Resurrection in GURPS
Jan. 19th, 2014 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI continue to poke rule sets to get game world consequences.
In Fate on the computer or in vaguely recalled D&D games, you character dies, you pay a bunch of gold, wake up, and move on. Or get dragged to the place that does resurrections, pay a bunch of gold, etc. It kind of ought to be a big deal, but, on the whole, it isn't.
In GURPS the spell is listed, as a Very Hard spell, taking 2 hours, requiring Magery 3 and 9 prerequisite spells, and costing 300 Fatigue Points.
Three hundred.
FP is equal to HT, the Health stat, which happens in humans in a range up to 20 for absolute physical perfection, plus or minus up to 30%. So, if someone dropped all their points on basic stats, they could have 26 FP to spend. Such a stat is highly unlikely. Spells can also burn HP, Hit Points, representing physical damage. HP equal ST, Strength, plus or minus up to 30%; in theory even in humans this can go above 20, but that's for world class weightlifters. So, if someone is willing to bleed to death to power a spell, they can still only pour maybe 26 HP into it. That's 52 FP to power a spell with, and then die.
Nobody human can cast Resurrection from their own personal power supply.
Powerstones are one obvious answer. A mage can only use one powerstone at a time, so one mage would need a 300 point powerstone. But to even attempt to enchant such a stone, you need about $912,000 of materials. In diamonds, that apparently means 10 carat perfect flawless fancy cut celebrity rings, or 20 carats of round diamond. There just aren't many of those around. And to turn them into a powerstone, you are going to need a lot, because frequently powerstone fails and stunts the stones. Working backwards from the final cost of a powerstone, you're going to need about 280 stones to try this on before there's a success. That means, two hundred and eighty times, you collect a diamond worth $900K and start casting the spell on it, and then do it over and over again. Even if they could cast it four or five times a day that's about 12 working weeks to even attempt such a giant gem. Critical failures would destroy the vast majority of gems - so multiply that by about 280 before you get a single gem that actually works. That's about 65 years of casting powerstone, all day, every day, just to craft this one monster gem. It wouldn't be economically viable, because you'd have nothing to show for it in the meantime, and what kind of person would even make the attempt? Plus any minor failure would result in quirks, weird things that are required to recharge it or constraints upon its use. Such an item, if it could even exist, would be worth around $250,155,000.00. Two hundred and fifty million dollars, plus a house worth. Forget crown jewels, it would be the entire wealth of nations.
And then it would take 300 days to recharge.
So, forget powerstones. The single stone that could do this would reshape the world around it.
... also, it would still be physically small enough to pocket. Easily. Once you have something that valuable, you either lose it often or spend all your time and effort just defending the thing.
But all that means a mage could not cast Resurrection alone.
... A human mage at least: spirits and gods can have vast FP pools, recharged by their worshippers, so if such beings exist in the setting, religion would be your best bet.
There's also ways to turn other forms of energy into mana suitable for spells. Then at high enough tech levels you'd just need a generator of sufficient size. It's alive!
But if actual human magic users want to cast Resurrection? You're looking at Ceremonial Magic.
If you know a spell at skill 15 or higher and have a group of willing assistants, you may opt to cast the spell by leading your assistants in an elaborate ritual that maximizes the spell’s power. Such “ceremonial magic” is time-consuming, but lets you cast more powerful spells than you could cast on your own.
When you work ceremonial magic, multiply casting time by 10; for Resurrection that means a 20 hour ritual, twenty hours of uninterrupted concentration. Energy cost does not change, but your assistants can supplement your energy input as follows:
Each mage who knows the spell at level 15+: as much energy as he wishes to contribute.
Each nonmage who knows the spell at level 15+: up to 3 points.
Each mage who knows the spell at level 14 or lower: up to 3 points.
Each free willed unskilled spectator who supports the casting (by chanting, holding candles, etc.): 1 point, to a maximum of 100 points from all spectators.
Each spectator who opposes the casting: -5 points, to a maximum penalty of -100 points from all spectators!
The sum of the energy from all sources represents the total energy available.
