Sorcery: Lava Spells

Sorcery: Lava Spells

GURPS has surprisingly few rules about lava. While looking for anything about lava, I found two spells that I have missed before - Summon/Control Lava Lizard from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 3 - Born of Myth & Magic. In addition to that, I have decided to make some more lava spells. Lava Bolt is a powerful cyclic damage missile. Volcanic Rain pelts the area with drops of lava. Transmute Rock to Lava can turn a cave into a furnace.

Control Lava Lizard

Keywords: Resisted (Will).

Full Cost: 10 points.

Casting Roll: IQ.

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: Indefinite.

You can mentally dominate a lava lizard (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 3: Born of Myth & Magic, page 12) that you can see or touch. To use this ability, concentrate for one second and then roll a Quick Contest: your IQ vs. your subject’s Will. Use the following modifiers: Range penalties to the subject (see p. B550); -1 per slave already under your control; +2 if you concentrate for a full minute, or +4 if you concentrate for a full hour.

If you win, your victim will obey your every command until you free him. In effect, he temporarily gains the Reprogrammable disadvantage (p. B150), with you as his master. Your control persists for as long as you take uninterrupted Concentrate maneuvers.

Once you stop, your control lingers for one minute per point by which you won the Quick Contest. If you are incapacitated (stunned, knocked out, etc.), or attempt to force the subject to act against his principles (e.g., commit suicide or harm a loved one), roll another Quick Contest. If your victim wins, he breaks free. Roll at the moment of truth – you can march him to the edge of a cliff, but he doesn’t roll until he’s about to leap.

If you lose, you cannot attempt to control that subject again for 24 hours, and he feels a sense of mental coercion emanating from you. On a critical failure, you also lose control of anyone else under the influence of this ability!

Your victims have no initiative while under your control, and temporarily acquire Slave Mentality (p. B154).

Statistics: Mind Control (Accessibility, Lava Lizards Only, -80%; Puppet, -40%; Sorcery, -15%) [10].

  

Lava Bolt

Keywords: Missile, Obvious.

Full Cost: 80 points.

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

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Instantaneous.

You throw a ball of lava (about the size of a softball) at a single target. Use Innate Attack (Projectile) to hit, applying normal range penalties. It does 3d(0.2) burning damage per second for 6 seconds. This cyclic damage can be stopped by extinguishing the flames.

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 lava bolt!

Statistics: Burning Attack 3d (Armor Divisor, (0.2), -50%; Cyclic, 5 1-second cycles, +500%; Nuisance Effect, Dangerous to be parried, -5%; Sorcery, -15%) [80].

  

Summon Lava Lizard

Keywords: None.

Full Cost: 21 points.

Casting Roll: Will, rolled as a Quick Contest against the summoned being’s Will. Special casting time, see below.

Range: Special, see below.

Duration: Hours equal to margin of victory on Quick Contest of Will.

Each time you cast this, you summon a lava lizard (worth 75% or less of your point value). A penalty applies based on the planar “distance”: There is no distance penalty for creatures that are currently on the same plane of existence. Adjacent dimensions impose -5, increasing by -5 for every intervening dimension. The Prime Material Plane is considered adjacent to the Ethereal Plane, and the Ethereal Plane is adjacent to the Inner Planes, where the lava lizards come from. Thus, preparations that mitigate the penalty usually are required.

The summoning itself requires 10 minutes of preparation and ritual. At the end of the casting, you must pay 1 FP and make a Quick Contest of Will against the lava lizard to force it to appear. If you are victorious, the lava lizard arrives. It then makes a reaction roll. On Poor or worse, treat it as an Unwilling Ally – it will obey you, but try to subvert your commands or otherwise act against your interests. If the reaction is Neutral or better, it will serve you reasonably faithfully.

Unlike most sorcery with a duration, this spell must be maintained; thus, unless you can cast simultaneous spells, using another spell will immediately dismiss the summoned being. However, there is no FP cost to maintain this spell, only to cast it. A summoned being is vulnerable to being dispelled, banished, or warded off with occult techniques. If it is killed, you must wait 24 hours before using this spell again; if dismissed, you must wait five minutes.

See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 3: Born of Myth & Magic, p. 12 for statistics of lava lizards.

Statistics: Ally (Lava Lizard; Built on 75%; Constantly; Conjured, +100%; Immediate Preparation Required, 10 minutes, -45%; Requires Quick Contest of Will vs. Will, -15%; Magical, -10%; Maximum Duration, hours equal to margin of victory, -5%; Special Abilities, +50%) [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 and dimensional “range” penalties.

  

Transmute Rock to Lava

Keywords: Area (Fixed).

Full Cost: 96 points/level.

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

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Five minutes.

You transform a hex of a rocky floor, wall, or ceiling into hot lava, which will burn regardless of fuel for the next five minutes. When the duration runs out, lava reverts to being rock. The lava emanates intense heat, dealing 6d damage per level of the spell in the center of the area of effect. For creatures and objects within 16 yards, divide damage by the distance in yards between the target and the center of the effect.

Statistics: Burning Attack 6d (Area Effect, 16 yards, +200%; Dissipation, -50%; Environmental, Rock, -20%; Extended Duration, 30x, +60%; Persistent, +40%; Sorcery, -15%; Variable, +5%) [96/level].

Volcanic Rain

Keywords: Area (Leveled).

Full Cost: 153 points for level 1 + 17.5 points/additional level*.

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

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: 30 seconds.

You cause drops of lava to pelt an area. Use Innate Attack (Gaze), at +4, to center the area; see Scatter (p. B414) if you miss. Everyone who spends even part of their turn in the area is attacked with an effective skill of 12, modified only for their SM. Anyone hit takes 3d(0.2) burning damage each second for 6 seconds. This cyclic damage can be stopped by extinguishing the flames. Victims may raise their shields as cover, at the risk of damaging them (p. B484). You may always choose (when casting) to scale back the area affected.

This spell also fills the area with bad smelling sulfuric smoke. This gives -5 to all vision rolls made through it. The cloud drifts from the origin point of the spell with the wind. Additionally, every creature that inhales the cloud, begins to cough (is at -3 to DX and -1 to IQ, and cannot use Stealth) for 3 minutes, if it fails a HT roll.

Statistics: Burning Attack 3d (Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Armor Divisor, (0.2), -50%; Bombardment, Skill-12, -10%; Cyclic, 5 1-second cycles, +500%; Extended Duration, 3x, +20%; Link, +10%; Overhead, +30%; Persistent, +40%; Sorcery, -15%; Variable, Area, +5%) [102] + Obscure Vision 5 (Drifting, +20%; Extended Duration, 3x, +20%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Ranged, +50%; Variable, Area, +5%) [20] + Affliction 1 (HT; Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Coughing, +20%; Drifting, +20%; Extended Duration on Persistent, 3x, +20%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Persistent, +40%; Respiratory Agent, +50%; Variable, Area, +5%) [31]. Improved versions add Area Effect (+50%/level) to all advantages [+17.5*].

* Calculate the total cost, then round up.