Wizardry: Illusion Spells III

Wizardry: Illusion Spells III

The college of Illusion and Creation has been largely neglected by the dice roller. Surprisingly, it's much larger in D&D than it is in GURPS, so there's a lot of undone work. Disguise Self is an illusory disguise spell. Displacement not only makes you harder to target, but also makes it harder to defend against your attacks. False Vision is a way to fool scryers. Illusory Script creates an ecrypted message that implants a suggestion into the reader. Seeming is a version of Disguise Self that can affect others (while usually I combine such spells into a single one, I decided to split these two because they are named differently; in terms of mechanics, a character should feel free to "upgrade" Disguise Self to Seeming). Mirror Image is one of the most fun spells in D&D. I hope I did a good job bringing it to GURPS. Misdirection redirects Information spells to a different subject. Mislead turns you invisible and replaces you with an illusory duplicate. Leomund's Trap makes a lock seem trapped.

Wizardry: Gate Spells IV

Wizardry: Gate Spells IV

Let's tackle the summoning spells, as they are very difficult to get right. Summon Monster is strictly a combat spell, as it has a very short duration. The D&D spell has 9 levels, and GURPS has Ally with 9 power categories, which is a nice coincidence. Planar Binding is a spell with a much longer duration, but also long casting time. It's very similar to the (Entity) Summoning spell from Pyramid #3-105. Fetch is a summoning spell that does not force the summonned being to do anything. It permanently displaces an outsider from its native plane to the plane of the summoner. I will also introduce the limited versions for elemental beings for specialized elementalists.

Wizardry: Light Spells III

Wizardry: Light Spells III

Prismatic Spray and Prismatic Wall are nothing like their D&D counterparts. The name is there, but the mechanics are absolutely different. Prismatic Sphere had to go - I think it's way too similar to Prismatic Wall. Rainbow Pattern creates a fascinating pattern in the air that requires constant concentration. Scintillating Pattern works in a similar way, but stuns and possibly blinds instead of dazing. Searing Light is a laser beam. Sunbeam got downgraded to a flashlight. Sunburst is a combination of Flare and Fireball.

Wizardry: Making and Breaking Spells III

Wizardry: Making and Breaking Spells III

Another post with leftovers. Passwall had to be nerfed significantly from its D&D version. Now, the casting time is low, and the cost to maintain the passage is quite steep. I had to borrow Tunnel, Before, +100% from Warp. Polymorph Any Object also has been changed. Now, it can only transform and object into a different object - it cannot turn them to creatures. Shrink Item is almost identical to its D&D counterpart; I merely removed the option of turning the item into cloth.

Wizardry: Earth Spells IV

Wizardry: Earth Spells IV

Spike Stones was a difficult spell to stat up. To simulate bad terrain, I decided to reverse the Grease statline. To simulate caltrops-like spikes, I decided to go with Natural Weapon based on ST of the victim. To make it a ranged attack with range independent of ST, I had to first bring 1/2D range in line with muscle-powered range from the Metatronic Generators article, then reverse muscle-powered limitation. Statue is a high-end earth spell that lets the subject shift between his normal form and an immobile stone statue. Wall of Stone is another example of why Create makes better walls than Innate Attack with the Wall enhancement.

Wizardry: Water Spells II

Wizardry: Water Spells II

Now, let's finish the Water college. The end is in sight! Horrid Wilting is a dehydration attack spell. Obscuring Mist creates a fog cloud around you. Fog Cloud does so at a range. Solid Fog creates a supernaturally thick fog cloud that impedes vision, attacks, and movement. The extra effects could've probably be done via Control or Affliction, but that would most likely have an extremely high cost. Thus, I just slapped Cosmic, +100% on it and called it a day. The resulting full cost seems appropriate to me.

Wizardry: Body Control Spells IV

Wizardry: Body Control Spells IV

And now, let's finish the Body Control college. I decided to split Blindness/Deafness into two spells and make it permanent only as a secondary effect. Symbol of Pain is the last spell in the "symbol" series. Finally, Tenser's Transformation is a spell that greatly enhances combat capabilities.

Wizardry: Air Spells II

Wizardry: Air Spells II

Let's finish the Air college. Control Winds lets you change the strength and direction of wind. Whirlwind creates a circular mobile storm. Whispering Wind sends messages across long distances. Wind Walk transforms you into a fast-flying cloud.

Wizardry: Body Control Spells III

Wizardry: Body Control Spells III

Here we have four similar shapechanging spells. Alter Self and Polymorph are limited to physical traits and same body morphologies. The former is a self-only buff, and the latter is a proper buff. Shapechange is a self-only spell that does not have such limitations. Baleful Polymorph is a curse that permanently turns an enemy into a harmless (probably) animal.

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells V

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells V

Let's have some more mind control spells (there's still quite a few left). Deep Slumber is an area variant of Sleep with a longer duration. Dominate is a long-lasting mind control effect. Enthrall is something bards could use. Feeblemind is a long-lasting IQ debuff.

Wizardry: Earth Spells III

Wizardry: Earth Spells III

Here we have three earth spells. Repel Stones creates a force field that repels stone objects and creatures. Transmute Mud to Rock and Transmute Rock to Mud are pretty self-explanatory.

Wizardry: Fire Spells IV

Wizardry: Fire Spells IV

And here we have the final fire spells, aside from the elemental summoning ones that will be described in a different post. I decided to rework Pyrotechnics and turn it into Smoke Cloud that causes coughing and impedes vision. Quench extinguishes fire and doesn't have the ability to dispel magic fire or remove fire spells from magic items. Scorching Ray is a very cheap fire attack spell. Wall of Fire conjures a flaming barrier. Meteor Swarm had to go, I don't like this spell. However, let's make Meteor Shower from the Might and Magic series instead! This spell poses a difficulty mechanically, as GURPS doesn't really like multi-projectile explosive or area attacks, and I came up with something of a workaround.

Wizardry: Ice Spells II

Wizardry: Ice Spells II

Let's finish the ice college. Polar Ray is a simple damaging ray. Ray of Frost is the same, but deals freezing fatigue damage. Sleet Storm is a very expensive spell that impedes vision and makes the ground slippery. Wall of Ice conjures an icy barrier.

Wizardry: Sound Spells II

Wizardry: Sound Spells II

Let's finish the sound spells. Sculpt Spell is a difficult spell that can do all sorts of sound- or voice-related things. Shatter is a single-target attack against objects and crystalline creatures. Shout is an area sonic attack. Sympathetic Vibration is a sonic attack against buildings. Ventriloquism lets you displace your voice.

Wizardry: Body Control Spells II

Wizardry: Body Control Spells II

Size change! Enlarge, unlike its D&D counterpart, does not enlarge equipment. I prefer the way GURPS does this spell. Mass Enlarge/Shrink are the mass versions of these spells.

Wizardry: Making and Breaking Spells II

Wizardry: Making and Breaking Spells II

Fabricate lets you transform solid material into a finished product without any tools. Keen Edge gives an impaling or cutting weapon an armor divisor. Mending heals objects and constructs.

Wizardry: Metal Spells II

Wizardry: Metal Spells II

And here we have the remaining metal spells. Rusting Grasp decreases HT and DR of metal objects. Transmute Metal to Wood is self-explanatory. Wall of Iron creates a wall of iron, obviously. In D&D, this is a permanent spell. Typically, you create wall effect in GURPS by using Innate Attack with the Wall enhancement. However, the DR and HP provided rarely are appropriate for the material in question, there are no enhancements to change these ratios, and the cost would be extremely high for something like a proper iron wall that is consistent with the DR and HP values from p. B558. Instead, I decided to calculate how much a wall would weigh and try statting this spell up with the Create advantage. Now, you have a wall that is much more consistent with the existing values, much cheaper that what its Innate Attack counterpart would cost, and also has a mechanism of making it permanent. Isn't that great? For a good measure, I also added the Shrapmetal spell from the Might and Magic series.

