Sorcery: Revised Elemental Spells

Sorcery: Revised Elemental Spells

Summoning with Sorcery always felt wonky, but the super-sorcery article from Pyramid #3-105 gave us the (Entity) Summoning spell. I have decided to rework the various Summon and Create Elemental spells, basing them on the (Entity) Summoning spell. Planar distance penalties for D&D cosmology can be very harsh, so I would allow to make a Symbol Drawing (Summoning Circles) roll to add its full margin of success to the summoning Will roll. This bonus can only mitigate the planar distance penalties, and cannot provide a net bonus.

Control Elemental

Keywords: Resisted (Will).

Full Cost: 23 points.

Casting Roll: IQ.

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: One minute.

This spell allows the caster to mentally control a particular type of elementals, chosen when they learn this spell, that the caster can see or touch. If the elemental fails to resist, it will obey every command of the caster until freed. It has no initiative under this control, effectively gaining the Reprogrammable (p. B150) and Slave Mentality (p. B154) disadvantages with the caster as the master. If the caster attempts to force the elemental to act against its principles, roll another Quick Contest. Roll immediately before the principles would be violated, not when the caster gives the command. If the elemental wins, it breaks free.

If the caster fails to control the elemental, they cannot attempt to control that subject again for 24 hours, and the elemental feels a sense of mental coercion emanating from the caster.

Statistics: Mind Control (Accessibility, Elementals of a Particular Type Only, -60%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Independent, +70%; Puppet, -40%; Reduced Duration, 1/3, -10%; Sorcery, -15%) [23].

Create Elemental

Keywords: None.

Full Cost: 39 points.

Casting Roll: Will, rolled as a Quick Contest against the summoned being’s Will. Special casting time, see below.

Range: Special, see below.

Duration: Hours equal to margin of victory on Quick Contest of Will.

Each time you cast this, you create an elemental (worth 75% or less of your point value) of a particular type: air, earth, fire, water, magma, ether, etc. (chosen when you pick this spell). You create this being, adjusting the base elemental template.  A penalty applies based on the planar “distance”: There is no distance penalty to create an elemental on the appropriate Elemental Plane. Adjacent dimensions impose -5, increasing by -5 for every intervening dimension. The Prime Material Plane is considered adjacent to the Ethereal Plane, and the Ethereal Plane is adjacent to the Inner Planes, where most of the elementals come from.

The creation itself requires 10 minutes of preparation and ritual. At the end of the casting, you must pay 1 FP and make a Quick Contest of Will against the elemental to force it to appear. If you are victorious, the elemental appears. It then makes a reaction roll. On Poor or worse, treat it as an Unwilling Ally – it will obey you, but try to subvert your commands or otherwise act against your interests. If the reaction is Neutral or better, it will serve you reasonably faithfully.

Unlike Summon Elemental, this spell cannot be used to make the elemental answer questions. It’s a newly created being, it does not know anything.

Unlike most sorcery with a duration, this spell must be maintained; thus, unless the caster can cast simultaneous spells, using another spell will immediately make the caster lose control of the created elemental. Once control is relinquished, the elemental returns to its native plane. However, there is no FP cost to maintain this spell, only to cast it. A created elemental is vulnerable to being banished or warded off with occult techniques, but cannot be dispelled. If it is killed, the caster must wait 24 hours before using this spell again; if the control was relinquished, the caster must wait five minutes.

See GURPS Magic, p. 28 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 27 for statistics of air elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 55 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 27 for statistics of earth elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 55 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 30 for statistics of ether elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 76 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 28 for statistics of fire elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 55 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 29 or Pyramid #3-91, p. 28 for statistics of metal elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 191 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 30 for statistics of water elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 191 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 31 for statistics of wood elementals.

See Pyramid #3-114, p. 18 for statistics of glass elementals.

            See GURPS Locations: Metro of Madness, p. 26 for statistics of plastic elementals.

