Welcome to the Cosmos! I post GURPS (and sometimes non-GURPS material) every so often. If you have a question, leave it here, and I will answer as soon as possible.
Made some record sheets based off of the old 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Design Kit. Originally, it was just made for me and my friends, but I decided to throw it out to everyone. This can be used for a variety of games, it is purposefully pretty generic, but it works best for DF. Should be printer friendly as well. See link below for access to the PDF.
I was storming up some ideas today with a player of mine, regarding different ways to make Esoteric Attribute (e.g. like Quintessence) Magic more interesting and scale better with some of my house rules. We came up with two ways to do as so! For this, we will assume that the attribute in play here is called "Magic", representing any sort of magical attribute one would want to use.
So, first things first, what was the need for this in the first place? Well, my player and I were talking about possible alternate systems to account for Esoteric Attributes doing things other than increasing Skill Level and Energy Reserves, and eventually, I came to the topic of damage for spells.
My idea was simple, though it needed refining. Make damage for missile spells be based off of the equivalent thrusting damage of that attribute. Keep in mind we are using KYOS, so this scales slightly better. Now, this would leave the average caster at 1d-2 for spells, which is plausible. But this is only the raw idea, and now, I will give you our refined ideas.
Some notes overall are that for both ideas, check if the original damage is greater or lesser than 1d+0. If so, add that as a modifier to your damage. For example, Stone Missile deals 1d+1/energy normally, meaning that you'd have a +1 damage bonus, but Lightning, which deals 1d-1/energy normally, would have a -1 damage penalty.
The first, is pretty simple. Use that new damage for the first turn you are charging your spell, and that is it. For example, a character casting Lightning at Magic 15 would get 2d-1 damage their first turn, while every sequential turn they would get 1d-1 additional damage. It is simple and effective; better casters deal more damage to start. But, there are weird gaps. For example, at Magic 10, you are dealing less damage on your first turn.
The second idea is more complex. You deal the extra damage per point, but for each additional point of energy invested into that casting of the spell, you take a -1 penalty for each point past the first, and must roll against Skill (adding penalties) each turn you invest that extra point into the spell. Failing the roll means that you lose any invested energy that turn, but can continue charging. A CF means you stop concentrating and lose any invested energy.
An example of the second concept in play would be Little Billy, who has Magic 12, Basic Magic Damage of 1d, and Stone Missile at 14, which has its damage at +1. Little Billy charges his spell for two turns, having a -1 on his second turn. He succeeds both rolls, meaning his damage is 2d+2. Frankie has Magic 10, BMD of 1d-2, and Stone Missile at 14, same as Little Billy. He charges for the same time and succeeds both, meaning his damage is at 2d-2. Finally, Ethan the Elder has Magic 15, meaning he has BMD 2d-1, and Stone Missile at 14, same as his trainees. He charges his spell for two turns, and obtains 4d damage (2d/turn).
Now, there are some assumptions here. The first is that you are using KYOS, which, isn't a requirement. Feel free to use Basic's thr progression. The second is that you are using an "Esoteric Attribute". I heavily suggest not using IQ for this, as you will make it even better for Wizards to take. This works best with an "Esoteric Attribute", like Quintessence, Magic, etc. Third, is that you want to have low damage for Wizards. If you prefer more cinematic gameplay (more cinematic than Wizards already are), use the swing progression instead.
Personally, I am still testing this and might publish something using both of these potential systems. Do note that this can make for stupidly OP combos. Personally, as a counterbalance to this (which was implemented before this was even in my thoughts) was making spells below SL 15 have double casting time, and beyond SL-15 there are no benefits, period. If you think this is stupid, it can be to some, but I also allow taking a stacking -3/second penalty to speed up casting time. My games are also a hodgepodge of various house rules and Pyramid articles, so, take this all with a grain of salt.
This is a short, sweet, and silly one. We had a situation last session where a player asked how the Armor spell (Magic, pg. 167) interacts with T-Bone's Edge Protection system. So, I got to thinking. Initially, I wondered if it would be fair to treat it as Rigid Armor, set DR to 1/5th and EP to 2/3rds, but that seemed like an inelegant solution for it. So, I came up with two solutions.
The first, is short and simple. Armor grants an equal amount of Edge Protection as Damage Resistance, at no extra cost. The magical force can soften blows past the DR. We also decided that inherent Armor Divisor does not affect magical armor through these means; your sword slash is just as good as a spear point when it comes to penetrating magical armor.
The second is a new spell, which is a silly one. What it does, is it grants a number of Global EP equal to double the energy cost, up to 10 EP (or 5 energy). Again, it probably won't have a use, but hey, what if you really want to take damage but can't bleed! See below for both the new spell and the change to the old Armor spell.
Regular
Adds a number of Edge Protection globally to a living subject. EP granted like this is treated the same as EP granted from armor and is cumulative with that from actual armor. Magical EP granted this way has no interactions with Armor Divisors.
Cost: Half the ER given to the subject, rounded up, to a maximum EP of 10 (cost 5). Half that to maintain
Time to cast: 1 second
Duration: 1 minute
Prerequisites: Clerics: PI 2, Magic-users: Armor
Armor now grants EP equal to the DR granted. DR and EP granted this way has no interactions with Armor Divisors.