GURPS Sorcery

[wolf_were]

AKA I don't actually play D&D, but...

For some reason--and I'm certain there was a reason at the time--a month or two ago I decided to make a magic variant similar to the D&D3e Sorcerer class. I don't know if I succeeded, since it's been a long time since I've read any of my 3e books (and I've never really read 3.5 or 4e). But basically, a D&D Sorcerer is someone who simply knows magic without having to study it. I see that in D&D Next (or at least, in the playtest files) they have both the know-it-intrinsically Sorcerer and the pact-based Warlock. I say, why separate them? It's really just a matter of origins, right?

(I'm sure that, should a D&D player actually read this, that person will then reply telling me all about the differences between the two.)

The following is mostly an adaptation of the Wildcard magic rules (rulettes? it's a short little sidebar) from Thaumatology page 75. But it's my adaptation, dammit.

 

GURPS Sorcery
Sorcerers do not learn their spells; rather they simply know how to magic intrinsically. This can be due to unusual parentage where one of their ancestors was a being of great magical power or because of a pact they made with an otherworldly being.

Sorcery is not based on IQ. It is based on (Will+10)/2, rounded down. Thus, for a sorcerer with a Will of 14, her attribute level is ((14+10)/2) 12.

The sorcerer must buy Magery (Sorcery) at the usual point cost; as with normal magic, the levels of Sorcery add to the sorcerer’s Will when learning the spell. Also as with normal magic, the sorcerer must by Magery (Sorcery) 0 for 5 points before buying higher levels.

Sorcery is based on a variant of Ritual Magic, using Wildcard College! Skills, and as such, the sorcerer does not have to purchase a skill such as Thaumatology or Ritual Magic in order to cast spells, and the various College! Skills do not default to anything. Each spell defaults to the College! skill at a penalty of 1/3 its prerequisite cost, rounded to the nearest whole number. The sorcerer must have the minimum required Magery in order to cast the spell, and Very Hard spells have an additional -2 penalty to casting. Individual spells can be improved but cannot exceed the College! skill. The prerequisite count is taken from Thaumatology p261.ER (Sorcery) may be purchased at the usual costs. The GM may set limits on the amount of ER they may purchase; otherwise, they have access to unlimited amounts.

For instance, a sorcerer has a Will of 15, Magery (Sorcery) 2, and Fire! at Will, so her base skill is 14; she can cast Fireball and Flaming Weapon with a skill of 13, Fire Cloud with a skill of 12, and Burning Death with a skill of 9.



Limitations
Because their magic is innate, sorcerers do not get the full range of abilities that normal mages do. They may only cast spells from six colleges of their choice (but see the variants below).

Also, no sorcerer can cast spells from the Enchantment college, even the most basic Scroll spell, as sorcery simply doesn’t work the same way as regular magic, and they may only use the following Meta-Spells: Ward, Reflect, Great Ward, Penetrating Spell, Catch Spell, Spell Wall, Dispel Magic, Hang Spell, Maintain Spell, Throw Spell, Delay, Link, and Reflex. If they choose Meta-Spells, this counts as one of their selected colleges, even though they only have access to a limited number of spells.

It is up to the GM to determine whether spells from the Technology college are allowed, since there is (usually) very little innate about most forms of technology. If the Technology college is disallowed, then the GM should also determine if the metal spells Indentify Metal, Shape Metal, Metal Vision, and Body of Metal are allowed; if so, they should be folded into the Earth college.


Sorcerers are not mages, so they cannot use mage-only magical items, such as scrolls, nor do they count as mages when taking part in ceremonial magic, no matter how well they know the spell (they can still count as unskilled spectators). They also cannot use Powerstones or Power items. Finally, they don’t get any special access to Recover Energy—they would need to take Healing as one of their colleges in order to use that spell.



Variant 1 – Birthright
While wizards learn their magic from teachers and books, sorcerers get their power from somewhere—which is often an intrinsically magical supernatural being deep within their family tree. In these cases, the nature of the sorcerer’s power depends a great deal on what that being was, and many of their magical powers are determined by their ancestry. Not every person descended from such a creature is a sorcerer, and it often skips a generation (or two, or ten). Sorcerers of this type often have Unusual or even Unnatural Features that reflect their heritage.

If crossbreeds are rare or nonexistent in the setting, the GM should also require an Unusual Background: for example, the crossbreeding happened a long time ago, possibly within a mythic age or with the aid of currently-unknown magics.

The GM is not limited to the examples limited below, of course. For instance, in a world where humans have no ability to use magic of any sort, but elves are innately magical beings, then perhaps only elf-blooded humans can become sorcerers.

Divine Beings
Gods have been known to mate with mortals (usually women), as have demons and angels. While their immediate offspring usually have numerous powers, they typically dissipate quickly down along the generations. Occasionally a quirk of genetics will bring some of those abilities to the forefront. Far less common are the offspring of mortals and djinni, as those creatures rarely dally with mortals unless they are made to. Finally, there are those who are the great-grandspawn of Elder Things. These beings are also quite rare (thankfully) as the Elder-Spawn who are the direct result of such matings rarely reproduce themselves—their lives are usually dedicated to their eldritch parents, and they’re usually so disturbing to look at that regular mortals want little to do with them. At least willingly.

* Gods: Knowledge and any five other colleges that are keeping in flavor with the nature of the deity.

* Demons: Fire, Knowledge, Mind Control, Necromantic, and two other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.

* Angels: Air, Healing, Knowledge, Protection and Warning, and two other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.

* Djinni: One of Air, Earth, Fire, or Water and Body Control, Illusion and Creation, Making and Breaking, and two other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.

