Fantasy Magic with GURPS Voodoo Rules

By Andrew Benton; No challenge is intended to any trademarks of any sort. These following are some optional rules for converting vampiric disciplines, magical colleges, and other supernatural power groups for use with the excellent ritual magic system presented in GURPS Voodoo. I noticed that vampiric disciplines and voodoo ritual paths follow a similar progression of power. As disciplines increase in levels, rituals become progressively more difficult. Though the progression is not an exact match, they were close enough that the adaptation was a worthy one. Likewise, there was a correlation between spell colleges and ritual paths. Since I prefer more mumbo-jumbo in my mages, I have tooled over to the GURPS Voodoo/Magic/Disciplines montage. I like the flavor better. These methods may yield occasional strange results, so feel free to alter things to fit your own preference. In my own playtest of these, I discovered that they alter the feel of magic in general, but still retain a playable balance. They make it possible to cast really BIG spells…. but the system provides stiff penalties for failure.

CHARACTERS

Characters wishing to play mages must purchase the 10pt Unusual Background (Magic User). A mage must also purchase levels of the Voodoo advantage Initiation (V58-63), which varies from 5pts to 450pts!. In general, a skilled apprentice will have Initiation 1, common mages will have Initiation 2 to 5, with Initiation 3 and 4 being the most common. Master mages will have Initiation 6 to 8, while only legendary Archmages will have Initiation 9 or 10. Initiation levels come with a number of attendant advantages, but more importantly:

Initiation Level is added to the Mage's skill rolls as a positive modifier.

SKILLS

The basic system involved is very similar to GURPS Voodoo, relying on a hierarchy of skills. Obviously, familiarity with the Voodoo system is helpful, but not mandatory. The hierarchy is outlined below;

GURPS VOODOO AND COLLEGES

The Ritual Paths from GURPS Voodoo fit well into the pre-existing Magical Colleges, with a couple of exceptions. Use the chart below to determine where the paths belong. Note that there is some overlap, depending on the intention of the spells. Many offensive rituals could be considered "Necromancy".

CALCULATING SPELL DEFAULTS

Magical Colleges: The colleges of magic presented in GURPS Magic and Grimoire are naturals for conversion to ritual paths. The Elemental colleges especially seem to fit nicely into the system. However, because of the loose organization, determining a particular spell's path and rating requires a bit more work. The method I recommend is to look at the relative effort required to cast the spell, using the fatigue costs to cast a spell as a measure of its difficulty.

The Fire College is provided as an example of a typical ritual Path. Note the range pf penalties for spells that vary in fatigue cost; fireball is the best known example of this rule.

Elemental Path of Flame (M/VH) defaults to Ritual Magic-6

And so on…

LONG DISTANCE MODIFIERS

The first addition to the Voodoo rules are Long Distance Modifiers (B151). With the hybrid system, you don't have to be close to your target... but it definitely helps. Any time a question of distance is involved, use the modifiers as a penalty. This does NOT include missile skills, which are detailed above. This is in addition to the usual Voodoo rules for area of effect, duration, and multiple targets.

CASTING TIME

GURPS Voodoo uses a loosely defined system of casting times. Rituals take a few minutes on average, and penalties are assigned based on deviation from the "normal casting time". However, this "normal" is never clearly set out. Normal GURPS Magic uses a rigorous system of duration and time to cast, modified by skill level. The basic unit of time required for spell-casting is 20 minutes. This seems like a long time, and it is. It is meant to reflect a proper amount of time, getting everything just right, with no bonuses and no penalties. In practice, most mages will use various levels of fast casting, reducing the actual time down to minutes or seconds. Since Initiation is added to the caster's skill level, higher level mages naturally just take less time for the same amount of time. Use the following table for casting times;

MANA, FATIGUE, AND POWERSTONES

GURPS Magic implies the existence of a magical force, called mana, which is present in all things. In a sense, it is like qi, ki, or the "Force". GURPS Voodoo makes no such assumption, using a more organic approach to spellcasting. Mana varies in intensity and aspect, and flows along ley lines. To simulate the effect of mana, add the following modifiers to the ones in Voodoo p81.

Mana can be stored and carried in enchanted vessels called "Powerstones", and used to power magic. Powerstones are rated for Energy Points (ep). Additionally, a mage can burn fatigue or even health to fuel spells. Powerstones may not normally be used to recharge a mage's fatigue, though certain spells might. Burning fatigue is common and relatively safe, while burning health is rare and should be done only in extremis. After burning HT, roll vs. unmodified HT, as if a crippling injury (B129). On a "lasting" wound, the HT takes 1d months to return. On a "permanent" wound result, HT takes 1d months to return, but is permanently reduced by -1 HT. Other effects might be possible, at the GM's discretion. Use the following expenditure rules, substituting them for the sacrifice rules (V81) for normal magic. Necromancy will still use the sacrifice rules, since it deals with spirits who can be lured or bargained with.

