - something which attempts to directly, magically affect you, such as Teleport) Will (var, base 10 [not IQ]) Will costs 60% of the listed amount on the attribute charts. Will covers everything it normally does, plus: o Will is extremely important for magical purposes (avoiding critical failures, resisting other mage's spells, and creating magic items, just for starters) o Mana is based on Will (cyberware causes very slight Mana loss, and Mana is used to resist certain types of magical attack, primarily transformative spells which allow it) o Will is important to non-mages as well (can be used to "push" an attribute, and is used for consciousness checks (not death checks), do damage to some magical creatures not harmed by physical weapons, and so on) Spells Spells have a Power and a Skill (IQ/VHard). The Power of the spell is bought much like super powers in GURPS Supers, and only people with the Magery advantage can buy it. The skill can be learned by anyone at 0 Pwr, for (say) research purposes. Ritual - all spells have a voice and gesture ritual. One can be dropped for -3 to skill, both can be dropped for -5. Cast/Prep Time - a spell with a Cast Time has a casting time of 1 turn. Casting time can be dropped for -5 to skill. A spell with a Prep Time has a variable preparation time. Preparation time can NOT be dropped. Fatigue - almost all spells cost 1 F to cast. This can not be dropped. If you wish to use a power from GURPS Supers as a spell, the Level Cost (LC) is *usually* 2/3 the amount listed. Spell Power usually determines things like range, duration, damage done, protection given, blast radius, number of people affected, and so on. Here are some example spells - Shadowblade (LC 10) (Cast 1, F 1) Creates a shadowy, knife-shaped plane of energy which flies at the target, cutting deep into the target's flesh and warmth (the knife is painfully cold to the touch). Does 1d-1 Impaling AP(1/2) damage per level. Acc 0, SS 12, Move 100. Range is 5m/10m per level. Caster must make a second skill roll to hit. This is one of the nastier single-opponent attack spells available. Levitation (LC 3) (Prep 1 min, F 1) Allows the caster to float through the air in any direction. Move is 1 per level (halved for movement upwards). Duration is 5 min per level (may be increased for 1 F per +5 min). Caster uses skill for maneuvers. Mirror Tiles (LC 6) (Cast 1, F 1) Creates a movable, reflective (one-way) wall of force, composed of tiles (1m x 1m each; all tiles must be connected to the same main wall form). These tiles can be combined for greater toughness. Tiles can not be further than 1m per 2 levels. Caster may use 1 tile per level. Duration is 5 sec per level (may be increased for 1 F per +5 sec). The wall tiles can move at Move 1 per 5 levels (round down, minimum Move 1). Each tile reflects 1 damage and has DR 2 (ablative, does not regenerate). Thus, if a single tile was hit with 3 damage, 1 would reflect off (possibly back at its originator), and 2 would simply be absorbed harmlessly. This is just one of my "neat idea" spells. This is the basic magic system (I haven't quiiiite finished my Spirits guide yet, or my advanced magic stuff). Any comments on it would be very welcome. The Money System: Pretty simple: characters have a base starting cash of $0. 1 point = $250 starting off. 5 points = $250 weekly paycheck. Characters can sell out to a major corp or criminal (or something) organization for a variable number of points. They don't know what the effects of that sell out are, but they get $500 for every point the sell out is worth, or $500 weekly paycheck for every 5 points the sell out is worth (they set their own poison level ;). The final cost for this disad is always 0 points. Since the costs of things *sortof* go along with their point value with a bit of futzing, this seems to work for me. Example - An artificial arm. A real arm is 10 points. Add in "susceptible to EMPulses and electrical attacks", "subject to failure, sabotage, and power outages", and the enhancement/limitation "has its own hit points and DR", and that comes out to about 4 points. Since an artificial arm costs *about* $1000 (4 points), I decided that that's relatively balanced. I also like the fact that this cancels the advantage of taking Missing Arm for -10, and then spending cash to replace it. You've replaced a 10 point arm with a 4 point arm, and you got -6 points for it, so that works out very neatly. Since I've never even SEEN the cyberpunk or cyberworld books, this is what I most want comments on (handling money and equipment). Thomas