Wizardry: Spirit Spells I

Wizardry: Spirit Spells I

This post will feature the remaining necromantic spells and two etherealness spells. Etherealness combines its D&D equivalent and Ethereal Jaunt. While more expensive than Plane Shift, it lacks such requirements as forked rod focus and drift. Soul Bind traps a soul in a gem, preventing its resurrection or reanimation. Trap the Soul traps both the soul and body of a still living creature.

Wizardry: Gate Spells III

Wizardry: Gate Spells III

Let's tackle the difficult ones. Blink is a cool spell, but insubstantiality in GURPS costs a lot (and for a good reason), so I had to think hard about how to make it affordable. Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion is based on the pocket dimension variant of Jumper, but due to its huge cost, I had to include character point expenditure. Also, unseen servants, supplies, and furniture had to go. Rope Trick is another pocket dimension spell based on the write up by Rindis.

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells IV

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells IV

In this post, I will convert five "symbol" spells - Symbol of Fear/Insanity/Persuasian/Sleep/Stunning. There's a lot of repetition, the difference between them lies in the first paragraph.

Wizardry: Metal Spells I

Wizardry: Metal Spells I

At last, metal spells! Chill Metal and Heat Metal induce extreme temperature in metal objects. There is a delay that may give the subject a chance to remove an affected piece of armor. Iron Body was an incredibly expensive spell that transforms the caster into iron, and a character point cost made it much more affordable. Repel Metal creates a field that repels all metal objects (not only ferromagnetic ones, all metals).

Wizardry: Protection and Warning Spells IV

Wizardry: Protection and Warning Spells IV

Let's finish the P&W spells. Protection from Arrows is a simple spell that blocks physical projectiles. Protection from Acid/Cold/Electricity/Fire/Sound impart ablative DR against a specific energy type. Resist Acid/Cold/Electricity/Fire/Sound provide non-ablative DR and immunity to noxious energy effects. Stoneskin grants ablative DR against physical attacks. Sanctuary is an interesting warding spell that forces others to roll against Will to attack the subject.

Wizardry: Gate Spells II

Wizardry: Gate Spells II

Dimensional Anchor prevents the subject from teleporting or planeshifting away. Dimensional Lock creates an unmoving area that does the same thing. Drawmij's Instant Summons teleports an item with your Arcane Mark to you. I decided to remove the expensive gem component. Shadow Walk is a very complex teleportation/plane shift spell.

Wizardry: Light Spells II

Wizardry: Light Spells II

More light spells. Blur is a good defensive spell. Faerie Fire outlined subjects in the dark. Color Spray is a classic spell that may blind or stun. Glitterdust is an area spell that may blind or light up invisible beings.

Wizardry: Force Spells IV

Wizardry: Force Spells IV

Here we have the final three force spells. Shield creates a shield-like disk of force in front of you. Tenser's Floating Disk creates a moving telekinetic platform. Unseen Servant creates an invisible, mindless force that performs simple and repetitive tasks for you.

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells VIII

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells VIII

Waves of Exhaustion deals fatigue damage in a cone. Undeath to Death is an instakill spell that only affects undead. Symbol of Death creates a symbol that deals toxic damage in an area when triggered. Symbol of Weakness is the same, but with fatigue damage instead.

Wizardry: Meta-Spells III

Wizardry: Meta-Spells III

Arcane Sight is an Indefinite variant of Detect Magic. It cannot look into the lingering auras, but works indefinitely and has a drawback of revealing your location. Contingency is a mechanically complex spell. If you do not like this approach, consider simply using a power technique at -10. Mordenkainen's Disjunction is a character point-powered dispel spell that can disenchant magic items. Nondetection protects the subject from divination. Spell Turning reflects spells back at the original caster. And with that, I'm done with meta-spells!

I was wrong about darkness penalties in GURPS

I was wrong about darkness penalties in GURPS

Not long ago, I delved into the rules that dealt with invisibility, darkness, and illumination in GURPS. Also, a few days ago we had a new book released – GURPS Tactical Shooting: Extreme Conditions. Inside that book, I found a single line that made me realize something – I’ve been wrong all along! The said line is the following: “Once the target is spotted, the maximum penalty is ‑4 (per p. B394), as the shooter knows the position of that foe within one yard.” Now let me explain why this is very important!

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells III

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells III

Suggestion is a powerful spell that implants a suggestion. Mass Suggestion is an even more expensive mass version of the previous spell. Mass Owl's Wisdom is a mass variant of Owl's Wisdom. Otto's Irresistible Dance forces the subject to dance - an interesting spell. Tasha's Hideous Laughter is another fun one, based on the coughing condition.

Review: GURPS Tactical Shooting: Extreme Conditions

Review: GURPS Tactical Shooting: Extreme Conditions

We got a new GURPS book out – GURPS Tactical Shooting: Extreme Conditions. If you are new to GURPS, you probably haven’t heard about it, but if you are a GURPS veteran, then this title isn’t new to you. Tactical Shooting: Extreme Conditions was in development for, I believe, five years, despite not being a 300-pages-long tome. I still remember its announcement, and being excited, but then, after some time, the author simply disappeared without a trace for a few years, hence the delay. However, he has reemerged and actually finished the book, so big props for that.

Wizardry: Protection and Warning Spells III

Wizardry: Protection and Warning Spells III

Glyph of Warding is difficult. The spell contains many different sub-spells, and all of them should be separate spells in GURPS. Thus, here you have five different blast glyphs. As for Spell Glyph... just don't look at the statblock. It's jank as hell, but it should work. This is the first time I noticed that Glyph of Warding is a clerical spell in D&D, which feels weird. I decided to remove the incense material component, but keep the diamond powder one to rein in casters who'd like to spam glyph all over the place. Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum is an extremely expensive spell, so I had to include a character point cost to make it affordable. Obscure Object, however, is a simple spell.

Wizardry: Gate Spells I

Wizardry: Gate Spells I

Finally, Gate spells! This college will contain some tricky ones. First of all, Plane Shift is one of the examples I made in the initial Wizardry post, but I will repeat it here for ease of reference. Astral Projection lets you project an insubstantial body to the Astral Plane that cannot affect anything there. Banishment sends the victim back to their home plane. I decided to add a clause that it cannot return from there for a month. Dismissal is a weaker version of Banishment.

Wizardry: Gravity Spells I

Wizardry: Gravity Spells I

In my games, I use the college of Gravity magic. Gravity is different from Force and Movement because... because it just is, okay? Jokes aside, this is just an "alternative" college that has an overlap with both Movement and Force, but also has some unique spells. Pass without Trace makes the subject leave to visible tracks. Repulsion pushes creatures and objects away from you. It doesn't provide any defensive benefits, such as deflecting arrows. I guess this is closer to something like one-second pulses of force instead of a continuous pressure. Reverse Gravity (for now) is the only unique gravity spell. It is quite expensive, but I think that it should be this way. After all, anything inside doesn't get a resistance roll. Spider Climb lets you crawl on walls and ceilings. Telekinesis is a more universal version of Mage Hand, but still not as universal as its D&D counterpart. I decided to base in on TK Grab from GURPS Psionic Powers. However, I decided to remove ST scaling, as if I were to leave it in, Telekinesis would invalidate pretty much all other TK-based spells and also could cause some balance issues. It do be like that sometimes. Also, with this post, I'm done not only with Gravity spells, but also with Movement spells! I'm making significant progress.

