Ulf Moebius

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT 1. Link to character sheet: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-VZRQGdilMXTDRNSXBObGNfYVk/view?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-VZRQGdilMXTDRNSXBObGNfYVk/view?usp=sharing</a> 2. CPs earned: [266 total] 24/01/2015 - entry point for this log. 3. CPs spent on: Extra Magery 1 [10] (from racial power-up); Energy Reserve (Magical) 1 [3]; Maintain Spell-19 [1] to -20 [2]; Catch Missile-20 [1]; Return Missile-20 [1]; 4. Money: 92 starting cash; +100 (x1 Pouch, Contraband Leather containing $100) +1,000 (reward for first quest); -200 (Training Expense: Magery 6 to 7 [10]); -120 (Training Expense: Energy Reserve (Magical) 1 [3]); -20 (Training Expense: Maintain Spell-19 [1] to -20 [2]); -40 (Training Expense: Catch Missile-20 [1]); -40 (Training Expense: Return Missile-20 [1]); +1280 (Reward for delivering chest to Gilbert); Total: $2052

PROPOSED ALLY Just adding a familiar I wrote up. Feel free to comment and give feedback on balancing him and whatnot (since it's probably OP). I'd like to use him in the future after adjustments, if possible. Wisp 39 points A wisp is a small (3” wide), sapient floating sphere of elemental magic. Wisps are highly attuned to magic and can easily detect the effects of spells (including magic items), but cannot cast spells. They can tamper with the local mana, releasing waves of magical infusion which makes everyone more susceptible to magic, or disturbing the inherent mana of a target, rendering them resistant to magic. Wisp Familiar: Ally (Wisp) [9]; ER 6 (Drains Familiar, -50%) [9]; Insubstantiality (Affects Substantial, +100%; Low Penetration* (½ ft), -50%; GBF, -40%; Magical, -10%; Maximum Duration (20 seconds), -75%; Nuisance Effect (Eerie glow), -5%) [16]; Special Rapport (Familiar) [5]; 39 points. Wisp Template ST: 0 [-100] HP: 10 [20] Speed: 6.00 [0] DX: 12 [24]* Will: 13 [15] Move (Air): 12 [0] IQ: 10 [0] Per: 12 [10] Move (Ground): 0 [0] HT: 12 [20] FP: 12 [0] SM: -8 Dodge: 9 Parry: n/a DR: 0 Advantages: Drain Magic (Affliction 1; Advantage (Magic Resistance 4, +80%; Malediction, +100%; Reliable 3, +15%; Costs Fatigue 1, -5%; Magical, -10%; Alternative Attack, *1/5) [6]; Infuse Magic (Affliction 1; Disadvantage (Magic Susceptibility 5, +15%; Area Effect (4 yd), +100%; Malediction, +100%; Reliable 2, +10%; Costs Fatigue 1, -5%; Emanation, -20%; Magical, -10%) [29]; Detect (Magic) [10]; Doesn’t Eat or Drink [20]; Doesn’t Breathe [10]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Insubstantiality (Affects Substantial, +100%; Always On, -50%; Low Penetration (½ ft), -50%) [80]. Disadvantages: Dependency (Mana; Constantly) [-25]; Familiar [-22]; Invertebrate [-20]; No Legs (Aerial) [0]; No Manipulators [-50]; Telepathic [0]. Skills: Aerobatics (H) DX-1 [2]-11; Stealth (A) DX [2]-12. Perks: Illumination [1]. Class: Elemental. Further Traits Masters of a wisp familiar can buy Doesn’t Breathe (GBF, -40%; Oxygen Absorption, -25%) [7]; Detect (Magic; GBF, -40%) [6]; Spirit Empathy (GBF, -40%; Specialized, Elementals, -50%) [2]; upgrade to ER 8 (Drains Familiar, -50%) [12] or 10 [15]; Wild Talent (Focused: Magic, -20%; GBF, -40%; Retention, +25%) [13/level]. Masters may improve Insubstantiality: add Can Carry Objects (No Encumbrance), +10% [24]; Maximum Duration (50 seconds), -65% [32]; Can Carry Objects (Light Encumbrance), +20% [40]. Wizards (and other mages) may also buy up to three levels of Magery (GBF, -40%; One College, Meta, -40%) [2/level]. *Low Penetration is a modifier I came up with to prevent passing through walls and/or ceilings. It's supposed to allow melee attacks, projectiles and missile weapons to pass through as well as movement through thin layers of solids (like nets, fences) but not sturdy doors.

