Stock #37-2754

Contents
­In This Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Alchemists’ Guild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
By Alden Loveshade
The Social Delver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
By Matt Riggsby Burn While Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
By J. Edward Tremlett
Clerics of Ice and of Time and Fate . . . . . 8
By Phil Masters Technomagic Ritual Path
Magic Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Tome Raiders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 By Christopher R. Rice
By Peter V. Dell’Orto
I Make My Fate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
A Few From Faeries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 By Sean Punch
By Christopher R. Rice
Random Thought Table:
Dungeon Diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
By Aleksei Isachenko The Noble Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
By Steven Marsh, Pyramid Editor
Your Own Worst Enemy . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
By Sean Punch About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Orbs of Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 About GURPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
By Anders Starmark

­From the Editor

For many gamers, “roleplaying game” is synonymous
with “fantasy gaming.” Indeed, the fantasy genre (especially Article Colors
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy) remains a perennial bestseller Each article is color-coded to help you find your favorite
for the GURPS corner of the cosmos. For those who enjoy sections. Not all themes appear in every volume.
print, there’s been a particularly interesting uptick in options,
including the Pyramid Dungeon Collection and the more- Red-Brown: In every issue.
recent Dungeon Fantasy Companion 3, GURPS Dungeon Dark Blue: Character options.
Fantasy Setting: Caverntown, and GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Light Blue: Powers and magic.
Adventure 1: Mirror of the Fire Demon. Orange: Monsters and creatures.
It’s easy to see why fantasy is so popular! It’s a remark-
Dark Pink: Gear.
ably versatile genre, allowing for epic heroism, tactical
combat, horror, intrigue, mysteries, magic, espionage, and Purple: GM advice and adventure ideas.
goblins. This Pyramid, too, covers the depth and breadth of
fantasy campaigns. It offers a range of experience, from arti-
cles and ideas that are newbie friendly, to those that really
Write Here, Write Now
benefit from practical knowledge (and, we humbly note, a Your comments help us give you what you want! How
wide-ranging GURPS library). are you using this material in your campaign? What do you
Whether you’re delving places unknown, channeling pre- wish we’d write about? Let us know via private feedback at
viously untapped forces in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, or fac- pyramid@sjgames.com, or join the public discussion online
ing foes a bit too familiar, you should find something that fits at forums.sjgames.com.
almost any pre-modern fantastic interests.
– Steven Marsh, Pyramid Editor

GURPS System Design z STEVE JACKSON
GURPS Line Editor z SEAN PUNCH
GURPS Project Manager z STEVEN MARSH
Production Manager z SABRINA GONZALEZ
Director of Sales z ROSS JEPSON
Editorial Assistance, Production Artist,
& Prepress Checker z NIKOLA VRTIS
Additional Editorial Assistance z
RACHEL MERRILL
Page Design z PHIL REED & JUSTIN DE WITT
President/Editor-in-Chief z STEVE JACKSON
Chief Executive Officer z PHILIP REED
Chief Creative Officer z SAM MITSCHKE
Chief Operating Officer z SUSAN BUENO
Project Manager z DARRYLL SILVA

Pyramid Magazine 2 Fantasy/Magic II

 ­In This Issue
The flicker of a firefly in a gloomy glen. The crack of light- Thanks to the Orbs of Power, there’s no “can’t” in “incanta-
ning defining an empty sky. The glow of an unknown creature tion”! Tantalizing spheres are here, with eight magical artifacts
swimming in the murky depths. Magic comes into focus as from Anders Starmark to strategically place in your GURPS
new worlds await in this installment of Pyramid devoted to all campaign – each with their own powers and problems.
things fantastical and magical. Mix things up – literally – in your fantasy campaign, thanks
Make friends and influence villagers by becoming The to The Alchemists’ Guild. Alden Loveshade, author of GURPS
Social Delver. Matt Riggsby, author of GURPS Fantasy-Tech Fantasy Folk: Elves, offers insight into bringing the alchemi-
1: The Edge of Reality, suggests new lenses for GURPS cal world into different settings, as well as a sample alchemist
Dungeon Fantasy that tie into the gregarious side of engag- complete with GURPS stats.
ing goblins and grabbing gold. Unleash your inner aristocrat! Destroying that sensitive info after you see it is sensible,
When the future to know meets the realm of snow, you need but some books are so sinister that perhaps the best advice
the Clerics of Ice and Time and Fate. Phil Masters – author of is to Burn While Reading. GURPS Horror: Beyond the Pale
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics – adds co-author J. Edward Tremlett brings
two new divine domains for that supplement, you three terrifying tomes that show
covering the bitter cold and things foretold. that with terrific knowledge comes
Insight into the unknown comes to your terrifying possibilities.
dungeon delvers, courtesy of the Tome Raiders. Magic is not incompatible with
Make rumors and details more significant in technology, as shown by Technomagic
your GURPS Dungeon Fantasy campaign with Ritual Path Magic Spells. Christopher
the help of Peter V. Dell’Orto, author of GURPS R. Rice draws on the expertise that
Dungeon Fantasy 21: Megadungeons. let him craft How to Be a GURPS
Magic items! Many are from antiquity, some GM: Ritual Path Magic to present 19
from beyond, and A Few From Faeries. GURPS new magical rituals that allow you to
Dungeon Fantasy 19: Incantation Magic “mage” against the machine.
author Christopher R. Rice presents a trove of Some GURPS Dungeon Fantasy
new artifacts for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, all heroes are at the mercy of chance;
of which add some fae to your fate. others look to the stars and say:
Not all treasure-teeming tombs have the I Make My Fate. GURPS mastermind
courtesy to stay high and dry (well, low and Sean Punch introduces you to the
dry); sometimes you need to go Dungeon Diving. fate-bender, a new profession that
Aleksei Isachenko – co-author of GURPS manipulates reality itself to turn
Sorcery: Sound Spells – explores and expands the tide.
on some of the perils and pitfalls of being a loot-getter down This installment of Random Thought Table peeks at the
where it’s wetter. potential of putting noble ties into your game, including some
No, you’re not seeing double; you’re facing off against unusual ways to shake up some fundamental assumptions
Your Own Worst Enemy. Sean Punch provides insight into of aristocracy.
including duplicates in your fantastical games. Heroes can With this issue of Pyramid, the dungeons became more
now come up against foes who know them better than any dangerous, the heroes become more heroic, and inspiration
other adversaries. splashes across your vision like the sparks of a wizard’s wand.

Cover Art: Tithi Luadthong

Additional Material: Drew Bittner, Roger Burton West, Phil Masters, and Sean Punch
Interior Art: agsandrew (pp. 42, 43), AXpop (pp. 30, 51), Alden Loveshade (p. 35), Tithi Luadthong (pp. 15, 21, 26, 38),
newsteach (p. 49), Bruce Rolff (p. 11), Dean Spencer (pp. 6, 18), and Warm_Tail (p. 46)
Pyramid, GURPS, Warehouse 23, the pyramid logo, and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. Pyramid is copyright © 2022 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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Pyramid Magazine 3 Fantasy/Magic II

 The Social
Delver By Matt Riggsby
Killing things and taking their stuff, along with the inevi-
table resource management, are noble fantasy-gaming goals,
but a lot of long-running dungeon-crawling campaigns even-
tually experience what might be called mission creep. Sure,
it’s mostly about tunnels and small rooms crowded with storm
giants, but every now and again, other situations show up
on the menu. The adventurers must solve a murder mystery
while fighting off monsters; then they must escort a grumpy
princeling to his wedding through a dungeon-like wilderness
(and keep him from running away without tying him up or
turning him into stone along the way); and so on.
While GURPS Dungeon Fantasy is a fairly pure exercise
in grave robbing and murder for profit, the GM and players
alike may want eventually to use it as the basis for a somewhat
broader kind of fantasy campaign. And that means doing
something about certain character traits. GURPS Dungeon
Fantasy 17: Guilds, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 23: Twists,
and Traits for Town in Pyramid #3/58: Urban Fantasy II pro-
vide descriptions of how several socially related traits work in
a GURPS Dungeon Fantasy setting. This article more specif-
ically explores how to build characters for a campaign which,
if not socially oriented, at least admits to the possibility of
social interaction while killing things and taking their stuff.
Moreover, it offers other adventurers aside from the bard a
chance to do some talking.
For a mostly dungeon-crawling campaign, delvers don’t
need a lot of social traits. Character templates can mostly
remain as they are. Rather, like the profession-mixing lenses
in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3: The Next Level, a handful
of social traits can be tacked on to any existing template to
reflect the individual’s social position or expand on their
social capabilities. Here, then, are several lenses to provide
an interface between GURPS Dungeon Fantasy adventur-
ers and more socially complex games. All skill levels include
bonuses from talents.
Adding Lenses
The lenses here can variously provide GURPS Dungeon
Fantasy adventurers with a little more depth when dealing
with people in a nonviolent way, or even give them a job
description which isn’t limited to sneaking and killing. Many
are quite cheap. For the more expensive ones, most char-
acter templates have enough discretionary points to cover
the expense; see The Next Level, p. 4, for specifics. For the
most expensive, a player could start with one of the costlier
Pyramid Magazine
templates from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen
and build up from there rather than trying to scavenge for
points in a 250-point delver template.
Aristocrats
While GURPS Dungeon Fantasy usually associates aris-
tocracy with knights and maybe swashbucklers, anybody
can come from an aristocratic background. Indeed, one of
the most notable magicians in history, Prospero from The
Tempest, was a duke and the ruler of a major city before
his exile. But, of course, there are always greater and lesser
aristocrats.
Lesser Gentry
34 points
The aristocracy is full of minor nobles, cadet branches, and
younger scions of greater houses. These constitute the lesser
gentry. This lens is suitable for those who are technically
from a noble background but aren’t themselves particularly
important.
The Ally here is typically a servant from Henchmen, p. 23,
though others are options, like laborer and guard. However,
see Twists, p. 6, for the effects of frequency of appearance.
Advantages: Ally (25% of point total) [1]; Status 2 [10]; and
Wealthy [20]
Skills: Savoir-Faire (A) IQ [2]. • One of Administration (A)
IQ-1 [1], Connoisseur (A) IQ-1 [1], or Leadership (A) IQ-1
[1].
Patrician
58 points
The patrician is a significantly more important figure than
the lesser gentry. Patricians have significant status and wealth
and rather more followers. They’re also somewhat more
involved in the work of being an administrator or a ruler, so
they have at least a modicum of skill in those areas.
This template offers the maximum Status possible for a
standard starting character in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy.
Rising to higher levels of Status may be possible, but requires
significant expenditure of money, which is an excellent rea-
son for adventuring (see Twists, p. 5). The patrician may
buy more Allies, up to the limits indicated on Twists, p. 5.
4 Fantasy/Magic II
This lens includes the bare minimum. A pair of squires and
three servants (Henchmen, pp. 17 and 23, respectively) is typ-
ical, but other options are certainly possible.
Advantages: Allies (Two totaling 50% of point total) [4]; Allies
(Three totaling 25% of point total) [3]; Status 3 [15]; and
Very Wealthy [30].
Skills: Savoir-Faire (A) IQ [2]. • Two of Administration (A) IQ
[2], Connoisseur (A) IQ [2], Leadership (A) IQ [2], or Poli-
tics (A) IQ [2].
Broker
Brokers mediate interactions – from arranged
marriages between families of villagers to commer-
cial transactions to peace treaties. They form a buffer
between possibly hostile parties. They help negotiate
win-win situations while sheltering each side from
unfortunate interactions with the other.
Go-Between
9 points
Go-betweens are at least modestly engaging on
their own and largely inoffensive. They may not be
able to make things better, but they tend not to make
them worse.
Advantages: Charisma 1 [5].
Skills: Diplomacy (H) IQ-1 [2] • Two of Carousing (E)
HT [1], Gesture (E) IQ [1], or Merchant (A) IQ-1 [1].
Diplomat
24 points
The diplomat is particularly socially flexible, capa-
ble of inserting their measured responses into any
conversation.
Advantages: Charisma 1 [5] and Cultural Adaptability
[10].
Skills: Diplomacy (H) IQ [4]; Merchant (A) IQ [2]; and
Savoir-Faire (A) IQ [2]. • Either Carousing (E) HT
[1] or Gesture (E) IQ [1].
Disreputable Figures
Some people are suited for larceny. Even if they
aren’t customarily dishonest, they’re ready if the need
arises. These lenses are for adventurers who may need
to talk their way into or out of situations, whether it involves
telling the truth or not.
Dubious Character
4 points
Whether it’s a product of coming from the wrong side of
town or from the cut-throat social scene of the right side of
town, the dubious character has picked up a little about how
to be superficially convincing.
Skills: Acting (A) IQ-1 [1] and Fast-Talk (A) IQ [2]. • Either
Streetwise (A) IQ-1 [1] or Panhandling (E) IQ [1].
Pyramid Magazine
Bad Example
30 points
The bad example is the dubious character gone pro. Rather
than just having a smattering of socially dubious skills, the
bad example has them at significant levels plus a few advan-
tages to back them up.
Advantages: Smooth Operator 1 [15]. • One of Charisma 1 [5],
Fashion Sense [5], or Social Chameleon [5]
Skills: Acting (A) IQ+2 [4]; Fast-Talk (A) IQ+2 [4]; and Street-
wise (A) IQ+1 [2].
Who Should Buy These Lenses?
Unlike the profession-mixing lenses in The Next Level,
which have different synergies with different templates,
nearly all these lenses fit best with characters who have
higher IQ scores. Even so, barbarians, knights, and the like
should not ignore them. Intelligence, after all, isn’t the only
trait social adventurers need. Selection of disadvantages is
also important; a well-dressed, well-behaved swashbuckler
can be a better operator than a wizard with Frightens Ani-
mals, Unnatural Features, and Bad Temper despite the nom-
inal IQ difference. And for many of these lenses, proficiency
in social skills isn’t the reason for them. Rather, while the
higher-point versions of the lenses below suggest professional
specialization, the lower-point versions are here to provide
delvers with the bare minimum of social competence so that
they don’t have to roll against defaults whenever they open
their mouths. A few points in social skills, simply used to
avoid saying the wrong thing, can go a long way.
What About Bards?
They’ll be fine. These lenses are designed to provide a
focused bit of social capability, whereas bards have broad
capabilities. Any given lens here might allow someone to be,
for example, a functional smooth talker, a competent mer-
chant, or someone with a decent shot of getting answers out
of people, but only one of those at a time. Bards, meanwhile,
have skills covering all of those bases, and advantages like
high levels of Appearance and/or Charisma to boot, The bard
is still the go-to choice for an all-around social adventurer.
Fixer
12 points
Fixers have just enough capability to seal a deal, but mostly
they know someone who can get them out of a jam. And if they
don’t know someone who can do that, they know someone
who knows someone.
Advantages: 10 points in Allies, Ally Groups, Contacts, and/or
Contact groups, spread over at least three different individ-
uals or groups.
Skills: One of Diplomacy (H) IQ-1 [2], Fast-Talk (A) IQ [2], or
Merchant (A) IQ [2].
5 Fantasy/Magic II
Interrogator
5 points
The interrogator gets information from individuals, even
those who don’t want to reveal it. It’s not necessarily a friendly
way of dealing with others, but it is a good skill set for finding
out certain kinds of knowledge.
Skills: Body Language (A) Per-1 [1]; Detect Lies (H) Per-1 [2];
and Interrogation (A) IQ [2].
Official
51 points
Anyone can enjoy the benefits of an association with a
church, martial-arts school, mystical brotherhood, or the like
by taking it as a Patron or buying a low level of Rank, with-
out becoming involved in the regular operation of that group.
But somebody needs to actually run the place, which is where
the official comes in. The official is a member of a group (see
Guilds for a long list of possibilities) who helps with day-to-
day management and operations. In addition to the perqui-
sites of the position, the official has several skills necessary to
administer that or any other organization.
This lens includes the maximum Rank possible for a stan-
dard starting adventurer in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy. As
with aristocrats, rising to higher levels may be possible, but
requires significant expenditure of money. The player and GM
must also decide on a skill suitable to the guild in question,
which any senior member would be expected to have. For
example, it might be Theology for a congregation or Merchant
for a merchant house.
Pyramid Magazine
Advantages: Rank 3 [15] and Very Wealthy [30].
Skills: Administration (A) IQ [2]. • 2 points in one skill appro-
priate for the chosen guild. • One of Diplomacy (H) IQ-1
[2], Politics (A) IQ [2] or Savoir-Faire (A) IQ [2].
Party People
Party people are great at having a good time, which in the
tavern-heavy milieu of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy campaigns
is a useful ability.
Party Animal
5 points
Party animals are natural fits for raucous social occasions.
They’re comfortable in relaxed surroundings, can hold their
liquor tolerably well, and they’re a little bit entertaining or
sexy on their own.
Perks: Either Alcohol Tolerance [1] or No Hangover [1].
Skills: Carousing (E) HT+1 [2]. • Two of Dancing (A) DX-1,
Gambling (A) IQ-1 [1], Musical Instrument (any) IQ-2 [1],
Sex Appeal (A) IQ-1 [1], or Singing (E) HT [1].
Party Monster
28 points
Party monsters are capable of withstanding and enjoying
the most epic of ragers. They can party all night and feel a
minimum of ill effects the next morning.
Attributes: HT +1 [10]
Advantages: Less Sleep 2 [4].
Perks: Alcohol Tolerance [1] and No Hangover [1].
6 Fantasy/Magic II
Skills: Carousing (E) HT+2 [4]; Dancing (A) DX [2]; and Sex
Appeal (A) IQ [2]. • Two of Gambling (A) IQ [2], Musical
Instrument (H) IQ-1 [2], or Singing (E) HT+1 [2].
Regular Pal
4 points
Everybody comes from somewhere. Unless they’re com-
pletely useless in any kind of social situation at all (which, to
be fair, is not out of the question for many GURPS Dungeon
Fantasy adventurers), they’re going to have at least a few
social skills and connections. The regular pal lens provides
the barest minimum of social capabilities, connections, and
background.
The player and GM should come up with a skill reflecting
a typical occupation or activity in the adventurer’s homeland.
This might be a skill for a popular sport or hobby everybody
participates in (for example, lots of people in the modern
world have a point in a sport like soccer), a common every-
day skill (say, Riding for a steppe nomad even if they aren’t a
hard-riding warrior), or frequently used craft skill (for exam-
ple, Calligraphy in a society where good writing is prized, or
Smith skill in a dwarven society).
Perks: Either Ally (25% of point total) [1] or Friend (GURPS
Power-Ups 2: Perks, p. 18) [1].
Skills: Area Knowledge (A) IQ-1 [1]. • One of Carousing (E)
HT [1], Savoir-Faire (A) IQ-1 [1], or Streetwise (A) IQ-1 [1].
• 1 point in one local or cultural skill.
Romantic
Romantics are lovers, whether they’re fighters as well.
They’re good-looking and otherwise appealing to members of
suitable genders (and species)
Average Admirer
8 points
The an average admirer is attractive enough, but not over-
whelmingly so.
Advantages: Appearance (Attractive) [4].
Skills: Sex Appeal (A) HT [2]. • Two of Carousing (E) HT [1],
Dancing (A) DX-1, Erotic Art (A) DX-1, or Poetry (A) IQ-1
[1].
Love Machine
25 points
Love machines are overwhelmingly attractive. They don’t
simply seduce bartenders and shopkeepers. They’re smooth
and seductive enough to fend off significant competition in
pursuit of their intended.
The GM may require other secondary skills that are cul-
turally appropriate in the courting practices of other races.
Perhaps elves produce elaborate garments for their intended,
leading to weaving or sewing being habitual occupations of
lovers, while goblins might find doubles tennis the epitome
of romance.
Advantages: Appearance (Handsome/Beautiful) [12]. • Either
Charisma [5] or Fashion Sense [5].
Pyramid Magazine
Skills: Sex Appeal (A) HT+1 [4]. • Two of Carousing (E) HT+1
[2], Dancing (A) DX [2], Erotic Art (A) DX [2], or Poetry
(A) IQ [2].
Social Scientist
10 points
Social scientists may not be great with individuals, but has
a good understanding of people in general. While social scien-
tists might not be ideal for direct social interaction, they can
advise others on the best course of action.
Skills: Anthropology (H) IQ [4] and Psychology (H) IQ [4].
• Either Archaeology (H) IQ-1 [2] or Linguistics (H) IQ-1
[2]
Trader
18 points
Traders can buy and sell pretty much anything, but since
every merchant has an area of specialty, they know some type
of merchandise particularly well.
Advantages: Business Acumen 1 [10].
Skills: Merchant (A) IQ+2 [4] and Connoisseur (A) IQ [2].
• Two of Administration (A) IQ [1], Fast-Talk (A) IQ [1], or
Gambling (A) IQ-1 [1],
War Leaders
War leaders command others in battle. They inspire those
under them when they can and scare them if they must. But
the higher up the chain of command, the greater capabilities
the officer needs.
An actual war leader actively serving in an army should
have Rank; these lenses only represent abilities needed to
command and not the authority to do so. Rank 3 for the ser-
jeant and Rank 4 for the captain (as suggested on Guilds,
p. 29) are plausible, but by no means guaranteed.
Serjeant
6 points
The serjeant is a low-level commander, directing smaller
groups and focusing on the basic tactical situation rather than
the big picture.
Perks: Penetrating Voice [1].
Skills: Leadership (A) IQ [2]; Intimidation (A) IQ-1 [1]; and
Tactics (H) IQ-1 [2].
Captain
16 points
The captain is a higher-level officer, capable of not just
leading nearby soldiers, but also directing entire battles and
campaigns.
Advantages: Born War Leader 1 [5].
Perks: Penetrating Voice [1].
Skills: Leadership (A) IQ+2 [4]; Intimidation (A) IQ [2]; Strat-
egy (H) IQ [2]; and Tactics (H) IQ [2].
7 Fantasy/Magic II
 Clerics of Ice
and of Time
and Fate
By Phil Masters
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 5: Allies describes supernat-
ural allies for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy druids and clerics,
with specific abilities linked to those characters’ areas of reli-
gious interest. GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics provides
template modifications, special powers, spell lists, and other
details for priests and holy warriors of various types of deity,
from agricultural to war gods. This article expands the range
of divine domains covered by those supplements with two
Chorus: Who then is the helmsman of Necessity?
Prometheus: The three-shaped Fates and mindful Furies.
Chorus: Can it be that Zeus has less power than they do?
Prometheus: Yes, in that even he cannot escape what is foretold.
– Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
New Divine Elements
In GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 5 terms, these deities require
a couple of new “elements.”
Ice
Servants of the powers of snow, winter, and ice are largely
unconcerned by cold and can move freely on or through ice.
They can also see through up to 18” of it as if it wasn’t there.
The most keenly focused servants of these powers can also
freeze opponents in blocks of ice with a glance (at a cost of
2 FP), and they are slippery as ice.
Ice
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe (Only when in ice, ‑60%) [8];
Penetrating Vision 3 (Specific, Ice, ‑60%) [12]; Permeation
Pyramid Magazine
more possibilities: devotees of the powers of cold or winter,
and worshipers of the powers of destiny and time. Refer to the
two supplements for general information and explanations of
the formats followed here.
Incidentally, for alternative treatments of similar themes in
the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game format, see Hand
of Asgard, published by Gaming Ballistic.
(Ice and Snow) [10]; Temperature Tolerance (Cold) 10 [10];
Terrain Adaptation (Ice and Snow) [10].
Ice (Doubled)
As above, plus:
Advantages: Binding 14 (Costs Fatigue 2,
❆
‑10%; Engulfing, +60%)* [42]; Slippery 2
[4].
Skills: Innate Attack (Gaze) (E) DX+2 [4]‑14.
* Treat FP lost to failed attempts to break
free as freezing (see Cold, p. B430), but the
victim doesn’t become helplessly entangled
on 17-18. This trade-off is a special effect.
8 Fantasy/Magic II
Time
Gods of time grant a tiny fraction of that power to their
servitors, including some ability to see the future. Precognitive
abilities are generally excluded from GURPS Dungeon
Fantasy games, as they tend to short-circuit adventures too
easily, but in this case, the advance knowledge that they grant
is limited to that which may become known to a summoned
supernatural being and then communicated to the summoner.
Because the GM always has control over the information
obtained by Precognition anyway, the information can be lim-
ited to cryptic hints that serve to keep the delvers on the most
interesting path. Note that Precognition also includes Danger
Sense, and even if the servitor is surprised, they adjust quickly
(Combat Reflexes).
Devotees of time also have a perfect sense of time and can
identify threats to the patterns of destiny. The most powerful
of them can also concentrate for a minute and then spend 6
FP to accelerate their personal time rate, gaining an additional
maneuver per turn for the next minute. Keeping the effect
going costs 3 FP per additional minute.
Time
Advantages: Chronolocation [5]; Combat Reflexes* [15];
Detect (Temporal Anomalies and Defiance of Destiny) [5];
Precognition [25].
* If this element is combined with another that also gives
Combat Reflexes, replace one instance with Enhanced Dodge
[15].
Time (Doubled)
As above, plus:
Advantages: Altered Time Rate 1 (Costs Fatigue, 6 FP, ‑30%;
Preparation Required, 1 minute, ‑20%) [50].

