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In GURPS Magic 4e, the "Item" description under Sunbolt (p. 114) says:

Staff or wand; the bolt is fired from the tip of the item. Usable only by mages.

"Usable only by mages" generally means anyone with Magery 0 or more. However, the cost to cast Sunbolt is:

Any amount up to your Magery level per second, for three seconds. The bolt does 1d-1 impaling damage per energy point.

Some other missile spells (e.g. Fireball) are similar.

So it seems that, as written, someone with Magery 0 would not actually be able to put any energy into the spell and therefore couldn't actually use the Sunbolt/Fireball/etc. This feels wrong to me, flavor-wise, but I did find one forum poster who reads it the same way I do (though they point out that an additional Power enchantment on the item could work around the limitation).

I feel comfortable house-ruling that someone with Magery 0 can put one point of energy per turn into such an item, as though they had Magery 1, because that works better for my campaign setting. But I'm wondering if that house rule is actually necessary, or if I'm missing something in the rules that would allow someone with Magery 0 to use missile spell items the way they could most other magic items?

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So it seems that, as written, someone with Magery 0 would not actually be able to put any energy into the spell and therefore couldn't actually use the Sunbolt/Fireball/etc.

I agree that's what the rules imply. This issue appeared at GURPS 4e, where Magery 0 was introduced (along with many other things), but the magic rules were not thoroughly overhauled, leading to a variety of glitches. I can't find anything about this one in the Basic Set or Thaumatology.

Your suggested house rule doesn't look as if it will break the game. One simple alternative would be to consider Magery 0 as Magery ½, allowing the user to put a point of energy into the spell after two turns of concentration.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ 3e had "Magical Sensitivity" which was described as being "like Magery 0". It allowed learning spells that didn't explicitly require Magery -- but the various elemental missile spells (like Fireball, which I recall offhand) as written in 4e call for "Magery 1". It's explicit; that spell can only be learned by those who have Magery 1; it's the cutoff (in Fire college) for Magery 0 casters. \$\endgroup\$
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Dec 31, 2021 at 22:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks John. Do you know of a list anywhere of these other various glitches? It'd be great not to be surprised by them! \$\endgroup\$
    – mactyr
    Commented Jan 4, 2022 at 2:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ZeissIkon, I agree that Magery 1 is the cutoff for learning Sunbolt/Fireball/etc., but my understanding is that with any other magic item Magery requirements above 0 don't affect the user. E.g., let's say I have a magic item that casts Wither Limb, which requires Magery 2 to learn. The item description just says "Usable only by mages", which seems to mean that anyone with Magery 0 or above can use it. That's why the rule about missile spell energy feels inconsistent. \$\endgroup\$
    – mactyr
    Commented Jan 4, 2022 at 2:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ @mactyr A Mage 0 (or in 3E, Magical Sensitive) can put energy into spells, though. Purify Water is a no-magery spell and has variable cost. \$\endgroup\$
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Jan 4, 2022 at 12:04
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    \$\begingroup\$ @mactyr Another potential way to deal with this issue is that Mage 0 characters can use those items, but can only cast at the lowest power level (1 FP Sunbolts, or 2 FP Explosive Fireballs). \$\endgroup\$
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Jan 5, 2022 at 15:00

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