MISSILE SPELLS

GURPS Voodoo makes no provisions for range modifiers in its rituals, since its offensive spells are fairly subtle, powerful, and slow acting compared to fantasy magic. This is quite different from a typical fantasy campaign, which features fireballs and lightning bolts flung from the fingertips of irate sorcerers. There are a few factors to consider when dealing with Missile Spells that do not come up with regular magic. Depending on the nature of the missile spell being used, to-hit rolls are handled just like any other ranged attack, using the skills Magic Jet, Magic Breath, or Spell Throwing (all are P/E, CI150-151). Use the usual range, speed, and size modifiers. Even better, there is no upper limit to how powerful a mage can make a missile. Time is not directly a factor in power; a 1d fireball takes as long as a 6d x 20 fireball to cast, its just alot easier to do. If you really want to throw that 6d x 20 fireball, feel free. But a critical failure could be worse than disastrous.

MAINTAINED SPELLS AND HANGING SPELLS

It is possible for a mage to cast a number of spells, one at a time, and have them last for an extended period of time. For example, a cautious mage might cast several warding and detection spells, all lasting for several days, so that he might not be ambushed by his enemies. It is difficult to do, however. For each spell that is "on" at a given moment, there is a -1 penalty to cast new spells. For each spell that requires the caster's active concentration, there is a -3 penalty to each new spell. These spells are noted in their descriptions. Spells with permanent effects, like "Purify Water", carry no penalties. "Hanging Spells" are spells that are discharged in one instant, like missile or blocking spells. They are cast just like normal missile spells, with an added duration penalty. If the spell is successfully cast, it will "hang", sitting ready to be used in an instant by the mage. Hanging spells are the most common form of combat magic, and count as "maintained spells". All maintained spells are detectable by spells which detect magic or auras. Additionally, they will aspect the mage who uses them. For example, a mage with lots of hanging "Fireballs" will be fire-aspected.

CRITICAL FAILURES

GURPS Voodoo makes no provisions for critical failures among its spells, though it does have rules for the failure of hostile rituals. In place of those rules, as well as the rather dull rules for GURPS Magic (B147), it is recommended that you use the variant critical failure rules by Brad Glenn. These are differentiated by college, and hence alot more interesting.

ENCHANTMENT AND MAGIC ITEMS

GURPS Voodoo offers "Charms", a level of enchantment even quicker and dirtier than GURPS Magic. These are usually one shot, almost disposable enchantments. Basically, the mage simply casts a "hanging" spell on an object, with a specified duration. This item can then be given to anyone, used by anyone, or stored for later use. This ability is easily abused, but represents a major source of income for mages in a fantasy campaign. "Charms" have the property of "shelf-lives". This is how long the charm will last before it dissipates uselessly. Use the duration penalties for shelf life. For example, a mage might cast a 5d "Fireball" (Fire -6) on a golf ball with a 1 week duration (-4), for a total -10 penalty. But he can cast them at his leisure, and carry them or sell them, with no penalties for maintained or "hanging" spells. Note that charms may have both duration and shelf life. For example, a mage might cast "Breathe Water" (Water -5) on a ring, intended to last 1 day (-2), with a shelf life of 1 week (-4). This is a total penalty of -11, but now he has a way for his fighter friend to reach that Lost City Under the Waves.

Quick and Dirty Enchantment is handled as a variant ritual. Items intended for permanent, repeated, or sustained use, that have a total energy cost of under 100 energy points, can be made with this method. Tally up the total energy cost for the item, as per the usual rules (B152). This is the number of successes require to create the item. The creator must accumulate this many successes in one ritual, without stopping. It is HIGHLY recommended that one get help when using this method. For example, a mage wants to enchant his staff with the "Staff'" enchantment, a common procedure. The mage must accumulate 30 successes without stopping. The mage, Initiate level 4 (+4) has Enchant Staff-12, does triple duration rituals (+2), in a high mana area (+2), in his sanctum (+2). This gives him an effective skill of 22. The first hour, he rolls a 14, giving him 6 successes. The next hour, he rolls an 11, giving him 17 total successes. And so on, until he accumulates the required 30. As with all rituals from GURPS Voodoo, multiple casters gain cumulative successes. The mage in the previous example, with help, could bust out quite a few magic staffs in a week!

Slow and Sure Enchantment can produce truly powerful enchantments, but takes alot of time. On the other hand, it requires no skill roll. Unless the process is interrupted, success is assured. The system is modified from standard GURPS Magic. First, total the energy cost for the enchantments to be included in the item. Then total the levels of initiation amongst all the mages in the group by two. Divide the energy cost by 1/2 the initation level to determine how long the enchantment takes to cast. For example, a circle of three mages of varying skill (3^rd, 5^th, and 6^th levels of Initiation) (3+5+6=14/2=7) attempts an "Flight" enchantment (2500pts). It would take them (2500/7) roughly 357 days, almost a year to produce it.