Thursday 19 July 2018

Sorcery: Artillery Spells VI

Sorcery: Artillery Spells VI

This post covers Making & Breaking and Meta artillery spells.
  
Explosive Mine
Keywords: None.
Full Cost: 8 points/level.
Casting Roll: None. Use DX or unarmed combat skill to hit.
Range: Touch.
Duration: Permanent or until discharged.

A small patch of ground – one hex on a battle map – becomes magically unstable. There’s no mundane way to spot the trap, but it’s obvious to Detect Magic, Mage Sight, and so on.
The first time anyone or anything weighing at least 5 lbs. moves onto the subject hex, the ground itself explodes and the spell ends. This does 1d crushing explosive (see Explosions (p. B414) for rules for explosive damage) damage per level of this spell, plus incidental fragmentation (1d-4 cutting per fragment) to everyone within five yards.
Falling onto an Explosive Mine is deadly! This is a contact explosion, meaning the victim takes maximum possible damage (but protects others with “cover DR” equal to torso DR + HP).
Also roll the spell’s damage dice against the ground or floor itself. If this reduces the surface to 0 or fewer HP, it leaves a crater that counts as bad footing. If there’s open space underneath, this is an actual hole to the level below, 2” in diameter per damage die.
Statistics: Crushing Attack (Environmental, Ground, -20%; Explosion 1, +50%; Fragmentation, [1d-4 cut], +10%; Melee Attack, Reach C, Cannot Parry, -35%; No Signature, +20%; Triggered Delay, Stepping, +50%; Sorcery, -15%) [8/level].
   
Mana Storm
Keywords: Area (Fixed), Resisted (Will).
Full Cost: 74 points.
Casting Roll: Will (against subjects with Magic Resistance, see below). Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.
Range: 100 yards.
Duration: 10 seconds (Magic Resistance loss lasts 30 seconds, see below).

This spell fills a 4-yard-radius area with intense magical fluctuations that tear away at the magical essence of anything that has an “aura.” To place the effect at a distance, use Innate Attack (Gaze), with normal range penalties, but at +4 for affecting an area. Every living, undead, or animated by a spirit creature with IQ 1+ has an aura and is affected. This spell does not affect inanimate beings, illusions, creations, and creatures with IQ 0.
Every second, such creatures in the area take 1 point of injury regardless of their DR. However, if a subject has Magic Resistance (p. B67) (even with the Improved enhancement), the caster must roll a Quick Contest of Will with it. If the caster wins, the subject loses one level of Magic Resistance for 30 seconds. This effect is cumulative, and when the subject runs out of Magic Resistance, they begin taking damage from this spell normally.
Statistics: Affliction 1 (Will; Accessibility, Only on beings with an aura, -5%; Area Effect, 4 yards, +100%; Based on Will, +20%; Cumulative, +400%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Link, +10%; Negated Advantage, Magic Resistance 1 (Improved), +5%; Persistent, +40%; Reduced Duration on Disadvantage, 1/6, -15%; Sorcery, -15%) [64] + Crushing Attack 1 point (Accessibility, Only on beings with an aura and no Magic Resistance, -10%; Area Effect, 4 yards, +100%; Cosmic, Irresistible Attack, +300%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; No Blunt Trauma, -20%; No Knockback, -10%; Persistent, +40%) [10]. Note: This spell originally appeared in GURPS Magic: Artillery Spells.

Minefield
Keywords: None.
Full Cost: 14 points or more.
Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.
Range: 100 yards.
Duration: Permanent or until discharged.