M³ = MOEBIUS' MAGICAL METHODS Clarifications about the game mechanics behind some of Ulf's thaumatological tricks. POWER WORDS: During last session (Feb.07.2015) Ulf taught a few Power Words to the party, as follows: Archie/Enarit: "Notin Dhecro Tsch"; Luke/Kritty: "Meowli Kesphysi Caldice"; Brandon/Rothuk: "Lowin Clotofp Eelvicth Rust". Chris/Aldric declined the offer. The meaning of those words is yet to be understood (hint: not German). But here is the mechanic: Delay the chosen spell/effect (must be in Ulf's Grimoire); Cast Maintain Spell on the Delay; Say the Power Word in firm voice; It takes effect on the following turn; Enjoy! Notes and considerations: Delay (Magic p.130) is a regular spell and can be cast on a hex, person or object. Delay postpones the activation of the linked spell until triggered. "The triggering event must be something that could reasonably be determined by a normal person at the Delay site", and some mystical words spoken firmly sounds easy enough. So, Delay is cast on a character or one of his possessions and the corresponding "Power Word" set as trigger. It's then possible to use a single "Power Word" to trigger different effects (either simultaneously if more than one Delay with the same trigger is placed on the same subject, or independently if the same trigger is used for different linked spells in different occasions). All casting costs are paid for in advance, there is no extra fatigue cost for whoever activates the Delay or Ulf (unless the linked spell specifies otherwise, like Great Haste). Delay takes 1 second to activate, and speaking a few words is a free action in combat, plan carefully. Activating a linked spell will make Ulf aware of it, since the spell is under his control. Having an active spell on you (the Delay or the linked spell) can change your "class/status" regarding some other things. For example, Force Dome will no longer block your movement because you register as a magical creature now (according to the gurps FAQ)... I'm not sure about your mundane armor or backpack though. Other spells can also be used to spot you, even if incidentally (like Mage Sight, Detect magic, Seek Magic, Mage Sense, etc.) Data: Crunchy bits! Presently Ulf has: Delay-20, Maintain Spell-20, Recover Energy-20 and all Hard spells at 20; FP 14, ER 1. Delay costs 3/3, with -2 from high skill it drops to 1/1. Duration is 2 hours, unchanged. Maintain Spell also has 2 FP off final cost. Recover 1 FP every 2 minutes of rest, 1 ER every 2 minutes independent of rest. Ulf avoids reaching 0 FP when preparing Power Words, so maximum cost of linked spell is 13 FP. Procedure: Pay FP for linked spell (the roll is made when it activates via Power Word, spending only FP); Cast and roll for Delay (at -1 for each spell on) and pay 1 ER; Rest for (FP spent) * 2 minutes (usually no more than 20 minutes); Cast and roll for Maintain Spell on the Delay (at -1 for each spell on) and pay [8 - 2] = 6 FP (to keep Delay running for 16 hours, spending 5 FP and 1 ER). Rest for another 10 minutes (recovers 5 FP and 1 ER). Repeat. In the end, it takes about 30 minutes, give or take, to set up each Power Word. Since Ulf is small and weights [12 (body) + 16.08 (backpack) + 5.55 (gear)] = 33.63 lbs, I don't think it's asking too much to allow him to rest on the wheelbarrow and prepare this during travel, is it? If anything else comes up, i'll update.

Awesome write-up, Valter. I was just finishing the process of reviewing your contrivance when I saw you posted this. Yes, when not in combat, we can wave all the FP and casting rolls under the assumption that you eventually cast it without fail and can pay the FP. Three points of emphasis for quick reference: All FP is paid up-front. Delay, states: "Full cost for the linked spell and for the Delay must be paid at the time of casting." The roll for the Delay'ed spell happens when it is triggered. Delay, states: "The caster rolls for Delay when it is first cast; the roll for the linked spell is not made until the triggering event occurs." If the roll is successful, the spell takes effect on the player's next turn. So, speak the word on turn 1. On turn 2, the spell takes effect. Delay states: "When a Delay is triggered, the linked spell begins to activate, taking effect the next turn." As far as I can tell, after taking about a half hour to review it today, we are of the same understanding. However, I've written a letter to the editor asking a few questions and have included this process as well for his approval. The only hiccup I can possibly foresee is if the spell linked to Delay can't be cast on a person. You said Delay (or rather, the spell that is linked to the Delay as Delay is actually cast only on a spell) can be "cast on a hex, person or object," but one of those things isn't included in the spell description. Delay states: "This spell is cast on another spell to delay its activation until a certain thing happens in the linked spell’s presence – that is, in the presence of the item or area on which the linked spell was cast ." Can a person be an "item?" If not, what about a golem or a robot or a pickup truck or an undead skeleton or a sentient sword? I think maybe the spell can be cast on a living creature, but we'll see what Kromm says. Have you any canonical precedence to declare? If Kromm declares this against the rules, then I'm afraid this house was built on the sand. At least it got used, and used to fantastic effect, by Enarit! I'll let you know when he replies.

