Sorcery: Meta Spells IV

Sorcery: Meta Spells IV

Even more meta spells. Pentagram is useful when containing summoning demons. Remove Aura allows to escape magical detection. Spell Wall prevents spells from crossing the wall. Spellguard makes another spell resistant to tampering attempts.

   

Pentagram

Keywords: Area (Leveled).

Full Cost: 291 points for level 1 + 40 points/additional level (or more).

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

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Permanent.

The sorcerer conjures an invisible dome-shaped magical barrier that blocks non-summoning spells and magical creatures from passing in either direction, even if they are insubstantial. Any magical (zombie, golem, elemental, demon, etc.) creature wishing to cross the barrier may try to force its way through it as a free action (one attempt per turn): the creature rolls thrust damage and if this overcomes the Pentagram’s DR, it gets through. This does not dispel the Pentagram’s barrier, which simply seals closed behind the creature. Slams and collisions with the Pentagram inflict their usual damage for the purpose of breaking through, but the collider takes no damage, as the barrier absorbs kinetic force.

The Pentagram gives DR against all mundane and magical attacks produced by the magical creatures contained within. Thus, the trapped creature cannot even push out a physical object out of the Pentagram, unless it manages to break the barrier’s DR.

Spells can be cast within the Pentagram, but no spell, except for the summoning ones, can cross its barrier in either direction. Jet and Missile spells that hit the barrier dissipate rather than attempting to break through the DR.

This spell must be cast on a star-shaped figure drawn on the floor or ground. If part of the pentagram is cut or erased (which can be done by a nonmagical creature from outside the Pentagram), its power will be lost until the caster can rejoin the pentagram and recast the spell.

By default, Pentagram provides DR 10. However, more potent versions are available that multiply DR and full cost by the same amount:

DR	Full Cost
10	291 points for level 1 + 40 points/additional level
20	476 points for level 1 + 65 points/additional level
30	661 points for level 1 + 90 points/additional level
50	1,031 points for level 1 + 140 points/additional level
100	1,956 points for level 1 + 265 points/additional level

Statistics: Damage Resistance 10 (Accessibility, Must be cast on a prepared pentagram of an appropriate size, -40%; Affects Insubstantial, +20%; Affects Others, +50%; Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Force Field, +20%; Limited, Magical creatures and physical objects moved by them, -60%; Link, +10%; Ranged, +40%; Persistent, +40%; Sorcery, -15%; Variable, Area, +5%) [185] + Rules Exemption (Magical abilities can coexist with anti-magical Static) [1] + Static (Magic; Accessibility, Does not affect summoning spells, -5%; Accessibility, Must be cast on a prepared pentagram of an appropriate size, -40%; Area Effect, 2 yards, +100%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Link, +10%; Only around the border of the area, -0%; Ranged, +40%; Magical, -10%; Variable, Area, +5%) [105]. Additional levels increase Area Effect (+50%) [+25 and +15]. More powerful versions leave Rules Exemption and Static as is but multiply DR and the cost of DR by 2, 3, 5, or 10. As a special effect, this forms a hemispherical dome, not a cylinder.

Remove Aura

Keywords: Buff.

Full Cost: 48 points.

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

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Instantaneous, see below.

This spell removes the magical emanations and mystical associations of the subject entirely. The subject’s past cannot be divined by the Psychometry advantage (p. B78) and by spells such as Ancient History, Divination, Echoes of the Past, History, Images of the Past, Prehistory, Scents of the Past, and, if the subject is an inanimate object, it “forgets” its past for the purpose of these spells and abilities. In addition, facts about the subject’s past cannot be recalled with Recall, and the subject does not show up as hidden for the See Secrets spell, because its aura “forgets” that it was deliberately hidden. For the purpose of the Seeker spell and similar abilities, the subject loses “association” with everything. Whatever happens to the subject after its aura is removed can still be freely accessed by those spells and abilities.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Advantage, Remove Aura, +90%; Cosmic, Allows Time-Spanning on an attack, +50%; Disadvantage, Total Amnesia, Variant, +25%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; Long-Range 1 on Time-Spanning, +50%; No Signature, +20%; Nuisance Effect, Duration is limited by the present time, -5%; Sorcery, -15%; Time-Spanning, Past Only, -0%) [48]. Note: “Remove Aura” is Zeroed (Only affects auras and mystical association, -0%; Magical, -10%) [9].

Spell Wall

Keywords: Area (Leveled).

Full Cost: 133 points for level 1 + 15 points/additional level.

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

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Five minutes.

This spell conjures a translucent wall that attempts to negate any spell cast through it from one side, specified by the caster upon casting. Spell Wall does not affect missile and jet spells. To penetrate Spell Wall, the caster must win a Quick Contest of Will with the caster of Spell Wall. If the spell already requires a Quick Contest of some kind, then the attacker rolls only once, but the target gets +5 to resist.

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 Spell Wall 1 has a maximum area of six square yards, with each additional level doubling that cumulatively. For example, Spell Wall 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.

Statistics: Static (Magic; Area Effect, 2 yards, +100%; Discriminatory, Variant, +150%; Extended Duration, 30x, +60%; Ranged, +40%; Resistible, -50%; Sorcery, -15%; Variable, Area, +5%; Visible, -10%; Wall, Shapeable, +60%) [132] + Rules Exemption (Magical abilities can coexist with anti-magical Static) [1]. Additional levels increase Area Effect (+50%) for Static [+15].

Spellguard

Keywords: Area (Special).

Full Cost: 138 points for level 1 + 54 points/additional level (or more).

Casting Roll: IQ.

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Eight hours.

This spell lets the caster protect other ongoing spells in the area from tampering. Anyone attempting to magically tamper (dispel, displace, steal, counter, etc.) with the spells in the area is at -2 to skill. Even if the tampering caster normally need not roll, they must roll now (usually against Will + Talent; GM’s call). The first level of this spell covers an area two yards in radius; each additional level increases this by one yard. The caster can omit any spells in the area that they do not want to protect against tampering.

More potent versions of this spell inflict a greater penalty to tampering rolls and increase the initial area of effect. In all cases, further levels add the same +1 yard/level.

Penalty	Initial Radius	Full Cost
-2	Two yards	138 points for level 1 + 54 points/additional level
-4	Four yards	276 points for level 1 + 54 points/additional level
-6	Six yards	414 points for level 1 + 54 points/additional level

Statistics: Control Magic 2 (Accessibility, Only to penalize tampering, ‑65%; Cannot concentrate to extend duration, ‑10%; Extended Duration on Persistent, 3,000x, +140%; Persistent, +40%; Ranged, +40%; Sorcery, ‑15%) [138]. Additional levels add Control Magic +1 (Accessibility, Only to penalize tampering, ‑65%; Cannot concentrate to extend duration, ‑10%; Extended Duration on Persistent, 3,000x, +140%; Only increases area of effect, ‑50%; Persistent, +40%; Ranged, +40%; Sorcery, ‑15%) [54/level]. The two stronger versions change the initial Control level to 4 [276] or 6 [414]. Note: As this is one advantage (Control Magic) with the Sorcery limitation, not two, it costs only 1 FP to use.