More Gems for DF

More Gems for DF

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables has quite a few gems and a way to determine their value from their size. Each gem has a Value modifier (V), and weight is measured in carats (C). But what if you want more variety? Dungeon Master's Guide for D&D 3.5 has more gems, and it is even possible to derive the Value modifiers for them. So, let's combine the two sources. And just for the heck of it, why not add pictures? I don't know what some of the gemstones look like, so it'll be useful to me as well.

Wizardry: Body Control Spells I

Wizardry: Body Control Spells I

I'm determining the colleges randomly, and it's surprising that I haven't rolled body control yet (I also haven't yet rolled gate or metal spells). Let's do the boring spells first. Bear's Endurance increases the subject's HT. Bull's Strength increases the subject's ST. Cat's Grace increase the subject's DX. Their mass versions affect an area, but have static attribute increases of 2/4/2, respectively.

Wizardry: Fire Spells III

Wizardry: Fire Spells III

Flame Arrow made me think about how weapon buffs work on ammunition. I decided to introduce Rapid Fire and limit the number of affected projectiles to margin of success, capped by RoF, as long as the projectiles are in contact with one another. I'm content with this solution. Flame Blade is another spell that made me think. Since the blade itself deals static damage (no matter how hard you swing a jet of fire, you won't deal more damage), I opted for Innate Attack instead of Natural Weapon. Paying FP for every attack would feel lame, so I decided to impose an extra casting cost on the buff itself, and make the attacks free. I guess it is sort of equalized by requiring being in melee range and being based on the Force Sword skill. Even though the attack cannot deflect blows and has Cannot Parry, it also has Destructive Parry. You still damage the weapon/hand/foot that attacked you on a successful parry, even though you still get hit. Flame Strike is an overhead explosive fire spell. Flaming Sphere creates a bouncy fire orb that you guide to its target. A nice example of using guided weapons in fantasy games.

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells V

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells V

The final knowledge spells from the PHB! Moment of Prescience has to be cast in advance as a self-only buff spell, but acts as Super Luck. While this does not let you use this spell more often than usual, it does seem to circumvent the alternative ability array restriction that would disable the spell slot for a day. I know that it's janky, but I don't care, it's still expensive enough. Prying Eyes is a very cool spell, but building it RAW would probably be impossible, so the statline you see here is merely an approximation used to derive the cost. Read Magic identifies magical writing, such as scrolls and runic spells.

Wizardry: Movement Spells III

Wizardry: Movement Spells III

Why is Grease a Movement spell? Sure, it does affect movement, but I feel that it would fit better in Illusion and Creation, as it conjures a layer of slippery grease instead of simply altering friction. Yeah, I think that's where I will put it. Grease obviously is based on the eponymous spell from Sorcery, but with some alterations. Duration is shorter, range is shorter, and the rules were brought to consistency with my bad footing rules. Also, it's much cheaper now! Hold Portal is different from Arcane Lock in that it has a short duration, can be cast at range, has a 1-second casting time, does not increase DR, and is not selective. So, while Arcane Lock is something like "I will enchant this door to my secret base so that no one ever opens it", Hold Portal is closer to "I have to quickly make this door stuck to hold off a chasing enemy or prevent an enemy from fleeing". Implosion used to be an instakill spell, but now is direct damage that ignores DR. Still powerful, but manageable. I'd limit it to level 2 or 3, I think. Open/Close, well, opens or closes something up to 10 yards away.

Wizardry: Earth Spells II

Wizardry: Earth Spells II

Earthquake is an expensive, but powerful spell. The mechanics were taken from the ptallant lizard from GURPS Creatures of the Night Vol. 1. However, the rarity of Tremors wasn't given there, so I chose to treat it as rare (10/level). (EDIT: Apparently, an earthquake-causing ability was also printed later in GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers, so I edited the spell to bring it in line with what is said there. Also, I was right - Tremors are rare) Imprisonment is a save-or-"die" spell akin to Flesh to Stone. Move Earth was another difficult one. It has a much lower scale than its D&D counterpart, but still can move a few hexes worth of dirt around, if you don't have a shovel. Stone Shape is a simple Control spell.

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells VII

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells VII

False Life imbues the caster with death resistance. Finger of Death is a costly, ranged spell that has a chance to kill the victim. Magic Jar... oh boy, this was a difficult one. I had to think very hard to make it affordable, but even now it's one of the very expensive spells. And I think it should be. I found Shield Other to be a very interesting spell. The focus component (a pair of platinum rings) had to go - while these rings cost 50 gp in D&D, each ring costs $9,600 in GURPS.

Light and Darkness in My Games

Light and Darkness in My Games

Since light and darkness rules in GURPS are very inconsistent, I decided to consolidate rules for my games. Only relevant rules will be present, and none of the rules I do not want to bother with will be present. High-tech light sources are removed. A new illumination levels table is made, combining some parts of the tables from GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses (v1.1) and GURPS Template Toolkit 2: Races. I left the Minimum Lux column to differentiate between the different “0” light levels, as this may come up with light spread rules for very powerful light sources.

Wizardry: Protection and Warning Spells II

Wizardry: Protection and Warning Spells II

Leomund's Tiny Hut is a weird spell. Please don't look at the statblock, it's scary. Glove of Invulnerability is a powerful spell that makes it very difficult to affect anything with magic in the area around the caster. Spell Immunity grants high levels of MR, but without the Improved enhancement. Sequester makes the caster enter a state of suspended animation linked with invisibility to vision and divination. Only to trance, -50% is more expensive than Hibernation, -60%, because you can set the alarm precisely, and do not have an involuntary hibernation clause.

Wizardry: Movement Spells II

Wizardry: Movement Spells II

Fly is a buff that lets the subject fly. Overland Flight is a self-only buff with a very long duration that lets you fly even faster. Levitate lets you move objects and creatures up and down. Mage Hand is a weak telekinesis spell limited to affecting objects.

Wizardry: Enchantment Spells II

Wizardry: Enchantment Spells II

The enchantment college in GURPS has some spells that do not fit anywhere else, such as Wish. How do you make a D&D Wish/Limited Wish/Miracle in GURPS? I thought a lot about it - you could go with Super Luck, Wild Talent, Cosmic Power, and even Ultrapower. The latter seems to be the most appropriate option to me. However, I just don't want to have to deal with such spells in my games, so I will simply ignore them, at least for now. There was another D&D spell that I assigned to the enchantment college - Magic Vestment. I will ignore it for now, as armor buffing is something I want to explore in more detail later, and I will probably change the spell. But anyway, what's left? Sepia Snake Sigil creates something like a magical trap that is triggered by reading. If you fail to resist, you enter a state of suspended animation for several days. Spellstaff became a completely different spell - now it grants a staff a perk to let it use some cool staff rules from GURPS Magic. Simulacrum animates a duplicate of another creature. Golem animates a golem, obviously. This isn't a D&D spell, but I might as well include it, as it is very similar to Simulacrum.

Wizardry: Force Spells III

Wizardry: Force Spells III

Forcecage was difficult. While it is based on the existing Force Dome spell, I had to tune it down a lot to make it affordable. And even then, its duration is much shorter than its original version had, and the weakest version is only useful against weak creatures (around ST 10). I guess it still have its uses, especially since it can also be used defensively. Jump gives the subject a level of Super Jump. I decided to remove scaling, because high levels of Super Jump can result in some wonky stuff. Mordenkainen's Sword is a quite complex spell that creates a force sword that attacks anything you order it to and does so independently. Otiluke's Resilient Sphere is a variant paralysis spell. Otiluke's Telekinetic Sphere is a stronger variant of the former.