If you had many mages with 15+ skill in Resurrection then they each could be using powerstones. There are so many possibilities for that, it's hard to calculate. But if they know the skill at 15+ they could be leading a ritual somewhere. Why would so many skilled people be in one place? Is there only one place that can even attempt Resurrection?
Mages of lower skill, who still have to have invested a lot of time into studying this spell, can contribute up to 3 points each. So that's roughly 100 mages, to cast one Resurrection.
Or possibly 66 mages, supported by 100 ordinary people.
Either way, that's a lot of mages. What are they all doing their? Dedicating their lives to healing, with that kind of spell investment. So, what, an entire hospital of magical healers, every last one of them having studied Resurrection, supporting that one spell?
Even if there's highly skilled mages, if you leave out the possibility of them bringing their own powerstones, reckon they'd only contribute fatigue, and consider their HT human, that's about 12 mages to cast this one spell. Now that's down to more traditional numbers.
If you figure it backwards from 300 points, and 100 spectators, then 13 very skilled mages would each need to contribute 15 or 16 fatigue each. Even at human average HT, with a small powerstone each, that's very doable.
So your ritual could be one skilled coven of 13, a mass of 66 less skilled assistants with one leader, or varying numbers between, with 100 spectators supporting them.
So imagine trying to arrange such a ritual - where do you get the spectators from? Are there going to be 100 people randomly supporting every single attempted resurrection? Or would you need, every time, to find 100 people willing and able to participate in a 20 hour attempt?
At the end of the ritual, make a skill roll to cast the spell. Apply all standard modifiers for magic use. Regardless of the outcome of the die roll, all contributed energy is spent when you roll the dice. Ceremonial magic is hard to coordinate. A roll of 16 is always a failure, and a roll of 17-18 is always a critical failure – even if effective skill is 16+.
So then, even if all the conditions can be met, you'd better hope whoever casts the spell is very skilled and having a very good day, because this spell only gets one try.
All of these calculations, they establish parameters that are not easy to meet. What size population base could support one dedicated group of healers who all spend the time to study Resurrection? Who would turn up to try and help? What kind of people would try it? How fragile and easily interrupted would a ritual be, knowing there's only ever one attempt?
I can't really see it ever being a routine 'apply money, get result' kind of situation.
Which is as it should be.
In Fate on the computer or in vaguely recalled D&D games, you character dies, you pay a bunch of gold, wake up, and move on. Or get dragged to the place that does resurrections, pay a bunch of gold, etc. It kind of ought to be a big deal, but, on the whole, it isn't.
In GURPS the spell is listed, as a Very Hard spell, taking 2 hours, requiring Magery 3 and 9 prerequisite spells, and costing 300 Fatigue Points.
Three hundred.
FP is equal to HT, the Health stat, which happens in humans in a range up to 20 for absolute physical perfection, plus or minus up to 30%. So, if someone dropped all their points on basic stats, they could have 26 FP to spend. Such a stat is highly unlikely. Spells can also burn HP, Hit Points, representing physical damage. HP equal ST, Strength, plus or minus up to 30%; in theory even in humans this can go above 20, but that's for world class weightlifters. So, if someone is willing to bleed to death to power a spell, they can still only pour maybe 26 HP into it. That's 52 FP to power a spell with, and then die.
Nobody human can cast Resurrection from their own personal power supply.
Powerstones are one obvious answer. A mage can only use one powerstone at a time, so one mage would need a 300 point powerstone. But to even attempt to enchant such a stone, you need about $912,000 of materials. In diamonds, that apparently means 10 carat perfect flawless fancy cut celebrity rings, or 20 carats of round diamond. There just aren't many of those around. And to turn them into a powerstone, you are going to need a lot, because frequently powerstone fails and stunts the stones. Working backwards from the final cost of a powerstone, you're going to need about 280 stones to try this on before there's a success. That means, two hundred and eighty times, you collect a diamond worth $900K and start casting the spell on it, and then do it over and over again. Even if they could cast it four or five times a day that's about 12 working weeks to even attempt such a giant gem. Critical failures would destroy the vast majority of gems - so multiply that by about 280 before you get a single gem that actually works. That's about 65 years of casting powerstone, all day, every day, just to craft this one monster gem. It wouldn't be economically viable, because you'd have nothing to show for it in the meantime, and what kind of person would even make the attempt? Plus any minor failure would result in quirks, weird things that are required to recharge it or constraints upon its use. Such an item, if it could even exist, would be worth around $250,155,000.00. Two hundred and fifty million dollars, plus a house worth. Forget crown jewels, it would be the entire wealth of nations.
