Sorcery: Fungus Spells I

Sorcery: Fungus Spells I

GURPS Magic - Plant Spells provides a variant college of Fungus. It should not be difficult to convert these spells, as most of them are almost identical to Plant spells. Animate Fungus turns a fungus into an ally. Bless Fungus should be useful for underground civilizations that grow fungi for food or other purposes. Body of Fungus is a transmutative buff spell. Create Fungus can be used to grow fungi where nothing grew before.

Animate Fungus

Keywords: None.

Full Cost: 21 points.

Casting Roll: Will.

Range: Touch.

Duration: Hours equal to margin of success on the casting roll.

Summon a spirit (IQ 9) to animate an existing living non-intelligent fungus. Its abilities and attributes depend on its body. This is entirely up to the GM. At the end of the casting, you must pay 1 FP and make a Will roll to animate the fungus. If you are victorious, the fungus is animated for margin of success hours.

If the animated fungus is destroyed, the summoner must wait a full day to call replacements. Dismissing the animating spirit is a free action, but you may only dismiss him if he is physically present. You can only cast this spell if your character’s point total is at least 2 times bigger than the fungus’.

Statistics: Ally (Animated Fungus; Built on 50%; Constantly, no roll required; Adjustable, Fungi, +25%; Conjured, +100%; Magical, -10%; Maximum Duration, hours equal to margin of success, -5%; Minion, +50%; Requires Will Roll, -5%) [21]. 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.

Bless Fungus

Keywords: Area (Leveled), Buff.

Full Cost: 54 points for level 1 + 5 points/additional level.

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

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: 6 months.

Fungi in the area grow more fast and strong: mushrooms grow twice as tall, and any mundane HT rolls made by the fungi are at +2. This spell affects only inanimate fungi; mobile or sentient ones are immune.

Bless Fungus lasts for 6 months. Once the fungi die or are harvested, the fungi lose this effect.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Accessibility, Sessile fungi only, -30%; Advantage, Bless Fungus, +190%; Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Extended Duration, 100,000x, +200%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; No Signature, +20%; Sorcery, -15%; Variable, Area, +5%) [54]. Additional levels add Area Effect (+50%) [+5]. Note: “Bless Fungus” is Rapid Healing (Variant; Magical, -10%) [5] + Very Fit (Variant; Magical, -10%) [14].

Body of Fungus

Keywords: Buff.

Full Cost: 100 points.

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

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: 30 minutes.

The subject gains the Body of Fungus meta-trait; see the footnote below for details. Clothing and gear weighing no more than his BL change with him. He cannot shift back on his own; he must wait for the spell to expire or be dispelled. (This does not change if the sorcerer is the subject.)

Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Advantage, Body of Fungus, +840%; Extended Duration, 10x, +40%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; No Signature, +20%; Sorcery, -15%) [100]. Notes: “Body of Fungus” is Alternate Form (Body of Fungus*; Can Carry Objects, No Encumbrance, +10%; Magical, -10%) [84]. If turned into a “usually on” magical item (GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery, pp. 27-28), the wearer can shift at will but it takes 10 seconds to do so.

* A variant of the meta-trait from p. 165 of GURPS Magic: Basic Speed-1 [-20]; Blunt Claws [3]; DR 2 (Semi-Ablative, -20%) [8]; Doesn’t Breathe [20]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Injury Tolerance (Homogenous) [40]; Lifting ST 5 [15]; Numb [-20]; and Affected by Fungus Spells [0]. 76 points.

  

Create Fungus

Keywords: None.

Full Cost: 15 points/level.

Casting Roll: IQ.

Range: Touch.

Duration: 10 seconds or permanent; see text.

This spell allows you to bring forth fungi where nothing grew before. To do so, take a Concentrate maneuver and roll vs. IQ. Success means the fungi appears within arm’s reach. Failure means nothing happens. Critical failure means the creation happens, but in a way that’s inconvenient or dangerous – the GM should be creative!

The produced fungus can weigh up to 10 x (level squared) lbs. – 10 lbs. at level 1, 40 lbs. at level 2, 90 lbs. at level 3, and so on. For fungal molds the GM can convert this into an area with a radius equal to the spell’s level.

If the created fungi are worth money (for example, if they possess supernatural properties or can be used an alchemical reagents), they are unstable and will decay after 10 seconds unless you stabilize them with your character points – in which case point cost depends on their value. Each point spent stabilizes a quantity worth 10% of the campaign’s average starting wealth. (This is just the tradeoff used for Trading Points for Money, p. B26.) The GM determines the cash value per pound of matter – a ton of iron costs more to stabilize than a ton of stone.

Points spent to stabilize matter come from your “Creation Pool,” a number of points set aside for the purpose. You can’t apply any modifiers to these points. Points used to stabilize matter are unavailable until reclaimed – which causes the matter to vanish. If the matter is crafted into an object, the item is unmade when the matter vanishes. If the matter is mixed with other materials (e.g., alloyed), you must separate it to reclaim your points; this can be a tedious process. If it’s destroyed or transformed (e.g., eaten), you can’t reclaim your points – they’re gone. You can increase your Creation Pool with unspent points at any time.

Statistics: Create Fungus (Magical, -10%; Reduced Fatigue Cost 3, +60%; Vital Creation, +0%) [15/level].