Shadowrun Style Magic in GURPS ------------------------------ by Todd Montgomery (tmont@cerc.wvu.edu) Shadowrun has a very unique background. Magic is very new to the world. It has only been around for a short period of time and most mages do not have vast amounts of information to fall back on, yet. GURPS Magic (normal) is not very well suited for Shadowrun because of the power level and semantics that magic have in Shadowrun. To this end an alternative system is presented here. This system does not have to be specific to the Shadowrun genre. I attempted to make it generic enough that it could be used in other ways. Shadowrun magic has several premises. 1 - Spontaneous spellcasting, requiring little concentration 2 - Conjuring spirits and the concept of Astral Space as a mirror of our own reality. 3 - Magic and Shadowrun technology are incompatible. 4 - Magic is incredibly powerful. A mage can cast spells that blow vehicles apart and burn a person to cinders. Advantages: ----------- Magic Rating 5(3) pts/Level Magic Rating controls the maximum Force of a spell that can be cast without taking Physical damage as drain from the casting. Humans pay 5 pts per level for this advantage and Metahumans pay 3 pts. per level. The maximum magic rating a person may have is 6. This can be modified by Foci, Initiation, and other factors. Astral Perception 10 pts This advantage allows a person to extend their perceptions into the Astral plane. The disadvantage to this ability is that the person can be attacked and used as a channel by astral entities quite easily if care is not given. A prerequisit to this advantage is Magic Rating of at least 1. Astral Projection 25 pts This advantage allows a person to not only extend their perceptions into the Astral plane, but they may also project their consciousness into Astral space and move their consciousness about. A prerequisit to this advantage is Magic Rating of at least 1. This advantage includes Astral Perception. Conjure 5(3) pts/Level This advantage allows a person to conjure astral entities and bind their service to themselves. A type must be specified when taking this advantage. The types are: Elemental - Entities composing an element (Fire,Water,Air,Earth) Nature Spirit - Location spirits Watcher - Small servants Other: others known, Allies, Insect Spirits, etc. This advantage is mandatory for anyone desiring to summon and use spirits. This advantage is also used extensively in the banishing and control of spirit entities. When dealing with a spirit not of the type that the person has, then a penalty of -4 is imposed. Humans must spend 5 pts per level for this advantage, while Metahumans spend 3 pts per level. Totem varies A totem (the central part of a Shaman) is a collection of advantages and disadvantages. Most totems almost even out in terms of points. A prerequisit for this advantage is a Magic Rating of at least 1. Example Totem: Bear Advantages: +2 to all spells involving Health (8), +2 to all conjuring rolls involving Forest Spirits (8). Disadvantages: Berserk (-15). Total: -1 pts. Mage Package 85 pts This is a set of advantages that typical Shadowrun mages possess: Magic Rating: 6, Astral Projection, Conjuring(Elementals): 3, Conjuring(Watchers): 3. Shaman Package 85 pts + or - Totem This is a set of advantages that typical Shaodwrun Shamans possess: Magic Rating: 6, Astral Projection, Conjuring(Nature Spirits): 3, Conjuring(Watchers): 3. In addition a Shaman must pick a Totem. Karma 2 pts/Level This advantage is a modified form of luck and skill. Karma can be purchased via Character Points if the GM allows or it may be given in addition to Character Points as a reward for characters for good deeds and good roleplaying. Karma can be used just like the luck advantage. Each point "used" returns on the next scene in the story. The GM decides when this is. Karma is used forever when it is used to bond a Foci to a mage. Magical Resistance as in Basic Set This advantage works as normal. Although a 20 pt Unusual Background advantage is required. This advantage modifiers the Spell Resistance tests. Magical Aptitude as in Basic Set Magery provides bonuses as usual when learning spells, but has no effect on spellcasting, astral activity, or conjuring. This advantage requires a 20 pt Unusual Background advantage. Normal GURPS spells may be usable to characters who buy this advantage. Shadowrun is more or less a high mana world. Pockets of difference remain. Disadvantages: -------------- Essence Loss 5(3) pts/Level This advantage must be taken by characters who implement Shadowrun style cyberware (all that is available at this Tech Level) into their body. This disadvantage effectively reduces the Magic Rating of the character by the Essence Loss level. A person can not live if the Essence Loss level passes 6. Large essence loss has the disadvantage of making the character harder to magically heal. Large essence losses (levels 5-6) starts to make even other magical tests harder. Skills: ------- Sorcery (specialization) Mental/Hard Sorcery is the skill involved in how easily the mage deals with spellcasting. A specialization must be chosen. The specializations are: Combat,Detection,Health,Illusion,Manipulation. Other areas of sorcery are handled at -4 to the skill. Conjuring (specialization) Mental/Hard This is the skill involved in conjuring, banishing, and controlling astral entities. A specialization must be chosen. The specializations are: Elemental,Nature Spirit,Watcher,Allies,etc. Other areas of conjuring ar handled with a -4 penalty to the skill. Scientific Skills: Magical Theory Mental/Very Hard This scientific skill covers the theoretical knowledge of the workings of magic in the Shadowrun universe. Spellcasting: ------------- Most spells are instantaneous and do not require any concentration to activate. Each spell must be learned at a skill level and a maximum Force rating. For learning skill levels of spells, consider a spell to be a Mental/Very Hard skill. When deciding on maximum Force of a spell, use the following table: Force Rating Character Points 0 0 1 2 2 