And then it would take 300 days to recharge.
So, forget powerstones. The single stone that could do this would reshape the world around it.
... also, it would still be physically small enough to pocket. Easily. Once you have something that valuable, you either lose it often or spend all your time and effort just defending the thing.
But all that means a mage could not cast Resurrection alone.
... A human mage at least: spirits and gods can have vast FP pools, recharged by their worshippers, so if such beings exist in the setting, religion would be your best bet.
There's also ways to turn other forms of energy into mana suitable for spells. Then at high enough tech levels you'd just need a generator of sufficient size. It's alive!
But if actual human magic users want to cast Resurrection? You're looking at Ceremonial Magic.
If you know a spell at skill 15 or higher and have a group of willing assistants, you may opt to cast the spell by leading your assistants in an elaborate ritual that maximizes the spell’s power. Such “ceremonial magic” is time-consuming, but lets you cast more powerful spells than you could cast on your own.
When you work ceremonial magic, multiply casting time by 10; for Resurrection that means a 20 hour ritual, twenty hours of uninterrupted concentration. Energy cost does not change, but your assistants can supplement your energy input as follows:
Each mage who knows the spell at level 15+: as much energy as he wishes to contribute.
Each nonmage who knows the spell at level 15+: up to 3 points.
Each mage who knows the spell at level 14 or lower: up to 3 points.
Each free willed unskilled spectator who supports the casting (by chanting, holding candles, etc.): 1 point, to a maximum of 100 points from all spectators.
Each spectator who opposes the casting: -5 points, to a maximum penalty of -100 points from all spectators!
The sum of the energy from all sources represents the total energy available.
If you had many mages with 15+ skill in Resurrection then they each could be using powerstones. There are so many possibilities for that, it's hard to calculate. But if they know the skill at 15+ they could be leading a ritual somewhere. Why would so many skilled people be in one place? Is there only one place that can even attempt Resurrection?
Mages of lower skill, who still have to have invested a lot of time into studying this spell, can contribute up to 3 points each. So that's roughly 100 mages, to cast one Resurrection.
Or possibly 66 mages, supported by 100 ordinary people.
Either way, that's a lot of mages. What are they all doing their? Dedicating their lives to healing, with that kind of spell investment. So, what, an entire hospital of magical healers, every last one of them having studied Resurrection, supporting that one spell?
Even if there's highly skilled mages, if you leave out the possibility of them bringing their own powerstones, reckon they'd only contribute fatigue, and consider their HT human, that's about 12 mages to cast this one spell. Now that's down to more traditional numbers.
If you figure it backwards from 300 points, and 100 spectators, then 13 very skilled mages would each need to contribute 15 or 16 fatigue each. Even at human average HT, with a small powerstone each, that's very doable.
So your ritual could be one skilled coven of 13, a mass of 66 less skilled assistants with one leader, or varying numbers between, with 100 spectators supporting them.
So imagine trying to arrange such a ritual - where do you get the spectators from? Are there going to be 100 people randomly supporting every single attempted resurrection? Or would you need, every time, to find 100 people willing and able to participate in a 20 hour attempt?
At the end of the ritual, make a skill roll to cast the spell. Apply all standard modifiers for magic use. Regardless of the outcome of the die roll, all contributed energy is spent when you roll the dice. Ceremonial magic is hard to coordinate. A roll of 16 is always a failure, and a roll of 17-18 is always a critical failure – even if effective skill is 16+.
So then, even if all the conditions can be met, you'd better hope whoever casts the spell is very skilled and having a very good day, because this spell only gets one try.
All of these calculations, they establish parameters that are not easy to meet. What size population base could support one dedicated group of healers who all spend the time to study Resurrection? Who would turn up to try and help? What kind of people would try it? How fragile and easily interrupted would a ritual be, knowing there's only ever one attempt?
I can't really see it ever being a routine 'apply money, get result' kind of situation.
Which is as it should be.