Not to go too much into semantics, but I see your point and I agree, it's iffy. More than I'd like it to be. The description for Delay has quite a few weird contradictions and it's hard to make sense out of them. First one I would mention is casting order: The very first line reads "This spell is cast on another spell to delay its activation..." The second paragraph starts out with "The spells are cast one after the other, with no delays between spells. The Delay must be cast first..." Hehe, why? So... how am I going to cast Delay FIRST when it's subject (the other spell) is nowhere near the plane of existence? How to cast a spell on something that does not exist?... And if it works like that, why not label it a Special spell instead of Regular? Coming back to the question asked. While I don't have any quote that would directly answer your question (person = item? for spell subject purposes), I can bring up the 'deathtouch doorknob' example (from Delay's description). It clearly overrides the default mechanic of a melee spell and allows you to charge a common object with something that could only be originally placed on your hand or (enchanted) staff. What about 'deathtouch arrows/bolts/ROCKS' set to attack the first to get hit with it? Enarit would love those, +7d damage (+24.5 damage on average) that bypasses armor (just don't get it Reversed back to your crotch =P). Also, if you can't target people then you can't delay spells meant to be cast exclusively on people, like Minor Healing or Foolishness. That doesn't seem to follow the spirit of the spell, IMO. On the contrary, Delay appears to be quite flexible when defining legal subjects and triggers... sometimes I think it has 2 subjects (the linked spell and the linked spell's intended subject) but they never stated that in the description. A few other spells are described as having 2 subjects, like Conduct Power (and maybe even Telepathy, if you want to interpret it this way), so that's not absurd. My interpretation of Delay, which is not RAW or canonical, led me to conclusions that enabled the aforementioned "Procedure". But I know i'm not the line editor holder of truth and that GURPS Magic is a bit messy and not 100% compatible with 4e. Well, I've read the descriptions for linking spells so many times over the past years and each time it seems a new question emerges ... I honestly don't know how Ulf manages it. Let's hope for a reply from Kromm. I did search the forum and found nothing from him on this matter.

"It clearly overrides the default mechanic of a melee spell and allows you to charge a common object with something that could only be originally placed on your hand or (enchanted) staff." Yes, but a doorknob, the target of the linked spell, is a thing and one could consider that an item. If you steal a golden doorknob and put it in a sack, it's an item. If you kidnap/capture a person and put them in a sack, they are a hostage or a captive, but not an item. ;-) The problem I have with the Deathtouch doorknob—and it sprang immediately to mind—was that a single Ready maneuver to turn said knob would have the victim's hand off the knob by the time it triggered. "Also, if you can't target people then you can't delay spells meant to be cast exclusively on people, like Minor Healing or Foolishness. That doesn't seem to follow the spirit of the spell, IMO." That may be true. Delay does state, "If the caster specifies a spell to affect a human-sized subject, and a larger victim actually triggers the Delay, there is either no effect or reduced effect, depending on the spell." What might be the solution here is that the spell simply needs to be cast on an item, and then that item can cast the spell (on a person). That . . . That actually seems to take care of the problem. You're very right that a Regular spell can't be cast on a nonexistent thing. Lord, don't even get me started on the super ambiguity of, "If the Delay is to be triggered by a more esoteric event, an appropriate spell such as Mage Sight may be cast on the Delay." What?! I asked about that on the forums years and years ago and got nothing. There is so much wrong with Magic that even guessing the author's intent at times is very difficult. Honestly, this wasn't much different in Third Edition, but some of the spells were actually worded more clearly. Trust me, I even went back and checked the Third Edition wording of Delay when researching this. Kromm will reply. It's Sunday, so we're unlikely to get a response until Monday evening. I don't get home until late, but I'll post it up as soon as possible. Honestly, had I thought of the "just cast Delay on an item" solution, I may not have even e-mailed him. We'll see what he says!