4 3 8 4 12 ... ... After 4, the force ratings increase at 4 pts per Level. The process of spellcasting involves several steps. Step 1 - Spell Success: Pick the Force of the spell you desire to cast it at. This can be any value up to the maximum force that you know the spell at. Then roll for success as usual. Spells may be targetted if they are not area effect and not of type Mana. Difficulty: Spell Skill + Force of spell Modifiers: target modifiers (size/range/speed), Foci, Inanimate Object Modifiers: Natural Objects: -0 Manufactured (low-tech): -2 Manufactured (high-tech): -5 Highly Processed: -8 or more Note the points of success of the test (the difference between the Difficulty and the modified roll). Step 2- Spell Effects: If the spell is of Mana type and the target is a person, then a resistance test is required. Difficulty: Target Will - Force of spell Modifiers: + Essence Loss level of target for healing Subtract the points of success in this test, from the points of success from Step 1. This number is the points of success for the spell. This value determines how effective the spell was. When determining these effects keep this tabel in mind: Points of Success Number of success in Shadowrun 1-2 1 3-4 2 5-6 3 7-8 4 ... ... For combat spells or any spell involving damage, use this conversion: Damage Damage Dice Deadly: 3d Serious: 2d + 2 Moderate: 2d - 2 Light: 1d - 2 No damage resistence tests are needed, besides the test used for Mana spells. The type of damage applied is shown below. Damage Type Mana: HT or Fatigue (if stun) Maximum damage is HTx2. Physical: as desired type Maximum damage is per type The points of success modify the damage of done with Combat and other damaging spells. Points of Success Damage Mod. 2 x1.5 3-4 x2 5-6 x3 7-8 x4 9-11 x5 Example: BulletBoy has Manabolt (6)-15. He targets an unsuspecting Martin (Will-15) with a Force of 5. Ignoring other factors, BB manages to roll a 14 (skill + Force is 20), getting 6 points of success. Martin rolls a 11 on his resistance roll (Will - Force is 10) getting no points of success. Manabolt is a Damage Level Serious spell (2d + 2). With 6 points of success, this translates into (2d+2 x3). Martin better have his DocWagon bill payed up (average damage is 27). However, now BB has to consider drain and Martin did not have a friendly mage around to protect him. Step 3 - Drain: After each spell, the caster must determine how much Fatigue (or Damage) they took as the result of casting the spell. If the Force of the spell was greater than the level of Magic Rating of the mage, then the drain is counted as damage, otherwise drain is assumed to be handled like Fatigue. Difficulty: Will - (Force of spell modified) Modifiers: Foci,Shock effects,etc. Note: effects of shock hurt drain as well. The amount of drain is dependent on the Drain of the spell with these conversions: Driain Level Points of Drain Deadly: 10 Serious: 9 Moderate: 5 Light: 2 The points of success on the drain test effect the points of drain in this manner. Points of Success: Minus 2 -2 3-4 -4 5-6 -6 7+ -8 Example: BB now has to test for drain. He has Will-14 and Manabolt has a drain level of Serious and modifies drain as (Force/2) (round down). Thus he needs to roll a 12 (14-5/2). He rolls a 14 again and flubs it, so he takes all 9 points of Fatigue. If BB only had a Magic Rating of 4, he would have taken 9 points of damage instead. Optional Step 2-a - Spell Defense: Mages can choose to try and reduce the effects of other mages spells by using Spell Defense. Spell Defense is used just liking Dodging. The points of success in the Spell Defense test are subtracted from the points of success in the Spell Success test. Difficulty: Sorcery Skill - (Force of spell/2)(round down) Modifiers: -1 per target after first, Target Modifiers (size/target/speed) Target refers to the spell target. For each after the first in the same turn, the mage incurs a cumulative -1 penalty to the Spell Defense test. Example: Backing time up a bit, Martin decides to put a Shaman on his retainer just so BBs crew will think twice before attacking. The Shaman uses Spell Defense to reduce the effect of the Manabolt. The Shaman has Sorcery (Combat) - 17. Rolling a 9, the Shaman gets 6 point of success (Skill - Force/2 is 15). Reducing BBs successes to 0. BB still takes drain and he is now in trouble. Foci: Spell Foci may be used to modify one magical test per turn. This test may be either spell success, drain, or spell defense. Foci require the Karma Advantage to bond. Foci can be obtained in forms for specific Spells or for Spell Categories. Power Foci: Power Foci raise the effective level of the Magic Rating of a character while the item is active. In addition to this, the Focus acts as a Spell Foci for any spell. Power Foci require the Karma Advantage to bond. Restricted Use Spells: Spells may be learned with modifiers to effect their use. These restrictions can be use din conjunction with one another. The various forms are: Exclusive: spell may not be used with another spell Results: with Spell Success, Effects, and Spell Defense tests, use a Force for the spell of +2. Use Force as normal for drain. Fetish (Expendible): spell uses up a small item per use Results: with Spell Success, Effects, and Spell Defense tests, use a Force for the spell of +2. Use Force as normal for drain. Fetish (Reusable): spell requires a reusable item Results: with Spell Success, Effects, and Spell Defense tests, use a Force for the spell of +1. Use Force as normal for drain. Spell Sustaining: An additional modifier to all magical activities apply when a spell is being sustained by a mage. -2 per spell being maintained to all success tests. Astral: ------- To be done Conjuring: ---------- To be finished Force of conjuring: (like spells) Type: Fire Elemental, or Elemental (broader type), Watcher Difficulty: Conjure type - Force of spirit Modifiers: foci/situational, +2 for Charisma Drain: Fatigue if Force of spirit <= Force of conjuring HT if not. Difficulty: Conjuring skill - Force of spirit Modifiers: foci/situational, +2 for Charisma