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells VI

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells VI

Instead of a physical barrier that prevents entry of living creatures without a resistance roll, I decided to make the Antilife Shell produce a mental barrier. It's also much cheaper this way. Clone lets the caster be Dr. Albieri from O Clone. The character point cost was derived from the guidelines found in GURPS Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys. (Buying Extra Life retroactively costs 50 points, but since it has Copy, -20%, I decided to go with 40. In addition, the caster himself has to pay 1/5 of the ability's full price, and that is 10 points, which dovetails nicely with the aforementioned 40 points to get 50 points.) Contagion infects the victim with a disease. Enervation is a beam that lowers physical attributes. It requires some RAW-stretching to work (see my Disintegrate spell for an explanation).

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells IV

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells IV

More knowledge spells. Locate Object locates an object of a general type, or a specific object, if you saw it firsthand before. Locate Creature does the same with creatures. Find the Path finds the closest path to or from somewhere. Foresight is a variant of Danger Sense.

Wizardry: Illusion Spells II

Wizardry: Illusion Spells II

Illusion spells are very fiddly to make. Hallucinatory Terrain is a long-duration spell that only affects natural environment. Kind of expensive too. Mirage Arcana is a more powerful version that includes structures. Permanent Image is a permanent illusion, a staple of many dungeons. Persistent Image creates a preprogrammed illusion that you don't have to concentrate on. Project Image is a much more interesting spell. You project an illusory double and can use it to observe the environment and cast spells. The spell is expensive, so to make it more affordable, I split it into two versions - one with a long casting time, and one with a short casting time.

Wizardry: Teleportation Spells

Wizardry: Teleportation Spells

Surprisingly, the Warp advantage works pretty much like the D&D Teleport spell. I decided to borrow the Uncertain Encumbrance enhancement from Jumper and make Drift mandatory. Expensive, but it should be expensive, right? Dimension Door is more limited in terms of range, but less limited in terms of the destination familiarity requirements. Teleport Object is similar to normal Teleport (including the drift), but only affects objects, and has a weight limit. Teleportation Circle... was very painful to stat up. It is so expensive, that I had to include a character point cost to make it more affordable. In addition, I included the permanency clause from GURPS Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys and decided to expand it with a way to create Truly Permanent gates. Word of Recall is a more limited version of Teleport.

Wizardry: Protection and Warning Spells I

Wizardry: Protection and Warning Spells I

Alarm is a heavily modified version of the GURPS Watchdog spell. Arcane Lock is a modified version of the GURPS Magelock spell. Endure Elements is a simple, but a long-lasting spell that protects against hot and cold environments. Mage Armor has a much shorter duration than its D&D counterpart. DR is just so much more powerful in GURPS than in D&D, so it's better to be careful here, as this spell is a massive force multiplier.

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells III

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells III

Oh boy. Scrying was very difficult to stat up in a way that both is similar (but not identical) to its D&D version, functional, useful, and affordable. True Seeing is very different from its D&D counterpart, being much more limited. Legend Lore also was a weird one to stat up, but I am content with the result. Know Direction is a simple cantrip.

Wizardry: Fire Spells II

Wizardry: Fire Spells II

Fire Shield has been changed compared to its D&D version - now it only has one version that simply deals fire damage and illuminates the area. I decided to ignore Fire Seeds and combine Fire Storm and Incendiary Cloud into the latter. Fire Trap is a spell very similar to Explosive Runes. Produce Flame is actually a very interesting spell with some quite unique mechanics.

Bad Footing/Terrain in My Games

Bad Footing/Terrain in My Games

Not long ago, I explored the topic of difficult terrain and bad footing in GURPS, and found it to be a mess. So, to avoid any complications and arguments in play, I decided to clearly define what kind of terrain provides what kind of penalties. Rules are subject to change or amendments in the future.

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells V

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells V

The dice sure like necromancy. Inflict Wounds has predefined levels that deal different amounts of damage. I decided against converting the mass version of this spell, as unresistible area damage is too much. Speak with Dead lets you interrogate corpses. Slay Living causes a heart attack. Gentle Repose stops corpses from rotting.

Wizardry: Invisibility Spells

Wizardry: Invisibility Spells

There's a surprising number of invisibility-related spells in Player's Handbook. I think almost all of them could belong both to the colleges of Light and Darkness and Illusion and Creation magic. Invisibility is your normal invisibility that gets dispelled if the subject attacks. Greater Invisibility does not have this drawback, but lasts a much shorter time. Mass Invisibility affects multiple creatures, but it also breaks if one of the subjects moves too far away from the others. Invisibility Purge negates invisibility around you, but is an indefinite spell, so it takes up your spell slot. Invisibility Sphere works slightly differently, creating a spherical effect around the recipient. See Invisibility lets you see through magical invisibility, and its improved version affects all kinds of invisibility (according to GURPS Powers, See Invisible that is part of a cosmic powers affects all forms of invisibility, so a +50% is fine).

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells II

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells II

More mind control spells. Command is a very limited and short-lived mind control compulsion. Confusion and Crushing Despair are variants of Cause Fear.

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells IV

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells IV

More necromantic spells! All four are touch spells. Touch of Fatigue deals FP damage, while Touch of Weakness imposes a ST penalty. Energy Drain leeches FP, and Vampiric Touch leeches HP. Simple!

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells III

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells III

Even more necromancy. Death Knell is a limited touch attack spell. Deathwatch lets you see if the creature is dead, mortally wounded, reeling, or undead.

Wizardry: Acid Spells I

Wizardry: Acid Spells I

Acid has always been weird in fantasy games. In D&D, it is usually attached to the element of earth, but most other games seem to attach it to the element of water instead. GURPS Griomoire for the 3rd edition suggests splitting acid spells away from the water college and forming a separate acid college, and that's what I do. Player's Handbook only has three acid spells. Acid Fog is a low-damage area spell that also obstructs vision. Acid Splash is a simple acid missile attack. Melf's Acid Arrow is an attack with a cyclic acid follow-up. You should also keep in mind that realistic acids usually are limited to 1d-1 corrosion damage, and this is why I'm trying to keep acid damage low, both for spells and monsters. Sure, great wyrm black dragons do deal a bit more, but I can accept that.

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells II

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells II

I was dreading this moment, because reanimation and summoning is very complicated. Animate Dead allows you to raise skeletons or zombies and command them. Create Undead lets you create a free-willed undead being, such as a ghoul or a mummy. It is powered by character points as described in GURPS Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys. Command Undead is an undead-exlusive version of Charm. Control Undead allows a more direct control.

Wizardry: Fire Spells I

Wizardry: Fire Spells I

Burning Hands is an iconic D&D fire spell. Continual Flame is a weird one. In D&D, despite being called Continual Flame, it is a light spell, not a fire one. However, here I decided to move it to the college of Fire to give it a bit more utility than to simply set things ablaze. Also, it has a somewhat expensive material component since it lasts permanently and basically creates a magic item. Fireball is another iconic spell, and unlike in GURPS, this is an area effect by default. Since I'd like to keep area damage spells in check, I increased the FP cost and casting time. Delayed Blast Fireball is basically the same, but with a delay.

Wizardry: Meta-Spells II

Wizardry: Meta-Spells II

Break Enchantment is the D&D analogue of Remove Curse. It can remove magical effects that are immune to Dispel Magic, but only targets one spell, and takes a long time to cast. Arcane Mark was a difficult one. I decide to go with a very limited Illusion advantage. Remove Curse is a bit different from the GURPS version. Basically, it's a curse-specific version of Dispelling Touch. Finally, Protection from Spells is a Magic Resistance buff. Doesn't scale!

Wizardry: Ice Spells I

Wizardry: Ice Spells I

Chill Touch got a complete rework. Instead of a necromantic spell that channels negative energy to damage and weaken, this is a cyclic freezing spell. I like this approach more. Cone of Cold is the first proper cone (not a line/1-yard cone) spell that deals non-incendiary cold damage instead of fatigue damage. Ice Storm creates a localized hailstorm that deals crushing damage and impairs hearing, vision, and infravision. Otiluke's Freezing Sphere creates an icy explosion that also freezes victims standing in water.

