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Apr. 18th, 2018 01:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethGURPS still needs to detangle its assumptions to become truly generic.
The Magic rules assume the existence of both an Astral and Ethereal plane that interpenetrate with the material world, and do not specify if this is setting specific.
It's possible they're using the words Astral and Ethereal interchangeably.
And from the typos it's clear that Planar Visit was spun as a generic form from some Astral Trip.
But those are specific assumptions about the nature of the planes.
And specific names.
And it's just... awkward.
Like, In Nomine Ethereal does not mean the same as Ethereal in GURPS Magic but there is a GURPS In Nomine.
All I'm doing right now is trying to figure out how many Planes there are in a vaguely Roman cosmos where Janus, god of gates and doors, can give you access to the Gate college. One for the underworld, one for the realm of the gods, and one to get you home? Or nine spheres celestial and a bunch of realms and rivers below?
And once you've visited another plan, can you become insubstantial there? Well most of the methods assume the Astral goes there, in which case Planar Visit is just knowing where to go while walking around the Astral, which is certainly one reading of several other settings.
But is the Ethereal the Astral and if not how do you detangle that?
And if the Astral doesn't go everywhere which spells don't work in the underworld?
And... all of this might be in Fantasy or Thaumatology, I don't know.
Also there's a supplement about Janus empowered mages who can travel between alternate universes, so that sounds awesome, I'm probably going to get that.
But I have to do actual thinking and possibly research to send my characters into death and back, and really, what's even with that?
;-)
The Magic rules assume the existence of both an Astral and Ethereal plane that interpenetrate with the material world, and do not specify if this is setting specific.
It's possible they're using the words Astral and Ethereal interchangeably.
And from the typos it's clear that Planar Visit was spun as a generic form from some Astral Trip.
But those are specific assumptions about the nature of the planes.
And specific names.
And it's just... awkward.
Like, In Nomine Ethereal does not mean the same as Ethereal in GURPS Magic but there is a GURPS In Nomine.
All I'm doing right now is trying to figure out how many Planes there are in a vaguely Roman cosmos where Janus, god of gates and doors, can give you access to the Gate college. One for the underworld, one for the realm of the gods, and one to get you home? Or nine spheres celestial and a bunch of realms and rivers below?
And once you've visited another plan, can you become insubstantial there? Well most of the methods assume the Astral goes there, in which case Planar Visit is just knowing where to go while walking around the Astral, which is certainly one reading of several other settings.
But is the Ethereal the Astral and if not how do you detangle that?
And if the Astral doesn't go everywhere which spells don't work in the underworld?
And... all of this might be in Fantasy or Thaumatology, I don't know.
Also there's a supplement about Janus empowered mages who can travel between alternate universes, so that sounds awesome, I'm probably going to get that.
But I have to do actual thinking and possibly research to send my characters into death and back, and really, what's even with that?
;-)