Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.gurps (More info?)
Fascinated by the idea used in many, many fantasy books (such as the
Wizard of Earthsea and the Wheel of Time), I started to think about a
"natural sorcerer" and how one would be created in Gurps. In 3rd ed
there was the Natural Spellcaster advantage, which pretty much
converted to Wild Talent (with the enhancement Retention and the
limitations Emergencies Only and Focused: Magical, for a total cost of
15 points/level).
However, both of these have one major flaw compared to the way things
work in the novels - when using Wild Talent, you still need to do the
required rituals for the spell (spell skill = IQ + Magery, which will
be fairly low for most "child prodigies"), while in the books at least
the first natural casting of a spell was completely effortless. (Or
have I missed something?)
From a roleplaying standpoint, I find it very difficult to explain
that the character suddenly intuitively finds out the exact words and
hand motions to cast a spell. Even if I were to allow Wild Talent to
ignore the required spell rituals, if Retention is used and the spell
cast again at a later time, I'd have to require the rituals - by the
rules at least (so no stealth-casting or casting with hands tied
behind one's back).
One tweak that might work is explaining that the -2 penalty for a
month comes from the natural mage not knowing the right words or
gestures for the spell, and that the penalty would go away only once
they are learned from another mage (or figured out by oneself), but A)
this is a lot lower a penalty than the one mentioned in 3rd ed Magic,
and B) there is no option like this in 4th ed (at least in the basic
rules).
Suggestions? Comments?
Fascinated by the idea used in many, many fantasy books (such as the
Wizard of Earthsea and the Wheel of Time), I started to think about a
"natural sorcerer" and how one would be created in Gurps. In 3rd ed
there was the Natural Spellcaster advantage, which pretty much
converted to Wild Talent (with the enhancement Retention and the
limitations Emergencies Only and Focused: Magical, for a total cost of
15 points/level).
However, both of these have one major flaw compared to the way things
work in the novels - when using Wild Talent, you still need to do the
required rituals for the spell (spell skill = IQ + Magery, which will
be fairly low for most "child prodigies"), while in the books at least
the first natural casting of a spell was completely effortless. (Or
have I missed something?)
From a roleplaying standpoint, I find it very difficult to explain
that the character suddenly intuitively finds out the exact words and
hand motions to cast a spell. Even if I were to allow Wild Talent to
ignore the required spell rituals, if Retention is used and the spell
cast again at a later time, I'd have to require the rituals - by the
rules at least (so no stealth-casting or casting with hands tied
behind one's back).
One tweak that might work is explaining that the -2 penalty for a
month comes from the natural mage not knowing the right words or
gestures for the spell, and that the penalty would go away only once
they are learned from another mage (or figured out by oneself), but A)
this is a lot lower a penalty than the one mentioned in 3rd ed Magic,
and B) there is no option like this in 4th ed (at least in the basic
rules).
Suggestions? Comments?
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