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.

    Expeditious Retreat
    Keywords: Buff.
    Full Cost: 18 points.
    Casting Roll: Skill.
    Components: V, S.
    Cost: 1 FP.
    Casting Time: 1 second.
    Range: Self.
    Duration: 1 minute.

    This spell grants the caster Enhanced Move 1 (Ground) (p. B52).
    Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Accessibility, Self Only, -50%; Advantage, Expeditious Retreat, +180%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Magical, -10%; Reduced Duration, 1/3, -10%; Requires gestures, -10%; Requires IQ Roll, -10%; Requires magic words, -10%) [18]. Note: “Expeditious Retreat” is Enhanced Move 1 (Ground; Magical, -10%) [18].

Expeditious Retreat is a classic spell. It's very simple - the caster simply increases his land movement speed. In D&D, it gives a +30-feet bonus, and since 30 feet is the normal movement rate, it doubles it for most characters. I could've used bonus Basic Move instead, but that's no fun. First of all, Basic Move +5 (Magical, -10%) would cost 23 points, which is more expensive. Second, it doesn't scale with Basic Move of the caster. Third, it would also increase swimming speed, which the original spell does not. Finally, Enhanced Move allows you to use the High-Speed Movement rules that definitely can bring something fresh into your game and prevent such things as 2-yard steps from having Basic Move 11+. In my experience, many seem to forget that the High-Speed Movement rules actually come into effect when the character is sprinting, and sprinting is something that happens often in games. Don't forget about them! Also, notice that despite this being a Buff spell, this is a Self-Only Buff that does not have any more advanced versions. So, the entire party won't run around at high speeds. Why don't the other versions exist? Because they haven't been invented. Maybe the spell's formula just doesn't work that way. I'm fine with that.

    Feather Fall
    Keywords: Buff, Reflexive.
    Full Cost (Self): 12 points.
    Full Cost (Touch): 27 points.
    Full Cost (Short-Range): 30 points.
    Full Cost (Ranged): 35 points.
    Casting Roll: Skill (at -4 when used reflexively).
    Components: V.
    Cost: 1 FP.
    Casting Time: 1 second (or free action when used reflexively).
    Range: Self – Touch – Unlimited (-1/yard) – Unlimited (standard)
    Duration: 1 minute or until the subject touches the ground.

    The subject becomes very light, floating through the air like a feather. A wind moves the subject 1 yard/second, in the direction it is blowing, per 5 mph of wind speed. The subject descends at Move 1, and can seek favorable winds by doing so on a successful IQ or Meteorology roll (one attempt per minute), but cannot otherwise change his horizontal speed. If the subject touches the ground, the spell immediately ends, so it cannot be used to drop safely from two ledges.
    This is a defensive spell to save the subject from falling. As such, it can be cast as a free action even when it’s not the caster’s turn, but no more than once per turn. If this spell is part of an alternative ability array, then it must be in an active slot to be used reflexively. When used this way, the casting roll is at -4.
    Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Accessibility, Self Only, -50%; Advantage, Feather Fall, +80%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Ends if the subject lands, -5%; Reduced Duration, 1/3, -10%; Reflexive, +40%; Requires IQ Roll, -10%; Requires magic words, -10%) [12]. Notes: “Feather Fall” is Flight (Lighter Than Air, Passive, -60%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Must descend, -10%) [8]. The Touch version removes Accessibility, Self Only, -50% and Requires IQ Roll, -10% and adds Accessibility, Only nonvolitional or non-resisting subjects, -20%, Based on IQ, Own Roll, +20%; Malediction, +100%, Melee Attack, Reach C, -30%, and No Signature, +20% [+15]. The Short-Range version removes Melee Attack, Reach C, -30% [+3]. The Ranged version replaces Malediction 1, +100% with Malediction 2, +150% [+5].

Now this is a proper Buff spell that has all four versions. I decided to change the statistics formatting a bit to make it take up less space. I could've gone with Catfall with Feather Fall, but it doesn't actually decrease the fall speed, merely decreasing damage. Flight with Gliding would allow the subject to zoom around and crash into the ground catastrophically. Flight with Lighter Than Air, Passive (from GURPS Template Toolkit 2: Races) sounds much better, but I also had to give it a limitation to prevent altitude increase. Note that since the duration is only one minute, if you're falling from higher than 60 yards, you might need multiple castings to land safely! Also, this spell does not have a somatic component, so you can cast it even when tied up.

    One other thing of note that this is a Reflexive spell. This means that you can use it as a free action even when it's not your turn. Technically speaking, Reflexive is not allowed on Affliction, but I don't care. It does the job well.

    Knock
    Keywords: None.
    Full Cost: 22 points.
    Casting Roll: Skill+4.
    Components: V.
    Cost: 2 FP.
    Casting Time: 1 second.
    Range: 10 yards.
    Duration: Instantaneous.

    You can pick a lock without even touching it. The lock must be within 10 yards and you must be able to see it clearly.
    Statistics: Accessory (TK Lockpicks) [1] + Telekinesis 2 (Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10%; Magical, -10%; One Task, Picking Locks, -60%; Reduced Time 10, +200%; Requires magic words, -10%) [21]. Note: The +4 is the usual fine-work task bonus for Lockpicking.

Knock is another well-known D&D spell that makes DMs and rogue players cry. Why does the rogue need to learn Pick Lock when the wizard can just cast knock and do it much better without any rolls. It always bothered me. As far as I know, D&D 5e added a small drawback - a loud noise upon casting. Personally, I decided to restrict this spell to locks that can normally be picked and not other barriers, and gave it a slightly higher FP cost. You can just bar the door or cast something like Magelock to prevent this spell from working. Could the lock be picked by somebody with ST 2 and a set of lockpicks? Then knock can open it. If not, then the wizard is out of luck. If you want to add the D&D 5e noise, consider Nuisance Effect, Loud, -5% (that actually won't even change the cost here). Basically, this is the Lockmaster spell from GURPS Magic.

    Slow
    Keywords: Resisted (Will).
    Full Cost (Short-Range): 28 points.
    Full Cost (Ranged): 33 points.
    Casting Roll: Skill.
    Components: V, S.
    Cost: 1 FP.
    Casting Time: 1 second.
    Range: Unlimited (-1/yard) - Unlimited (standard).
    Duration: 9 seconds.

    This spell slows down the subject’s movements. Decrease Move in all mediums by 40%, rounding down, to a minimum of 1, apply a -4 penalty to DX and a -1 penalty to Dodge. The penalty to DX affects all DX-based skills, but does not decrease Basic Speed or Basic Move.
    Statistics: Affliction 1 (Will; Attribute Penalty, DX-4, +40%; Based on IQ, Own Roll, +20%; Based on Will, +20%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Disadvantage, Reduced Dodge 1, +15%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Magical, -10%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Reduced Duration, 1/20, -25%; Requires gestures, -10%; Requires magic words, -10%; Slower Move, 0.6x, +20%) [28]. The Ranged version replaces Malediction 1, +100% with Malediction 2, +150% [+5].

Decreased Time Rate is a mess of a disadvantage in GURPS, so I prefer against using it. Instead, I will use Slower Move from GURPS Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, a penalty to DX, and a penalty to Dodge, since the DX penalty doesn't actually affect Dodge. Since Enhanced Dodge costs 15 points/level, and even GURPS Power-Ups 9: Alternate Attributes suggests pricing independent Dodge at 15 points/level, I will treat it as a +15% enhancement for Affliction. Also, if Buffs can have Short-Range and Ranged versions, why can't Resisted spells enjoy this? So, slow has two versions.