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Thursday,July17,2014

GURPS101:PersonalGreaterandLesserEffects

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OneofthemoreinterestingmechanicsofRitualPathMagicisthe"Lesservs.Greater"effect.Basically,ifit's
a"realistic"magicaleffectthenit'sprobablyaLessereffectotherwiseit'saGreatereffect.Now,whatisand
isn'taGreatereffectdependsonthecampaign...butwhatifitweredependentonthecaster,notthecampaign?

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TheBasicsofPersonalEffects
First,theGMneedstodeterminewhatthe"basic"GreaterandLessereffectsareforhiscampaignandnote
anychangesfromthebasicassumptionsofGURPSThaumatology:RitualPathMagic,ifany.Next,
determinewhatisdifferentforyourcharacter(ignoreanythingthat'sthesame).Forexample,ifMargaretis
"baseline"onallGreater/Lessereffectsdividesexceptthatshereallyexcelsatmanipulatingmindsandis
terriblemanipulatingenergythenyou'dnotatethelasttwoandnothingelse.

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IGive,YouTake
Theguidelinesforwhatisandisn'taGreatereffectarecarefullythoughtout,playtested,andcreatedwith
balanceinmind.Jiggeringwiththemcouldeasilycauseunwantedeffectsifnotdoneright,sonomatterwhat
theGMhasthefinalsayonwhatworksandwhatdoesn't.Theprocessissimpleenough,decidewhatGreater
effectbecomesaLessereffectforyou,anddecidewhatLessereffectbecomesaGreaterone.SinceallPaths
areaboutequal,thenexchangingGreater/Lessereffectsisbalanced.Thisexchangecanbeinasmuchdetail
astheplayerlikesandtheGMcanhandle.Forexample,inourpreviousexampleMargarettheEnchantress
cannotmanipulateenergyeasily,butmanipulatingsapientmindsiseasy.Thiscouldbeassimpleas"AllPath
ofEnergyeffectsareconsideredGreatereffects,whileallPathofMindeffectsareconsideredLessereffects."
orasspecificas"ControlMindeffectsthattargetsapientmindstoinfluencetheemotionloveareLesser
http://www.ravensnpennies.com/2014/07/gurps101personalgreaterandlesser.html#.WIa6wVj57IM

July2014(13)
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RavensN'Pennies:GURPS101:PersonalGreaterandLesserEffects
orasspecificas"ControlMindeffectsthattargetsapientmindstoinfluencetheemotionloveareLesser
effects,whileControlChanceeffectstoincreasetheoddsofaloverelatedeventareGreatereffects."

Gamemaster's
Guidepost:Cthulhu
MythosSpells,Par...
GURPS101:Personal
GreaterandLesser
Effects

TheExample:AlbertustheElementalist
AlbertusisaOldWorldstyleelementalist.Earth,Air,Fire,andWaterarehistocommand.Butthisknowledge
comesataprice.Hehasnocontrolovertheundeadorthemindsoflivingcreatures.TheGMdecidesthat
Albertus'playercanswapallGreatereffectsforLessereffectsforPathofEnergyandPathofMatter.In
exchange,alleffectsfromPathofUndeadandPathofMindareautomaticallyGreatereffects.TheotherPaths
remainuntouched,includingPathofSpiritwhichallowshimtosummonelementalbeings.

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It'snotquiteascomplicatedasitseems,butitdoesrequiresomethoughtincaseyouhaveaplayerwho
decidestotryandgamethesystem.Afterall,whenyoumaketossingaroundFireballscheapthefirsttoolany
playerisgoingtopulloutofhistoolboxis...tossingaroundFireballs.Really,aGMshouldrequireaplayerto
comeupwithaspecifictheme(whichdoesn'tneedtobea"classical"onelikeadruidorwitch),buthe
shouldhavesomething.Alternatively,theGMcouldrequireaperktobepurchasedtousetheserules(Rules
Option(PersonalRitualPathMagicEffects))orevenrequireaUnusualBackgroundforthosewithunusual
aptitudesormagicalmakeups.

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PostedbyChristopherR.Riceat12:57AM
+4 Recommend this on Google

Labels:gamingadvice,GURPS,magic,magicsystems,MeleeAcademy/GURPS101,RitualPathMagic

4comments:
TroyLoy July17,2014at1:11AM
Brilliant,withclearexamplestoo.Thisbearssharing,evenonabreak.
Reply
Replies
ChristopherR.Rice

July17,2014at1:27AM

Thanks.:D
Reply

JasonPacker July17,2014at1:35AM
AnyconcernaboutasituationlikeyourElementalistbeingonewherehetradessomethinghe'llneverwanttoto
useforsomethinghe'lluseallthetime?Theold"thedisadvantageisn'treallydisadvantageous"situation?
Reply

ChristopherR.Rice

July17,2014at1:52AM

Some.Buthere'sthething,theGMissupposedtomakeitHURTwhenyouhaveadisadvantage.Notbeingable
to control the dead or the minds of the living should crop up at least as often as standard antimagic
countermeasures.Youcan'tgothroughlifeyoung,powerdrunk,andchuckingfireballsateverything.
Reply

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