Sorcery: Lightning Spells II

Sorcery: Lightning Spells II

Let's finish the lightning spells! Spark Storm is a Windstorm combined with Lightning. Wall of Lightning can create a dangerous obstacle on the battlefield. Lightning Stare is another attack spell that comes out of your eyes. Ball of Lightning is a homing projectile that passes through nonmetallic obstacles. Lightning Armor is both an offensive and a defensive buff.

And now I declare the colleges of Air and Weather finished! Finally!

Ball of Lightning

Keywords: Missile, Obvious.

Full Cost: 26 points/level.

Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Projectile) to «lock on».

Range: 20 yards.

Duration: Instantaneous.

A ball of lightning flies off your fingertips towards your target. The ball floats right through windows, curtains, walls, and other nonmetallic obstacles. The ball explodes on the mental command of the caster or upon contact with a living being or metallic object. An explosion does 1d burning surge damage per level of this spell to everyone within four yards of the explosion point. Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of penetrating damage, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover. The projectile is homing, so it steers itself. As it uses normal vision to seek its target, it does not ignore darkness penalties. To “lock on,” you must Aim at the target and make an unmodified skill roll. Do not roll against your skill to hit. Instead, use the attack’s skill of 10 – plus Accuracy, if you made your skill roll – and ignore all range penalties. The projectile moves 4 yards per second. For more information, see Guided and Homing Weapons (p. B412).

Statistics: Burning Attack 1d (Area Effect, 4 yards, +100%; Cosmic, Passes through nonmetallic obstacles, +100%; Homing, +50%; Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Reduced Range, x1/5, -20%; Sorcery, -15%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%; Triggered Delay, +50%) [26/level].

Lightning Armor

Keywords: Buff.

Full Cost: 26 points.

Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: 3 minutes.

The subject is sheathed in crackling lightning. Any metallic weapon that hits the subject triggers a 1d-1 backlash of burning surge damage along the weapon. This attack automatically hits the hand that is holding the weapon, regardless of the weapon’s length, as long as its entire length is conducting. Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of penetrating damage, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover. Anyone touching the subject is similarly damaged.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Advantage, Lightning Armor, +140%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; No Signature, +20%; Sorcery,  15%) [26]. Note: “Lightning Armor” is Burning Attack 1d-1 (Aura, +80%; Cosmic, Conducting, +50%; Magical, -10%; Melee Attack, Reach C, -30%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%) [14].

Lightning Stare

Keywords: Jet, Obvious.

Full Cost: 11.75 points/level*.

Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to hit.

Range: 10 yards.

Duration: Instantaneous.

A 10-yard jet of lightning erupts from your eyes. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to hit. Don’t apply range penalties; treat this as a long melee weapon rather than a ranged attack. It does burning surge damage with dice equal to your level of this spell. The GM must determine what the maximum level available in the campaign is. Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of penetrating damage, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover. Lightning behaves unpredictably around conductors; see Lightning (GURPS Magic, p. 196) for more details.

Statistics: Burning Attack 1d (Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Jet, +0%; Nuisance Effect, Behaves erratically around conductors, -5%; Sorcery, -15%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%) [11.75/level*].

* Calculate the total cost and then round up.

Spark Storm

Keywords: Area (Leveled).

Full Cost: 164 points for level 1 + 30 points/additional level.

Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: 10 seconds.

Create a circular windstorm with an “eye” of calm inside (a good place for the caster to stand). The radius of the eye can be up to half that of the storm – or smaller, if the caster wishes. The caster may move the area at Move 1 with a Concentrate maneuver.

Roll 4d as for crushing damage, determine knockback, and then double the distance; however, the victim suffers no actual damage or blunt trauma from the effect – just the consequences of being hurled around. As a special effect, knockback from this moves victims sideways (all clockwise or all anticlockwise; decide when triggering the attack) rather than away from the storm.

Second, Dodge values of all creatures within the area of effect are increased by 2 against projectile attacks.

Finally, each second a random creature in the area of effect gets struck by a lightning bolt for 2d burning surge damage with an effective skill of 12, modified only for the target’s SM. Targets may raise their shields as cover, at the risk of damaging them (p. B484). Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of penetrating damage, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover.

Statistics: Burning Attack 2d (HT; Accessibility, Only one bolt per second at a random target, -30%; Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Bombardment, Skill-12, -10%; Environmental, Air, -5%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Mobile 1, +40%; Overhead, +30%; Persistent, +40%; Selective Area, Only to create an “eye”, +10%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%) [38] + Crushing Attack 4d (Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Double Knockback, +20%; Environmental, Air, -5%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Mobile 1, +40%; No Blunt Trauma, -20%; No Wounding, -50%; Persistent, +40%; Selective Area, Only to create an “eye”, +10%) [37] + Enhanced Dodge 2 (Affects Others 1, +50%; Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Environmental, Air, -5%; Force Field, +20%; Limited, Projectiles, -40%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Mobile 1, +40%; Persistent, +40%; Ranged, +50%) [89]. Additional levels add further levels of Area Effect (+50%) to all advantages [+30].

Wall of Lightning

Keywords: Obvious.

Full Cost: 45 points for level 1 + 5 points/additional level.

Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Five minutes.

This spell conjures a transparent wall of lightning. You do not have to concentrate to maintain it, Wall of Lightning is “fire and forget.” It can be cast repeatedly, allowing the sorcerer to put up multiple walls as needed, but each wall dissipates once the duration runs out.

To find the maximum square yardage available, look up the level of this spell on the Leveled Area Table (GURPS Thaumatology - Sorcery, p. 9) and multiply the given radius by 3. Alternatively, know that Wall of Lightning 1 has a maximum area of six square yards, with each additional level doubling that cumulatively. For example, Wall of Lightning 3 has a limit of 24 square yards, allowing the sorcerer to conjure a wall six yards long by four yards high, 12 yards long by two yards high, or any other valid combination. The caster may form this into any shape he wishes.

Anything crossing the wall takes 2d burning surge damage. Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of penetrating damage, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover.

Statistics: Burning Attack 2d (Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Extended Duration, 30x, +60%; Persistent, +40%; Sorcery, -15%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%; Variable, Area, +5%; Wall, Shapeable, +60%) [45]. Additional levels increase Area Effect (+50%) [+5].