Gods of Ice, Cold, and Winter

Any mortals who live close enough to arctic realms or to
vast mountain ranges develop respect for the sheer, paralyz-
Ice Gods and Morality
ing, deadly power of cold. Few people wish to invoke such All this suggests that the moral status of ice gods could
powers – nobody wants to call down winter on their crops or range from bleak, nihilistic Evil to a druidic-style Nature-
homes – but anyone who must live with cold winters cannot oriented Neutrality. They could be anywhere on the Law-
but acknowledge the powers who rule them. Chaos spectrum; a goal of freezing the universe solid could be
In their purest form, the powers of cold may be not so the ultimate in Evil-flavored lawfulness, but winter storms can
much gods as enemies of the gods and of all life. Hence, for be supremely chaotic. At the other end, a god of winter sports
example, the frost giants of Norse myth are the sworn foes and hunting could be an amiable, boisterous, Good figure
(and implicitly near-equals) of the gods, destined to bring with a taste for energetic exercise and feasting in the evening.
them down come Ragnarök. Even the stern Vikings didn’t
worship them. However, in the sorts of worlds where some
people insist on following demons or gods of evil, a cult dedi- The days are cold, the nights
cated to the frost giants might not seem too implausible; fight-
ing alongside them at Ragnarök might be better than being are long, The North wind sings
trampled beneath their cold feet, and in the meantime, per-
haps a few prayers and sacrifices would turn winter storms
a doleful song . . .
aside from one’s home.
Other gods of cold or winter were less inimical or had influ-
– Dorothy Wordsworth
ence over certain practical concerns. For example, the Greeks
respected Boreas, god of the north wind and of winter. Cold
winds were usually bad news for farmers and sailors (unless Elements
the latter needed to travel south in a hurry), but they were Aside from Ice (p. 8), of course, storm gods might be
part of life, and there was no sense in annoying the being in related to Air or to lightning as a variation of Fire, while those
charge of them. The god might even do worshipers the odd worshiped by sailors might be associated with Water. Gods
favor, such as making mares pregnant with demi-divine foals, out to bring the universe down to eternal winter could be
or sending storms to sink an enemy’s fleet at sea. The Norse openly Evil, while those concerned with hunting and travel
may have worshiped Ullr as god of skiing and the northern might have a focus on Nature. Travel is also an element in its
lights, and treated the giant Skadi as a goddess of skiing, own right, of course, and War suits both enemies of the gods
bow-hunting, and mountains. Hunters and travelers could and some hunters.
appeal to such deities for safe travel and success in the chase.
In GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7 terms, they might be treated
as gods of storms, hunting, or even messengers and rogues,
but they might alternatively have more of an explicit focus on
Special Powers
Powers granted to devotees of the ice or winter depend on
ice and cold. They might see delvers as worthy worshipers for
the specific concerns of the cult. In all cases, add Penetrating
their toughness, self-reliance, and willingness to travel; bar-
Vision 1‑20 (PM, ‑10%; Specific, Ice, ‑60%) [3/level], and Tem-
barians from the archetypal Frozen North especially might
perature Tolerance (Cold) 1‑7 (PM, ‑10%) [1/level].
swear by them.

