Ritual Path Magic in Glasstown

 Glasstown has a few different sources of supernatural ability available to player characters. Two of them both use GURPS Thaumatology Ritual Path Magic.

Ritual Magic

Ritual magic is spirit mediated: casters invoke spirits which then carry out tasks. This is true both for settler thaumaturgy and nimerigar shamanism. These traditions differ in that thaumaturgy binds and commands spirits and shamanism negotiates with them.

Common Features:

·         Energy-gathering ritual path magic

·         Fairer bonuses and penalties (How to be GURPS GM Ritual Path Magic p. 4)

·         Buffing Spells Stacking Limit (How to be GURPS GM Ritual Path Magic p. 7)

·         Spell Familiarity (How to be GURPS GM Ritual Path Magic p. 7)

·         Magic is a well-known established technology. Safeguards and countermeasures against magic are ubiquitous

·         Enchanted Items use the rules in GURPS Thaumatology Ritual Path Magic, for protected and unprotected items. However, there is a market for items, sold unprotected. Such items are priced using GURPS Meta-Tech (but still cost points for attunement).  Additionally, casters can produce spirit-fetishes which have the advantage of not requiring attunement but with the drawback of being somewhat willful (also priced using GURPS Meta-Tech). Industrial production of fetishes means that many common items have very favorable ubiquity modifiers. Charms and potions are also commonly available from thaumaturgical tradesmen (typically lacking Ritual Adept). 

·       In addition to desecrated areas there are also insulated areas. Rolls to gather ambient energy are at -5. This does not affect tapping into energy sources or the final casting roll. Places of power cannot exist in an insulated area.

·        Iron (including mixtures like steels) is a spiritual insulator. Iron resists all magic (despite being inanimate) and iron objects cannot be enchanted. Areas completely surrounded by iron are desecrated and areas mostly surrounded by iron with gaps are insulated. This is why the expansion of the railroads has rendered much of the East insulated.

·         Orichalcum and living things are spiritual conductors (as is the obsidian of the Black City). A forest grove or an orichalcum ring inside an insulated zone creates a space that can be then consecrated or become a place of power. Orichalcum (and Black City Glass) objects also get resistance rolls against hostile magic and can be enchanted.

Thaumaturgy

The magical tradition brought out of Doomed Lantis by the colonists, thaumaturgy largely uses ritual path magic as written. Thaumaturges use Thaumatology as their core skill. The path names are based on those of the old gods (a remnant of the religious origins of secular magic):

Paths of Magic:

·         Path of Body (Apollo)

·         Path of Chance (Tyche)

·         Path of Crossroads (Hermes)

·         Path of Energy (Zeus)

·         Path of Magic (Hecate)

·         Path of Matter (Poseidon)

·         Path of Mind (Athena)

·         Path of Spirit (Psyche)

·         Path of Undead (Hades)

When thaumaturgy botches, the spirits escape control and wreak havoc. Spirits released by a thaumaturgical botch are commonly called “demons”.

Thaumaturges that are also invested by the Black Pharaoh can use the rules for Divine Favor (“Alternative Ritual Path Magic”, Pyramid #3/66: The Laws of Magic p. 5).

Shamanism

The native magical tradition of the nimerigar works by negotiation and bargaining. This results in the typical shaman bound into a system of ritualistic behavior to appease spirits in exchange for safer critical failures. Practicing nimerigar shamanism is one of the cultural practices that eventually will transform the practitioner into a nimerigar. Shamans use Ritual Magic as the core skill.

On a critical failure that would normally result in a botch, the magician makes a reaction roll for the spirits (or an Influence Roll if they have Medium and Spirit Empathy).

·         Disastrous The botch occurs with triple (rather than double) the energy gathered. The shaman loses the use of both Magery and Ritual Adept for at least 1d days. After this period they may attempt a purification ritual. This requires a successful Ritual Magic roll at -10 and 1 hour. The shaman can improve their odds by taking extra time (B346), bribery by permanently sacrificing valuables (use the modifiers for Money Talks p. B44), and by swearing elaborate oaths (each -5 in new Vows gives +3 to the roll). On a failure the shaman must wait another 1d days before trying again and on a critical failure they suffer another botch of equal magnitude!

·         Very Bad The botch occurs with triple the energy gathered and the shaman loses the use of Magery and Ritual Adept for 24 hours.

·         Bad The botch occurs normally and the shaman loses Magery and Ritual Adept for 24 hours.

·         Poor The botch occurs normally.

·         Neutral The ritual fails without botching. All energy gathered is lost.

·         Good: The shaman accumulates 1 point of energy and the spell is quirked, just as if the roll had failed.

·         Very Good The shaman accumulates 1 point of energy as though the roll had succeeded by 0

·         Excellent The shaman accumulates 1 point of energy (as if a success by 0) and the next gathering attempt takes only 1 second (as for a critical success).

Shamans must take Stable Casting, Fickle +30%, and Pact, Disciplines of Faith (Ritualism) -5% on both Magery and Ritual Adept.  

Nimerigar cosmology divides the universe differently from thaumaturgy, with six path skills.

Shamanistic Paths

·         The Manitou Path: Magic, incorporeal spirits.

·         The Between Path: travel, gates, and corporeal spirits (like themselves), foreign faeries (including tommyknockers).

·         The Vision Path: past, future, chance, dreams, divination, knowledge

·         The Lower Path death, decay, ancestor spirits, the undead

·         The Middle Path cycles, matter, nature, plants, animals, humans and other non-fae colonizers

·         The Upper Path creation, energy, mind and consciousness.