Statistics: Ally (A type of elementals; Built on 75%; Constantly; Adjustable, a relatively narrow group with similar capabilities, provides no information, +50%; Conjured, +100%; Cosmic, The caster creates the elemental instead of the GM, +100%; Immediate Preparation Required, 10 minutes, -45%; Requires Quick Contest of Will vs. Will, -15%; Magical, -10%; Maximum Duration, hours equal to margin of victory, -5%; Special Abilities, +50%) [39]. Notes: The Maximum Duration limitation is priced based on Maximum Duration, 12 hours. As a special effect, this spell breaks sorcery rules by allowing free maintenance, but this is offset by imposing a FP cost to cast and dimensional “range” penalties.

Summon Elemental

Keywords: None.

Full Cost: 33 points.

Casting Roll: Will, rolled as a Quick Contest against the summoned being’s Will. Special casting time, see below.

Range: Special, see below.

Duration: Hours equal to margin of victory on Quick Contest of Will.

Each time you cast this, you summon an elemental (worth 75% or less of your point value) of a particular type: air, earth, fire, water, magma, ether, etc. (chosen when you pick this spell). The GM will create this being, but the caster can request one that meets broad criteria. If the caster knows a specific elemental they want to call, they can summon it (although without its True Name or some equally significant identifier, the casting roll is at -5). A penalty applies based on the extradimensional “distance”: There is no distance penalty for creatures that are currently on the same plane of existence. Adjacent dimensions impose -5, increasing by -5 for every intervening dimension. Specifics of the dimensional structure depend on the setting.

The summoning itself requires a ritual that takes 10 minutes. At the end of the ritual, the caster pays 1 FP and makes a Quick Contest of Will against the elemental to force it to appear. If the caster is victorious, the elemental arrives. It then makes a reaction roll. On Poor or worse, treat it as an Unwilling Ally – it will obey the caster, but try to subvert their commands or otherwise act against their interests. If the reaction is Neutral or better, it will serve the caster reasonably faithfully.

The caster can also summon an  elemental to answer questions. Typically, such beings can only answer questions about planar lore, thaumatology, and other elementals. Treat this as a Contact Group with an appropriate knowledge category, an effective skill of 18, and a reliability that depends on the reaction roll: Unreliable for Poor or less, Somewhat Reliable on a Neutral reaction, Usually Reliable for Good, and Completely Reliable for Very Good or Excellent reactions.

Unlike most sorcery with a duration, this spell must be maintained; thus, unless the caster can cast simultaneous spells, using another spell will immediately dismiss the summoned elemental. However, there is no FP cost to maintain this spell, only to cast it. A summoned elemental is vulnerable to being dispelled, banished, or warded off with occult techniques. If it is killed, the caster must wait 24 hours before using this spell again; if dismissed, the caster must wait five minutes.

See GURPS Magic, p. 28 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 27 for statistics of air elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 55 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 27 for statistics of earth elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 55 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 30 for statistics of ether elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 76 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 28 for statistics of fire elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 55 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9 :Summoners, p. 29 or Pyramid #3-91, p. 28 for statistics of metal elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 191 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 30 for statistics of water elementals.

See GURPS Magic, p. 191 or GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, p. 31 for statistics of wood elementals.

See Pyramid #3-114, p. 18 for statistics of glass elementals.

See GURPS Locations: Metro of Madness, p. 26 for statistics of plastic elementals.

Statistics: Ally (A type of elemental; Built on 75%; Constantly; Adjustable, a relatively narrow group with similar capabilities, provides information, +100%; Conjured, +100%; Immediate Preparation Required, 10 minutes, -45%; Requires Quick Contest of Will vs. Will, -15%; Magical, -10%; Maximum Duration, hours equal to margin of victory, -5%; Special Abilities, +50%) [33]. Notes: The Maximum Duration limitation is priced based on Maximum Duration, 12 hours. As a special effect, this spell breaks sorcery rules by allowing free maintenance, but this is offset by imposing a FP cost to cast and dimensional “range” penalties.