Stripe said: Honestly, had I thought of the "just cast Delay on an item" solution, I may not have even e-mailed him. Well, I did use that route to avoid paying double for Rothuk's Delay (he is SM 1 and regular spells have their cost multiplied by 1 + SM). No way around for the Blur he asked though, still had to pay 12FP for a -7 Blur. But this is a good warm up, considering what Ulf still has stored away &gt;=)

Surprisingly, no reply from Kromm tonight. However, it was a very lengthy e-mail and sent late Sunday, so I'm sure it was at the bottom of the heap by the time he clocked in to work on Monday. I expect it tomorrow since it didn't come today.

It's&nbsp;been 6 months since I touched this topic, so it's time for some more munchkinism &nbsp;M³®! So, I shall drag Stripe (and whoever else cares to read this) back to the depths of GURPS Magic , to travel through somewhat poorly worded or specified spell descriptions,&nbsp;labyrinthine GM calls and delicious reality-shattering logic. But let's start slowly... Object in question: GURPS Magic , p. 121 said: Suspend Spell Regular; Resisted by&nbsp;subject spell Temporarily nullify any one ongoing&nbsp;spell. The caster must know the&nbsp;spell he suspends. Suspend Spell does&nbsp;not affect magic items, but can affect&nbsp;spells cast through one. Spells that can&nbsp;only be removed by Remove Curse&nbsp;cannot be suspended; use Suspend&nbsp;Curse for those. Suspend Spell is cast at the lower of&nbsp;the user’s Suspend Spell skill and his&nbsp;skill with the spell being suspended.&nbsp;When the suspension expires, the suspended&nbsp;spell “picks up where it left off”&nbsp;and resumes operation. If the subject&nbsp;spell is maintained, its caster will automatically&nbsp;know it is being suspended.&nbsp;Otherwise, roll against Perception +&nbsp;Magery - 3 – distance is not a factor. Duration: 1 minute. Cost: 1/10 that of the spell suspended&nbsp;to cast, not counting bonuses the&nbsp;other caster may have received for&nbsp;high skill (round up). Same cost to&nbsp;maintain. Prerequisites: Magery 1 and&nbsp;Counterspell. The tricky question: if I were to cast Suspend Spell on one of my own spells, could I forfeit it's resistance roll? I think the question is valid since one can always decide to not attempt a resistance roll versus a spell (no page reference from memory, but i'm sure it's fact), but there is no general rule for one's spells. To make things more interesting, see Displace Spell on p. M124, for a specific case that falls in between.

Thaumatology p133 says that (for rituals, though I don't see why it wouldn't apply to vanilla casting either) you can always choose to fail resistance rolls of Will or IQ if you are conscious and aware of the spell being cast on you (otherwise resistance is automatic). HT rolls must always be resisted too apparently, although that would mean that beneficial spells like Enlarge Other would always have to be resisted by the target (people on the forums seem to agree that this is how it should work as far as I can see). My dreams of playing a Pixie swashbuckler and drinking Potions of Embiggening so that I can fly at 100 mph and swing trees around by the trunk have just gotten a little further away.

Well, I bring you good news then. I dug up the rule about not resisting spells: Magic , p. 13-14 said: Resisted Spells A spell of any type can also be&nbsp;“Resisted.” A spell like this works&nbsp;automatically only on a critical&nbsp;success. On a regular success, your&nbsp;spell must defeat the subject’s&nbsp;resistance to work. The subject always has a chance to&nbsp;resist, even if he is unconscious. A conscious&nbsp;subject who is aware that something&nbsp;is happening may choose not to&nbsp;resist. Individuals who are unconscious,&nbsp;unfamiliar with magic, or wary&nbsp;of hostile magic always try to resist. Now, now, you are giving me ideas... a pixie with dwarfism could be -7 SM, get a party with another 4 wizards, cast Enlarge Other via ceremonial magic... you could possibly get +7 to SM (for a net SM 0, costing 105 energy) if they all bring big power items. Make sure all wizards have lecherousness so the whole "giantess" ceremony is in character, hehehe.

Notin Dechro Tsch FUCK

8 months later, he finally got the joke =P