Sunday 26 November 2017

Sorcery: Antimatter Spells

Sorcery: Antimatter Spells

We've had nuclear, space, and plasma spells, so now it's time for some antimatter spells. Antimatter Beam, Antimatter Blast, and Conversion are antimatter-based attacks. Stop Annihilation prevents matter from annihilating when coming into contact with antimatter. Q-Mirror returns incoming ranged attacks in the form of antimatter.

Antimatter Beam
Keywords: Missile, Obvious.
Full Cost: 39 points/level.
Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Beam) to hit.
Range: 1,000 yards.
Duration: Instantaneous.

You fire a beam of antimatter at a single target. Use Innate Attack (Projectile) to hit, applying normal range penalties. Antimatter Beam range in atmosphere is 1,000 yards divided by atmospheric pressure, 1/2D range is 200 yards divided by atmospheric pressure. It does 2d(3) crushing radiation surge damage per level of this spell. The attack produces an explosion at the point of impact (on a miss, check for scatter; see p. B414). The target takes damage normally; anything nearby receives “collateral damage” equal to basic damage divided by (3 x distance in yards from the blast). The GM must determine what the maximum level available in the campaign is.
Statistics: Crushing Attack 2d (Armor Divisor, (3), +100%; Explosion 1, +50%; Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Increased Range, 10x, +30%; Radiation, +100%; Sorcery, -15%; Surge, +20%) [39/level].
   
Antimatter Blast
Keywords: Missile, Obvious.
Full Cost: 504,408 points.
Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Projectile) to hit.
Range: 10,000 yards.
Duration: Instantaneous.

You launch a 0.1 microgram of antimatter at a single target. Use Innate Attack (Projectile) to hit, applying normal range penalties. It does 6dx4 burning explosion surge damage plus 6dx10,000 toxic radiation damage. This spell has no 1/2D range – it does full damage at any range. The attack produces an explosion at the point of impact (on a miss, check for scatter; see p. B414). The target takes burning damage normally; anything nearby receives “collateral damage” equal to basic damage divided by distance in yards from the blast, but the toxic radiation damage is divided by square of the distance.
If your foe is within one yard of you, he may attempt to parry this attack (actually parrying your hand). If such a parry is successful, you must roll against DX to avoid hitting yourself with your own antimatter blast!
Statistics: Burning Attack 6dx4 (Explosion 3, +150%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; Increased Range, 100x, +60%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Dangerous to be parried, -5%; Surge, +20%) [408] + Toxic Attack 6dx10,000 (Explosion, Variant, +20%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; Increased Range, 100x, +60%; Link, +10%; Nuisance Effect, Dangerous to be parried, -5%; Radiation, +25%; Sorcery, -15%) [504000].

Conversion
Keywords: Missile, Obvious.
Full Cost: 83 points/level.
Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Beam) to hit.
Range: 100 yards.
Duration: Instantaneous.

You fire a beam that converts a miniscule portion of the target into antimatter. Use Innate Attack (Projectile) to hit, applying normal range penalties. It does 2d(10) corrosion per level of this spell plus 2d burning surge explosion radiation follow-up damage. The follow-up attack produces an explosion at the point of impact (on a miss, check for scatter; see p. B414). The target takes damage normally; anything nearby receives “collateral damage” equal to basic damage divided by (3 x distance in yards from the blast). The GM must determine what the maximum level available in the campaign is.
Statistics: Corrosion Attack 2d (Armor Divisor, (10), +200%; Sorcery, -15%) [57/level] + Burning Attack 2d (Explosion 1, +50%; Follow-Up, Corrosion Attack, +0%; Magical, -10%; Radiation, +100%; Surge, +20%) [26/level].
  
Q-Mirror
Keywords: Buff.
Full Cost: 159 points for level 1 + 147 points/additional level.
Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.
Range: 100 yards.
Duration: Three minutes.

Any successful ranged substantial (projectiles, particle beams, but not lasers) attack made against the subject is transformed into antimatter and then turned around so that it hits the attacker instead – so long as the attack’s basic damage is less than (Q-Mirror level)x2 dice. For example, Q-Mirror 3 would redirect any ranged substantial attack up to 6d while allowing those of 6d+1 or higher through. Convert all flat damage to dice (as per p. B269) for this determination. A reflected attack deals the same basic damage, but the damage type becomes crushing with radiation, explosion, and surge modifiers and a (3) armor divisor. If hit with a pulsar or any other antimatter-based attack, the attack is transformed into normal matter, neutralizing its danger. Such attack deals no damage.
An attacker unaware that this spell is in place must roll against the lower of IQ or Per, at +3 for Danger Sense and +3 for Combat Reflexes, to realize it in time to get a defense. If the attacker is not physically present at the time of the attack, the missiles are just deflected harmlessly. Do not roll damage or apply special effects until after determining who (if anyone) is hit.
Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Advantage, Q-Mirror 1, +1,470%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; No Signature, +20%; Sorcery, -15%) [159]. Additional levels add further Q-Mirror to the Advantage enhancement (+1,470%) [+147]. Notes: Each level of “Q-Mirror” is Damage Resistance 7 (All-or-Nothing, -10%; Armor Divisor, (3), +100%; Cosmic, Reflected attack becomes crushing, +50%; Force Field, +20%; Limited, Ranged Substantial, -40%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Reduces higher armor divisors to (3), -10%; Radiation, +100%; Reflection, +100%; Surge, +20%) [147] with each DR 7 converted into 2d per p. B269. Attack modifiers are applied to the Damage Resistance to modify the reflected attack.

Stop Annihilation
Keywords: Area (Special).
Full Cost: 110 points for level 1 + 6 points/additional level.
Casting Roll: IQ.
Range: 100 yards.
Duration: 30 seconds.

This spell prevents annihilation of matter than comes into contact with antimatter from occurring within an area with a radius equal to (9 + spell level) yards. This will prevent antimatter reactors from functioning, pulsars from dealing damage, antimatter warheads from detonating.
Statistics: Control Antimatter 10 (Accessibility, Only to stop annihilation, -65%; Cannot concentrate to extend duration, -10%; Extended Duration on Persistent, 3x, +20%; Persistent, +40%; Ranged, +40%; Sorcery, -15%) [110]. Additional levels add Control Antimatter (Accessibility, Only to stop annihilation, -65%; Cannot concentrate to extend duration, -10%; Extended Duration on Persistent, 3x, +20%; Only to increase area, -50%; Persistent, +40%; Ranged, +40%; Sorcery, -15%) [6/level].


4 comments:

  1. With all due respect, Antimatter Blast and Nuclear Fireball seem like exercises in excess. I can't imagine playing a campaign in which I had 100,000+ points to spend, and if I did play in a campaign like that, I can't see dumping all of those points into a single spell. That said, an Antimatter college would be a cool addition to the classic magic system; I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone move in that direction before this. You've definitely given me some good ideas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right. These two spells are exactly that, I was just curious to see how many points it would take to build a nuclear/antimatter warhead from Ultra-Tech.

      Delete
  2. I've been reading your blog for some time now. I really like your Sorcery series.

    Have you ever considered adding to your sorcery series with some of the cooler D&D / Pathfinder Spells? I would love to see some of those.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I found that most of the spells from D&D/Pathfinder already have analogues in GURPS Magic either as normal spells or as "improved" spells. For example, both Fireball and Meteor Swarm can be represented as Explosive Fireball in GURPS, using different amounts of energy/levels. But yes, I already have converted some of the more unique D&D/PF spells, and there will be more.

      Delete