Subject: Teleport - Tabs/New Spell
From: "John Jackson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 96 10:50:16 CDT

Grad Level Thaumatology Debate

Teleport - Tabs
    A bit more esoteric question now. What is it that lets you teleport to
a place you remember? Is there some psychic, spiritual, physical, or magical
(or some combination of the above) link?  Before you answer consider the
following problem:
    A lord had a castle. He inherited it. People he didn't want around
anymore could teleport into it, because they'd been there before. They could
teleport
other "things" into the quarters of his staff even! He's perplexed. What can
he do?
    If he lowers or raises the castle by four feet (for example), could
someone still teleport into it? Is it _really_ the same place the teleporter
knew? What if he used very powerful magics and moved the whole castle 100
yards to left? Would the teleporting fiend, thinking to steal into the fifth
floor apartments find himself suddenly five stories in the air or unharmed
in the same apartment he knew? These are questions of semantics on the spell
each GM must answer for himself, I suspect. I don't know of any official
rulings, but would love to hear any. I would also love to hear your house
rules and mental gyrations on the matter.
    Related question: Garz the ship mage teleports back to shore for
supplies, then thirty minutes laters tries to teleport back to his ship.
Does he get wet and land where the ship was when he left, or does he land on
his ship?
    For my own personal solution: Our group determined you would arrive in
the apartment as you expected (as long as it hasn't been moved some
undefined large distance). If it had been destroyed, you just would land on
the ground nearby, maybe in a safe place; or perhaps not teleport at all.
This is to some extent a function of what is controlling the magic in my
world. Note, for me Garz lands on his ship if it is 'big enough' to form a
'reference plane'. This size limit is deliberately undetermined, buy
generally anything bigger than 12 hexes in area will work, give or take.
<yes I'm being vague here, my players are listening ;) >

    This left the lord in a bit of a spot. How to keep these fiends out? We
discussed teleport shields, but they are too transitory. We discussed Remove
Aura - to erase the "tabs" to which the teleporter homes in on, but decided
that was beyond the scope of that spell. We decided Dispel Magic wouldn't
work, because the tabs really weren't magical. We therefore designed a new
spell for cleansing areas of Teleport Tabs.

Remove Teleport Tab (VH)          Meta Spell            AREA
     Permanently erases all Teleport Tabs. Teleport Tabs are those things
which teleporters use to home in on where they are arriving. You aren't
erasing the teleporters memory of the place, just his ability to teleport to
it.
  Casting Time: 10 minutes
John Jackson - [email-masked]

Displace Teleport Tab (VH)       Meta Spell             Area
    Also known as a Teleport Shunt, removes all current teleport tabs from
an area and places them somewhere else. The tabs can not be placed into a
preexisting no mana zone, nor can the spell be cast from one. But if the
destination site becomes a no mana zone _after_ the shunted tab is placed
there, teleporters will arrive their. The shunted tab functions in a no mana
zone, and can not be dispelled by Dispel Magic (though Remove Teleport Tab
would work), as the tab is not magical. Note that the cost is based on the
original area size that is being shunted. The destination area can be any
size, and is typically on a few hexes. Note that if you shunt something to
an area it can't physically occupy, it will
not teleport at all.
  Casting Time: 10 minutes