* Elder Things: Body Control, Communication and Empathy, Gate, Knowledge, Mind Control, and one other college of the sorcerer’s choice.

Faerie
The offspring of faeries are just as likely to be creatures they’ve abducted and then changed to suit their needs as the result of normal mating.
Their colleges are Illusion and Creation, Light and Darkness, Making and Breaking, and three other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.

Dragon
Dragons, at least those who are intelligent, are often powerful mages in their own rights and many of them know how to shapechange (this may even be a natural ability). With their general high interest in the workings of humanity (especially those humans who are willing to give them gold and/or yummy virgins), the dragon blooded are not exactly rare.

Their colleges are any one of the elemental two-college packages listed under Elemental above and Movement, and three other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.

Spirits
Nature spirits are quite likely to mate with mortals, but as their preferred form of mate is as likely to be an animal (or a plant) as it is a human or elf, the descendants of nature spirits are not overly common. Likewise, elementals are not prone to mating with mortals (and as with nature spirits, don’t see a huge amount of difference between a human and any other form of living creature), although their offspring are typically just as prone to reproduction as any other mortal creature.

* Elemental: One of the following: Air Elemental: Air, Light and Darkness; Earth Elemental: Earth, Body Control; Fire Elemental: Fire, Movement; or Water Elemental: Water, Weather;and four other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.

Optional elements: Wood Elemental: Earth, Plant, Water; or Metal Elemental: Earth (and the above mentioned Metal spells), Fire, Making and Breaking; and three other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.

* Nature Spirit: Animal, Plant, Weather, and three other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.



Variant 2 – The Pact
Some sorcerers gain their powers not by being the descendant of a powerful supernatural being but by forging a pact with one—in this case, a being of any of the above categories except for dragons. This is done by using the Pact limitation (B113) on Magery (Sorcery) with an appropriate disadvantage worth at least 10 points. The GM may also require the character to take this being as a Patron, probably with Minimal Intervention and a low Frequency of Appearance (the sorcerer can use her magic regardless of her Patron’s appearance; this is to keep her from taking avail of the Patron’s other innate abilities).

Unlike those sorcerers who get their abilities through breeding, those who make Pacts have access to Enchantment and all Meta-Spells.

This does have the side effect of making it easy for sorcerers to enchant items. Magical items made by sorcerers should have quirks and strange (but not necessarily harmful) side effects that reflect the Patron’s nature. In addition, the GM can simply ban sorcerers from using the spell Enchant and say that they need to use Temporary Enchantment instead; after all, their magic isn’t the same type regular magic is and is ill-suited for full enchantments. In addition, making some kinds of items might offend the patron—a demonic patron probably won’t be too pleased if the sorcerer starts making Blessed items! The exact nature of the Pact varies according to the being that granted it.

Gods and angels rarely grant sorcery; for the most part, gods grant divine powers or magic to their faithful, and angels usually petition their gods to do the same. In a setting where only ordained priests get divine magic, the gods may grant sorcery to lay faithful. They usually require Pacts of Honesty, Truthfulness, Disciplines of Faith, Pacifism, etc., or whatever else is appropriate for the god in question. Vows to spread the faith and only work in the gods’ interests are also common. Typically, the gods require their sorcerers to have advantages such as True Faith before they are willing to grant any powers, divine or sorcerous, at all.

Demons are all-too eager to grant magical powers. They usually demand worship, and often that the sorcerer convert others to demon-worship and defile the artifacts of opposing faiths. Other options include Vows of making sacrifices of tribute and living creatures. On the other hand, some demons are strange and whimsical enough that their requirements are similar to those of the faeries—although usually less pleasant. A demon may very well demand that the sorcerer only eat raw meat or never bathe.

Elder Things act in much the same way as demons, although they are more likely demand the offering of living beings that they can eat or warp into new forms then they are to demand traditional sacrifices.

Faeries usually require Vows and other promises, and the exact nature of the vow can vary wildly from one to another. Some possibilities are that the sorcerer never tell a lie—or never tell the truth; that the sorcerer perform a task for the faerie on the night of the new moon, every month; that the sorcerer only eat (or never eat) a certain type of food; that the sorcerer never speak; or that, once per year, the sorcerer bring the faerie a newborn infant. Faeries are often quite willing to grant sorcery, but are just as quick to be offended and take it away—often with an unpleasant curse in its stead.

Djinni often grant wishes; those who wish for magic very often get sorcery, and the djinn are usually not in a position to demand much in return. Some manage it though, and their demands can be quite creative.

Nature Spirits usually require the sorcerer to already have advantages like Animal Empathy or Plant Empathy, or Sense of Duty (Nature), and usually require Vows to protect nature. The more bloody-minded among them might also require Vows to destroy urban areas.

Elementals rarely grant sorcery: any elemental powerful enough to grant such powers would be powerful enough to be at least a minor god or a djinn of some sort, and would grant sorcery as they do.

Two other types of spirits are often willing to grant sorcery:

* Ancestor spirits are generally only willing to give powers to their descendants. On the other hand, they are quite possibly more willing to take those powers away, should their descendant bring shame to the family.

Ancestor spirits grant the following colleges: Communication and Empathy, Healing, Knowledge, Protection and Warning, and two other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice.

* Genius loci, on rare occasions, are willing to deal with mortals; the mortals are usually already dedicated to the place and have to be even more willing to protect it, and they have to become exemplars of the area. Although genius loci are often associated with wild areas, any place can have one, including houses and cities.

Genius loci grant the following colleges: Earth, Knowledge, Protection and Warning, and three other colleges of the sorcerer’s choice

 

This is mostly likely to be used for Dungeon Fantasy. I may eventually make a template.