Wizardry: Gravity Spells I

Wizardry: Gravity Spells I

In my games, I use the college of Gravity magic. Gravity is different from Force and Movement because... because it just is, okay? Jokes aside, this is just an "alternative" college that has an overlap with both Movement and Force, but also has some unique spells. Pass without Trace makes the subject leave to visible tracks. Repulsion pushes creatures and objects away from you. It doesn't provide any defensive benefits, such as deflecting arrows. I guess this is closer to something like one-second pulses of force instead of a continuous pressure. Reverse Gravity (for now) is the only unique gravity spell. It is quite expensive, but I think that it should be this way. After all, anything inside doesn't get a resistance roll. Spider Climb lets you crawl on walls and ceilings. Telekinesis is a more universal version of Mage Hand, but still not as universal as its D&D counterpart. I decided to base in on TK Grab from GURPS Psionic Powers. However, I decided to remove ST scaling, as if I were to leave it in, Telekinesis would invalidate pretty much all other TK-based spells and also could cause some balance issues. It do be like that sometimes. Also, with this post, I'm done not only with Gravity spells, but also with Movement spells! I'm making significant progress.

More Gems for DF

More Gems for DF

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables has quite a few gems and a way to determine their value from their size. Each gem has a Value modifier (V), and weight is measured in carats (C). But what if you want more variety? Dungeon Master's Guide for D&D 3.5 has more gems, and it is even possible to derive the Value modifiers for them. So, let's combine the two sources. And just for the heck of it, why not add pictures? I don't know what some of the gemstones look like, so it'll be useful to me as well.

Wizardry: Body Control Spells I

Wizardry: Body Control Spells I

I'm determining the colleges randomly, and it's surprising that I haven't rolled body control yet (I also haven't yet rolled gate or metal spells). Let's do the boring spells first. Bear's Endurance increases the subject's HT. Bull's Strength increases the subject's ST. Cat's Grace increase the subject's DX. Their mass versions affect an area, but have static attribute increases of 2/4/2, respectively.

Wizardry: Fire Spells III

Wizardry: Fire Spells III

Flame Arrow made me think about how weapon buffs work on ammunition. I decided to introduce Rapid Fire and limit the number of affected projectiles to margin of success, capped by RoF, as long as the projectiles are in contact with one another. I'm content with this solution. Flame Blade is another spell that made me think. Since the blade itself deals static damage (no matter how hard you swing a jet of fire, you won't deal more damage), I opted for Innate Attack instead of Natural Weapon. Paying FP for every attack would feel lame, so I decided to impose an extra casting cost on the buff itself, and make the attacks free. I guess it is sort of equalized by requiring being in melee range and being based on the Force Sword skill. Even though the attack cannot deflect blows and has Cannot Parry, it also has Destructive Parry. You still damage the weapon/hand/foot that attacked you on a successful parry, even though you still get hit. Flame Strike is an overhead explosive fire spell. Flaming Sphere creates a bouncy fire orb that you guide to its target. A nice example of using guided weapons in fantasy games.

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells V

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells V

The final knowledge spells from the PHB! Moment of Prescience has to be cast in advance as a self-only buff spell, but acts as Super Luck. While this does not let you use this spell more often than usual, it does seem to circumvent the alternative ability array restriction that would disable the spell slot for a day. I know that it's janky, but I don't care, it's still expensive enough. Prying Eyes is a very cool spell, but building it RAW would probably be impossible, so the statline you see here is merely an approximation used to derive the cost. Read Magic identifies magical writing, such as scrolls and runic spells.

Wizardry: Movement Spells III

Wizardry: Movement Spells III

Why is Grease a Movement spell? Sure, it does affect movement, but I feel that it would fit better in Illusion and Creation, as it conjures a layer of slippery grease instead of simply altering friction. Yeah, I think that's where I will put it. Grease obviously is based on the eponymous spell from Sorcery, but with some alterations. Duration is shorter, range is shorter, and the rules were brought to consistency with my bad footing rules. Also, it's much cheaper now! Hold Portal is different from Arcane Lock in that it has a short duration, can be cast at range, has a 1-second casting time, does not increase DR, and is not selective. So, while Arcane Lock is something like "I will enchant this door to my secret base so that no one ever opens it", Hold Portal is closer to "I have to quickly make this door stuck to hold off a chasing enemy or prevent an enemy from fleeing". Implosion used to be an instakill spell, but now is direct damage that ignores DR. Still powerful, but manageable. I'd limit it to level 2 or 3, I think. Open/Close, well, opens or closes something up to 10 yards away.

Wizardry: Earth Spells II

Wizardry: Earth Spells II

Earthquake is an expensive, but powerful spell. The mechanics were taken from the ptallant lizard from GURPS Creatures of the Night Vol. 1. However, the rarity of Tremors wasn't given there, so I chose to treat it as rare (10/level). (EDIT: Apparently, an earthquake-causing ability was also printed later in GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers, so I edited the spell to bring it in line with what is said there. Also, I was right - Tremors are rare) Imprisonment is a save-or-"die" spell akin to Flesh to Stone. Move Earth was another difficult one. It has a much lower scale than its D&D counterpart, but still can move a few hexes worth of dirt around, if you don't have a shovel. Stone Shape is a simple Control spell.