Pyramid Magazine 9 Fantasy/Magic II

 Broadly Benevolent Gods (of the north wind or win-
ter travel): Use the Holy power modifier and Holy abilities
(GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, p. 22); add Ter-
rain Adaptation (Ice or Snow; PM, ‑10%) [5].
Nature-Oriented Gods (of skiing, winter hunting, or general
“being outdoors in the cold”): Use the Druidic power modifier
and Holy abilities (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1, p. 22), but
delete the Mind Control option and limit the Terrain Adapta-
tion to a choice of Ice or Snow.
Gods of Evil Winter: Use the Unholy power modifier and
Unholy abilities (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3, p. 41). Change
all references to Demons to “Cold and Weather Spirits,” add
Terrain Adaptation (Ice or Snow; PM, ‑10%) [5], and delete
Dread Touch.
Priests of the Ice
Adapt standard templates for these priests as follows.
Broadly Benevolent Gods: Start with the cleric template
(see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1, p. 6). Within primary skills,
add Thrown Weapon (Spear) (E) DX+2 [4]‑14 to the ranged
combat options and replace the optional Flail and Shield
melee skills package with Spear (A) DX+2 [8]‑14 and Shield
(E) DX+2 [4]‑14. Delete Panhandling and Scrounging from
Holy Warriors
of the Ice
Warrior-servants of cold and ice should often be unnerving
people who seek to emulate the raw crushing power of gla-
ciers or the fury of a winter storm, though gods with more of
a focus on travel and hunting may be served more by self-re-
liant hunters with excellent survival abilities. Base these
characters on the standard holy warrior template (GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 1, pp. 7-8). Apply the unholy warrior lens
(GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3, p. 27) if the ice cult is of the
“Freeze the Universe!” persuasion. Make the following modi-
fications to the template and the lens.
Advantages: Adjust the Higher Purpose to suit the specific
cult. Add Outdoorsman 1‑4 [10/level] to the list of options.
Disadvantages: Nature-oriented cults can replace the first
(‑10-point) section with Sense of Duty (Arctic Wilder-
ness) [‑10] or Vow (Never sleep more than three nights
in the same building or community) [‑10]. Add Berserk
[‑10*] and Pyrophobia [‑5*] to the second section. Delete
Charitable from the holy warrior template list and Lazi-
ness from the unholy warrior lens list.
Skills: In the primary skills list, replace the Hidden Lore
(Demons or Undead) with Survival (Arctic) Per [2]‑12,
and add Bow (A) DX+1 [4]‑14 to the list of optional
ranged weapon skills. In the background skills options
list, add Hidden Lore (Demons or Undead) (A) IQ‑1 [1]‑11
and Survival (Mountain) and Tracking, both (A) Per‑1
[1]‑11. In some games where these characters appear,
skating may be a viable means of travel; in that case,
also add Skating (H) HT‑2 [1]‑11 to the background
skills options.
Pyramid Magazine 10
the background skills options and add Body Sense (H) DX‑2
[1]‑10, Skiing (H) HT‑2 [1]‑10, Survival (Arctic or Mountain)
(A) Per‑1 [1]‑13, and Weather Sense (A) IQ‑1 [1]‑13 to that
same list.
Nature-Oriented Gods: Start with the druid template (see
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1, p. 7). Delete all references to
Green Thumb from the advantages (adjusting any skill lev-
els accordingly) and the Vows from the disadvantages. Add
Skiing (H) HT‑1 [2]‑12 and Survival (Arctic) (A) Per [2]‑14 to
the mandatory primary skills. Choose four background skills
options rather than three, and add Body Sense (H) DX‑2 [1]‑10
to that same options list.
Gods of Evil Winter: Start with the cleric template and
add the evil cleric lens (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3, p. 23).
Within primary skills, add Thrown Weapon (Spear) (E) DX+2
[4]‑14 to the list of ranged combat options and replace the
optional “flail and shield” melee skills package with Spear (A)
DX+2 [8]‑14 and Shield (E) DX+2 [4]‑14. Delete Panhandling
from the background skills options, and add Body Sense
(H) DX‑2 [1]‑10, Skiing (H) HT‑2 [1]‑10, Survival (Arctic or
Mountain) (A) Per‑1 [1]‑13, and Weather Sense (A) IQ‑1 [1]‑13
to that same list.
In some games where any of these priest types appear, skat-
ing may well be a viable means of travel at times. In that case,
add Skating (H) HT‑2 [1] to the background skills options.
Ice Priest Spells
The versions of many spells used by these priests
incorporate appropriate special effects. For example,
the protection granted by Hardiness or Armor looks like
armor of translucent ice, while the touch of a cleric cast-
ing Steal Energy will be distinctly chilling.
PI 1: Frost (Required), Bravery, Colors, Coolness, Detect
Magic, Freeze, Icy Weapon, Recover Energy, Resist
Cold, Seek Water, Sense Spirit, Share Vitality, and
Snow Shoes.
PI 2: Cold (Required), Condense Steam, Cool, Extinguish
Fire, Final Rest, Grease, Icy Missiles, Lend Energy,
Lend Vitality, Light, Minor Healing, Slide, Summon
Spirit, Turn Spirit, and Water Vision.
PI 3: Air Jet, Armor, Aura, Create Ice, Fog, Hardiness,
Ice Slick, Ice Sphere, Icy Touch, Melt Ice, Purify
Water, Resist Fire, Resist Water, Shape Water, Snow
Jet, Strike Numb, Umbrella, Walk Through Water,
and Wind.
PI 4: Air Jet, Body of Ice, Fog, Frostbite, Hail, Ice Dag-
ger, Iron Arm, Major Healing, Night Vision, Predict
Weather, Snow, Steal Energy, Storm, Strengthen Will,
Warm, and Warmth.
PI 5: Breathe Water, Control Air Elemental, Control
Water Elemental, Curse, Dry Spring, Fear, Icy Breath,
Neutralize Poison, Pain, Rain of Ice Daggers, Relieve
Madness, Slow Fire, Suspend Curse, Suspend Spell,
Walk on Water, Weather Dome, and Wither Plant.
PI 6: Create Air Elemental, Flesh to Ice, Instant Neu-
tralize Poison, Partial Shapeshifting (Feathered
Arms) (VH), Pentagram, Planar Summons (Divine
Servitor), Remove Curse, Sanctuary, Suspend
Magic, Suspended Animation, and Terror.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Gods of Time and Fate
Some gods represent time as one of the most basic elements
in the makeup of the universe, as with the rather abstract
Greek Chronos, the personification of linear time (later con-
fused with the brutal ancient Titan Cronus), and Aion, god of
cyclic, ritual time. Cronus was also conflated with the Roman
god Saturn, god of calendars, seasons, and harvests – a god
for farmers. Other mythologies emphasize the power of time
to annihilate everything; for example, the Hindu Shiva, in his
aspect as god of death and destruction, is identified with time.
Still other gods are to varying extents concerned with fate and
prophecy; these deities oversee oracles and prophets, perhaps
even providing the powers. While in principle any god might
grant peeks into the future, the more strongly associated with
fate a deity is, the stranger and more unnerving they might
be. For example, both the Greek Moirai and the Norse Norns
appeared as trios of ugly elderly women, but could command
the mightiest warrior gods with a word.
None of these types of gods are of much interest to delvers,
who like to make their own destinies and prefer deities who
provide direct aid rather than abstract theories. Prophetic
powers rarely work well around adventurers, whose careers
depend (more literally than they know) on rolls of the dice.
However, austere noninterventionist deities might actually
appeal to philosophical adventurers. Priests and warriors
of such deities might seek to extirpate dangerously random
monsters and threats (especially Elder Things, which may
actually come from outside of time and make a mess of the
weave of fate). Additionally, these warriors and priest could
Pyramid Magazine
be tasked with ensuring that misuse of magic doesn’t screw
reality up too severely or with observing that certain desti-
nies work out.
Fate and Time Gods and Morality
Gods of fate and time may well precede and stand above
such mortal concerns as Good or Evil. Perhaps time is the
framework within which the clash of moralities takes place.
Likewise, Nature is simply something that operates because
time permits it. However, these gods mostly stand for Law
against Chaos; time imposes iron rules of causality on raw
potential, and fate dictates what will be, dismissing mor-
tal delusions of free will. (Chaos sometimes creeps back in,
though, making prophecy more complex and conditional!)
Undeath may offend such gods as messing up the essential
structures of reality – unless it’s someone’s destiny to come
back as a ghost or serve some purpose after death, of course.
Elements
The element of Time (p. 9) is of course natural for these
deities, but others can also fit. Fear could reflect the terror
of unyielding fate. Wisdom would be appropriate for a great
oracular god. Weirdly, both Chaos and Order sometimes
appear as aspects of the same god; Order represents the iron
laws of destiny and causality, but the passage of time always
brings entropy, and prophecy may be more about revealing
the most likely fate, rather than the only one.
11 Fantasy/Magic II
Special Powers
Use the Holy power modifier and Holy abilities (GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 1, p. 22) for devotees of these deities. The
moral code required for the Holy power modifier becomes
absolute submission to fate or a devotion to the laws of reality
through a Sense of Duty to all oracles and true prophets, a
major Vow, etc. In the Holy abilities, the only Detect available
is Detect (Temporal Anomalies and Defiance of Destiny; PM,
‑10%) [5]. Resistant to Evil Supernatural Powers is replaced
by Resistant to the Powers of Raw Chaos and Elder Things
(+3) or (+8) (PM, ‑10%) [3 or 5]. Add Altered Time Rate 1
(Costs Fatigue, 6 FP, ‑30%; PM, ‑10%; Preparation Required,
1 minute, ‑20%) [40] and Chronolocation (PM, ‑10%) [5].
Holy Warriors
of Time or Destiny
Holy warriors of these deities are typically austere
guardians. They defend oracles from those who would
abuse their powers, or they go out to prevent tangles
in the weave of fate. Use the standard holy warrior
template with the following modifications.
Advantages: The Higher Purpose becomes “Protect
genuine oracles, Maintain the order of destiny, or
Slay Elder Things and other intruders from out-
side reality,” and the Shtick is replaced by a perk,
Warded from Prophecy (Opponents cannot use
prophecies or oracular visions against you).
Disadvantages: The first set of options become Sense
of Duty (Legitimate prophets, genuine oracles, and
supernatural agents of destiny) [‑10], Truthfulness
(6) [‑10], or Vow (Own no more than your horse
can carry) [‑10]. Then add Callous [‑5], Honesty
[‑10*], and Oblivious [‑5] to the second list of
options, delete Charitable and Compulsive Gener-
osity, and change the optional ‑5-point Intolerance
to “Chaotic” religions.
Skills: In the primary skills, the subjects of the man-
datory Hidden Lore become “Elder Things or
Oracles, Prophecies, and Cosmic Patterns.” In the
secondary skills, replace Physiology and Psychol-
ogy with Religious Ritual (H) IQ [4]‑12 and Med-
itation (H) Will [4]‑14. Lastly, in the background
skills, delete Religious Ritual and Meditation, and
raise Theology and Esoteric Medicine by +1 for 1
point each.
Priests of Time
or Destiny
The priesthoods of time and destiny serve to preserve
the web of reality itself and guide the cults of those pow-
ers. Their cultists understand that nothing is more import-
ant, sometimes because they are oracles or seers who can
see such things directly, and the priests guide the lesser
Pyramid Magazine 12
worshipers and assist the most important of them. Hence,
those priests tend to be austere, stern, and precise, though
sometimes they may step back and just observe destiny
working itself out.
To create such a priest as an adventurer, start with the
standard cleric template, and then apply the following lens.
Advantages: In the options list, delete Healer and add Higher
Purpose (Maintain the Order of Destiny) [5].
Disadvantages: In the first list of options, replace Honesty
with Truthfulness (6) [‑10]. In the second set of options,
change the ‑5-point Intolerance to “Chaotic” religions,
and delete the optional Vegetarianism. In the third set of
options, add Callous [‑5], Honesty [‑10*], and Oblivious
[‑5], and delete Charitable, Compulsive Generosity, and
Truthfulness.
Skills: In the secondary skills, the subjects of the mandatory
Hidden Lore become “Elder Things or Oracles, Prophecies,
and Cosmic Patterns,” and replace Surgery with Observa-
tion (A) Per [2]‑14. In the background skills, delete Obser-
vation and add Hazardous Materials (Magical) (A) IQ‑1
[1]‑13 and Surgery and Thaumatology, both (VH) IQ‑3
[1]‑11.
Time and Destiny
Priest Spells
The effects of some of these spells may take unusual, per-
haps slightly disturbing forms. In particular, healing effects
may be experienced as massively accelerated natural healing,
feeling odd and uncomfortable for the patient, while pro-
tective spells like Armor may involve reality itself warping
slightly to divert the attack. Conversely, some effects look like
pure coincidence, as the cleric adjusts fate just enough to turn
a blade or evade a lightning bolt.
PI 1: Haste, Hinder, Recover Energy, Scryguard, Seek Gate,
Sense Danger, Sense Mana, Slow, and Tell Time.
PI 2: Death Vision, Decay, Deflect Energy, Deflect Missile,
Detect Magic, Divination, Fast Fire, Know Illusion, Mea-
surement, Minor Healing, Scrywall, Sense Foes, Slow Fire,
Slow Healing, Stop Bleeding, and Trace Teleport.
PI 3: Affect Spirits, Age (VH), Aura, Block, Curse, Echoes of
the Past, Grace, Great Haste, Healing Slumber, Images of
the Past, Lend Energy, Light, Long March, Mature, Oath,
Projection, Quick March, Scryfool, See Secrets, Slow Fall,
Stop Healing, Summon Spirit, Suspend Curse, Turn Blade,
Wisdom, and Wither Plant.
PI 4: Bladeturning, Continual Light, Dispel Magic, Extinguish
Fire, Final Rest, History, Major Healing (VH), Lend Vital-
ity, Mindlessness, Mystic Mark, Pathfinder, Pentagram,
Remove Curse, Retrogression, Sense Observation, Telecast,
Timeslip, and Weaken Blood.
PI 5: Ancient History, Armor, Banish, Bless, Cure Disease,
Find Direction, Fumble, Great Healing (VH), Hide, Lesser
Geas (VH), Mapmaker, Pathfinder, Sense Spirit, Terror, and
Timeslip Other.
PI 6: Disintegrate, Disorient, Ethereal Body (VH), Great Geas
(VH), Identify Spell, Know Location, Know True Shape,
Missile Shield, Prehistory, Relieve Madness, and Wall of
Silence.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Tome Raiders By Peter V. Dell’Orto
Information is power, they say. Forewarned is forearmed.
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy is about taking treasure from mon-
sters that live in dungeons. But no sane delvers will risk their
lives unless they have reason to think that the treasure in the
dungeon is worth their time – and they’ll want to know what
kind of monsters are there, too. And no sane players will risk
having to make new paper people without information about
what’s waiting in that monster-filled hole in the ground.
That information comes in two main forms – rumors and
details. Details are more factual, generally, than rumors,
and are gathered through research and hired sages. Rumors
are bar-talk and hearsay, and are often worth less than the
time taken to hear them . . . but not always. Gathering them
takes several forms. The simple way to deal with rumors and
research is to use the rules under Tavern Tales and Moldy
Books (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 17). But
players who demand more rumors and in-depth research, and
the GM who likes to create them and wishes to supply more,
need guidance that is more detailed.
After designing the dungeon, the GM should
decide what delvers can learn about it through
hearsay and/or research.
– GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons
Rumors
Rumors are the bits and pieces of information that can be
found on the streets, in taverns, written on the walls of alleys,
and overheard in bazaars. They’re rarely completely correct,
often at least somewhat misleading, and tend to exaggerate
risk, reward, and the extent of the topic. Even so, delvers can’t
ever seem to get enough of them, particularly since gossip is
so much easier to gather than research.
Rumors represent the filtered nuggets of potentially useful
information someone can get from:
• Hearing the latest news and chitchat.
• Talking with old-timers and veteran adventurers or read-
ing tales of past adventures.
• Interacting with people in the same profession (wizards
at the guild while getting power item charges or learning
spells, fellow guards for knights, conventuals at the church for
clerics or devout PCs, etc.).
• Information stumbled across in general research or other
activities (scraps of maps found in the marketplace, notes in
margins of books, talk between hired sages, etc.).
• Official pronouncements.
Pyramid Magazine 13
The GM may have other sources of rumors. In general,
rumor sources don’t have a specific, original source for the
information. No one can track down the ultimate source or
verify a rumor as true or false except by adventuring.
Generating Rumors
Rumors are bite-sized back stories. They provide nug-
gets of information about what the locals think of the world
around the delvers. What makes a good rumor for an adven-
ture? Good rumors are specific, memorable, and actionable.
They should drive play forward.
Okay rumor: Bandits live in the woods between town and
the dungeon.
Better rumor: The bandits between the town and the dun-
geon are led by the bandit chief Sherven of Grey Woods.
Great rumor: The bandits between town and the dungeon
are led by the band chief Sherven of Grey Woods, and some
say the local merchants would pay good money for proof of
his death!
The first is just some general information – if
the PCs will go through the woods anyway, they’ll
expect bandits based on experience. The second
puts a name on the bandits . . . any highwaymen
they encounter will be seen as either Sherven or his
murderous men! The third gives the PCs options. Do
they question the merchants? Do they spend some
time hunting down Sherven? Do they take Sherven’s
head if he appears? Do they offer to let Sherven go if he’ll
match the reward they expect?
All of these are useful, but the third is the most interest-
ing for driving play forward. And that’s the case even if some
or all of the rumor is false. Pity any thugs the PCs encounter
by happenstance – they’ll cheerfully jump “Sherven’s bandits”
with gold coins dancing in their imaginations.
Rumors should at least seem like they contain a germ of
truth. There must be some reason why it feels or seems true
to the source of the gossip. This can be reflecting a popular
thought (“the deeper the deadlier”), a stereotype (“everyone
knows orcs love dogs, so they must have pet wolves”), or
an actual fact. It’s not necessary for the PCs to understand
which portion of the rumor is actually true. “The second
level down is full of lightning-throwing blue goblins” might
be wrong, but only because the lightning-throwing goblins
have blue tattoos, not blue skin; dwell on the third level and
only visit the second level occasionally; and aren’t actually,
technically, goblins, but rather goblin-resembling faeries.
Totally false rumors should be reserved for critical fail-
ures, per GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2, p. 17. Don’t punish
successful rolls with completely inaccurate information.
Fantasy/Magic II
Moreover, totally false rumors should sound true – enough so
that even with 20/20 hindsight, players can justify how it could
be true.
Gathering Rumors
Every delver who stays in town potentially picks up rumors.
Those who live off the land or otherwise bypass upkeep costs
by avoiding town also miss out on a chance to gain informa-
tion between delves!
Gathering rumors takes a roll against one of Carousing,
Current Affairs, Propaganda, Research, or Streetwise. Rumors
could be random (see below) or tailored to the skill used. For
example, Carousing or Current Affairs might bring in gen-
eral news; Propaganda political news; Research finds margin
notes, cryptic hints in old books, and the scuttlebutt among
sages; and Streetwise unearths the word on the streets from
the criminal set. This isn’t strictly necessary; in fact, it adds
verisimilitude if some rumors just make their away around
town to everyone. Good gossip knows no skill boundaries!
Dead Men
Tell Tall Tales
Keep mind that in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, thanks to
Divination and Summon Spirit spells, even the unknowable
can be researched and the dead questioned. This also
justifies rumors with no known source, knowledge about
Total Party Kills, and even “secret” actions delvers try to
hide but are making the rounds. These spells also allow for
the possibility of researching on such topics.
Players might wish to have their adventurers cast
such spells themselves to gather information. Let them!
Remember to enforce all appropriate costs and penalties.
It’s much easier if the magic user has the appropriate
divination spell, or knows the name of a dead delver to
summon and ask about the perils in the Tomb of the
Trapmaster. However, gaining the information might be
effectively impossible – most spells don’t let the caster
specify what is learned, only how or from whom it is
discovered. For knowing the unknowable from a source
the adventurers can’t pinpoint, rumors and research are
paths with more reliable outcomes.
Multiple Rumors
The GM who really enjoys passing on rumors can give one
to every delver that stays in town, plus one for any appropriate
Ally or long-term henchman, regardless of a roll. Additional
information can be found with skill rolls.
Roll one of the skills listed under Gathering Rumors (above).
With a success, the adventurer gains one rumor; success by
5 or more reveals two rumors, and critical success indicates
three rumors. Failure means no rumors, and critical failure
leads to a false rumor!
Providing one additional rumor per two points of success
tends to lead to unrealistically high number of rumors, even in
a party that only marginally emphasizes Carousing, Streetwise,
Pyramid Magazine 14
etc. Another option is to offer one additional rumor per two
points (for those times when discovering many rumors is nec-
essary for adventuring success), but cap the rumors at a fixed
number – three to five rumors is suggested.
Random Rumors
Not all rumors need to be tailored to the skill or the sit-
uation. Old-school gamers may fondly remember random
rumor tables. If doing random rumors, the GM can treat
all duplicates as already heard, and allow a reroll. However,
interesting interactions can happen if people hear gossip
again. Delvers may say, “Oh, we must have been at the bar
together” or “You must have heard that from me!” Repetition
also makes the information feel truer. This is pure gold from
a world-building perspective. Even if the players know they
all just rolled the same rumor, it has the same effect as hear-
ing it multiple times over multiple sessions – it’s hard to dis-
count it.
Details
Unlike the hearsay of rumors, research turns up details.
Research can be done by delvers, using the rules on GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 17. But what if they
lack the skills, time, or inclination to do it themselves?
Finding a Sage
Find a sage like any other hireling; see Where Did You
Find These Guys?, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15, p. 29.
Typically, they are located with an IQ roll. To find a spe-
cific type, a skill can be substituted. For sages in general,
use Research. For a magical or theological scholar, rely on
Thaumatology or Theology (respectively). If the subject of
research is illegal, opt for Streetwise.
When relying on a skill, use the rules from Where Did
You Find These Guys?, with the following special modifi-
ers. Trying to find someone with a specific but reasonably
common skill or specialty is no penalty to the roll; rare
skills (as decided by the GM) warrant a modifier of -1 to
-5. For example, specialties in skills that PCs can acquire
should warrant at worst -1 to the roll. Specifying multiple
skills is at -2 for each skill – “We need a sage with Hidden
Lore (Demons) and Hidden Lore (Spirits)” – and addi-
tional specifications are also at -2 – “. . . and the person
must be a halfling.” In addition, delvers can seek a more
knowledgeable sage. For each point of skill above the base
15, the roll to find the sage is at a cumulative -1.
Success locates a sage (or group of sages) with an effec-
tive skill of 15 (plus any additional levels from looking for
a knowledgeable sage. On a critical success, the sage’s skill
is 18, instead. On a critical failure, the sage is a fraud or a
crackpot, and anything they say or find will turn out to be at
best misleading and at worst dangerously false. A successful
roll against the sage’s skill gives an answer to the question,
yielding one detail for a sage paid at the one-day rate (see
Hiring Sages, p. 15).
A GM is free to decide that no one knows the answers
to the PCs’ questions, or that no one can find it out without
long-term research. The goal is to get delvers into dungeons,
not to short-circuit adventures with in-town rolls.
Fantasy/Magic II
Hiring Sages
The group can hire a sage by the day, week, or month or
as a long-term hireling. Short-term hires are scholars, vet-
eran adventurers, wise women, strange oracular stone heads,
or whatever, who are paid a small amount for their time and
answers. They don’t spend much time doing research, so the
delvers get only a single, unmodified roll. If it succeeds, the
querent gets one answer about the question.
Pay rates are set per GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15:
Henchmen, p. 32; treat sages as 125-point henchmen. No
sage will work for hourly pay – professional pride and guild
rules demand a minimum of $60 for research, even if it’s just
answering a simple question!
Paying extra effectively provides a sage more resources;
every doubling of the usual pay rate is worth +1 to effective
skill. Offering reduced pay is possible; this gives -1 to the effec-
tive skill of the sage per 10% less offered, and there is no chance
of specifying an unusual skill. Asking for free advice – offering
-100% - is possible but gives the querent an effective skill of 5.
You get what you pay for . . .
Pyramid Magazine
Top People Working on It
A long-term hire allows the sage to spend a week or month
looking into the question. This gives time to consult other
sages, peer into moldy tomes of forbidden knowledge, and
ruminate on the question. The weekly rate for a sage is $400;
monthly is $1,500.
Roll against the hired skill once per week (or four rolls per
month). A success answers one question or gives one piece
of information, plus one more answer or hint for every two
points the skill roll is made by.
Generating Details
Like rumors, details should be actionable and drive
adventures forward. Unlike rumors, they should be entirely
(or almost entirely) factual. Save false information and half-
truths for rumors or failed skill rolls. Adventurers pay good
money up front for this information and should not feel like
they wasted their gold.
15 Fantasy/Magic II
 A Few From
Faeries By Christopher R. Rice
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 6: 40 Artifacts offers a com-
pletely new approach for looking at items with supernatu-
ral abilities. It’s not based on any magic system per se, but
rather authorial or GM fiat. Artifacts work the way they do
because that’s how they work. It also ignores things like
how to manufacture them – in most cases, they are one-offs
or limited runs. This article supplies several new GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy artifacts, all of them created by faeries
in some manner. 40 Artifacts is required to use this article.
Due to the supernatural nature of the items, all of these
artifacts mystically resize themselves for the user unless oth-
erwise noted.
Bacon of Restoration . . . according
Power Item: N/A to Welsh myth,
Suggested Origins: Cosmic and Racial.
pigs were given to
Tales are told of the faerie who blessed mortals as a gift
a farmer with prosperity, bestowing a
pair of pigs that could be slaughtered and from the faerie
return alive the next morning. The Bacon realms.
of Restoration is from those pigs and is
coveted by adventurers and noblemen – GURPS Faerie
alike. Eating it cures most ills and heal
the diner of any injuries.
Qualities
• Quality: Bacon of Restoration is incredibly rare and
is highly sought after. Selling it yields five times the usual
amount (minimum of $75,000 for the rasher) to those who
know what it is, even before any Merchant rolls to get a bet-
ter price. Moreover, the bacon won’t spoil and can be kept at
room temperature with no ill effects. It resists rotting effects,
and dirt won’t cling to it.
• Restoration: Eating a full 1 lb. serving is eaten (this takes
at least a minute) provides a number of benefits. The food
restores all lost HP, FP, and ER. It ends ill effects from poisons,
alchemical agents, diseases, and so on. It also regrows lost
limbs, eyes, etc. It renews any advantage, racial ability, etc.
that has a certain number of uses per day. Finally, all hungers
or desires in the subject are suppressed for 1d days – they can
still eat if they wish, but there is no need, and addictions (e.g.,
alcoholism) are quieted for the duration. Dividing a serving
between multiple people reduces some of its effectiveness pro-
portionally. For example, if someone shared the bacon with
Pyramid Magazine 16
two allies, everyone would gain a third of their normal HP,
FP, ER; regrow body parts over a proportionately longer time;
etc. Happily, consuming even a portion ends sickness, poison
effects, etc.
Weight: 1 lb.
Variations
If an instant cure-all is overpowered, the GM can reduce
it to healing a portion of the eater’s resources (e.g., 50% of
maximum HP, FP, ER, etc.). To make it more powerful, the GM
could have the bacon fully heal the subject
and then add 3d “temporary” HP, FP, ER,
etc., which last until used.
Faeblade
Power Item: 30 FP
Suggested Origins: Magical and Racial.
Faeblades look like swords made of fan-
tastic material such as glass, stone, gems,
or even moonlight or blood. They can take
the shape of any sword the GM likes, but
are usually thrusting broadswords. Even
the least exotic faeblade shines, glints,
sparkles, or has some other visual cues as to its supernatural
nature. Due to their drawbacks, faeblades are often found in
the hands of sword spirits, who were their former owners.
Qualities
• Blade Quality: Treat faeblades as balanced very fine
thrusting broadswords (+2 to damage, -2 to breakage, and +1
to skill). The weapon loses all special properties if it breaks.
To determine a blade’s appearance randomly, use the Visible
Trail and Implausible Material tables from GURPS Dungeon
Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables, p. 56, to determine its material
and visible indicator.
• Sometimes They Come Back: If the wielder of a faeb-
lade dies while using it, they must roll 3d. On 12 or less, they
die and can be resurrected normally. On 13 or higher, they
become a sword spirit (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters
1, p. 29) under the GM’s control. This transformation takes
1d seconds, which is short enough that a newly minted faerie
might attack their former allies! If the faeblade is destroyed
before the transformation occurs, the person dies normally.
Fantasy/Magic II
 • Wicked Sharp: Faeblades do enhanced damage when
wielded by a skilled user. Add +1/die to damage for a skill
of DX+1, +2/die for DX+2, +3/die for DX+4, and +4/die for
DX+7. This stacks with other damage modifiers, such as from
Weapon Master.
Weight: 3 lbs.
Variations
Faeblades might not have a usual form! They could
appear as any sword imaginable: bastard sword, cavalry
saber, edged rapier, katana, longsword, or another suffi-
ciently eldritch or cinematic blade. For even more exotic fae-
blades, pick a suitable weapon from 40 Artifacts or GURPS
Fantasy-Tech 2: Weapons of Fantasy and combine them!
For example, one version might also have Flashing Sunblade
abilities (40 Artifacts, p. 13). These “greater” weapons
should be unique, with their own legends and place in the
campaign’s history.
More prosaically, if the GM feels that the damage increase
is too great for the campaign for adventurers with extreme
skill and Weapon Master, use the better damage modifier
instead of stacking them.
Faerie Mead
Power Item: N/A
Suggested Origins: Magical and Racial.
The fae love their mead, a thick golden drink that lets them
carouse long into the night without harm – but woe to mortals
caught in these parties without the enchanted mead, for they
may dance themselves to literal death. (Of course, drinking
anything in the fae realms has its own hazards, too.) The fae
present their mead to those who win their
favor. Each barrel contains 4d draughts.
Qualities . . . faerie magic can be