Mines an area at random – even the caster has no idea where the mines are! There’s no mundane way to spot the trap, but it’s obvious to Detect Magic, Mage Sight, and so on. The first time anyone or anything weighing 5 lbs. or more moves onto an affected hex, roll 1d. On 1-3, nothing happens; there’s no mine there. On 4-6, there was a mine but there isn’t any more, because it explodes. This does 1d crushing explosive (see Explosions (p. B414) for rules for explosive damage) damage per level of this spell, plus incidental fragmentation (1d-4 cutting per fragment) to everyone within five yards. Either way, mark the hex as cleared.
Falling onto a mine is deadly! This is a contact explosion, meaning the victim takes maximum possible damage (but protects others with “cover DR” equal to torso DR + HP).
Also roll the spell’s damage dice against the ground or floor itself. If this reduces the surface to 0 or fewer HP, it leaves a crater that counts as bad footing. If there’s open space underneath, this is an actual hole to the level below, 2” in diameter per damage die.
You may always choose (when casting) to scale back the damage or the area affected.
The basic (14-point) version of this spell lets you affect an area up to 2 yards across. Each additional doubling of area adds 2.5 to basic cost; the GM sets the cap on this increase, but 128 yards is the recommended maximum. For an additional +5 to base cost, the damage can be upgraded by 1 die. This is summarized in the table below.
Damage
2 yards
4 yards
8 yards
16 yards
32 yards
64 yards
128 yards
1d
14 points
16 points
19 points
21 points
24 points
26 points
29 points
2d
27 points
32 points
37 points
42 points
47 points
52 points
57 points
3d
41 points
48 points
56 points
63 points
71 points
78 points
86 points
4d
54 points
64 points
74 points
84 points
94 points
104 points
114 points
5d
68 points
80 points
93 points
105 points
118 points
130 points
143 points
6d
81 points
96 points
111 points
126 points
141 points
156 points
171 points
7d
95 points
111 points
130 points
147 points
165 points
182 points
200 points
8d
108 points
128 points
148 points
168 points
188 points
208 points
228 points
9d
122 points
144 points
167 points
189 points
212 points
234 points
257 points
10d
135 points
160 points
185 points
210 points
235 points
260 points
285 points
Statistics: Crushing Attack 1d (Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Environmental, Ground, -20%; Explosion 1, +50%; Fragmentation, [1d-4 cut], +10%; No Signature, +20%; Nuisance Effect, Once per hex, -5%; Persistent, +40%; Triggered Delay, Stepping, +50%; Unreliable, 10, -20%; Sorcery, -15%; Variable, +5%; Variable, Area, +5%) [14]. Additional level add more levels of (Area Effect, +50%) [+2.5]. Damage can be improved by increasing the base cost by 5.


Punishment Circle
Keywords: Area (Fixed).
Full Cost: 12 points.
Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.
Range: 100 yards.
Duration: 30 seconds.

Creates a 4-yard-radius area that inflicts pain and injury upon magical creatures. To place the effect at a distance, use Innate Attack (Gaze), with normal range penalties, but at +4 for affecting an area. This spell affects any being that’s summoned or could be summoned (e.g., angels, demons, elementals, and other spirits), beings called into existence by magic (creations, illusions, etc.), magically animated constructs, the undead, and creatures with Dependency on mana or Weakness to its absence.
The spell’s area is surrounded by a glowing, rune-edged circle. This is obvious to all kinds of vision and to the special senses (Detect, Magery, Scanning Sense, etc.) of magical creatures. This circle must be unbroken – if this area overlaps a no-mana zone, the casting fails automatically.
For as long as the spell endures, magical creatures that remain in the area lose 1 HP per second. This injury is extremely painful – the shock penalty is doubled (to -2 for creatures with no High Pain Threshold or Low Pain Threshold).
Statistics: Crushing Attack 1 point (Accessibility, Only on magical beings, -20%; Area Effect, 4 yards, +100%; Cosmic, Doubled shock penalty, +50%; Cosmic, Irresistible Attack, +300%; Extended Duration, 3x, +20%; No Knockback, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Area cannot overlap a no-mana zone, -5%; Persistent, +40%; Sorcery, -15%) [12]. Note: This spell originally appeared in GURPS Magic: Artillery Spells.

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