Subject: Unlimited Mana Revisited (Long)
From: Juergen Hubert <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 10:53:16 +0200
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.gurps

In yet another shameless attempt to draw attention to my website (at
http://abacus.physik.uni-erlangen.de/~psjhuber/rpgs/rpgsindex.html ), I
offer the following article:

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Unlimited Mana Revisited

S.J.Ross' rules for Unlimited Mana magic (at
http://www.io.com/~caroth/UnlimitedMana.htm )presented a whole new way
of using magic in GURPS. This article is intended to increase the number
of options available for these rules.

Creating an Umana mage

First, the GM (or the player, if the GM allows) decides on the increases
that the Increased Threshold and Rapid Recovery advantages bring to
their respective ratings (6 and 2, in a default setting). In "standard
settings", (Threshold Increase)x5 + (Recovery Increase)x4 shouldn't be
greater than 240, though that depends on how powerful the GM wants mages
to be in the campaign world.

A mage's Threshold Rating and Recovery Rate both start out at 0. The
mage then recieves an additional 55 character points, which he must
spend on Umana-related advantages - Increased Threshold, Rapid Recovery,
Safer Excess, and the new advantages Access to Unlimited Mana described
below. The player is free to distribute the points as he wants, though
any points he doesn't distribute during character creation are lost.
However, nothing prevents him from using regular character points in
addition to them.

 Access to Unlimited Mana                                             10
points

A mage needs this advantage to use more mana points than his Threshold
Rating - without it, he cannot exceed his Threshold.

 Fatigue Spellcasting                          15 points/Level (Limit 4
Levels)

With this advantage, the mage can draw upon his own fatigue instead of
the ether to power his spells. For the first level of this advantage, 4
points of fatigue become one point of spell energy. For the second
level, 3 points of fatigue become one point of spell energy, for the
third level, two become one, and for the fourth level, one point of
fatigue becomes one point of spell energy - effectively, the mage can
perform as a "standard" GURPS mage.

Many of the enchantments and limitations from the GURPS Compendium I and
GURPS Supers can be applied to the Umana advantages. Here is a
discussion of the possibilities:

 Increased Threshold                                             5
points/Level

Enchantments:

     Affects Others: Someone with this enchantment would be really
popular with other mages. At the GM's option, even mundanes might be
able to purchase Increased Threshold with this advantage - perhaps this
is the trait of a certain family or species, and all mages are trying to
find them and have them nearby (either as payed aides or captives). For
an even stranger twist, perhaps these people are the only ones with the
Increased Threshold advantage, meaning that the only way to cast magic
without constantly having to roll on the Calamity Table is to have one
of them nearby...

     Area Effect: In conjunction with Affects Others, a person with this
enchantment would be ideal for ceremonial magic...

     Instantaneous: Well, maybe that enchantment would be too extreme,
but if the GM wants, he could allow an enchantment that would enable the
mage to cast spells faster as long as he stays under his Threshold
Rating - but it should be expensive.

     No Obvious Effect: If regular spellcasting causes some special
effects - sparkles in the air, odd sounds, etc. - this enchantment will
reduce or eliminate them as long as the mage doesn't exceed his
Threshold Rating (thus creating "warning signs" when the mage pushes his
limit). If the GM allows it, this advantage might also allow the mage to
cast spells with less or no gestures and words. The cost for this
variant of the enchantment depends on the GM.

Limitations:

     Accessibility: There are many possibilities for this limitation -
from a water mage who can only safely cast spells while on or in the
ocean, to someone who needs to play a music instrument to focus the
magical energies as he wants... An obvious one would be that the
Increased Threshold works only for spells of a single college (-30%),
though if the GM is not careful, he will have to face lots of
single-college mages then, too...

     Costs Fatigue: There are several possibilities here: Either each
casting of a spell costs a certain number of Fatigue points, or each
minute of maintaining the higher Threshold costs that many points, or it
costs a number of Fatigue Points in proportion to the spell points cost
of the spell that was cast. For the latter case, I would reccommend -20%
for half the spell cost in Fatigue (round down), and -40% for the full
cost in Fatigue.

     Differential Effect (SU52): The Increased Threshold is halved if
the criteria is met.