• Party Hardy: When a tankard of faerie banished by the touch of iron.
mead is drunk, it gives the imbiber Doesn’t
Sleep for a number of HT/3 days, restores
any lost FP due to fatigue, and gives +5 to
Carousing rolls. Moreover, triple the ST of
the subject for the purposes of intoxication (pp. B439-440)
and add +5 to HT rolls to resist the negative effects of being
drunk (see Pink Elephants and The Heaves, both p. B440).
Regardless of how intoxicated the partier is, they can never
go into a coma. The downside is that the subject must make a
Will roll at -5, as per Compulsive Carousing (p. B128).
Weight: 10 lbs.
Heartseeker
Power Item: 50 FP
Suggested Origins: Magical and Racial.
Heartseeker, Foebane, Trueshot, Silverpoint, Gilded Wings.
These are all names for the same bow. Made for a mortal
hunter of one of the faerie monarchs, it has since seen use by
many others. Whole wars have been fought over it, and this
suits the faerie just fine. Gilded in silver and gold and glit-
tering with jewels, the bow is a prize beyond compare in the
right hands.
Pyramid Magazine 17
Qualities
• Adaptability: The bow adapts to the ST of any archer who
has at least ST 10. This includes any bonus ST, such as Arm
ST, that affects bow use. Even Power Blow counts, if, during
each turn drawing the Bow, the archer makes the skill roll and
pays 1 FP. Damage is thrust+7(2) impaling, figured for the
archer’s ST, however high it may be. Additionally, restringing
the bow takes the minimum amount of time.
• Bow Quality: Heartseeker is similar to a balanced com-
posite bow. It has an Accuracy 7, a Range of ×30/×50, and
a Bulk of -6. Because of its ornate filigree, any attack made
using the bow as a melee weapon also adds a silver follow-up
to the damage (see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1, p. 27).
• Deadly Precision: The user critically succeeds on a roll of
6 or less, regardless of skill. Furthermore, for 3 FP, they may
reroll any result on the Critical Hit Table (p. B556) twice and
take their choice of the three results.
• Elf-Shot: All arrows fired from Heartseeker have -10 to
see or hear them after they are fired. Additionally, the bow
itself never makes any noise, allowing it to be shot soundlessly.
• Seeker: Reduce penalties to target hit locations by 2
(allowing the heart to be hit with mere -3). Additionally, when
hitting the torso, roll again at skill-10. On a success, the vitals
are hit instead. On a critical success, it’s the target’s heart.
• True Shot: Arrows fired from the bow can navigate around
obstacles as if they were a homing (p. B413) attack with the
Detect advantage for that specific target. Once fired, the arrow
will find its target, unless they can somehow get out of range
of the bow (see above). Arrows have an effective skill of 15.
Using this feature of the bow costs 3 FP per arrow.
Weight: 3 lbs.
Variations
Heartseeker is supposed
to be a legendary weapon
with multiple deeds and
heroes tied to it, not a
common artifact. The GM
– GURPS Fantasy can opt to tone down the
effects if desired. If lesser
“heartseeker bows” exist,
remove True Shot and any other overly powerful abilities; the
GM may also wish to require minimum levels of Bow skill to
access the weapon’s abilities.
Mana Apple
Power Item: N/A
Suggested Origins: Magical.
Plucked from the trees of the legendary Isle of Malus,
mana apples are potent items for wizardly spellcasters thanks
to their magical properties. Eating them both replenishes lost
energies and enhances spells for a time.
Qualities
• Mana Channel: Eating a mana apple grants the eater +3
to all spellcasting rolls for the next 1d hours and allows any
critical failures to be rerolled (up to 1d times). Each additional
apple devoured (up to six total) gives a further +1 to spellcast-
ing rolls, but does not extend the duration.
Fantasy/Magic II
 • Mana Regenerator: Each fruit consumed fully restores the
subject’s FP and ER (Magic). Additionally, success at a Will-
based Thaumatology roll bestows a further 1d+1 ER per point
of margin of success (minimum of 2 FP). This excess ER lasts
until the caster uses it.
• Quality: Mana apples are incredibly rare. Selling one
yields five times the usual amount (minimum of $75,000 for a
single apple) to those who know what it is – even before any
Merchant rolls to get a better price. Mana apples won’t spoil
and can be kept at room temperature with no ill effects. They
resist rotting effects, and dirt won’t cling to them.
Weight: 0.25 lbs.
Ring of the Faerie Monarch
Power Item: 50 FP
Suggested Origins: Magical and Racial.
The faerie monarch sometimes called Iolanthe had 13 rings
made by a dozen smiths to test their skills and then took the
best one to keep. All have a similar appearance: bejeweled and
Pyramid Magazine 18
made of precious metals. Some look like butterflies or flowers
wrapped into a ring shape, while others look like coiled ser-
pents or ferrets with glittering jewels for eyes. Regardless of
appearance, they are highly sought after by mortals, thanks to
their enormous power and despite their drawbacks.
Qualities
• Affixed: Once placed on a finger, removing it is impossible
without a Remove Curse spell or the amputation of the entire
hand it was on. The ring itself resists Remove Curse with a
skill of 25.
• Bushwalker: In areas with heavy vegetation, the ring’s
wearer can easily move up to 10 yards in any direction as if the
vegetation wasn’t there. Moving this way requires a normal
maneuver that allows it. The bearer is also under the effects of
Light Tread when using normal movement.
• Feth Fiada: This functions exactly like the Invisibility
spell, but unlike other forms of invisibility in GURPS Dungeon
Fantasy, it does not end when the wearer attacks others and
the effects cannot be ended by others with anything short of
a cosmic ability. Alas, it never works against any of the
faerie, though they might pretend otherwise. This
obscuring effect can be turned on or off at will as
a free action.
• Glamour: The ring’s wearer can cast the fol-
lowing spells at skill level 25 (or their own skill
level, if better): Complex Illusion, Dispel Illusion,
Illusion Shell, Illusion Disguise, Know Illusion,
Simple Illusion, and Perfect Illusion. Additionally,
the ring gives +3 to spells pertaining to illusions of
all types.
• Highly Magical: For non-faerie characters,
wearing the ring causes a few problems (which
some fae use to trap mortals in their realm).
Weapons made of meteoric iron do double dam-
age if they hit the ringer’s wearer. The bearer
acquires Dependency (Mana; Constantly) – mean-
ing they lose 1 HP per minute when in a no mana
zone. In low-mana zones, a HT-5 roll can be made
to resist; if successful, they instead lose 1 HP per
hour. Finally, the ring itself is so magical that oth-
ers have +5 to track, trace, or otherwise locate it
through supernatural means.
• Tongue of the Birds and the Trees: The ring’s
wearer can speak with any animal or plant who
communicate with them, as if they shared the
wearer’s IQ score. They may also speak with faer-
ies or fairy creatures in the same way, except that
they do not get a boost to their IQ. If the wearer
already possesses this capability, due to magic or
innate ability, they get +5 to influence skill rolls
and reactions from such beings.
Weight: 0.25 lbs.
Variations
To weaken these rings, give them all the draw-
backs, but only one or two of the benefits – only the
monarch’s own ring has them all. Or the GM might
decide that the ring isn’t nearly legendary enough
and add another trait.
Fantasy/Magic II
 • Druidcraft: The bearer can also cast the following druidic
spells at skill level 25 (or their own skill level, if better): Ani-
mal Control, Beast-Soother, Beast Summoning, Identify Plant,
Repel Animal, Seek Plant, Shape Plant, and Tangle Growth.
Additionally, the ring gives +3 to druidic spells and abilities, as
if the bearer had high levels of Power Investiture.
The Shield of Cu Chulainn
Power Item: 30 FP
Suggested Origins: Magical and Materials.
Also called Duban (meaning “Blackie”), the shield of Cu
Chulainn is a priceless treasure of one of the greatest heroes
of all time. A smith constructed the shield after the half-fae
Cu Chulainn saved his daughter from a dragon; it took the
smith a year to create the alloy, and another year to forge it
to perfection. When used as a heroic power item (see GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 18: Power Items, p. 8), it can store 50 FP
instead of the normal 30!
Qualities
• Anti-Magic: The shield is completely impervious to
magic. Combined with its Supreme Block ability (see below),
it can attempt to block even magical attacks such as mis-
siles or a Mana Bolt. When used as a weapon, it ignores
protections like Steel Wraith and enchantments like Fortify
or Deflect.
• Elemental Shield: While it’s carried, the bearer gains
DR 10 against all elemental attacks. This includes, but is not
limited to, cold, electricity, fire, heat, damage from weather
spells or abilities, and similar attacks that can be found in
nature. This never includes any attack by Elder Things!
• Shield Quality: Treat the shield as a fine, balanced
medium shield. It is made of a strange, black, alloyed metal
that combines the features of both orichalcum and mete-
oric iron. It weighs half as much as steel and is impervious
to magic.
• Supreme Block: The shield can be used to block any sort
of attack against the wielder, including area effects, cones,
etc. This also allows for a chance to block magical jets,
Missile spells, and so on. Finally, the wielder can block mul-
tiple times per turn, at a -5 per additional block, or -3 with a
Weapon Master trait that includes shields.
Weight: 7.5 lbs.
Seerstone
Power Item: 10 FP
Suggested Origins: Magical.
Seerstones are created by imbuing snakestones (ammo-
nites with snake-heads carved at the end of the curl) or hag-
stones (stones with a hole naturally worn into them) and
imbuing them with the magical ability to divine the future
and see through supernatural obfuscation. They are not
necessarily made by faeries, but mortals find them useful
when living near faeries – though offended fae might kidnap
or curse someone who revealed they could see through a
glamour! While not common, most places have one for sale
for $20,000.
Pyramid Magazine 19
Qualities
• Divining: The stone is held in the palm of the hand and
asked a simple question. The GM makes an IQ roll for the
questioner with all appropriate modifiers; for example, if ask-
ing about a subject with Magic Resistance (p. B67), the roll is
at the usual penalty to use magic on them. If successful, the
stone gives an honest answer and turns hot (yes), cold (no),
or cycles between both (maybe/unknown/too complicated).
Failure means the diviner suffers -1 to further questions. Crit-
ical success grants additional information in a brief vision in
the coils of the snake or through the hagstone’s hole. Critical
failure means the stone doesn’t know and cannot ever answer
that question. The stone can be used multiple times per day,
attempts are at -1 per question asked beyond the first in each
24-hour period.
• True Sight: Looking through a seerstone (even one techni-
cally without a hole to peer through) ignores all forms of invis-
ibility, obfuscation, deceptions, and visual illusion. No matter
the source, even including the Feth Fiada ability (see p. 18),
the effect appears only as a ghostly glow over the subject’s true
appearance. While this ability is active, the user cannot see the
real world out of that eye, only the things trying to trick the
person! This functions as One Eye (p. B147). It takes a Ready
maneuver to bring the stone up to an eye and hold it there,
and precludes doing anything else with that hand.
• Warning: The stone has a limited ability to alert its holder
to threats; treat as Danger Sense (p. B47) with Perception 12.
When it detects an imminent peril, it glows a soft red. On a
critical success, the glow’s color holds an obvious clue – e.g.,
a steely glint, like swords; or an icy gleam, like an avalanche
of snow.
Weight: 0.25 lbs.
Tathlum
Power Item: N/A
Suggested Origins: Magical, Materials, and Racial.
Tathlum, or “brain balls,” are sling stones that can slay
with a single shot. They are made from stones carved to look
like tiny brains and crusted with a paste of herbs and human
brains. Tathlum are usually found in lots of 2d-1 kept in a
leather ammo pouches.
Qualities
• Killing Blow: The wielder must target a foe’s head. If the
shot hits, the victim must make an immediate HT roll at -1
per 2 points of basic damage rolled. Failure means the tar-
get dies. Success means they take maximum normal damage.
This affects anything corporeal, whether it’s alive or not! If the
wielder kills the target, the user may attempt a free Intimi-
dation roll against onlookers at +4 and ignore the penalty for
crowd size! If the target dies, the tathlum turns into a normal
stone. If the target does not die, it still holds its abilities and
can be retrieved.
Weight: 0.05 lbs.
Variations
The GM might also give tathlum the Elf-Shot ability (see
p. 17), making them extremely deadly tools of assassination.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Dungeon Diving By Aleksei Isachenko
While most adventurers delve into dungeons, caves, and
other underground complexes, some are lured by the perils
and riches offered by water. Sunken cities, marine caverns,
and undersea civilizations that mirror those on the land pro-
vide many opportunities for adventure. While the treasures of
the underwater realms are tempting, they often are guarded
by aquatic beasts, undead pirates, alien monsters, vigilant
merfolk, and other adversaries (see All Wet in Pyramid #3/113:
Dungeon Fantasies for examples). Even without any mon-
strosities, the descent into the lightless depths is a dangerous
endeavor that no adventurer should undertake without care-
ful preparation. This article describes new possibilities that
underwater adventures open and the challenges they present
in the context of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy.
Aquatic Adventures
Aquatic adventures can be broadly split into two categories.
The first type is the so-called diving adventure, where
heroes accustomed to life on land have to descend into the
sea or other body of water. This could be a long voyage to a
sunken city that requires meticulous preparation, or it could
be a dungeon or another area with water obstacles, such as
flooded rooms, moats, ponds, or rivers.
Such situations present interesting challenges for some
characters but could make certain characters feel powerless.
A druid might navigate an aquatic obstacle with relative ease
by casting Shapeshifting, but a knight without the Swimming
skill, wielding a long weapon and wearing heavy armor, would
be in serious trouble. Thus, when designing diving adventures,
the GM should avoid making water hazards all-or-nothing sit-
uations that some adventurers cannot overcome.
Providing access to temporary means of breathing in
water – such as from potions, magic items, or spells – imposes
a time limit on dungeon exploration, especially if there is no
way to prolong the duration once underwater. See Tactical
Looting in Pyramid #4/1: Fantasy/Magic I for detailed rules on
what’s involved in such dungeon speed runs.
The second type is the undersea adventure, where the
heroes are native to the underwater environments and have
their characters built according to the requirements of their
home. In this case, such hazards as the lack of air and limited
mobility become irrelevant, as the adventurers are in their
native environment. Instead, other aspects of underwater
activities become more prominent.
Undersea adventures allow characters to explore exotic
locales and players to explore the new rules and possibilities
that such campaigns provide. When a change of pace feels
necessary, the GM may include reverse diving adventures,
where aquatic heroes have to move on land.
Pyramid Magazine 20
Water Hazards
A hero who wants to dive for treasure has to think about
the various water hazards before undertaking such a feat.
Even an aquatic character has to keep these in mind, just
as a land-bound character is always on the lookout for bad
weather and other dangers their environment presents.
GURPS Fathom Five in Pyramid #3/26: Underwater Adventures
provides detailed rules for underwater hazards and activities,
but some of them require adjustment to be appropriate for
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy.
Pressure
One of the main hazards of deep water is extreme pressure
(p. B435). In the context of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, rules
for water pressure and the bends should be based only on
whether or not an adventurer has Pressure Support (p. B77):
no Pressure Support limits the depth of diving to 35’, Pressure
Support 1 to 100 yards, Pressure Support 2 to 1,090 yards,
and Pressure Support 3 removes the limit. The detailed rules
for negative effects should only apply when someone is taken
below the depth limit involuntarily, for example, by a giant
squid, or if they decide to do so voluntarily for any reason.
The Resist Pressure spell is valuable for those who need to
descend to the depths.
Breathing
The inability to breathe underwater is a major concern
for those who plan to dive. Those without Doesn’t Breathe
(Gills) must hold their breath (p. B351) to avoid drowning.
Such traits as increased HT, FP, and Breath-Holding become
important in such situations. The martial artist has access
to the Breath Control skill (p. B182), which is helpful when
there is no choice but to hold one’s breath. The same applies
to aquatic heroes venturing on land.
Underwater Magic
Magic plays a big role in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, and
it is the main means by which air-breathing heroes can enter
the aquatic dungeons. However, not all magic works the same
way in water as it does in air. This section lists special rules
for magic and useful spells for navigating water environments.
Diving casters must either have the Speak Underwater
advantage (p. B87) or know their spells at skill 15 or higher
to use them without incantations. Bards only have the for-
mer option, since they must be able to sing to cast spells. It
is suggested to add Mer-Speech (GURPS Magic: The Least of
Spells, p. 17) to the list of spells available to wizards, bards,
and druids (requiring Power Investiture 1).
Fantasy/Magic II
 Spells that make something rain from the sky, such as Rain
of Fire or Rain of Stones, only work if the caster is not fully
submerged under the water surface. Missile spells that create
physical projectiles (such as Stone Missile) or throw existing
ones (such as Winged Knife) take the normal underwater pen-
alties for thrown and missile weapons; see Thrown Weapons,
Pyramid #3/26, p. 7.
Air magic is useful underwater. Create Air can temporarily
generate a supply of breathable air, while Seek Air can direct
the caster toward an existing underwater source of air. Breathe
Water and Breathe Air circumvent the need for air and water
to breathe, respectively, making the recipient amphibious.
Watery locations in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy are often
home to various carnivorous fish and other aquatic beasts that
a druid can control with Animal spells. Even in the absence
of dolphins, sharks, and other potential animal allies, a druid
can navigate aquatic obstacles with Shapeshifting and help
companions with Shapeshift Others.
Hold Breath from the Body Control college is a temporary
measure against the lack of breathable air. Alter Body, Trans-
form Body, and Transform Other can grant the subject webbed
fingers and toes, adapting them as per Amphibious (p. B40).
Corpulence can be used as an emergency spell to gain bonus
to Swimming rolls.
Wizards and bards can employ spells in the Communica-
tion and Empathy college to explore the depths indirectly, tak-
ing over aquatic beings with Permanent Possession, Control
Person, or Exchange Bodies.
Pyramid Magazine 21
Fire magic is severely hampered underwater, with most
offensive spells harmlessly fizzling out. Ignite Fire cast at the
fourth heat level might ignite some exotic substances that can
burn even underwater. A fire wizard diving into cold water
may use Heat (for a portable heat source), Resist Cold, or
Warmth to keep safe. The reverse is true for Cold and Resist
Fire. Unlike most fire creation spells, Essential Flame does
burn underwater and is even more effective against watery
creatures! Internal fires, such as from the Burning Death
spell, work normally underwater. Body of Flames can be used
offensively, since the Body of Fire meta-trait (p. B262) has
Doesn’t Breathe (Oxygen Combustion) and Weakness (Water;
1d/minute).
While Create Gate usually is outside of wizardly capa-
bilities in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy campaigns (GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, p. 20), in campaigns
where this spell is allowed, it can be used in ingenious ways
to drain water or otherwise circumnavigate aquatic obsta-
cles, often turning a diving adventure into a normal one. For
more information on gate-hopping campaigns, see GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 22: Gates.
Create Animal and Create Mount already are capable of
producing aquatic beings. Create Servant and Create Warrior,
however, produce air-breathing creatures. The GM may per-
mit wizards to learn merfolk-developed variants that have fish
tails instead of legs and can breathe water, but not air. Such
spells have the same costs, but also require the caster to know
two Water spells in addition to the normal prerequisites.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Knowledge spells provide minor utility in campaigns with
aquatic elements. Alarm is helpful for alerting the user when
a potion of water breathing runs out. Test Load can be used
when traversing thin ice to prevent the campaign turning into
a diving adventure!
Bows and crossbows do not work at all underwater unless
built with materials that will not stretch or warp when wet.
Resist Water, Soilproof, or Waterproof (GURPS Fantasy Folk:
Elves, p. 20) cast on a normal bow or crossbow allows it to be
used underwater with normal penalties; see Thrown Weapons
in Pyramid #3/26, p. 7. The same spells protect metal objects
from rusting.
The most important Movement spell in aquatic campaigns
is Swim. While this spell permits the subject to act without
penalties underwater, it does not allow them to perform
actions that are not possible at all. Flight and Hawk
Flight allow the subject to “fly” at half-speed underwa-
ter. The subject of the Ethereal Body spell is unaffected
by water.
Most Plant spells affect seaweed and algae the same
way they affect land plants. Druids that specialize in
Plant magic can use Body of Wood or Body of Slime to
adapt themselves temporarily to water environments.
Sound spells work underwater, but hearing works
differently. See GURPS Fathom Five in Pyramid #3/26:
Underwater Adventures for details.
Water spells, obviously, have a wide variety of useful effects
in watery environments, unlike the Weather college, where
only Current, Waves, and Tide can be used effectively within
water.
Lightning spells work differently in water. A Lightning
cast from air into water deals 1 point of burning surge dam-
age to everyone in the water within a number of yards equal
to the number of dice of damage the spell would have dealt
otherwise. Vertical distance to the water surface is divided by
three for this purpose. Treat this damage as Large-Area Injury
(p. B400). Everyone within twice that distance does not take
any damage, but feels an electric jolt that can disrupt concen-
tration on a failed Will roll. Lightning or a similar electric
spell cast in water produces the same effects, but in a sphere
centered on the spell’s point of origin, which usually is the
caster’s hand. Distilled water (such as created with Purify
Water) does not conduct electricity; thus, Lightning spells
work normally in it.
Underwater Equipment
The default material for metal weapons and armor is steel.
Steel and iron (including meteoric iron) are vulnerable to rust.
For every day that the item spends at least an hour immersed
in water, roll against HT+4 of the item. For weapons, fail-
ure means that their quality degrades by one step – very fine
weapon becomes fine, fine becomes good, good becomes
cheap. Armor instead has its DR decreased by 1, up to a max-
imum of -3. This cannot bring DR below 1. For other items,
decrease HT by 1, up to a maximum of -3. Mirrored shields
(GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, p. 27) lose this
quality after a single failed roll.
Any type of armor that can be made from iron can instead
be made of bronze. Bronze armor (GURPS Low-Tech, p. 108)
has the same statistics as iron armor, but with +3 CF and does
Pyramid Magazine
not rust. Bronze weapons (p. B275) have -0.6 CF. For +3 CF,
other metal items can be made of bronze. The magical alter-
native is an item enchanted with the Soilproof or Waterproof
spell (GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves, p. 20).
Undersea civilizations often use alternative materials for
weapons, such as horn/tooth (GURPS Low-Tech, p. 71) or
coral (equivalent to stone, p. B275).
Bows and crossbows normally do not work underwater.
However, sea elves and merfolk have developed special mate-
rials that allow such weapons to be used underwater with
normal penalties. Bows, crossbows, and arrows made of such
materials have +1 CF. Resist Water, Soilproof, or Waterproof
(GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves, p. 20) accomplish the same
thing. This option can also be applied to string instruments
for bards.
Soon, soon my dear Undina, your undersea
city will be one more jewel to be added to my
collection of conquests.
– Ming the Merciless, in Flash Gordon #1.6
U ndersea aces R
Folklore and fantasy literature is full of various undersea
civilization examples, but the racial template lineup in GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 3: The Next Level has only two amphibi-
ous races – the sea elf and the water-infused. None of them
have the Speak Underwater advantage. Thus, if the GM wants
to treat them as native underwater dwellers, the templates
should either include this advantage, specify that they use a
sign language for communication, or add a free “Can’t speak
in air” feature. The sea elf template also appears in GURPS
Fantasy Folk: Elves. All Wet in Pyramid #3/113: Dungeon
Fantasies introduces the merfolk racial template. Alternatively,
the merfolk racial template from GURPS Banestorm can be
used without any changes, or with Nictitating Membrane
being reduced from 5 to 3, to bring the total cost from 52 to
50 points.
If the GM wants to include additional racial template
options for undersea adventures, they can apply one of the
following lenses to any existing racial template.
Aquatic
+5 points
A member of this race is adapted to water, but cannot sur-
vive on land.
Advantages: Pressure Support 1 [5].
Features: Can’t speak in air; Doesn’t Breathe (Gills); No Legs
(Aquatic).
Amphibious
+25 points
A member of this race can act normally both in water and
air, but cannot dive as deep as native aquatic dwellers.
Advantages: Amphibious [10]; Doesn’t Breathe (Gills, -50%)
[10]; Speak Underwater [5].
22 Fantasy/Magic II
Dungeon Divers
Running a campaign with only occasional water hazards
offers additional, but temporary challenges to characters with
certain occupational templates. When underwater activities
are common or even ubiquitous, like in fully aquatic cam-
paigns, some templates require adjustments to make them
more useful in underwater environments.
Unless made of special materials or protected by spells,
ranged weapons are ineffective in water (see Underwater
Equipment, p. 22, for details). Even then, they are more dif-
ficult to use; see Thrown Weapons in Pyramid #3/26, p. 7.
Likewise, certain skills are more difficult to use.
Thus, in a largely aquatic campaign, if a template presents
an option to take Armoury (Missile Weapons), Bolas, Bow,
Climbing, Crossbow, Fast-Draw (Arrow), Hiking, Jumping,
Lasso, Mimicry (Animal Sounds or Bird Calls), Running,
Skiing, Sling, Spear Thrower, Thrown Weapon, or Throw-
ing, the GM should allow the designer to spend these points
on other skills from the lists of secondary and background
skills, advantages, spells (if available), Swimming, or the
Underwater Combat power-up (see below). Riding (Horses)
should be replaced with a specialty appropriate for underwa-
ter environments, such as hippocampi, dolphins, or sharks.
Acrobatics should be replaced with Aquabatics.
Underwater Combat
4/6/10 points for levels 1-3*
Prerequisites: Any weapon skill.
This power-up decreases the penalties on rolls to hit with
melee weapons underwater by 2 per level, up to the half of
the usual penalty. The penalties are summarized in the table
below. You must specialize by skill.
Level Reach 1 Reach 2 Reach 3
1 -2 -6 -10
2 -2 -4 -8
3 -2 -4 -6
Perks: Unique Technique (Underwater Combat (chosen skill))
[1].
Technique: Underwater Combat (chosen skill) (H) Skill-2 [3*].
* The cost and relative skill level listed for level 1 assumes
a Reach 1 weapon. Level 2 adds two more points spent on the
Underwater Combat technique, allowing maximum penalty
reduction for Reach 2 weapons. Level 3 adds four more points
spent on the Underwater Combat technique, allowing maxi-
mum penalty reduction for Reach 3 weapons.
Individual Challenges
Here are ways to adjust specific templates from GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers.
Barbarians are known to wield large weapons that often are
swung. Both of these aspects make them much less effective in
underwater combat. An underwater barbarian using a shorter
weapon can still deal significant damage due to high ST. Being
physically strong also helps with grappling, which is unpenal-
ized underwater.
Bards who overcome their speech requirement to cast
spells underwater can contribute as much to the party as
Pyramid Magazine 23
they would on land. In combat, they typically prefer thrusting
weapons with Reach 1, so they are not penalized as harshly as
barbarians.
Clerics also need to overcome the speech requirement when
casting spells underwater. Their first melee skill package is the
most optimal one for aquatic combat, as it includes thrusting
broadswords (with Reach 1) and shields. Clerics generally are
support spellcasters, so they are unlikely to have spells that
are impeded by water.
Druids function great underwater (if they can overcome
the speech requirement for spells), as all of their spells can
be useful. Animal spells can pacify some enemies, find new
allies, help with movement, and even transform the druid
into an aquatic animal whose bites and claws take no pen-
alties underwater. If the GM likes the concept of such shape-
shifting adventurers, they may allow the druid to spend skill
points (freed by the “unnecessary” skills listed under Dungeon
Divers, above) on Brawling.
Holy warriors and knights suffer from similar problems.
They should not rely on heavy armor that might limit their
swimming ability in addition to being very expensive. Thus,
melee weapon skill packages that offer Shield and a one-
handed thrust weapon are most attractive for underwater
campaigns.
Martial artists have a chance to shine in underwater adven-
tures. They gain an edge in combat by being agile, unbur-
dened by armor, having automatic access to Aquabatics,
and having their punches, kicks, and knives not penalized
underwater. Most of their chi abilities and esoteric skills are
of use in aquatic environments, such as Breath Control to
stay underwater longer and Blind Fighting to fight in murky
water. The GM may allow martial artists to take the Terrain
Adaptation (Underwater) advantage (GURPS Martial Arts:
Yrth Fighting Styles, p. 24).
The Pool of Nightmares isn’t just a
depository of all aquatic evil.
– Beatrice,
in Life as a Mermaid #3.6
Scouts have a tough time underwater due to their reliance
on ranged weapons. The GM should either discourage this
template or permit redistributing skill points from the ranged
weapon skills not only to secondary and background skills,
but also to the melee weapon skills. This will make the scout a
highly mobile fighter.
Swashbucklers and thieves are highly mobile combatants
who focus on thrust attacks with short weapons. The GM
should allow Knife as a “sword” skill for these templates, as
it becomes an attractive choice due to Reach C attacks having
no penalties in underwater environments.
Wizards are varied, with their usefulness underwater
heavily dependent on their choice of spells and whether they
know a given spell well enough to cast it without an incanta-
tion. In general, they should avoid missile spells as those deal
less damage, have shorter range, and sometimes do not work
at all underwater. They also need to overcome the challenges
described in Underwater Magic (pp. 20-22).
Fantasy/Magic II
 Your Own
Worst Enemy By Sean Punch