Wizardry: Making and Breaking Spells I

Wizardry: Making and Breaking Spells I

There aren't that many D&D spells that would belong to the college of Making and Breaking in GURPS, which is a shame. I do not like how Disintegrate works in D&D, so I decided to crossbreed the D&D and GURPS versions. If you look at its statblock, you will see some weird stuff. I wanted to make it so the object affected does not add its DR to its resistance, because that would make the spell way too unreliable. Normally, that would require me to apply Cosmic, Irresistible Attack, +300% to Affliction, but it is very expensive and it would also ignore Magic Resistance and similar traits, which isn't something that I want. Instead, I had to stretch RAW by turning it into a proper Malediction spell and then unmaledict it by applying Weaponized, -50%. Thus, now it's a visible beam that requires an uncontested HT roll to resist, DR does not apply, but other traits that may affect resistance do. Also, now it's ~20 points cheaper. Perfect! Erase curiously doesn't have an equivalent in GURPS. I decided to base it on Create with Writing being a 20-point category, as it also includes script-based spells. Animate Objects in D&D is strictly a combat spell. In GURPS, I made it affect a single object, but now it's much more universal. Animate Rope is a more limited version of the previous spell.

Wizardry: Force Spells II

Wizardry: Force Spells II

Let's do more force spells. Magic Missile is an iconic D&D spell that I already converted in the first ever wizardry post, but it is repeated here for convenience. Blade Barrier creates a wall of force blades. Explosive Runes is yet another iconic spells that created a magical explosive trap. Wall of Force is closer to the GURPS Utter Wall in effect, but still is quite different. All the additional limitations also make it much more affordable.

Wizardry: Sound Spells I

Wizardry: Sound Spells I

Ah, sound spells. Ghost Sound is quite dissimilar from the GURPS Sound spell, as it is not limited to meaningless sounds, and is a "fire and forget" spell, unlike certain illusion spells. Sound Burst is a short-range small area-effect damaging spell that can also deafen. Unlike many other spells, this one requires a musical instrument in the caster's hands. Silence from GURPS Sorcery: Sound Spells is very expensive. Here, I decided to make the basic version only affect normal hearing, and the most expensive improved version to extend to other forms of hearing. This makes the spell more affordable, but also makes traits, such as Ultrahearing and Subsonic Hearing more valuable. Wail of the Banshee from D&D is pretty boring, so I decided to base this spell on its GURPS version. Still, it is quite different from the version from GURPS Sorcery: Sounds Spells. Zone of Silence is similar to the GURPS Wall of Silence spell, but has been reworked into a maintained spell centered on the caster. Just like Silence, it now has an improved version.

Wizardry: Enchantment Spells I

Wizardry: Enchantment Spells I

Enchantment means two different things in D&D and GURPS. In D&D, it's a school of magic that controls minds. In GURPS, it's a school of magic that deals with enchanted items and some effects that don't fit anywhere else. Enchant doesn't exist as a spell in D&D, but I have to include it here, as it is crucial. Basically, it's almost identical to the eponymous Sorcery spell, but now is based on the casting skill, not IQ, which is actually beneficial to devoted enchanters. Magic Weapon is completely different from its D&D counterpart - it simply makes the weapon count as magical, which may be useful when circumventing certain limited defenses. Nystul's Magic Aura received a casting time downgrade compared to its D&D version. The effect is the same. Secret Page is a similar spell that changes the contents of one page until a command word is spoken.

Difficult Terrain and Bad Footing - What a Mess!

Difficult Terrain and Bad Footing - What a Mess!

Don’t you hate it when fights happen on a featureless plane where you can retreat endlessly? Many outdoor environments aren’t as easy to traverse as just walking from one room to another, and fighting is even more difficult! Have you ever been in a forest? On a beach? Does it snow where you live? Such difficult terrain makes positioning and movement much more important in combat, and consequently makes it more fun. So, let’s talk about the difficult terrain rules and try to consolidate them in one place, because, oh boy, they are all over the place.

Wizardry: Earth Spells I

Wizardry: Earth Spells I

I always liked earth magic, even if it usually isn't as flashy as, for example, fire magic. Flesh to Stone is a permanent petrification spell. Stone to Flesh undoes the previous spell. Unlike the D&D spell, it is not able to turn normal stone to flesh, only petrified living beings. Meld into Stone is an interesting spell. My previous Sorcery version of it was incredibly expensive, but now that I've made it closer to its D&D equivalent, it became much more affordable. Stone Tell is a spell that lets you interrogate rocks.

Wizardry: Force Spells I

Wizardry: Force Spells I

Force is a separate magic college in my games. This post will be devoted to a series of iconic D&D spells. Just like various other spells, these can be considered to be different versions of the same spell, and you should be able to improve, for example, Bigby's Interposing Hand to Bigby's Forceful Hand instead of buying them separately.

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells I

Wizardry: Necromantic Spells I

Detect Undead is a simple detection spell. Hide from Undead is a buff that makes the subject invisible to undead (a proper equivalent of the D&D spell that disables all other senses would be much, much more expensive). Disrupt Undead is a weak, non-scaling damaging spell. Disrupting Weapon is a weapon buff that imparts the same effort to the target weapon. Death Ward is a spell that protects against instant death effects.

Wizardry: Darkness Spells I

Wizardry: Darkness Spells I

There are only three darkness spells in Player's Handbook. Sure, there are many shadow spells, but they actually belong to the Illusion and Creation college. Darkness is the reverse of light - it is applied to an object, and it imposes merely a -5 penalty to Vision. Darkvision is a buff that lets the subject see in complete darkness. Deeper Darkness has been altered from its D&D counterpart. Instead of simply lasting longer and having a bigger area, I upgraded Obscure 5 to Obscure 10 and included Infravision and Ultravision. Now, it really is deeper darkness, and not longer darkness.

Wizardry: Lightning Spells I

Wizardry: Lightning Spells I

Surprisingly, there are only five lightning spells in the Player's Handbook, so let's convert them all in one post. Call Lightning calls down a lightning bolt during a storm. While it is weather-dependent, an overhead attack with no 1/2D is nice. Call Lightning Storm is a persistent area bombardment version of the former. I decided to make the area fixed, not leveled. Chain Lightning is a very interesting spell. While usually I try to be very careful with rapid-fire attacks in low-tech games, this one doesn't look very offensive in that regard. Still, I decided to increase the casting time to 2 seconds, since it can hit multiple targets (and to avoid fractional costs). Lightning Bolt is a lightning line attack, and Shocking Grasp is a lightning touch attack. Overall, there's not much special here (aside from Chain Lightning), but these spells are useful for simple blasting.

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells II

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells II

Detect Scrying is a self-only buff that lets you detect scrying attemps for fifteen hours. Very useful in certain situations, and affordable in terms of cost. Nice! Detect Secret Doors made me realize that I forgot something - many divination spells in D&D can be blocked by certain materials. I will have to retroactively apply that to previously made detect spells, such as Detect Poison. I used a -20% limitation, as per GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses. Detect Snares and Pits is an identical spell in terms of mechanics, but detects different things. Find Traps is merely an aspected Vision bonus. Discern Location is slightly different from the eponymous D&D spell, but is powerful nonetheless.