     Emergencies only: This works nicely for mages who perform best
under pressure.

     Eye Contact Only: The mage can only use the Increased Threshold if
he casts a spell at someone he makes eye contact with.

     Fickle: Appropriate for young wizards in training who cannot quite
control their powers yet. Failing the Fickleness roll does not mean that
the spell fails, just that the mage does not have access to the
increased Threshold Rating - but when he rolls badly on the calamity
table, he might wish that the spell had failed...

     Leave Mental Signature: Casting spells while using the Increased
Threshold always causes some visible side effects (sparks, etc.) and
also leaves some magical traces that can be easily followed and
identified by spells or people with any degree of magical awareness.

     Limited Use: Although Increased Threshold is technically an
advantage, the GM should insist that each casting of a spell constitutes
a "use", instead of an hour - Umana mages usually don't cast spells all
that often, anyway, and so this limitation would become meaningless...

     Nuisance Effect: These happen everytime the mage casts a spell. The
GM and the players can let their imaginations run wild here...

     Preparation Required: This is another appropriate limititation, and
represents mages who have to concentrate for a long time before they can
draw spell energy from the ether safely - rush jobs are possible, but
dangerous. If the mage skips the preparation, he will function as if he
didn't have the Increased Threshold - or only half the Increased
Threshold, if he has the Weakened without Preparation limitation.

     Recoil (SU53): This limitation causes the mage to be knocked back
for every 2 points of energy he puts into a spell. This is probably only
appropriate for silly campaigns...

     Reduced Range: If a caster casts spells and wants to have access to
the Increased Threshold, the actual distance to his target is mulitplied
by 2 (or 4, or 8 at the higher levels of the limitation) to calculate
the penalties of casting the spells and throwing it (if applicable). The
GM might want to rule that the Increased Threshold with this limitation
doesn't work with spells that are "Touch only", especially if he spots
some rules-lawyer who doesn't have any ranged spells anyway...

     Super Equipment (SU68): This allows for the equivalent of
Powerstones and similar artefacts.

     Takes Extra Time: Similar to Preparation Required.

     Takes Recharge: Each Casting of a spell constitues a "use".

     Touch Only: The Increased Threshold only works as long as the
caster touches the target.

     Unconscious Only and Uncontrollable: These limitations are only
appropriate if the mage suffers from some  psychological problems that
causes him to cast spells whether he wants to or not...

     Unreliable: Again, a good limitation for young apprentices.

These enchantments and limitations can also be mixed. In general, to
avoid abuse (and to keep the bookkeeping simple), the levels of
Increased Threshold with enchantments should work up to a certain point,
while those with limitations should be in effect beyond a certain point
- exept when common sense dictates otherwise, like with the Super
Equipment limitation. The
GM's decision is, as always, final.

Example:

     Magnus the Magnificent has one level of Increased Threshold with
the +20% variant of the No Obvious Effect enchantment, and one with the
+10% variant. He has two additional levels without any enchantments or
limitations. He has five additional levels of Increased Threshold - but
beyond the first four levels, spellcasting drains him a lot, causing him
to loose 2 points of Fatigue every time he casts a spell (-10%). He is
also not too adept at using three of these five levels - he has a
Fickleness number of 14 (-10%), and he experiences a weird magical flux
that manifests as knockback when he uses them (-40%). And when he uses
the last of these three levels, the magical energies coursing through
his body wreak havoc with his digestive system, causing him to fart
violently - which is good for a -2 Reaction penalty in his society (a
Nuisance effect at -10%). In addition to all that, he has inherited a
Powerstone from his dear, old Auntie - it has 3 levels of Increased
Threshold, relatively easy breakable (-15%), cannot be repaired (-15%),
and it has to be held in Magnus' hand during use, so that it could be
stolen by a DX roll (-30%). All these cost Magnus
(1.2+1.1+2x1+2x0.9+2x0.4+0.3+3x0.4)x5=42 points.
     So, assuming that one level of Increased Threshold equals the
default of 6 points, Magnus will be impossible to trace as long as his
Power Tally doesn't increase beyond 6, and hard to trace until it goes
beyond 12. Nothing else spectacular happens until his Power Tally
reaches 25, at which point he will loose 2 Fatigue every time he casts a
spell. When it reaches 37, he had better watch out - he will be knocked
around a lot when he tries to cast spells, and he might even be forced
to roll on the Calamity Table if his Fickleness roll fails. And when it
reaches 49, he will start to... smell, too. And at 55, he will have to
start rolling on the Calamity table even if his Fickleness roll
succeeds...