You kick down the door, ready to kill monsters and take their GURPS GM: Combat Encounters offers handy advice – but
stuff, only to find . . . yourself? What? How? No time to ponder, an enemy with exactly the same traits and equipment as the
because you’re coming right for you! adventurer(s) is guaranteed to be an even match! (This strat-
agem is extra-rewarding when munchkin-level abilities and
Pitting heroes against their doubles is a classic fantasy
gear have made finding suitable challenges difficult.)
trick. It can work in any kind of game, but magic obviates
• It’s dramatic. “You find yourself facing . . . yourself!” can
many limits – as you’ll soon see. However, you can adapt
be alarming when heroes who believe they’re the toughest kids
these ideas to other genres courtesy of clones, robot or “holo-
on the block must fight a true nemesis: themselves. It can be
gram” replicas, virtual duplicates in cyberspace, teleportation
creepy if the setting mythology hints that slaying one’s double
glitches that transmit the original and leave behind a copy (or
obliterates part of one’s soul. It raises doubts about who or
vice versa), alternate-timeline selves with jaunty beards, or
what else is a duplicate. It can trigger existential crises. It’s
just top-notch impersonators.
never boring!
But why do this in any genre?
• It’s quick! Players love to go places and do things the GM
didn’t anticipate. While supporting player agency is admira- Where Did I Come From?
ble, such hijinks can paralyze the action. Raymond Chandler’s In fantasy, duplicates inevitably originate from potent
advice concerning such developments is famous: “When in magic. What magic sometimes suggests alternative ways to
doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his beat your match.
hand.” Orcs or ninjas suit fantasy better – but what if the GM
Spells. Several GURPS Magic spells (e.g., Doppelgänger,
doesn’t have stats prepared for any foes that fit the situation?
Simulacrum, and Phantom with Initiative) can create entities
Well, the PCs’ character sheets are right there . . .
that resemble someone and even have some of their abilities.
• It’s balanced. Even in well-planned encounters, it’s tricky
However, the quickest spells don’t produce close copies, while
to get the opposition just right. If they’re too wimpy or too
the best replicas involve lengthy enchantments that target spe-
tough, the GM ends up fudging frantically. How to Be a
cific victims in advance. In a world where Wiz-
ards’ Guild masters, ancient liches, and similar
figures wield spells PCs can’t learn, there may
be a way to copy anyone and their gear
Y C ’ T
ou an t ell s part U A quickly, on sight, but only temporarily. The
caster needn’t be in the area – linking spells
When a duplicate replaces someone, detecting the impostor or distin- (Magic, pp. 130-132) can set traps, and one-
guishing between the two requires tricks like the Empathy advantage or shot enchantments might lurk in places or
the Aura spell. The chosen ability must be one that can affect the entity. on artifacts (like a magic mirror, below). It’s
The GM should be firm but fair. sometimes possible to avoid a fight by fleeing,
When a duplicate materializes in the original’s presence, it’s obvi- hiding, or otherwise delaying until the spell
ous who’s who . . . until they grapple with each other or disappear from ends (say, after one minute); casting Dispel
sight. Then it’s time to play “I’m the real me!”, “No, I am!”, etc. For Magic (against high skill); or finding and kill-
witnesses without special abilities, spotting subtle differences – e.g., ing the caster.
whose shirt was torn in the struggle – requires a roll against Observa- Protean Golems. A weird, creepy riff on
tion (defaults to Per-5). In combat, this is at ‑5 unless the viewer takes a the Simulacrum and Doppelgänger spells is a
Concentrate maneuver to do nothing else. The GM rolls secretly. Failure faceless, initially lifeless thing – an unfinished
means “You can’t tell”; critical failure means a lie. flesh golem, say – that quickly assumes the
Ignore all this if the duplication process produces obvious differ- form of the first person to touch it or stray too
ences; e.g., beings from the Mirror Dimension are visibly reversed, or near. To pose a challenge, the monster needs
have evil little beards. protection against being ganked mid-transi-
tion, plus a way to replicate its victim’s gear.

