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.