If the player decides that the limitations of some of his levels of
Increased Threshold would be too detrimental in a given situation, he
can choose not to use these levels - but this could cause him to roll on
the calamity table...

Example:

     Magnus the Magnificient has been casting spells a lot recently -
his Power Tally is at 50. He is invited to a party attended by the
entire city council. When an earth elemental suddenly manifests and
starts killing the guests, he tries to kill, or at least wound it with a
Fireball. He decides that his reputation would really suffer if he
started to fart in front of all the dignitaries, and so he doesn't use
that level of Increased Threshold, and hopes that the likely Calamity
won't be worse. If he had been exhausting himself before casting the
Fireball spell (for example, by trying to flee from the elemental), he
might also have it found to be prudent not to use the other two levels
of Increased Threshold that require the expediture of Fatigue...

Option: Variable Threshold Rating:

     If the GM and the player agree on it, Increased Threshold can also
be bought as dice of Threshold Rating, instead of a fixed increase. The
base cost for an Increased Threshold of 1d is 17.5/(regular Threshold
Rating increase). All the usual enchantments and limitations can be
applied to the cost afterwards. Obviously, this will result in some odd
numbers, so the GM might want to decide to use either random or fixed
Increased Threshold exclusively. Another option would be to allow the
player (or force him ) to trade 7 points of regular Threshold Rating for
2d of random Threshold Rating (or 6 for 2d-1, and so on). The actual
Threshold Rating can then be determined anew at each morning, each
month, each year, each casting of a spell, or whatever date the GM and
the player can agree on. The character usually knows the current
Threshold Rating; if not (i.e., if the GM determines it secretly), this
is a -20% limitation of the advantage.

 Rapid Recovery                                                  5
points/Level

Enchantments:

     Affects Others, Area Effect: What was said above, under Increased
Threshold, goes for Rapid Recovery, too.

     No Obvious Effect: Usually, the default is that recovering one's
mana doesn't have an obvious effect. However, this might be different in
some campaigns, and if the caster uses some strange rituals to recover
his mana (by sacrificing an animal, for example), this enchantment could
help him to cover his tracks.

Limitations:

     Accessability: The GM has to be careful with this one - it is one
thing to have to play a trumpet to use the Increased Threshold for
spellcasting during a combat (a -20% limitation), and another to play
the trumpet during a quiet moment or two to regenerate lost mana - an
effect that lasts the entire day and beyond. Therefore, this limitation
should be worth less - I would suggest halving the percentages of most
variants. The GM's judgement is, as always, final.

     Costs Fatigue: Since the character usually has enough spare time to
regenerate, I woul suggest giving only a -5% point cost break for every
two points of Fatigue the recovering costs.

     Differential Effect (SU52): As written.

     Emergencies Only: The Rapid Recovery only "kicks in" when the mage
experiences a stressful situation - on days when he experiences nothing
that qulifies, he regenerates nothing. This represents mages who can tap
in vast reserves under pressure, or wizard who take up dangerous hobbies
for their "kicks"...

     Leaves Mental Signature: The mage displays some impressive special
effects when he regenerates - sparks fly around him, he glows with an
inner light, etc.. Details are up to the player and the GM. He also
leaves magical traces at the places where he has regenerated that can be
easily traced by spells or by people with any degree of magical
awareness.

     Limited Use: Since the advantage already requires a 24-hour
recharge period, this limitation works somewhat differently: If the
Rapid Recovery works three days out of four, or three seasons out of
four, this is worth -10%. If it works half the time (every second day),
it is worth -20%. If it works every third day, it is worth -30%, if it
works every fourth day, -40%, once a week, -50%, once a month, -60%, and
once a year, -70%.