Pyramid Magazine 24 Fantasy/Magic II

Perhaps it’s made from primordial matter, even the stuff of
Creation, that becomes flesh, leather, wood, metal, etc.; until
fully formed, it’s Diffuse (p. B380) and difficult to injure, and/
or regenerates as part of its transformation. After the heroes
have witnessed this once, they can research alternatives to
waiting for a fight; immersion in acid or fire is customary.
Doppelgängers. “Doppelgänger” isn’t just the name of a spell.
The term also refers to monsters that can take others’ forms;
see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 3: Born of Myth &
Magic, pp. 7-8. A doppelgänger doesn’t become an exact copy,
as it retains racial abilities its subject doesn’t have, and can’t
duplicate memories, mental abilities, spellcasting ability,
etc. It must also sneak up on and touch a lone victim,
with the goal of replacing them, possibly forever – which
demands serious encounter planning! However, there
could be similar creatures that truly become someone
else on sight, but that cannot transition between forms in
a “memory bank.” These might have racial flaws heroes
can exploit.
Magic Mirrors. A mirror that duplicates whoever it
reflects is an old-school trick. It might be an enchanted arti-
fact created using a spell (above), with limited “charges”
or “uses” – customarily one per mirror, although several
strategically placed magic mirrors can create simultane-
ous copies of an unwary adventurer! More in keeping with
folklore, there could be a Mirror Dimension, to which a
cursed mirror – perhaps any mirror, When The Stars Are
Right – is a portal. Either way, the duplicate steps swiftly
from the mirror (which, for added challenge, needn’t be
in plain sight). Destroying the mirror is a tried-and-true
way to beat the encounter, but that’s hard if the mirror
is polished metal rather than fragile glass, and a fight is
unavoidable if its creation is defending it.
Magic Gates. This magic-mirror variant resembles a door
or swirling magical portal, detectable using whatever methods
are standard for gate-hunting in the setting. When someone
traverses it, they aren’t teleported . . . they step right through,
while a double appears, going in the opposite direction! The
two are initially back-to-back and unaware of one another, but
that will change soon enough. For an added twist, the GM may
rule that walking back (and possibly backwards) through the
opposite side dispels the duplicate – or that each trip through
creates another replica.
Divine Challenges. Gods enjoy having heroes demonstrate
worthiness by defeating their inner demons. In folklore, this
challenge is allegorical – the greedy person must refuse easy
wealth, the wrathful one must stay calm while taunted, and
so forth – but in games, deities might be as literal-minded as
gamers. Any being powerful enough to resurrect the dead is
likely powerful enough to create a shade of the living, throw-
ing a straight-up duplicate at the faithful (or faithless).
What Am I Like?
There are duplicates and then there are duplicates. Here
are some representative types. Any could be used with any-
thing in Where Did I Come From? (pp. 24-25), but some com-
bos make more sense.
True Duplicate. The copy has all of the original’s abilities
and gear, even supposedly “unique” things. The sole difference
is that it’s hostile. The cause of this antagonism is obvious if the
Pyramid Magazine 25
replica was created by an enemy spell and compelled to serve
its creator, or by a god’s will to test the victim. Alternatively, the
entity might be a foe, as is the case for protean golems, doppel-
gängers, and beings summoned by mirrors, gates, or critical
failures; if so, it’s a perfect copy save for its mental disadvan-
tages, which are aggressive and bloodthirsty. It may make
sense to “flip” powers – e.g., holy gifts become unholy – but
that changes their justification, not what they do. This is the
simplest option despite its level of detail, as you can swipe the
PC’s character sheet wholesale and just roleplay personality.
Erifkcab!
When magic backfires, the GM can roll on the Critical
Spell Failure Table (p. B236), or its equivalent for another
magic system, but that grows predictable and thus boring.
That’s why GURPS encourages GMs to improvise appro-
priate results. However, that can be as tough as ad-libbing
combat encounters – so here as there, you could always
duplicate the heroes! This best suits castings intended to
create or summon an entity (real or illusionary), teleport
someone, interact with another plane of existence, use a
mirror for divination, or conjure a mirror. It’s harder to jus-
tify for fireballs and healing spells. It needn’t happen each
time – on the Critical Spell Failure Table, it would be a great
alternative for a roll of 18 (a monster appears) – but it might
be more likely with Illusion and Creation spells, Gate spells,
and attempts to enchant golems and simulacra.
Physical Duplicate. The copy has the original’s gear, phys-
ical traits, and anything else an observer could see or plausi-
bly deduce – but not their memories, mental abilities, skills,
or magical powers. This is how Dungeon Fantasy’s doppel-
gängers work, and could be adapted to similar entities that
“sample” the target, like protean golems. It’s also reasonable
for magic mirrors, if they reflect light but not the soul (in
some folklore, they do!), and for spells that rely on the cast-
er’s knowledge of the subject. It’s harder to justify for magic
gates and divine challenges – why would a version from an
alternative timeline or an all-knowing god be so superficial?
This calls for more work, because the GM must decide what’s
physical and/or observable; the PC’s character sheet is just a
starting point.
Reskinned Monster. The “copy” is some alien thing that hap-
pens to resemble the original . . . which is still creepy! Many
spells work this way, including anything in the Illusion and
Creation college; so might magical backfires. Doppelgängers
and protean golems could alter their looks to put prey at ease,
but retain monstrous abilities. A god or demon may do this if
cosmic law forbids them from duplicating free-willed beings,
or if they dress up a servitor or lesser demon for some ineffa-
ble reason. However, this isn’t a good match to beings from
the Mirror Dimension, a universe traditionally like ours but
reversed, complete with copies of us that differ primarily in
outlook. If you already have monster stats, its trivial to use
those but describe the thing creatively; without such stats, you
lose the benefit of speed. Regardless, a balanced encounter is
no longer guaranteed.
Fantasy/Magic II
Adjusting the Challenge armor. Such approaches suit how most reskinned monsters
and some physical duplicates work, but are less appropriate
It’s difficult to imagine a more even match for someone for true duplicates. The enemy’s inferior hardware inevitably
than their perfect-but-hostile duplicate! Yet the GM might makes the encounter easier.
not want “even.” A quick, random, or incidental encounter is Tactical Considerations. Then there are all the externali-
often meant to be easier; a climactic one, harder. Some dials ties that worry warriors, like surprise, numbers, and terrain.
to twiddle: Duplicates often appear in ways that raise such concerns.
First, a copy’s abrupt appearance – conjured by a spell, step-
Different Abilities. Physical duplicates and reskinned mon-
ping from a mirror, etc. – can justify checking for Partial Sur-
sters might have “racial” abilities instead of or as well as the
prise (p. B393) or, in suitable circumstances (“Your reflection
original’s. Even true duplicates could vary some, if created by
leaps for your throat!”), Fright Checks (pp. B360-361). Next, if
exceptionally powerful spells, or gods – or if Mirror Dimen-
the entity is summoned behind the hero, steps from a magic
sion dwellers need different intrinsic capabilities to survive
mirror reflected in a labyrinth of ordinary mirrors, exits the
there. “The PC, plus” and “the PC, minus” are clearest, as the
far side of gate, etc., its victim could be unaware of it. Lastly,
encounter grows unambiguously harder when adding advan-
an adventurer reflected in several magic mirrors, running back
tageous traits, easier when adding disadvantageous ones.
and forth through a gate, or dashing past alcoves containing
Complex lists of differences make gauging the difficulty level
many protean golems could end up outnumbered. Such fac-
tricky; do this only if you have time.
tors can only make the encounter tougher.
Different Gear. The assumption that the copy has the same
Magical Flaws. Separate from any intrinsic disadvantages
equipment as the subject needn’t be true. Its gear might
the duplicate possesses, the forces that brought it into being
resemble the original’s, but lack special properties; e.g., a fine,
may have exploitable weaknesses: Spells might have a limited
magical sword “reflects” as a plain old sword. Such fiddling
duration to wait out, or be subject to countermagic; entities
is easier for objects than for people – removing bonuses and
created or controlled by someone might vanish or cease hos-
benefits from specific items is straightforward. More radi-
tilities if their master is slain; copies produced by mirrors,
cally, the entity is unequipped, and “artifacts” are illusions
gates, etc. might be unsummoned by destroying the artifact
or morphed body parts. This is trivial to do – ignore the PC’s
or manipulating it correctly; or the duplication process could
equipment list, have the monster attack with natural weap-
take time (10 seconds, like Shapeshifting on pp. B83-85, seems
ons, and use its innate DR even if it appears to be wearing
fair), during which the entity is vulnerable before it can fight.