Wizardry: Light Spells I

Wizardry: Light Spells I

More wizardry spells. Light doesn't require gestures to cast. Thus, if you get knocked out and tied up, you can illuminate the dark basement that you wake up in. It lasts quite a while, but it can be dispelled by magical darkness, so in some cases this spell is inferior to mundane torches. Dancing Light is similar to the Light spell from Sorcery. I decided to make it singular - you can create as many lights as you want by casting the spell multiple times, and are not limited to creating four lights, like in the original D&D Dancing Lights spell. Daylight required being very cavalier with RAW, and by that I mean that I disregarded a lot of it in favor of a cleaner and cheaper build. Why? Because I can. As you can see, it's an Affliction that afflicts Create Visible Light (similar to one used in Dancing Light). There is no duration for Affliction, as it is considered "instantaneous," but the duration is defined by the afflicted Create Visible Light. Since one level of Create with -40% can light up an area for one minute, then 5 levels should be enough for 25 minutes, right? The Affliction doesn't even have a FP cost, as it is included in the Create Visible Light advantage (giving CVL Reduced Fatigue Cost 2, +40% and giving Affliction Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10% would be more RAW-legal despite the same effect, but also would be more expensive). Technically speaking, I should've given the Affliction Malediction 1, +100% and Based on IQ, Own Roll, +20%, and give Create Visible Light the Cosmic, NDRR, +100% enhancement. That would be the most RAW-appropriate way that again only makes the spell much more expensive. If a beneficial Affliction with Malediction requires a Will roll (that is switched to IQ with Based on IQ, Own Roll), and Create already requires an IQ roll, why not treat that roll as if it were used for the Affliction? This makes the spell much more simple and cheap. I prefer this result to the RAW mess. Flare in D&D used to be a simple cantrip that could dazzle, but I decided to make it a spell that dazzled, and possibly blinds on a bad resistance roll. So, I based it on the Flash ability from GURPS Psionic Powers, and it works well. While you can buy up more levels, huge areas aren't very effective, as the target gets a bonus to resist based on the distance to the center of the area. In this case, since Reduced Duration only applies to the duration of the secondary effect, I divided its limitation value by five.

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells I

Wizardry: Knowledge Spells I

More spells! I'm having a lot of fun with this project. Analyze Dweomer requires an expensive focus, but works even better than Identify. Arcane Eye creates an invisible eye that you can send out to explore the surroundings for you. I had to take some creative liberties with the movement rules here. Augury is a limited Intuition spell that due to its limitations shouldn't short-circuit any adventures, I think. Again, I had to rework the Intuition rules here slightly, but I think they are fair. Clairaudience and Clairvoyance were split into two spells. Unlike Arcane Eye, they create an immobile sensor that requires constant concentration, and have much shorter range. However, the sensor can be placed outside of the line of sight, which can be a big advantage. Quite cheap too.

Wizardry: Communication and Empathy Spells I

Wizardry: Communication and Empathy Spells I

Communication and Empathy is one of my favorite magic colleges in GURPS, as it is surprisingly useful and diverse. Let's convert some D&D spells. Calm Emotions is simple, but has somewhat vague game effect, as is often the case with emotions. Comprehend Languages is actually very different from the GURPS Gift of Tongues/Letters. While it does combine the two effects, it is much more limited, as it is a self-only buff, requires touching a "sample," and only grants one-way fluency. However, it's quite a cheap spell that definitely would be useful in many situations. Detect Thoughts differs from the normal Mind Reading advantage, as it requires constant concentration. Discern Lies is not a 100% effective method of detecting truth and lies, and I think that this is a good change. I based this spell on the Truth Sense ability from GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses, but adjusted the limitation values. Eagle's Splendor gives the subject Charisma 2 (I decided to make this effect static). Mass Eagle's Splendor is a mass version of the previous spell.

Wizardry: Poison Spells I

Wizardry: Poison Spells I

I decided to downgrade Cloudkill from an instant heart attack to a resistible toxic damage. Detect Poison is self-explanatory. Delay Poison makes the subject temporarily immune to poison and lasts a long time, while Neutralize Poison flushes the poison in 1d hours. Thus, the former is better against short-duration poisons with frequent cycles, while the latter is better against long-duration poisons with less frequent cycles. Isn't that nice? Stinking Cloud is an obscure/coughing spell. Poison doesn't actually work like the D&D spell - I very much prefer my version based on the Poisoning spell from Pyramid #4-1.

Wizardry: Spell Index

Wizardry: Spell Index

Since wizardry is my new Sisyphean task, and there already are many spells written up, I have to create an index for the ease of navigation. Now, instead of a simple alphabetical list, I will divide the spells into colleges that I use in my games, and also include the minimum costs.

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells I

Wizardry: Mind Control Spells I

According to my estimates, the mind control college based on the spells from the Player's Handbook will be the biggest one, as pretty much the entire Enchantment magic school goes there. Sleep and Owl's Wisdom have appeared in my first wizardry post and are here for convenience. Antipathy is similar to the GURPS Avoid spell. Initially, I was basing it on Mind Control, but an Affliction that afflicts Dread is much more simple and cheap. About five times cheaper and actually affordable, which is nice. Charm is a combination of Charm Person and Charm Monster. This was a surprisingly difficult one to stat up. Afflicting Sense of Duty (Caster) is not allowed, as it's a self-imposed mental disadvantage. It seemed that the only option was to go with Mind Control with Conditioning Only limited to only adding Sense of Duty (Caster), but that would require two Quick Contests and the subject to be restrained. And this is not how this spell is supposed to be used! Instead, I went with Mind Control with One Emotion Only (from GURPS Horror), and I decided to count friendship/loyalty as an emotion. This allowed me to create a spell that works similar to how the original spell works, that isn't convoluted, and that is affordable to your normal spellcaster. Nice! Mass Charm is an area version of the same spell, but with a much longer duration. Useful for cult leaders. Also, why is there only Mass Charm Monster, but not Mass Charm Person in PHB? Feels strange.

Wizardry: Water Spells I

Wizardry: Water Spells I

Create Water exists as a separate spell in D&D, and also as part of Create Food and Water. It has a unique trait - it can be cast at range, probably to douse flames. Purify Water was excised from Purify Food and Drink and made into a separate spell. Control Water in D&D raises or lowers the water level, but that's what the Tides spell does in GURPS. Instead, I decided to rework Control Water as something akin to the GURPS Shape Water spell, but allow it to only affect liquid water, and limit it to Move 1. Thus, this is closer to Commanding Water from GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers. Water Breathing and Water Walk are self-explanatory buffs.

Wizardry: Illusion Spells I

Wizardry: Illusion Spells I

Let's convert some of the illusion spells from D&D. For the most part, they are similar to the illusion spells from GURPS Magic. In the original version, they also requires a bit of fleece as a focus, but I opted to remove it. Silent Image is almost identical to the GURPS Simple Illusion, but requires constant concentration and hence doesn't have Independent, +40%. Minor Image adds sounds, but not speech. Major Image adds thermal, touch, taste, smell, and fully-functional sound effects. Programmed Image is something more interesting, as it lets you create an illusion that is triggered by a specific condition. Illusory Wall creates a permanent illusion of a wall to populate your dungeon with fake walls and floors.

Wizardry: Food Spells I

Wizardry: Food Spells I

The Player's Handbook for D&D 3.5 doesn't have many food spells. There's only Create Food and Water, Purify Food and Drink, and Heroes' Feast. First of all, I will split off the water component of the first two spells and move it to the college of water magic, but I will keep it for Heroes' Feast. Food creation, however, still poses some problems. While water is effectively free and can be easily created with the Create advantage, food actually costs money and is an important factor in games about exploration and travel, and also will affect the game world in a significant way, unless somehow restricted. I used to use Snatcher for my Create Food spell, but now I will rework it with the Create advantage, as there is a precedent in GURPS Powers: Divine Favor. Food/Drink is a Medium category, so I will downgrade Food to a Small category (10 points/level). Food weight is taken as for traveller's rations and prices were taken as for simple and bland food from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns. As for Purify Food, I went the same route, but I won't require stabilization. Heroes' Feast is a tuned up Create Food with drinks added into the mix. I decided to remove all the furniture, service, and extra bonuses, and just leave the essence of the feast - food and drink. The quantity of food required to feed 50 people is taken from the Feed the Masses (Enhanced) prayer from Divine Favor, and the price (a huge one!) of the feast was calculated as $12 (lavish meal) + $12 (fine wine) times 50, as per the Taverns book.