     Nuisance Effect: This allows the GM and the players to come up with
all the strange and disgusting rituals they want - or perhaps the
recovering creates noise equal to a heavy metal concert, or something
similarily peculiar?

     Preparation Required: This limitation is too cheap for this
advantage - I would suggest the following: -10% for 10 minutes of
preparation, -20% for 30 minutes, -30% for one hour, -40% for two hours,
-50% for four hours, and -60% for eight hours, half these values for
Weakened Without Preparation. Another possibility would be to require a
certain preparation time for each point recovered: -10% for 1 point/1
minute, -20% for 1 point/3 minutes, -30% for 1 point/6 minutes, -40% for
1 point/12 minutes, -50% for 1 point/24 minutes, and -60% for 1 point/1
hour, half these values for Weakened Without Preparation. The GM should
decide which one of the two is more appropriate to the game world. This
reflects nicely the "reality" of the AD&D(R) game: wizards spending time
to memorize their spells, and priests praying to their deities...

     Super Equipment (SU&8): This represents (usually) arcane artefacts
that help the mage to recover from spellcasting faster.

     Unreliable: Used as written. Some sources of energy are much to
unpredictable to be used with precision...

Again, all these enchantments and limitations can be mixed.

Example:

     Magnus the Magnificient has three standard levels of Rapid
Recovery. He has also become a devout follower of the local godess of
magic since he learned that she distributes magic points to the faithful
- he has two levels of Rapid Recovery with the Preparation Required
limitation (praying for 10 minutes, -10%), and two additional levels
that only work only on the deity's holy days (once a month, -60%).
During his university days, he was also a member of a young wizards'
fraternity that had some odd customs - there he learned how to draw mana
from sacrificing various farm animals to mysterious dark powers (two
levels, -4 reaction penalty, usable once a week only, -70%). One of
these powers took some small interest in him; as a result, he has an
additional level of Rapid Recovery with the Unreliable limitation and an
activation number of 8or less (-30%). All this costs him
(3x1+2x.9+2x.3+2x.3+.7)x5=33.5 points.

Option: Variable Recovery Rate:

     The cost for 1d of variable Rapid Recovery is 17.5/(regular
Recovery Rate increase). Apart from that, what was said for Variable
Threshold Rating goes for this one, too.

 Access to Unlimited Mana                                             10
points

Most of the enchantments and limitations discussed under Increased
Threshold work for this advantage, too, although No Obvious Effect would
be superceded by the rolls on the calamity table.

 Safer Excess                                  10 Points/Level (Limit 4
Levels)

As with Access to Unlimited Mana, above, most of the enchantments from
Increased Threshold work for this one, too. My favourite idea would be
"reality stabilizers", magical artifacts with several levels of this
advantage and the Super Equipment limitations...

 Fatigue Spellcasting                          15 points/Level (Limit 4
Levels)

Again, if it works for Increased Threshold, it probably works for this,
too.

Example:

     Magnus the Magnificient has Access to Unlimited Mana. He doesn't
put any enchantments or limitations on it. He  doesn't buy any levels of
Safer Excess - he plans to be careful in how much mana he uses... He
buys one level of Fatigue Spellcasting, with one minute of preparation
required (-20%), and the nuisance effect that he starts to sweat blood,
causing a -2 Reaction penalty (-10%). So these two advantages cost
10+10.5=20.5 character points, in addition to the 42 points for the
Increased Threshold and the 33.5 for the Rapid Recovery, which adds up
to a total of 96 character points. Since 55 character points of Umana
advantages are free for mages, this means that Magnus has to pay for the
excess of 41 character points - expensive, but not too expensive for a
starting character.

Packages:

It is possible to design packages of these attributes to represent
magical or religious groups and orders that give the same benefits to
all its members. In this case, simply add all the costs up and charge
all members the total. These groups can get really interesting if they
are the only ones who can take certain enchantments and limitations,
like a necromantic order that is the only one which knows how to draw
mana from human sacrifices (a Preparation Required limitation and a
Nuisance Effect that causes a Reaction Penalty of at least - 6), some
enigmatic masters of illusion who can hide their spells from everyone
(the No Obvious Effect enchantment), and a religious order that draws
strength from praying (Preparation Required again)