Pyramid Magazine 26 Fantasy/Magic II

These offer characters with rarely used skills like Hidden Lore
and Occultism chances to shine, and reward player cleverness.
Such flaws make the encounter easier if the heroes have a
chance of exploiting them; to restore balance, consider giving
the enemy extra abilities, gear, or tactical advantages.
Playing It Out
Whatever the encounter’s challenge level, one “fuzzy” fac-
tor is tricky to correct for: player tactics vs. GM tactics.
Abilities, gear, and tactical advantages do nothing unless
used properly! The player of a long-established character will
be more skilled than the GM at making their alter-ego shine
in combat. The GM who runs many diverse encounters is
likely to be more adept with the combat rules than a player
new to GURPS or their latest character.
A suggestion: For a free-willed copy – particularly a true
duplicate that shares aspects of its target’s mind – the GM
should mirror not only the player’s character but also their
tactics. If the player is employing rarely used items and abil-
ities, exploiting obscure rules, squeezing out every possible
edge, and generally playing for keeps, the GM can do all the
same stuff. If the player is less aggressive, the GM ought to
follow suit.
Doubles that are under somebody’s control – or that aren’t
true duplicates – won’t work this way. They’ll fight however
their master or their kind always fights. They’ll use mirrored
capabilities as best their intelligence allows, and ought to get
Perception rolls to notice their rival doing clever things with
their abilities and gear; success lets them ape that. These
rolls might become Per-based Tactics for complex combat
moves, Per-based Thaumatology for spellcasting, and so on.
All for One, One for All!
This advice tacitly assumes one duplicated PC: An advance
scout meets their double, a laggard faces a doppelgänger, the
point person is trapped in the magic-mirror chamber, the
warrior accepts an arena duel only to see themselves walk in
the far gate, the cleric’s god commands them to face them-
selves singlehanded, etc. That makes encounter balance easi-
est – it’s Jane vs. her copy (we’ll call her Enaj), not Jane, Argh
the Barbarian, Sister Sunshine, and Stabby McMurderton
dogpiling the monster.
Still, experienced fantasy adventurers stick together in a
tight marching order. Players of such heroes have a burning
desire to be wherever the action is, and will charge or even
cheat their way to their ally’s side. This complicates matters.
Some ways to address this:
Just Say No. It doesn’t take much extra effort to describe
the situation in a way that ensures a one-on-one matchup.
On the meta-game level, the encounter might be a spur-of-the-
moment response to unexpected player action, but in the
game world, the duplicate, its master, or whoever made the
magic mirror or gate presumably gave some thought to suc-
ceeding! If the players don’t check their surroundings and rein
in wandering friends, they can’t complain when a shifting bar-
ricade isolates someone, a magical gate teleports an adven-
turer away and then duplicates them, or a scout or straggler
meanders so far away that nobody can reach them quickly.
All Of Me. If there’s no fair way to cut someone off, don’t.
Instead, take a page from Tactical Considerations (p. 26) and
Pyramid Magazine 27
introduce multiple copies of whoever stumbled into the situa-
tion, stepping from several mirrors or huge golem test tubes,
or materializing from each magical seal they blundered
across. This won’t lead to a balanced encounter – PC parties
compensate for each other’s weaknesses, so duplicates are
likely to go down quickly unless they’re of the most overpow-
ered adventurer – but it can still be a quick one, because all
the enemies share one character sheet.
This Is Us. Or, copy the whole group! Maybe the duplica-
tion spell is an Area spell, or everybody is reflected in the huge
magic mirror or piles through the magic gate. Perhaps there
are lots of protean golems or doppelgängers. And a god has
no need to play fair. In this case, the entire encounter will be
balanced, though individual matchups won’t be unless every-
body opts to go one-on-one with their double. Per Playing It
Out (above), try to mirror tactics, too – if people really do
break off into duels, have the monsters go along with it, but if
they gang up on someone, well, their rivals will try that.
No time to ponder,
because you’re coming
right for you!
Leftovers
If the heroes prevail, the players’ first questions will include
“Can I loot dupes of all my cool gear?” and “Is there a dead
copy of me that I can zombify, resurrect for fun, or use to fake
my death in order to escape the Assassins’ Guild contract or
collect insurance money?” It’s wisest to reply, “No and no.”
Still, there are subtleties:
• Entities created by spells – including critical spell fail-
ures – vanish when the magic does. Usually, the body and any
gear cease to exist after one minute.
• Protean golems revert. There’s something left, but it’s a
gruesome glob of goo, not a corpse – although it may be of
interest to the right (meaning wrong) necromancer. Gear
instantly rots, rusts, or otherwise decays into nothing.
• A doppelgänger leaves a dead doppelgänger in its natural
form. A wizard might buy the corpse. Gear decays as for pro-
tean golems.
• Doubles from the Mirror Dimension – however they were
summoned – are banished there, along with their gear. They
might be forever dead, but it’s more fun to say they get a rough
trip home, where they plot their revenge.
• Any copy created by a deity dies however the god, as role-
played by the GM, wants it to die. It’ll probably be unsum-
moned, like a mirror being, but a mad god may leave a corpse
for mortals to get into trouble with. If victory promised a
reward, this might be a copy of the hero’s gear – or perhaps
only one item remains, but it’s upgraded.
This applies strictly to the monster and its gear, not to
things (or people) it picks up. Those remain afterward. Well,
unless the heroes chase off the entity instead of killing it, in
which case it may flee with important items – which can get
hairy if it escapes to the Mirror Dimension.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Orbs of
By Anders Starmark
Orbs of Power are potent magical artifacts, possibly
of divine origin. The path of each Orb is strewn with the
corpses of the foolish. Yet few can resist the siren song of
power – the Orbs promise so much and seem to demand so
little. There are eight known Orbs in existence, one for each
Path in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 19: Incantation Magic.
These Orbs of Power are variations on the ones that first
appeared in GURPS Magic Items 2.
General Traits
All orbs have certain characteristics in common.
Appearance
Orbs of Power are clear crystal globes 3” in diameter. Until
an incanter touches them, they appear to be ordinary crys-
tal balls. When someone with magical talent holds an Orb
and looks at it, the Orb changes to its identifying color and
displays its icon within its depth. Only the holder sees the
changes in the Orb.
If the incanter does not put down the Orb immediately,
then the Orb “challenges” the bearer to a contest of mastery;
see below. Someone who is not aware of the Orb’s nature may
be drawn into such a challenge without understanding what
is happening.
Someone who does not have Incantation Gift (Incantation
Magic, p. 4) can freely hold an Orb; it is not interested in
minds without the potential for magic. Non-incanters can-
not attempt to master an Orb, and the Orb does not change
appearance for them.
Statistics
Orbs of Power are SM -6 and weigh 2 lbs. They have Will
25 and are practically indestructible. If the GM wants a way to
destroy them, that should be difficult. For instance, maybe the
sap of the Tree of Life is corrosive to the Orb of Death.
Mastery
To master an Orb requires a Quick Contest of the incanter’s
Will-based Path skill vs. the Orb’s Will of 25. The rule of 16
does not apply.
If the Orb wins, it completely dominates the victim’s mind.
The puppet gains a Dependency (p. B130) to the Orb itself.
This is a weekly dependency – lose 1 HP every six hours if the
puppet has not communed with the Orb for one hour in the
past week. The dependency is worth -60 points.
If the incanter wins, they now can access the Orb’s power
and gain the benefits and disadvantages that come from mas-
tering a particular Orb.
Pyramid Magazine
Power
Only one person can dominate an Orb at a time, and the
artifact has a psychic link to that individual as long as they are
on the same plane of existence. The owner will know if some-
one touches the Orb (even if they are not an incanter), and if
the Orb is damaged or destroyed. They will also know if the
Orb challenges someone for mastery, and whether the attempt
succeeds or fails.
No one can dominate more than one Orb at a time.
Immediate Changes
Immediately upon mastering the Orb, the caster gets a
Sense of Duty toward the Orb’s kind of magic – a mission to
preserve and guard against attempts to weaken that magic in
the world. For instance, the owner of the Orb of Death would
oppose any attempt to ban necromantic magic.
Second, the possessor gains Addiction (Orb Magic). Treat
Orb magic as a legal, cheap, highly addictive drug that causes
physiological dependency (worth -5 points). This is primarily
a behavior problem if indulged. However, withdrawal leads to
painful effects (see p. B440).
Thirdly, each Orb has its own set of drawbacks that it grants
its owner. For instance, the Orb of Death makes its master cal-
lous and fascinated with death and the dead.
Finally, the caster becomes fixated on the Orb. They may
absentmindedly caress it while speaking, and become visibly
agitated if the Orb is out of reach. Sometimes they develop
the habit of speaking to the Orb and listening to it. If someone
tries to remove it from their grasp, they may become violent.
Abilities
All Orbs have certain abilities in common. The owner does
not have to use the Orb when casting spells, but the traits are
there if they wish to use them. Relying on an Orb’s ability does
not use it up.
The Orb works as an extra-powerful magical component
(Incantation Magic, p. 19), which gives +5 to spells related to
the Path it governs and which aids in creating related scripts
and infusions. The Orb also grants +4 to resist spells of the
Orb’s Path.
The possessor can attach 10 spells as incantations
(Incantation Magic, p. 19) to the Orb. These follow all the
normal rules outlined in the supplement, except that with
the right Orb, the attempt automatically succeeds.
Orbs contain chained spirits, and the owner can com-
mune with the spirit inside the Orb. The spirit acts as a
Contact Group (p. B44), specializing in magic and occult
knowledge. It has effective skill 21 and is always available
and completely reliable. Communing with the Orb takes one
minute per question and requires the user to touch the Orb.
Each Orb also has a set of individual abilities that it grants
its master; see specific descriptions.
28 Fantasy/Magic II
Drawbacks
Drawing on the Orb’s abilities carries certain draw-
backs. Many of these are like The Price of Power (GURPS
Thaumatology, pp. 93-94). The Orb’s spirit is ever-ready to
assert its dominance over anyone presumptuous enough to
think they can master it.
The Price of Power
At the end of any day in which an incanter uses any of the
Orb’s abilities, they must make a Will + Incantation Gift roll, at
a penalty equal to the most complex spell they have prepared
or used over the last 24 hours. This is regardless of whether
the spell has been cast “on the fly” (Incantation Magic, p.
17) or as a prepared casting (Incantation Magic, p. 19).
Example: Tatasha has used the Orb of Demons three
times to cast spells with a penalty of 0, -3, and -8. At the
end of the day, she needs to make a roll vs. (Will + Incan-
tation Gift)‑8.
Success means that nothing happens. Failure gives
the mage one level of Spiritual Distortion (below). This
is a taint on their soul, a warping on a fundamental level.
Critical success removes one level of Spiritual Distortion, and
critical failure gives 1d+1 levels.
New Disadvantage: Spiritual Distortion
The more a mage uses certain kinds of magical artifacts,
the more those artifacts impact the user’s ability, as repre-
sented by Spiritual Distortion. This disadvantage imposes a
skill penalty to any spell cast without the artifact’s assistance
(including all spells that use other Paths). This can cause the
owner to increasingly see the magic item’s Path as a hammer,
and every problem as a nail.
Spiritual Distortion is visible to anyone who can see
auras (such as with a Sense Arcanum effect). As well, other
individuals with Incantation Gift 3+ can use Perception-3,
with a bonus equal to their own Incantation Gift, to notice
something weird and uncanny – even by the standards of
magic – on first encountering an owner of an artifact that
imposes Spiritual Distortion.
Long-Term Consequences
Spiritual Distortion is limited to 10 levels. Once the
incanter reaches this point, the artifact takes total control of
them just as if they had lost the initial Quick Contest. For
Orbs of Power, see Mastery (p. 28) for the consequences of
being reduced to an Orb’s puppet.
Soul-Cleansing
Recovery from Spiritual Distortion is painful and difficult.
Restoring one’s soul requires total abstinence from all magical
activity. After a period of (20 - Will) days per level of Spiritual
Distortion, one level is lost. Minimum is one day per level. So
far, no one has been able to rid themselves completely of their
dependency on the artifact.
The person must also buy off the Addiction (see Immediate
Changes, p. 28) and survive the withdrawal. Even so, they may
need to make a Will roll to resist the temptation to control the
artifact again if they are even in its presence again.
Pyramid Magazine 29
The Orbs
All Orbs are described in the same manner. Appearance
specifies what happens to the Orb when an incanter holds
it. Changes describes the changes an incanter goes through
after they master an Orb; these changes take place over a
period of 1d weeks. Abilities and Drawbacks detail the unique
abilities and drawbacks of the Orb, beyond the ones given
above. Goals delves into the goals of the Orb, should it dom-
inate someone’s mind.
Each Orb also includes a suggested bit of background
detail. The GM should adjust this information to suit the
campaign.
The Orbs promise
so much and seem
to demand so little.
Orb of Arcanum
Appearance: Someone holding Arcanum smells burning
incense and sees clay tablets covered in an arcane script. The
script crackles and glows with power, and the mage immedi-
ately gets a sense of great power and profound mystery.
Changes: A person who masters the Orb of Magic becomes
slightly translucent. This affects the skin and inner organs, as
well as any clothes or armor the person is wearing, and it can-
not be masked with makeup. Most people react to the caster
at -1.
Abilities: Arcanum’s possessor gains three levels of Incan-
tation Gift (this can exceed the normal maximum for the
campaign world; this is an artifact, after all). A long as the
owner touches the Orb, their own personal mana level never
goes below normal. They are also unaffected by twisted mana
zones (GURPS Thaumatology, p. 60). Finally, a caster relying
on this Orb takes no penalty for using other forms of incanta-
tion magic; this Orb is master of all magic!
Drawbacks: The owner of the Orb gains an overwhelm-
ing lust for magical knowledge and power. Treat this as an
Obsession (6) to master all forms of magic. The Sense of Duty
all owners of an Orb get is broader for the one who possesses
Arcanum: it is a Sense of Duty toward magic itself.
Goals: The Orb seeks magic in all its forms. The puppet
spends all its time collecting magical items, books, scrolls,
and the like. If attacked, the Orb can use the magical
items to defend itself, but it’s usually more powerful than
anything else.
Orb of Augury
Appearance: Upon holding the Orb, a mage experiences a
feeling that they had an epiphany, but they are not quite clear
on what they realized.
Changes: The person exudes an almost palpable aura of
knowledge. People tend to seek them out for answers to ques-
tions and are visibly surprised when the incanter doesn’t know
the answer to a question.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Abilities: The Orb’s master gets Very Blessed (p. B41) and
Extraordinary Luck (p. B66).
Drawbacks: The one who possesses this Orb gains an
Obsession (p. B146) to seek out new knowledge, no matter
how dangerous and no matter how trivial. The self-control
number is 6.
Goals: The Orb wants to collect all the world’s sources of
knowledge (books, scrolls, tablets, sages, etc.) into one, easily
accessible place.
Orb of Demonology
Appearance: What happens when a person holds the Orb
depends on whether the person holding the Orb is more
Pyramid Magazine 30
aligned with Good or Evil (as determined by the GM and,
if relevant, the player). The incanter sees a vision of either
Heaven or Hell and knows that the legions of that region are
at their command.
Changes: Upon mastering the Orb, the artifact makes
a decision about whether its master is closer to Heaven or
Hell. It then changes the person’s appearance so that they
look more like a being from that plane. Disadvantages suit-
able for the “wrong” system of ethics are replaced with more
appropriate disadvantages.
Abilities: Demons and angels must win a Quick
Contest of Will against the Orb’s owner to be able to harm
the person, regardless of the disposition of the mage.
Fantasy/Magic II
If the Orb’s master orders them to do something, the enti-
ties must make a Will roll to disobey them. In addition, the
incanter is immune to hellfire and other forms of energy
derived from the infernal or celestial realms.
Drawbacks: The owner of this Orb shines like a beacon to
angels and demons, allowing these entities to sense where
the mage is at any moment, up to a mile away.
Goals: Depending on the puppet’s alignment, the Orb
desires to bring the normal plane into either the infernal or
celestial realms. This usually involves the conversion or mass
murder of everyone who is on the “wrong” side.
Orb of Elementalism
Appearance: Upon gazing into the Orb, an incanter can see
a confluence of all the elements, a blinding flash, and then . . .
nothing.
Changes: The skin of the owner of the Orb takes on a key
visual feature reminiscent of their preferred base element. For
instance, someone who chooses metal gains a metallic sheen
to their skin, while one who picks fire looks like they are con-
stantly glowing and they radiate heat.
Abilities: The Orb grants the possessor total immunity to
all elements. Fire does not scorch them, lightning leaves them
untouched, metal weapons bounce off them, etc. Unarmed
attacks by living beings (fists, kicks, grapples, etc.) still affect
them normally.
Drawbacks: The owner gains a fickle temperament, a mind
that changes as the elements fight for control over their psy-
che. One moment, the person is as unyielding as steel only to
become as movable as air the next.
Goals: The Orb strives to reduce the world to its elements,
literally, and then take that condition one step further. It
ultimately seeks the apeiron, the undifferentiated state that
existed before the world was formed.
Orb of Mesmerism
Appearance: Upon holding the Orb, an incanter sees rep-
resentatives of all the different sapient races of the world in
the Orb. They bow before the viewer, and that person feels a
sense of dominance.
Changes: The owner’s eyes become the color of molten
gold and glow with an inner light. Their body seems to radi-
ate an inner light of authority, a light which leaves the area
in darkness but illuminates people’s souls.
Abilities: Any living member of a sapient race must win
a Quick Contest of Will against the Orb’s master to be able
to hurt that person. The Orb grants four levels of Charisma
and 8 points in Leadership to its possessor. If the mage
desires, they can manifest their power as Terror (Awe) 1 (see
GURPS Powers, p. 84) toward living natural beings (that
is, not elementals, demons, angels, etc.). For those with-
out GURPS Powers, this ability works the same as stan-
dard Terror except that reactions are based on amazement
and reverence.
Drawbacks: Mesmerism’s owner gains an exaggerated
sense of their own worth and capabilities. Treat this as Meg-
alomania (p. B144) – although with the abilities granted by
the Orb, this may be well-founded! The incanter develops
an overwhelming curiosity about the world of the mind and
seeks to explore it using any means possible.
Pyramid Magazine 31
Goals: Mesmerism’s goals are rather simple – it desires
dominance over the world and everyone in it. It is not particu-
larly interested in controlling the bodies or material resources;
it wants to influence people’s mind.
Orb of Necromancy
Appearance: When held by an incanter, the Orb displays
the person’s visage rapidly aging and decaying into a skull.
The skull’s eye sockets gleam with an unholy light. The
incanter also senses the strong scent of embalming fluids
and damp earth.
Changes: The possessor’s skin takes on a sickly, sal-
low color and their body becomes skeletally thin (treat as
Skinny). Their bones become unpleasantly prominent, low-
ering their Appearance by one step.
Drawbacks: The Orb’s owner becomes fascinated with
the study of the death and the dead. People exposed to this
morbidity react to the person at -3. The mage also becomes
Callous (p. B125), completely disregarding the emotions of
others. In addition, any creature of death within 100 yards
knows exactly where the Orb’s master is at any time.
Abilities: The Death Orb slowly turn its possessor into an
undead monstrosity, something equal to a lich (if they exist
in the setting). The individual cannot be killed until they
lose the Orb; their bodies will reconstitute somewhere else
(treat this as Unkillable 3, p. B95, but without costing 25
points per death).
Goals: The Orb of Death seeks nothing less than the
destruction of all living beings. It begins with sapient beings,
as they are more likely to disturb the Orb’s plans.
Orb of Transfiguration
Appearance: Upon holding the Orb, a mage sees an impres-
sion of themselves as a perfect specimen of their race.
Changes: The person changes to become more attractive,
taking on the appearance of an ideal specimen of their race.
Hair, skin, and eye color do not change, but the individual
loses scars and blemishes, becomes the perfect height and
physique, etc.
Abilities: The Orb makes its master’s body stronger, grant-
ing +1 to ST, DX, and HT if the mage has the artifact. The
individual loses any build-related disadvantages (Skinny,
Fat, etc.). It also grants the bearer Appearance (Transcen-
dent; Impressive) (p. B21). People who see the owner marvel
at the person’s regal bearing.
Drawbacks: The one who possesses this Orb become fas-
cinated with appearance and the many facets of ugliness
and beauty. They try to “improve” the people around them.
At first, they stick to locally accepted standards of beauty,
but as the Orb grows in influence over the owner, the mage
explores various grotesqueries (people with two heads, faces
with a ring of eyes surrounding a central orifice, etc.).
Goals: The Orb itself is intrigued by bodies and how the
Path of Transfiguration can alter them. Melding bodies,
dividing them, experimenting on the human (and non-hu-
man) form. There seems to be very little thought to this, and
there is no concern for what the people experimented on
want or need.
Fantasy/Magic II
 The Alchemists’
Guild By Alden Loveshade
“Congratulations, Master Gribiik, on your elevation to
guildmaster,” said the human woman Leyim. “We hope – “
“Those ‘exotic’ lemon seeds I do not need,” interrupted
the goblin Grand Master Gribiik the Alchemist. “They aren’t
significantly different from what I can get cheaply from Cardiel.
But these cloves, interesting . . . You say these came from central
al-Wazif?”
Lemissa began, “Oh, no. We picked those up in – “
“We did not say where we got them, Grand Master,”
interrupted Leyim, scowling at her cousin Lemissa.
Gribiik chuckled. “You’d be surprised how many people fall
for that trick . . . I’ll take the cloves – and if you tell me exactly
where they came from, I’ll pay you double.”
When most people think of magic, they think of wizards
and witches. But alchemists have a definite advantage, espe-
cially for the customer. A mage casting a helpful spell could
suffer from a magical backfire – and so could the person the
mage is trying to help! But an elixir from a reputable alche-
mists’ guild was already tested and found both effective
and safe.
This article has suggestions for building alchemists’ guilds
and alchemist adventurers in campaigns from low-tech to
high-tech . . . and beyond!
Note that the terms “journeyman” and “master” are tradi-
tional; in this article, they aren’t limited to a particular gender.
For alternatives to journeyman, the GM could use journey-
woman, or the genderless journeyworker, journeyer, or jour-
neyist. Instead of master, the GM could use mistress or the
nonbinary mistrum or mastress.
What Is Alchemy?
Alchemy had three early forms: Chinese, Indian, and
Western. It largely began as a mixture of natural philosophy
and protoscience, and was practiced in China, Europe, India,
and the Muslim world. Alchemists longed to transform “base”
metals such as lead into “noble” ones such as gold. They
hoped to achieve a panacea to cure any disease, and an elixir
of immortality.
In fantasy games, any of the above goals could be possible.
Using GURPS Magic, alchemists could make elixirs (potions,
powders, pastilles, ointments), charms (protective amulets
and empowering talismans), alkahest (the universal solvent
which can eat through virtually anything), the homunculus,
and the philosopher’s stone or lapis philosopharum, which
Pyramid Magazine 32
can help with any of the listed historical goals. GURPS
Thaumatology, GURPS Thaumatology: Age of Gold,
GURPS Thaumatology: Alchemical Baroque, and GURPS
Technomancer have more ideas for using Alchemy skill.
For ideas on inventing new elixirs in any campaign, and
for related alchemical issues, consider pp. B473-477, GURPS
Magic, pp. 210-222, and GURPS Thaumatology, pp. 100-107.
The Alchemists’
Guild Organization
The beginning of guilds goes back thousands of years. Tra-
ditionally, a guild is an association of crafters or merchants
who oversee the practice of their craft or trade in a particular
area. Guilds may set prices, make sure their members are pro-
viding quality products and services, and keep control of their
practice in their area.
But an alchemists’ guild is more than that. A button in a
shirt made by an unqualified tailor might fall out at an embar-
rassing moment. But it’s not likely to poison the wearer or
blow up his house! To protect both their reputation and poten-
tial clients from unguilded, underqualified miscreant mix-
ers, alchemists’ guilds may assert their exclusive rights very
strongly, often with constabulary support.
Alchemists’ and other guilds typically have three primary
levels: apprentice, journeyman, and master. Apprentices do
cleaning and other household chores while being taught. A
journeyman has learned enough to work independently, but
sometimes works with a master to further improve tech-
niques. After many successful years, a journeyman could be
promoted to master.
Some guilds further divide their members based on expe-
rience. They may have junior and senior apprentices, and one
or a few masters classified as grand masters. Senior appren-
tices have less onerous duties than their juniors, and more
time to focus on learning alchemy. Grand Master alchemists
may have exclusive rights to very rare formulas, and can be
very rare themselves, even in a large city.
In almost all cases, an alchemists’ guild is a secret soci-
ety. It might be unknown, or the guild might be known but
keep secrets – especially its formulas. Some “Alchemists’”
guilds protect the formulas of both Alchemy and Herb Lore
because they include experts in both. To the customer, the
specific skill used isn’t nearly as important as the magical
elixir produced.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Guild dues can support the guild, benefit an alchemist in
need, or help a late member’s survivors. In different times and
places, guilds and guild-like groups could be classified as a
collegium, trade union, cartel, gremio, livery company, associ-
ation, or secret society.
For more ideas on using guilds in campaigns, see GURPS
Boardroom and Curia, GURPS City Stats, GURPS Dungeon
Fantasy 17: Guilds, and GURPS Social Engineering.
Alchemy and Technology
What technology levels fit an alchemists’ guild?
The lost Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus, which appar-
ently included the works of early alchemists, was likely writ-
ten in the first century A.D. (TL2). The Roman collegium also
existed in the first century A.D. While some collegia were
largely social clubs, others functioned as guilds.
Alchemists’ guilds still exist today (TL8), although they typ-
ically focus more on the philosophical side of alchemy while
chemists focus more on the natural science. A modern-day or
futuristic-fantasy campaign could mix the philosophy with
the “science” of magic, or just focus on the magic.
Different Campaigns
Alchemists’ guilds can vary with the campaign. Here are
some suggestions.
Medieval and Renaissance Fantasy: A medieval guild typ-
ically covers a local area such as a city, although the guilds
themselves might cooperate with similar associations in
neighboring cities or even the nation. Names could range
from something simple like the Springfield Alchemists’
Guild to something grandiose like the Megalan Alchemicale
Gilda Imperium Corpus. The division of apprentice/journey-
man/master is very likely. Members are generally natural
philosophers and may work to suppress outside knowledge
of both magical and related formulas such as gunpowder,
as happened on Yrth (GURPS Banestorm). A guild in the
Renaissance era would be similar to its medieval counter-
part, though mundane related formulas, such as gunpowder,
are probably public.
Old West: In the historical American Old West, settlers
from the East Coast bring European traditions to western
areas long inhabited by American Indians. Sometimes this
causes a mixture of traditions, including medical, philosoph-
ical, and what might be called “magical.” In a fantasy game,
a western big-city guild could find itself in cooperation or
competition with Indigenous peoples practicing Alchemy or
Herb Lore.
Victorian Era: Contrary to its restrained and prudish
image, this is a time of secretly examining the weird and
arcane. Guilds are active, and secret societies are prominent.
The occult revival that began in the early 19th century is going
strong, and that includes alchemy. A fantasy alchemists’ guild
in this era could well be both philosophical and experimental.
World War II: Many societies changed radically from the
Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, then through the
war and after. In real life, alchemy is practiced; in a game, the
work of alchemist’s guilds could be a cause of disasters, or a
force that strives to fix them! Guilds could follow the medieval
form or be secret governmental or criminal agencies.
Pyramid Magazine 33
Modern/Action and Science Fiction: In campaigns set in
modern day and later, most magical elixirs might be pro-
duced in large batches in industrial, environmentally con-
trolled labs using precision instruments, possibly with
computer/robotic monitoring. A “guild” could be a trade
union associated with a national trade union. Or it could
be a department of a university, or associated with such a
department. Alchemical disasters are extremely rare – but
some might occur because of secret experimentation or
sabotage! Some alchemists might have their own (well-reg-
ulated) shops, while black-market alchemists could thrive
by creating and selling legally restricted or forbidden elix-
irs. GURPS Technomancer offers a campaign frame that
includes high-tech alchemy.
Supers: At any tech level, an alchemists’ guild in a supers
campaign is probably very secret – and a target for villains
(or, depending on its nature, for heroes!). A person might use
a particular secret formula to transform a mere mortal into
a super-being. The transformation could be permanent, or
just until the time runs out (or could end when the individ-
ual swallows an antidote). Some well-known superheroes
and supervillains use alchemy, and some are known for con-
trolling one or more traditional alchemical elements such as
earth, air, fire, or water. See GURPS Thaumatology: Age of
Gold for a campaign that involves alchemy and super heroes.
What About the Women?
A historical campaign might be set in a male-dominated
society with mostly all-male guilds. It can be tricky staying
true to known history while providing enough opportunities
for female PCs to shine beyond “woman’s work.”
Fortunately, this is not a problem with alchemists. Some
of history’s most famous were women. Mary the Jewess (also
known as Mary the Prophetess and likely of the first century
A.D. in Alexandria) is perhaps the first true alchemist of the
Western world.
Other early female alchemists include Cleopatra the
Alchemist (Greek, circa third century A.D.) and Paphnutia the
Virgin (Egypt, circa 300 A.D.). While women as alchemists
become relatively less well-known during the Middle Ages and
Renaissance periods, they rise in prominence again later.
Alchemist Adventurers
Alchemist and adventurer don’t seem to mix. Stirring and
staring into a cauldron for hours a day or attending weekly
guild meetings aren’t exactly conducive to action. But there
are ways to make this combination work.
City Alchemist: A number of popular comic-book series,
movies, and television programs focus on the adventures
within a single city. A city-based campaign can move beyond
killing monsters and taking their stuff to social intrigue, polit-
ical maneuvering, family matters, rogue alchemists, rival
guilds, or even dealing with rivals in the adventurer’s own
guild. Then there’s making deals with those who fight mon-
sters and take their stuff. City-based campaigns could use
GURPS Banestorm, GURPS Banestorm: Abydos, books
in the GURPS Locations or GURPS Hot Spots series, or
GURPS Fantasy: Tredroy.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Alchemist Guard: Any ordinary guard can keep an eye on
an alchemists’ guild’s shipment of elixirs or valuable ingre-
dients. But will such a guard know what to do if a wooden
box of Alexandrian chalk gets wet, or if a jar of black dragon’s
blood spills? A guard who knows alchemy could save a criti-
cally important shipment! Guilded alchemical guards might
travel a great distance or protect important shipments going
through their city.
Alchemist Explorer: A merchant guild doesn’t need an alche-
mist to tell a purple cockatrice egg from a red one. But they
might need one to properly preserve Bitter Gorge mistletoe for
safe transport through the acid rains of Bad Canyon Springs.
Few other than an alchemist could tell if the feathers of a cer-
tain bird need to be bathed in more moonlight before they’re
ready to be plucked, or if certain lemon trees grew from the
desired seeds of the Elysian Fields and not from the unpredict-
able Erisian Fields.
New Talent: Alchemical Ability
see pp. B89-91
Alchemy, Chemistry, Hazardous Materials (Mag-
ical), Pharmacy, Poisons, Thaumatology. Reaction
bonus: Customers and other alchemists. 5 points/level.
Guild Requirements
Requirements for joining and being elevated in an alche-
mists’ guild vary with the guild. Below are suggestions.
How rank is handled can differ by the campaign. Where
an alchemist organization is secret or little known and has
no significant social influence, or where members are sim-
ply employees, there may be no publicly recognized Rank.
(In GURPS terms, there would be no point cost to be called
apprentice, journeyman, or master – but the person would
need to get others to go along with the title.) For a guild with
more recognition but without exclusive access to formulas,
members might have Courtesy Rank, which gives them social
recognition but no real authority outside of guild matters.
These could be 0 for apprentice, 1 for journeyman, 2 for mas-
ter/grand master, and 3 for the guildmaster, if there is one.
In a campaign where only masters have access to formulas
worth more than $1,000, and only grand masters can produce
those worth over $10,000, then Administrative or Merchant
Rank levels could be 0 for apprentice, 1 for journeyman, 2 for
master, and 3 for grand master. For variations with more than
Courtesy Rank but less than full Rank, see Guild Rank, Magical
Rank, and other possibilities in GURPS Social Engineering.
Apprentice
To be an apprentice alchemist, the person must have full
fluency, spoken and written, in one language. Literacy in
a second written language may be required; this could be
an uncommon one used for alchemical texts. Additionally,
acceptance requires some skill in Cooking (especially bever-
age making) or Professional Skill (Distilling) or Professional
Skill (Brewer) or decent skill level in Housekeeping (which
Pyramid Magazine 34
includes basic cooking, cleaning, and routine household
maintenance). IQ 12+ is recommended. A journeyman or
master alchemist must also sponsor the individual.
First Aid, Research, and Thaumatology are helpful. Acute
Taste and Smell are useful in a low-tech and some high-tech
settings. Alchemical Ability (above) is highly beneficial.
In a medieval guild, the apprentice would generally have
a master as a Patron, and would have a Duty to the master
and possibly to the guild. This could also be true in a mod-
ern-day or futuristic campaign, or alchemy might be consid-
ered more of a standard occupation, with no more duty – or
help – than a standard profession.
Unless magic or technology can compensate, several
disadvantages are disallowed, including Cannot Learn,
Dyslexia, Innumerate, No Fine or No Manipulators, Short
Attention Span, and Total Klutz. Cursed or Klutz are prob-
lematic. No Sense of Smell/Taste and Non-Iconographic
could be career-stopping disadvantages for a medieval
alchemist, but might not hurt one’s career working in a
high- or ultra-tech alchemical lab.
Journeyman
The prerequisites for a journeyman are the same as for
an apprentice. To attain the journeyman level, the appren-
tice must gain a decent skill in Chemistry and expert level in
Alchemy (skill 14+). Historically, Expert Skill (Natural Philos-
ophy) is mandatory; a fantasy, high-tech, or ultra-tech guild
may not require it. Skills such as Biology (for animal and
plant ingredients), Hazardous Materials (Magical), Merchant,
Occultism, Poisons, Research, Teaching, and Thaumatology
are helpful (and any of these might be required to gain the
rank). Alchemical techniques for known elixirs may be learned
in campaigns that use them.
Depending on the guild, promotion to journeyman needs
approval of one or more masters. It also typically demands
successfully analyzing one or more elixirs.
Master
The prerequisites for a master are the same as for a jour-
neyman, but with higher Alchemy (skill 16+). Teaching is
likely required. Generally most, if not all, of a guild’s masters
must approve a journeyman’s elevation to this position.
Grand Master
The prerequisites for grand master are the same as for a
master, but with even higher Alchemy (skill 18+). Furthermore,
approval for this level could need agreement of a guild’s cur-
rent masters or grand masters. In a guild associated with a
much larger organization, such as a national union, it might
need approval by that organization’s grand masters.
Guildmaster
To be a guildmaster, a person must first attain the master
level in a guild with no grand masters; otherwise, the grand
master level is necessary. Typically, the majority of masters
must agree, although in some guilds, a retiring guildmaster
might select the successor. In a highly bureaucratic society,
the guildmaster could be a political appointee – which may
not be a wise decision . . .
Fantasy/Magic II
Gribiik the Alchemist
164 points
Even as a young child, Gribiik ibn-Faataa loved stirring
and mixing things in pots – much to the annoyance of his
meal-fixing mother. Now, Grand Master Gribiik the Alchemist
(also known as Gribiik Alchemista) is the guildmaster of the
Alchemists’ Guild of Tredroy – much to the chagrin of his
human guild rival Grand Master Bilal. Unlike many alche-
mists, Gribiik is good in politics and public speaking. Unlike
most Yrth goblins, he’s not Impulsive (well, except for the
impulse-buying on his weekly visits to Tredroy’s Chinatown).
Master Gribiik has two goblin wives, Baataa and Cheecho;
three goblin daughters, April, May, and June; and servants
(including a gardener). April, unlike her magic-resistant
father, is a highly gifted mage and an apprentice in Tredroy’s
Mages’ Guild.
Gribiik has green skin, blue-black eyes, and long, thick
black hair, which he wears in a ponytail. He claims his hefty
hair comes from being part human; some suspect it comes
from an alchemical bottle.
His Area Knowledge, Cultural Familiarity (CF), languages,
tech level, and other traits can be adjusted to fit a
particular campaign. Note that some of his traits,
including Night Vision and low ST, reflect those
typical of Yrth goblins (Banestorm, p. 192).
Alchemical techniques for known elixirs can
be added for campaigns that use techniques,
increasing the point total.
ST 7 [-30]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 14 [80]; HT 10 [0].
Damage 1d-3/1d-2; BL 9.8 lbs.; HP 9 [4]; Will 14
[0]; Per 14 [0]; FP 10 [0].
Basic Speed 5 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Dodge 8.
5’5”; 110 lbs.
Skills
Accounting (H) IQ-2 [1]‑12; Administration (A) IQ-1 [1]‑13;
Alchemy/TL3 (VH) IQ+6 [16]‑20*; Area Knowledge (Tredroy)
(E) IQ [1]‑14; Astronomy/TL3 (H) IQ-2 [1]‑12; Biology/TL3
(Earthlike) (H) IQ-2 [1]‑12; Chemistry/TL3 (H) IQ+3 [1]‑17*;
Diplomacy (H) IQ-1 [2]-13; Expert Skill (Natural Philosophy)
(H) IQ [4]-14; First Aid/TL3 (Goblin) (E) IQ+0 [1]-14; Games
(Chess) (E) IQ [1]‑14; Games (Go/Weichi) (E) IQ [1]‑14;
Gardening (E) IQ+1 [1]‑14; Hazardous Materials/TL3 (Mag-
ical) (A) IQ+3 [1]‑17*; Housekeeping (E) IQ [1]‑14; Mathe-
matics/TL3 (Applied) (H) IQ-2 [1]‑12; Merchant (A) IQ [2]‑14;
Naturalist (Yrth) (H) IQ-2 [1]‑12; Pharmacy/TL3 (Herbal) (H)
IQ+3 [2]‑17*; Poisons/TL3 (H) IQ+2 [1]‑16*; Politics (A) IQ
[2]‑14; Professional Skill (Brewer) (A) IQ-1 [1]‑13; Professional
Skill (Distiller) (A) IQ [2]‑14; Public Speaking (Rhetoric) (E)
IQ [1]‑14; Research/TL3 (A) IQ [2]‑14; Riding (Equines) (A)
DX+0 [2]‑10; Savoir-Faire (High Society) (E) IQ [1]‑14; Street-
wise (A) IQ-1 [1]‑13; Teaching (A) IQ-1 [1]‑13; Thaumatology
(VH) IQ+2 [2]‑16*; Writing (A) IQ-1 [1]‑13.
* Includes +4 from Alchemical Ability.
† Includes +1 from Wealth.

