Sorcery: Bone Spells

Sorcery: Bone Spells

There are some traits in GURPS that can be related to bones, so let's make some sorcery spells with them. Some of them could fit into the Body Control college, some could fit into the Necromantic or Healing college, some some could fit into both of them.

 
    Bone Stakes
    Keywords: Buff.
    Full Cost: 21 points.
    Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.
    Range: 100 yards.
    Duration: 30 minutes.
 
    The target grows sharp stakes from its arms, provided it has an internal skeleton. The stakes deal thrust impaling damage at range C, using DX or Brawling to attack and parry. For parrying purposes, the bone stakes have an effective weight equal to the subject’s ST/10. While others can’t disarm the subject, they can still strike the bone stakes; they have DR 1 and are considered cheap for the purpose of parrying. They also have HP according to a homogeneous material with its weight (see p. B557). If broken, the bone stakes recover their HP at the same rate as the subject’s body.
    Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Accessibility, Only on creatures with a skeleton, -10%; Advantage, Bone Stakes, +60%; Extended Duration, 10x, +40%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; No Signature, +20%; Sorcery, -15%) [21]. Note: “Bone Stakes” is Natural Weapon (Impaling; Fragile, -20%; Magical, -10%) [6].
 
    Brittle Bones
    Keywords: Resisted (HT).
    Full Cost: 28/29/31 points for levels 1-3.
    Casting Roll: Will.
    Range: Unlimited.
    Duration: 3 minutes.
 
    This spell makes the subject’s bones brittle and hence more vulnerable to crushing attacks. The subject multiplies any crushing damage that penetrates its DR by 2 before applying any normal wounding multipliers. Level 2 of this spell increases the multiplier to 3, and level 3 increases the multiplier by 4. This spell does not affect creatures without an internal skeleton.
    Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Accessibility, Only on creatures with a skeleton, -10%; Disadvantage, Vulnerability (Crushing, x2), +30%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Malediction 2, +150%; No Signature, +20%; Sorcery, ‑15%) [28]. Additional levels improve Disadvantage, Vulnerability (Crushing, x2), +30% to Disadvantage, Vulnerability (Crushing, x3), +45% and Disadvantage, Vulnerability (Crushing, x4), +60%.
   
    Mend Bone
    Keywords: None.
    Full Cost: 21 points.
    Casting Roll: IQ.
    Range: Touch.
    Duration: Instantaneous.
 
    You can mend bones, restoring crippled limbs of creatures with internal skeletons. The limb must be whole, Mend Bone cannot restore a lost limb. Roll 2d. If the result would be enough to completely heal the crippling injury, then the limb is restored to its fully functional state, but HP is not healed – only the crippling condition is removed. You may heal subjects of your own race and any “similar” races (GM’s call); e.g., a human can heal other humans but not dogs or plants.
    You get only one attempt at restoring a given limb. Your casting roll is at -2 if the subject is unconscious.
    Statistics: Healing (Accessibility, Only on creatures with an internal skeleton, -10%; Accessibility, Only to restore crippled limbs, -60%; Affects Self, +50%; Capped, 4 FP, -20%; Doesn’t actually heal, -50%; Injuries Only, -20%; Magical, -10%; Reduced Fatigue Cost 3, +60%; Reliable 6, +30%) [21]. Note: The 8 HP of healing has been converted to dice per p. B269.

    Shape Bone
    Keywords: None.
    Full Cost: 12.5 points/level.
    Casting Roll: IQ.
    Range: 100 yards.
    Duration: Indefinite.
 
    You can shape and move bone material, including teeth, horns, and shells. The bones must not belong to a living or animated creature. The higher your level of Shape Bone, the larger the quantity you can affect. You can affect up to 10 x (level squared) lbs. of bone in the form of a single object or amorphous mass. For example, Shape Bone 3 would let you affect a 90-lb. mammoth tusk or even 90 lbs. of bone shards in a heap... but against a foe with a 8-lb. bone club and a 15-lb. bone shield you could only affect one target, even though the total weight is much less than your limit.
    Shape Bone doesn’t work on complex, manufactured artifacts unless they’re made almost entirely of bone. You could affect a bone club, but not a complex mechanism with only a few bone parts.
    If your target is already under someone else’s direct control, roll a Quick Contest. You roll against IQ; they roll against IQ if using Control or Telekinesis, their skill level if using a spell, and so on. You must win to establish control. Likewise, others can overpower your spell by winning a Quick Contest against your IQ.
    After establishing control, you can reshape the target. Forming a simple shape (blob, column, sphere, etc.) requires a Concentrate maneuver but no die roll. If the result is meant to be beautiful or functional, though, the GM may deem the effort a long task (see p. B346) and require skill rolls against Armoury, Artist, Machinist, and so on. You can work without tools, but you must know what you’re doing.
    You can also cause the target to elongate or flow at a Move equal to your Shape Bone level. This requires constant concentration. You can make a solid bone object ooze, roll, or seep along the ground or a surface, and even reshape it in ways that defy gravity.
    When you stop concentrating, you immediately give up control. Stable forms become permanent, while unstable ones collapse instantly.
    Defensively, Shape Bone lets you move or shape bone to obstruct attacks. This requires a Concentrate maneuver. Such barriers give whatever cover the material normally provides. For instance, it might let you shape a mammoth tusk into armor with the DR of bone by making an Armoury roll.
    Offensively, Shape Bone is more limited. By concentrating, you can move an existing bone object to impede your enemy’s movement, like any object of that weight. In all cases, your foe can dodge.
If a foe is standing in an area where you control bone, – or if you can move bone onto him – you may inflict combat penalties on him. This requires flexibility on the GM’s part: Shape Bone 10 might cause a mini-earthquake if your foe is standing on a pile of bones good for -10 to attack rolls. Tricks like this require a Concentrate maneuver and an IQ or Tactics roll.
    Statistics: Control Bone (Ranged, +40%; Sorcery, -15%) [12.5/level].

    Unbreakable Bones
    Keywords: Buff.
    Full Cost: 29 points.
    Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.
    Range: 100 yards.
    Duration: 30 minutes.
 
    This spell makes bones of the subject nearly indestructible. Damage to limbs and extremities still causes injury, subject to the usual maximums, but the injury needed to cripple these body parts is twice normal; that is, the amount usually required to dismember. Crippling is at worst lasting; the subject never suffers permanent crippling or dismemberment (see pp. B421-422). Skull is similarly protected -  blows to the skull or eyes are treated no differently than a blow to the face (except that an eye injury can still cripple that eye). Injury that destroys the subject’s body (-10xHP) breaks his skeleton. This spell can only affect creatures with an internal skeleton.
    Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Accessibility, Only on creatures with a skeleton, -10%; Advantage, Unbreakable Bones, +140%; Extended Duration, 10x, +40%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; No Signature, +20%; Sorcery, -15%) [29]. Note: “Unbreakable Bones” is Injury Tolerance (Unbreakable Bones; Magical, -10%) [9] + Injury Tolerance (No Brain; Magical, -10%) [5].