Wizardry: Time Spells I

Wizardry: Time Spells I

Technically speaking, GURPS doesn't have the Time College, but I prefer to include it. Two of the time spells were already converted in my Movement spell post, and there are only four left (for now). Haste is a simple buff that increases Basic Speed. I'll leave ATR for a more powerful spell. Longstrider takes a while to cast, but lasts a long time. It simply gives you (and only you) a bonus to Basic Move. Temporal Stasis is... very expensive, unreasonably so. It does have a permanent duration, which is nice, but I had to include the character point cost to bring down the cost from 133 points to 27 points, which is sensible. So, if your character has some Impulse Points, feel free to use this spell! The original spell also had a very expensive material component, but I decided to remove it - imagine wasting an equivalent of 5,000 gp on a failed casting. Time Stop is an iconic D&D spell, I love the result. Maximum Duration often leads to incredibly low costs, but I managed to compensate it partially with Extra Carrying Capacity. As it is right now, it is expensive, but affordable, I like it.

Magic Healing and Its Effect on the Game World

Magic Healing and Its Effect on the Game World

There are many aspects of this subject that can be talked about, especially the worldbuilding implications.

Wizardry: Air Spells I

Wizardry: Air Spells I

Air Walk is actually a divine-only spell in D&D, but I think it makes sense as an arcane spell too. Since this is a very powerful effect with a long duration, I decided to increase the FP cost and make casting time long. By doing this, I also brought down the price to neat and round 20 and 35 points. Pentaphilia! Gaseous Form grants the subject a variant of the Body of Air meta-trait. Gust of Wind is a reworked Air Jet from Sorcery. Now it's not a jet, but a 1-yard-cone that uses the rules from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 4: Dragons. Finally, Wind Wall is a reworked variant of my Wall of Wind. Replaced Affliction that gives Blindness with Obscure Vision, and made it much cheaper.

Wizardry: Meta-Spells I

Wizardry: Meta-Spells I

Meta-spells are very important, as they often define what countermeasures to magic are available in the game world, and in general make magic much more interactive. Detect Magic from D&D 3.5 works significantly different from the one in Sorcery, as it is based strictly on vision, allows an analysis roll, and also allows detecting residual auras created by spells cast in the past. Thus, it basically combines the effects of the GURPS Detect Magic and Reconstruct Spell spells. Dispelling Touch isn't actually a D&D spell, but an ability of a certain monster from Monster Manual V. I wrote it up in the first post, but will repost it here for convenience. Dispel Magic is very similar to the GURPS one, but has a fixed area. I also increased the casting time and cost to bring down the full cost a bit. Still, quite expensive, but powerful. Identify requires an expensive material component and a lot of time (but not as much as the original D&D spell), but costs only 1 point. So, basically every wizard can have it in their spellbook. Antimagic Field is an expensive, but powerful spell that can shut down any spellcaster. I had to add Switchable, +100% to Static, even though you can switch this advantage off by switching to another spell in your alternative abilities array. Without Switchable, +100%, that'd be a point crock, I think.

Wizardry: Movement Spells I

Wizardry: Movement Spells I

Did you think that my previous post is merely a consolidation of rules? No, that was a start of another project of mine. One thing that the Sorcery book advocates for and that some GMs seem to ignore is that you have to curate your spell list. The GM must clearly define what spells are available in his game, and what spells are not. Otherwise, Sorcery really gets out of hand with its improvisation mechanics. I know that I bitch about RPM and magic-as-skills often (even though I still have a soft spot for the latter), but sorcery can be as abuseable as the other systems with a GM who doesn't limit the players. In the past, I did limit players to spells from my blog, but I still had to do some oversight, because I wouldn't allow many of the spells that I have here. Now, I'm going to create a grimoire of wizardly spells for my setting, taking into account the new system's limitations and interaction between the spells. This is the perfect time to rebalance some spells with different casting times, costs, durations, and components, and even include some countermeasures. For example, do you remember that lead blocks most divination spells in D&D? I'm definitely going to include things like that here.

    While I'm not satisfied with D&D as a system, its assortment of spells is a treasure trove of ideas. For starters, I will go through the D&D 3.5 Player's Handbook, convert all the spells I want to wizardry, and add some spells from GURPS Magic to patch up the holes. You know that D&D is mostly combat-oriented, so GURPS Magic spells would be a great addition to create a more believable and worldly spell grimoire. Overall, while the entire sorcery conversion thing was both "for me" and "for others," this project is mostly "for me," but if anyone will find it useful, then that's great, isn't it?

    I already went through the book and assigned all the spells to different GURPS magic colleges, and let's start by converting some movement spells.

Introduction to Wizardry

Introduction to Wizardry

What is this? If you're here, then you probably aware of my collection of Sorcery spells, but those are very generic. Sorcery is a generic adaptation of the non-generic GURPS Magic. Remember that the book tells you to make every spell cost 1 FP and take one second to cast? All spells work the same, have the same internal structure, mechanics, requirements, etc. On one hand, it's lame, as everything feels the same, but on the other hand, it's good - you have a list of generic spells that you can use as a base to make them less generic. In my opinion, one shouldn't simply "use Sorcery." It's merely a framework, and a framework that is based on GURPS Magic at that, trying to be both generic and not generic at the same time.

    Remember D&D? There are many spellcasting classes, flavorful casting traditions, etc. but they all work more or less the same. Wizards get their power through intense study, sorcerers have innate magical powers. Why do they use the same spells? How come innate powers are the same as arcane formulae from dusty tomes? To me, it never made sense. Fortunately, I'm playing GURPS now, and I can make different spellcasters actually different. A learned wizard can cast arcane spells via gestures and incantations, while a sorcerer more-or-less simply has access to a power (in the GURPS Powers sense) that, while more flexible in terms of abilities, has a narrower scope.

Monsters: Devils VII

Monsters: Devils VII

At last, I'm done with devils! This post details the three pre-3e devils. There are some new and actually interesting devils in D&D 4e, but that's something for another time. It's time to pat myself on the back and switch to a more interesting project.

Monsters: Canomorphs

Monsters: Canomorphs

Canomorphs are fiendish hounds (hell hounds, shadow mastiffs, and vorrs) who learned to assume a humanoid form.

Monsters: Imps II

Monsters: Imps II

While the first Monster Manual only has one imp type, Fiend Folio introduces three more, and I managed to find two more in sources from other editions.

Monsters: Devils VI

Monsters: Devils VI

Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine didn't really have many new devils, surprisingly - only two and a half (I don't think Canian pit hound should even count, as it is an advanced hell hound).

Monsters: Monster Manual V Devils

Monsters: Monster Manual V Devils

I want to finish converting the D&D devils (there's probably going to be four more posts after this one), because I have another, more interesting project in mind.

Monsters: Devils V

Monsters: Devils V

Even more devils from Fiendish Codex II and other sources.

Monsters: Devils IV

Monsters: Devils IV

More devils from Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells.

