Thaumaturgy is a Christian form of magic dating back to various Gnostic traditions, which relies on the intercession of angels and other spirits of the Lord (including saints, martyrs, etc.). It isn’t necessarily tied to actually calling on Divine Aid (see GURPS Powers: Divine Favor), but can be. Those who practice Thaumaturgy are called “thaumaturges,” […]
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Boil and Bubble: Mahotsukai Ritual Path Magic
Japanese sorcery or mahō (which means “evil spirit rites”) has a long and sordid history in Japan. Those who could bend the elements to their command (Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood) were called mahōtsukai or “magic bearers” and were feared and distrusted by most of the populous… …if you’d like to read more, consider […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Above the Law
This article was something rather interesting to write – it came from a kernel of an idea from my Aeon supers campaign: how do powers and the law interact? There is a tiny section in GURPS Basic Set about Spell Legality – but that’s it. So I got to thinking, how could I expand it? […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Codex Duello
Codex Duello was one of those things that came out of a “I wonder if I could…” after a conversation that started in Pyramid Write Club and degenerated into a off-list email conversation with +Douglas Cole. Doug thought that Control Points from GURPS Martial Arts: Technical Grappling might be more broadly applicable elsewhere. I just happened to […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Magical Tradecraft
This one was another one of those things that was a blast to write. I mainlined Burn Notice for several days, while taking notes for cool feats of skill or times when magic would have just been insanely useful to have. I then watched a few spy movies, made a few more notes, and then […]
Continue readingBoil and Bubble: Ritual Path Magic Sacrifices
There were a couple of interesting topics recently on the forums about Ritual Path magic and sacrifices for energy. Some were about how much energy you could give or how much you could gather from a stadium of people or my personal favorite: summoning a demon and then forcing it to give you energy or be […]
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Boil and Bubble: Ritual Path Magic Mana Batteries
Ritual Path Magic is one of the more flexible magical systems GURPS 4th edition has yet to produce. It’s got its share of perceived woes (lack of “power stones” or an enchantment system that conforms to how the system itself functions), but it also can shine brilliantly in just about any genre with the right […]
Continue readingBoil and Bubble: Spell Kits for Casters – Cryomancer
Fire tends to be the “go-to” element for spellwork that damages the target. But what of ice? Cold can kill just as easily as heat can. It’s the extremes of temperature that kills…so why don’t we see more “cryomancers” in fiction or RPGs? They can make the ground slippery, preserve a corpse, silence an alarm […]
Continue readingBoil and Bubble: Magical Styles – Demonology
My last installment of magical styles was almost a year ago. The post did prove popular, but I didn’t get back to this until now. Mostly because I’ve been really busy and this sort of intense article requires a lot of research and precise planning – styles take time to make the right way and […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: A Familiar Path
This started off life as a outtake from the already monstrous “Alternative Ritual Path Magic” and eventually grew into a article all its own. Not counting the time it took me to write the few chunks I excised from Alternative Ritual Path Magic this one took a surprising amount of time to incubate and write […]
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