Monster: Vaati

 Monster: Vaati

The D&D multiverse has a long history, and some ancient events might have affected all worlds regardless of the campaign setting in question. For example, most of you probably know about the Blood War – the endless war between demons and devils that is usually contained to the Lower Planes, but sometimes spills over to other planes, including the Material one. But the Blood War is merely a continuation of a much more ancient conflict. Forces of chaos and law were at war in the Age before Ages, when mortal life was barely a thing. The forces of chaos were led by the Queen of Chaos, an obyrith demon lord, and Miska the Wolf-Spider, her demon lord consort. The forces of law were led by the vaati, also known as the Wind Dukes of Aaqa. These beings of elemental air managed to expand their empire and conquer all the elemental planes and many planets on the Material plane. Eventually, they managed to turn the war into a stalemate, and then uneasy peace, despite that bringing their empire to ruin; the balance was sort of restored, but the demons and devils kept fighting – that’s how the Blood War started.

Monsters: Miscellaneous Diabolic Monsters

Monsters: Miscellaneous Diabolic Monsters

There are some D&D monsters that live in Baator, but are not baatezu. Fiendish Codex II still classifies them as devils (even though, in the case of the rejkar, Monster Manual III explicitly says that they are not devils), so let's get them out of the way.

Sorcery: Winged Folk Spells

Sorcery: Winged Folk Spells

Man, it's been a while since I made any sorcery spell! As you know, GURPS Fantasy Folk: Winged Folk came out recently, and it's pretty good, I recommend you buy it (and Pyramid #3-14 to complement it). The magical styles of the winged folk feature three two new spells. Earthbind paralyzes the subject's wings. I already had a spell with that name, so I renamed the old one to Maw of the Earth. Flock of Ravens creates an illusion around the subject that makes it difficult to see and hit. Wrath of the Gods is identical to Lethal Lightning to GURPS Magic: Death Spells.

Monsters: Devils III

Monsters: Devils III

Interestingly enough, D&D has many more demon varieties than devils. Perhaps, it has something to do with Abyss being infinite and Baator not.

Monsters: Fensir

Monsters: Fensir

Fensirs, or Ysgardian trolls, are extraplanar giants from Fiend Folio. Female fensir can undergo a transformation into a ravenous rakka that devours everything in sight.

Monsters: Nerra

Monsters: Nerra

The nerra appeared in Fiend Folio for D&D 3.5. I really like the concept of these extraplanar mirror-people, and in GURPS their racial abilities are more fun. I used these monsters in D&D, but not in GURPS yet.

Monsters: Fiend Folio Giants

Monsters: Fiend Folio Giants

Fiend Folio for D&D 3.5 has two new giants - bog giant and shadow giant. I've never used them, but I find the concept of the shadow giants pretty interesting.

Monsters: Hellfire Monsters

Monsters: Hellfire Monsters

In this post, we have three enemies united by the same theme - hellfire. Hellfire engine is a diabolic constuct from Fiending Codex II. Hellfire golem is... a diabolic construct from Fiend Folio. And orthon is a hellfire-wielding devil from Fiendish Codex II.

Monster: Mist Dragon

Monster: Mist Dragon

And now, the last true dragon from Dragons of Faerun.

Monster: Steel Dragon

Monster: Steel Dragon

Another dragon from Dragons of Faerun. I wonder if this one belongs to the metallic dragons or the ferrous dragons.

Monster: Mercury Dragon

Monster: Mercury Dragon

Dragons of Faerun has three new true dragon species. Given that now I have an easily usable dragon template, converting them should be easy.

Monsters: Dragonlance Demons

Monsters: Dragonlance Demons

Let's get this over with, I'm tired of demons. Well, there are some 4e demons, some of which admittedly are very cool, and probably some 5e content that I haven't covered, but that's something for another time.

Monsters: Spyder-Fiends

Monsters: Spyder-Fiends

Yes, with a "y". The spyder-fiends are relatively obscure demons that serve the Queen of Chaos and Miska the Wolf-Spider. Unfortunately, they didn't make it to D&D 3.5, because I think they are very cool. Now, I believe that I only have to convert the Dragonlance demons to be done with all pre-4e D&D demons.

Monsters: Demons VII

Monsters: Demons VII

As I said before, D&D has many different demon varieties. In this post, I cover five more demons from before 3e that range from simple and straightforward to pretty cool. If I'm not mistaken, there aren't many left.

Monsters: Demons VI

Monsters: Demons VI

Would you look at that, I missed some D&D 3.5 demons that were hidden away in the Expedition to the Demonweb Pits module. And while I'm at it, let's also convert some demons from the older D&D editions.

Lenses/Monsters: Specific Half-Demons

Lenses/Monsters: Specific Half-Demons

D&D has the generic half-fiend template, but it also has two more specific versions. The alu-demon (also known as alu-fiend) is an offspring of a succubus and a humanoid, while the cambion is an offspring of an incubus and a humanoid (although, the definition of the latter varies depending on the edition or setting). Curiously, cambion in D&D 3.5 was not a template, but a proper monster.

Monsters: Modrons

Monsters: Modrons

Now that I'm done revising the old monsters, let's make something new. The modrons have been suggested to me, and let me tell - they aren't going to be easy to stat up. First of all, who are the modrons? In the D&D cosmology, they are the paragons of order, the lawful counterparts to the celestials, fiends, and slaadi. If you're used to D&D 3.5, then you might not even know that they exist in that edition, as they are well hidden. First, they appeared in the web enhancement for the Manual of the Planes, and some of them later got updated in Dragon Magazine #354. There's also a fourth-edition article about modrons in Dragon Magazine #414. The lore has changed a little bit between the different editions, but I will try to combine most of the bits into something more or less coherent.

Stone Age Weapons and Armor in GURPS - TL0 Doesn't Mean Zero Options

Stone Age Weapons and Armor in GURPS - TL0 Doesn't Mean Zero Options

Many fantasy settings feature the so-called “lost world” locations where technology hasn’t progressed beyond the Stone Age, and dinosaurs and prehistoric animals roam the lands, coexisting with primitive cave men. In D&D, in the Mystara setting, there was the Hollow World that partially fits this description. Frostburn, a supplement for D&D 3.5, featured the Neanderthal race. In Pathfinder’s Golarion setting, you have the Realm of the Mammoth Lords and the Deep Tolguth. In GURPS, you have an entire setting book – GURPS Lands Out of Time. Also, last week, I was playing Jurassic War, an old RTS from 1996, so, after discussing this topic with my friend, I decided to share some thoughts on the variety of gear available at TL0 in GURPS.

Monsters: Aquatic Swarms (+Finished Overhaul)

Monsters: Aquatic Swarms (+Finished Overhaul)

At last, I'm done with the monster overhaul project! I looked over every single entry, fixed mechanical mistakes, fixed formatting inconsistencies, reworked some monsters from the ground up, removed unneccessary abilities, added new abilities, etc. Also, while doing that, I found that I accidentally skipped three monsters from Stormwrack, so here they are.

Monster Update Status - Halfway There

Monster Update Status - Halfway There

As you might know, I haven't been posting much in terms of new content, because I've been revising all monsters previously posted. Some monsters got significant reworks, some got "bugfixes", and some were left unchanged. Since I'm (mostly) going in the chronological order, I had to deal with many of my early conversions first, and those had a lot of mistakes. Very often I thought "What the hell was I thinking when writing this?" Now I have some progress to reports - I've reached the halfway point. 50% of all monsters have been checked for mistakes, revised, made consistent, etc. That covers the entirety of the first Monster Manual, all "true" elementals (the ones with nine categories), Complete Arcane, Complete Psionic, Complete Warrior, and many assorted monsters from other books. There's still a lot of work to do, but now I'm reaching the point where I do not have to change a lot, since now I'm working with conversions of the more experienced past me.

Massive Karilan Update

Massive Karilan Update

It's been almost a year since I updated my setting documents, but I have been working on them on and off. Some changes were very minor (typos, the bane of my existence), but Powers of Karilan and Races of Karilan have seen some significant reworks, especially the latter.

Here's the post with all the changes and download links.