Social Background
TL: 3 [0].
CF: Christian [0]; Muslim [1].
Languages: Anglish (Native) [0]; Arabic
(Accented) [4]; Chinese (Spoken) (Accented) [2];
Tredroy Patois (Spoken) (Accented) [2].

Advantages
Administrative Rank (Alchemists’ Guild of
Tredroy) 3 [15]; Alchemical Ability 4 [20]; Eidetic
Memory [5]; Magic Resistance 1 [2]; Night Vision
9 [9]; Reputation +4* (Alchemists and customers)
[0]; Status +2 [5†]; Wealth (Wealthy) [20].

Disadvantages
Absent-Mindedness [-15]; Addiction (Tobacco)
(Cheap) [-5]; Enemy (Grand Master Bilal ibn-
Muhammid ibn-Yusaf al-Tredroy; Rival; 9 or less)
[-5]; Extra Sleep 1 [-2].
Quirks: Claims he’s part human on his
mother’s side; Likes magic, tricks, and practical
jokes; Likes visiting and shopping in Tredroy’s
Chinatown; Obsession (Have the best garden in
Tredroy); Talkative. [-5]

Pyramid Magazine 35 Fantasy/Magic II

 Burn While
Reading By J. Edward Tremlett
They say knowledge is a dangerous thing. They don’t know
the half of it. There are some grimoires too terrible to con-
sider reading, much less speak of. And yet those who seek the
ultimate knowledge are ready to pay the ultimate price. Or so
they think.
This article details three malign tomes of possible inter-
est to those running fantasy or dark fantasy games. It gives
their histories, physical descriptions, types of spells, possible
locations, and ideas for use. Gradually increasing dangers of
reading each book are also provided; whether they happen
automatically, after failing resistance rolls, or at all is up to
the GM.
Das Buch der Demonen
Behold Izchel of the Six Thousand Towers – Lord of lies and
fear. He is served chiefly by Hisswhisper, whose true name is
Klr-agh-opf-onn. One may directly approach both him and his
servants, but have a ready bargain . . .
Why, following the 10-year war against Zward, did
Aachenlund’s king declare the smallest of its four major faiths
anathema? It was true they’d been annoying – calling for
mercy in a time of war – but now they were charged with con-
sorting with proscribed gods and making demonic bargains.
Their clergy were ordered executed, their lands and temples
seized, and their followers branded and banished.
The Paladins of the three remaining faiths were charged
with carrying this out. Nymandus the Zealous, of the largest
faith, did so with vehemence – searching the countryside for a
full year. His retinue found nothing, but he remained certain
the foe was still there.
One night, a shooting star revealed a ruined fortress. Tak-
ing this as a sign, Nymandus immediately attacked, fighting
through twisted guards to enter. Inside lurked their long-
sought foe: a coven of now-proscribed priests, too warped by
dark bargains to escape.
Doomed, the priests begged to repent, offering information
in exchange for divine commendation, and a swift, merciful
death. Thus began a year of long, complicated interviews.
It took many sessions of skillful torture, interrogation, and
cross-examination to winnow lies from truth, and determine
what was worthy of writing down.
Then, on the last day, Nymandus learned that the lead-
ership of another state-sanctioned faith had also made
bargains with the same foul gods, and that demons were
Pyramid Magazine 36
making swift inroads into the other. Enraged to just now
learn this, the Paladin granted commendation, but ordered
his second-in-command to make the priests suffer for 365
days of lies.
Nymandus rode back to warn the king, who immediately
outlawed the corrupted faith and ordered the other one
scoured. The faithful Paladin was named Royal Inquisitor,
entrusted with overseeing these commands. Meanwhile,
a legion of scribes were set to work transcribing what he’d
learned at the fortress.
Half a month later, Nymandus’ retinue returned to find
Aachenlund had become an abattoir. His second-in-com-
mand sought a private audience, compelled to show him a
final, haunting confession. He’d thought the fortress’ chief
priest had more to say and, pressing him in Nymandus’
absence, got it.
Nymandus silently read the confession, then asked to be
left alone. After hours of smashing furniture and scream-
ing, he leaped from the castle’s tallest tower – praying for
forgiveness all the way down. Soon after, the slaughter and
investigation of the two other faiths was mysteriously cur-
tailed, though survivors were told to leave Aachenlund and
never return.
Description
Three versions of Das Buch der Demonen exist: two com-
mon but incomplete versions, and the extremely rare full
version. Common versions are nine inches tall, seven inches
long, and either 100 or 110 vellum pages, depending on
whether it contains the blessing of the new High Inquisitor of
Aachenlund. The binding could be any number of materials.
The writing is black ink, with no illustrations.
The full version has the same dimensions, is 160 pages,
and contains no blessing. It’s bound in red leather with
black iron corner rests and three hasps for small locks, and
bears the royal seal of Aachenlund. It’s also written in black
ink, with hideous illustrations of the evil gods and demons
described within.
Location
Common versions are frequently found in the libraries
of those who hunt the servants of evil gods – or wish to join
them. Only three full versions remain. The original is in the
reduced kingdom of Aachenlund, locked away with other pro-
scribed books by the only remaining state-sponsored faith.
Fantasy/Magic II
A copy belongs to Cylus Murg of Kyln – infamous collector of
objects rare and gruesome. Another is rumored to be in the
hoard of the Great Wyrm of the Larenthian Wastes, though
some say the beast was slain, and its treasure taken.
Contents
The common versions give the names of evil gods, their
unholy days, and preferred rites. It also names their demons,
and explains what they do, what they promise, and a long
list of deformities, both subtle and revolting, gained from
demonic bargains.
The full version gives the true names of demons (though
some are misapplied), the rituals to summon them, and spells
to invoke them to curse, smite, transform, control, and tempt.
It lists non-demonic spells to twist perceptions – making it
easier to control others or lead them to damnation. It also
reveals what one gains from demonic bargains.
Last, it contains the horrible final confession: nonmagical
techniques that destroy entire kingdoms by spreading uncer-
tainty and suspicion. Kinship and love become division and
hate, evil can seem good, and the kind and innocent can be
scapegoated with but a few words, such as “That one god’s
priests are so annoyingly virtuous. What are they really up to?”
Dangers
Light and color vanish. Scratching sounds intermittently
heard. Fixation on one demon’s name, substituting it for one’s
own god or gods. Seeing that demon’s visage out of the cor-
ner of the eye, or mirrors. Love becomes usury; hate becomes
strength. A bargain struck in dreams is given, and paid for,
upon awakening.
Idea: To Silence the Darkness
A large religious order hires the party to travel to neighbor-
ing Aachenlund, invade a rival faith’s collection of prohibited
works, and steal the original copy of Das Buch der Demonen.
Their leaders claim they desire to destroy it, but there are
whispers of some ancient wrong done to them – the proof of
which lies within. Or is there a darker goal?
Ab Serpentum
Hear now the words of your (lords/masters), (ancient/for-
ever). Torpid we lie in our (tombs/cities) below, battened on (?)
and dreaming. We now sleep so you may rise. And we will rise
so you may serve . . .
Those who study antiquity might call the great Serpent
Empires a myth, or not nearly as awful as described. That is
folly: long-vanished civilizations recorded their great and ter-
rible ways, ancient when they were young. Older races and
preternatural beings speak of them with terror, or perhaps
admiration. Others wisely speak of them not at all; many
ancient evils slumber within the world, but not all sleep lightly.
When Master Q.P. Venvao of Olonon announced his intent
to travel to the Gray Wastes, home of their largest known
ruins, many warned him off. He blithely ignored them, taking
a small army of explorers to far-off Ramad. His triumphant
return five years later, albeit with a reduced retinue, was con-
sidered miraculous. It was anything but.
Pyramid Magazine 37
Venvao spoke of vast ruins, hewn from the gray stone that
gave the sands its name. He described crumbled temple pil-
lars once taller than Olonon’s highest castles, surrounding zig-
gurats the size of mountains. And he told of a large, covered
chasm atop the largest pyramid, leading to a nexus of cyclo-
pean tunnels, deep inside the world.
In its center stood 100 pillars, arranged in a strange geo-
metrical formation, and carved in the ancient language of the
Serpent Empires. Venvao and his scribes spent years painstak-
ingly copying those writings, while armed members protected
them from the tunnels’ many dangers, and found strange trea-
sures in their darker corners. Only when the last pillar was
copied did they return home.
The subsequent translation work took a decade, and it was
not a kind one. What was uncovered was so disturbing that
the expedition’s remaining survivors all quit in horror, ended
their own lives, or vanished. Venvao alone persevered, slowly
descending from pompous affability to furtive hermitry, never
venturing from his door.
Those few colleagues allowed into his home later remarked
that he’d grown both haunted and paranoid – hearing strange
noises, and rarely sleeping. He insisted he’d been followed
back from Ramad, but dared not say by whom. They begged
him to stop the translation, but he refused, always saying that
he was so very close . . .
Venvao’s death was unsurprising, but what was found in his
home haunted its discoverers to their graves. His house was
fouled and ransacked, his servants slaughtered, his corpse left
in truly gruesome fashion. And the book he’d been working
on – indeed, all notes and treasures from Ramad – were gone.
They say knowledge
is a dangerous thing.
They don’t know
the half of it.
Description
According to those who saw the book before it disap-
peared, it’s 2’ tall, 1.75’ long, and bound in thick, scaly verdi-
gris leather. Ab Serpentum is embossed across the top, stained
rust-brown with what might be Venvao’s blood. Between
200-250 pages, it’s written in black ink with numerous illus-
trations: the Gray Wastes, the ruins, and every pillar at the
bottom of the ziggurat. The penmanship begins lovely and
florid, but turns increasingly crabbed, as if the author knew
he was racing death.
Knowing its dread reputation, numerous possessors of
the book have tried to copy it or write commentaries. None
ever finished, so these “copies” are woefully incomplete – full
of omissions or distortions, and usually lacking illustrations.
The more valuable ones have at least a few spells of varying
accuracy.
Fantasy/Magic II
Location
Ab Serpentum is like a mirage: those who have it never do
for long. It’s either abandoned in horror, or brutally stolen.
Some say a band of fanatics seeks to protect the secrets of
the Serpents, or save the world from a dangerous knowledge.
The unfinished copies and commentaries are rare, occasion-
ally surfacing in the magical libraries of powerful wizards or
slaughtered scholars.
Contents
The 100 pillars were a broad overview of the history and
learning of the Serpent Empire. Carved by servants at the twi-
light of the first establishment to educate future generations,
they describe how their masters burrowed up to the world
from beyond. Folk nearby were stolen in dreams, and forced
to build, conquer, and rule in their name. On the backs of
Pyramid Magazine 38
the captured, ensorcelled, and altered were their cities built,
armies raised, and hunger sated.
In time, the Serpents grew torpid, letting their servants run
the Empire into the ground. But after eons they awoke, and
their subjects’ descendants felt the need to return and do their
bidding. So the Empire rose once more, only to fall and rise
time and again. The last pillar indicated that there were four
such establishments, but the date for each is uncertain.
The book has spells to directly control individuals and
subtly influence entire kingdoms. There are magics to alter
the minds and forms of others, thus establishing generations
of control. It teaches how to remain fully aware in the deep-
est sleep; to observe, inform, and command others through
dreams; and to subtly sway nations whose forebears were
altered. One can also mark those who learn too much – alter-
ing their perceptions, sending horrid dreams, and even
digesting them as they sleep.
Fantasy/Magic II
Dangers
Slithering noises are heard. Snakes are noticed more fre-
quently. Solid surfaces undulate, stopping when touched.
Dreaming of the Gray Wastes, only the ruins are new. Dream-
ing of the pillars, the tunnels beyond, and the impossibly
large, serpentlike beings who dug them. Waking up to acid
burns all over one’s body.
Idea: Return to the Gray
In the ages since Venvao, many have sought the ruins,
but all have failed. Wealthy financier K.P. Tartuffe desires to
succeed, both to prove the veracity of the tales and find the
treasures Venvao spoke of. This person requires more infor-
mation, however, so the party has been charged with secur-
ing copies of Ab Serpentum, relying on a list of owners that
Tartuffe’s assembled. Their quest soon attracts unwanted
attention from the fanatics – but what is their true goal? And
what awaits Tartuffe in Ramad?
The Shadow Tree
Beneath warm, lush grass lies cold, damp earth where sleeps
quietly the knowledge of those whose death created it. So many
stories, so many songs! Listen and you will hear. Speak and it
will reply. Command and it will obey. But never forget you too
must die, in time – unless . . .
The cycle of the green is well-known: just as all life comes
from death, so must death come to all life. To understand
this is wisdom; to subvert this is dangerous. But no one ever
accused magicians of being cautious, especially not Vayalenan
of the Wood Elves of Tharnanon.
Her early aptitude for magic was good, as she’d have made
a horrible forest guardian. She avoided the sun and delighted
in shadow, and shunned flowers for the muck in which they
grew. The dark, scrabbling things of the forests were her
friends, and she spent many hours whispering to them, curled
up with bones and offal in the dank, dark grottoes of the wood.
The more Vayalenan learned of their nature-based magics,
the farther astray her mind wandered. Thus began the prac-
tice of Graylife: interrupting the cyclical flow between death
and life to work a dark and dangerous magic. She planted
grotesque seeds in fresh graves, then ate their fruit to learn
the secrets of their occupants. She grew special trees that
trapped the spirits of the dead, creating wood-bound shades;
and raised servants of mud, stone, and bone from the death-
soaked earth.
The more hybrid magic she worked, the more she learned,
to where she became almost impossible to confront. After
several horrendous skirmishes, the Wood Elves had to burn
down the forest she’d claimed and corrupted, much to their
grief. To this day the Blight of Vayalenan’s Doom is a cursed,
burned-out scab upon the landscape: nothing grows, no ani-
mals go there, and the sun refuses to shine. No Wood Elves
go there, either, for they fear her evil merely sleeps within
the blackened earth, in anticipation of a dark spring to come.
Description
The Shadow Tree is huge: 3.5’ tall, 1’ wide, and 7” deep, and
bound in the black, still-living wood of a blood oak. The cover
is gruesomely adorned with the face of Vayalenan herself,
Pyramid Magazine 39
surrounded by a circle of animal bones and beetle carapaces.
The author’s visage must have something live crushed above
its mouth, then her green eyes will reappear to stare at the
reader, and her mouth regrows teeth to devour the offering.
Only then may the book be opened, revealing it to be made of
Vayalenan’s own flesh – torn from her willowy frame, sheet by
sheet, and written upon while more grew back. The script is
an iridescent green-black, but the book boasts lush, full-color
illustrations that are both helpful and hideous. There’s also an
odd, musty smell, like the meat of a crushed puffball . . .
Location
Stories abound; none are confirmed. Some say the Wood
Elves of Tharnanon stole it before burning down the forest,
and locked it away with other heretical works and cursed
objects. Some say the book was there, but overtook one of
its curious jailers, who abandoned their order and stole the
book. Others say that fool died long ago, but another forest
elsewhere is rife with blasphemous Graylife, and is ruled from
a creaking fortress of thick black trees, upon whose wooden
throne sits Vayalenan, reborn.
Contents
The book is the central defining work on Graylife. It con-
tains Vayalenan’s philosophy and insights, gathered over sev-
eral centuries of experiments and practice. Any nature-based
and necromantic spells the reader might know or seek are
there in a sometimes grossly altered form – the green often
doing the work of the black, and vice versa. Souls can be put
into vegetable matter, and impressions of one’s will placed in
fungal spores to infect others with one’s consciousness. It’s
also a trove of Wood Elf lore, wisdom, and magic, all taken
from ghosts Vayalenan summoned and bound into trees.
Perhaps the most notorious spell is a novel variation on
lichdom. An entire forest becomes a phylactery, with the
“body” a half-dead focus for observation, communication,
and work. Should the body die, a new one grows elsewhere.
Should the forest be destroyed, the soul hides in a seed, deep
underground, waiting to infest new growth.
Dangers
Weird, fungal smell that never goes away. Freshly turned
earth whispers incoherently. Animals are uneasy around the
person; plants sicken in their care. Dreams of crawling in the
dirt. Missing time and a sense of having done something. Ani-
mals flee the person’s presence; plants wither at the person’s
touch. Missing time increases, with more disturbing (occa-
sionally murderous) deeds.
Idea: Within the Green
Yetharlan’s fellow Tree-Priests should have known bet-
ter than to let him read that book. But he claimed he could
find some good in it, somewhere, and they relented. Now he
and the book are missing, his estate is soiled and empty, and
word spreads that he leads a small force of mushroom-pim-
pled corpses (once his family and servants) into a burned
and blighted forest. The party must intercept the little army
before they get there, and take back the book. Can they fight
Vayalenan reborn? And if so, can they secure the book without
succumbing to its fungal sorcery?
Fantasy/Magic II
 Technomagic
Ritual Path
Magic Spells By Christopher R. Rice
Lots of fiction caters to magic and technology being oppo-
sites of one another, but the real fun begins when you combine
the two. Alchemical lasers, magically awakened computers,
and much more await technomages.
For ease of design, some spells in this article use the mod-
ifier option from Repercussive Rituals (in Pyramid #3/66: The
Laws of Magic, p. 38), which introduced the idea of adding
modifiers that affect the entire casting.
New Spells
These spells affect technology that is TL6 or higher.
Abort/Retry/Fail?
Spell Effects: Lesser Control Chance.
Inherent Modifiers: Bestows a Bonus, Operation rolls.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
The caster can immediately reroll a failed operation skill
roll for an electronic device twice, take the best roll, and
include +5 in their final margin of success (if that matters).
This is often cast as a charm with a Lesser Sense Mind
effect so that it activates whenever the user fails an opera-
tion skill roll.
Typical Casting: Lesser Control Chance (5) + Bestows a
Bonus, +5 to device operation rolls (32). 37 energy (37×1).
A Fine Line
Spell Effects: Greater Strengthen Mind.
Inherent Modifiers: Altered Traits, Obsession (Perfect my
invention!) and Quick Gadgeteer + Bestows a Bonus, Inven-
tion rolls.
Greater Effects: 1 (×3).
The subject of the spell can rapidly invent a single spe-
cific item. This gives them Quick Gadgeteer and +5 to rolls
to build their invention for the duration. The bonus comes
at a price: they must make self-control rolls to do anything
but work on their invention. To do anything but the barest of
Pyramid Magazine
hygiene and self-care, the subject must roll a 6 or less. This
ends when the invention is finished or when the spell is up,
whichever comes first.
Typical Casting: Greater Strengthen Mind (5) + Altered
Traits, Obsession (Perfect my invention!) (6) and Quick Gad-
geteer (48) + Bestows a Bonus, +5 to invention rolls (80) +
Duration, 1 week (9). 444 energy (148×3).
Backdoor
Spell Effects: Lesser Create Energy.
Inherent Modifiers: Altered Traits, Puppet.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
This spell allows the caster to reenter a compromised sys-
tem with no roll, though they must have somehow accessed
the system first. They automatically gain system administra-
tor privileges and are treated as if they had just hacked it.
This backdoor lasts for a year, but can be detected via an
Expert Skill (Computer Security); this margin of the roll for
detection must exceed the caster’s original margin.
Typical Casting: Lesser Create Energy (6) + Altered Traits,
Puppet (10) + Duration, 1 year (22). 38 energy (38×1).
Daemon Copilot
Spell Effects: Greater Create Mind + Lesser Strengthen
Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Bestows a Bonus, Operation rolls.
Greater Effects: 1 (×3).
When cast on a device containing even rudimentary elec-
tronics, weighing no more than 150 tons, it summons a small
“daemon” that gives +5 on all rolls to use the target, including
Computer Operation, Driving, Electronics Operation (Sen-
sors), Gunner (for computer-assisted targeting aids), Pilot-
ing, and so on. The daemon has IQ 8 and can offer options
and use suggestions for the device it’s currently bound to.
This automatically removes familiarity penalties for the
operator, and the daemon counts as a copilot if needed.
40 Fantasy/Magic II
 Typical Casting: Greater Create Mind (6) + Lesser Strengthen
Matter (3) + Bestows a Bonus, +5 to device operation rolls (32)
+ Duration, 3 hours (4) + Subject Weight, 150 tons (7). 156
energy (52×3).
Digital Virus
Spell Effects: Greater Transform Matter + Greater Destroy
Body + Lesser Destroy Matter + Lesser Sense Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Affliction, Hallucinating + Damage,
Internal Toxic (Cyclic, 1 hour, 12 cycles, Highly Contagious,
Resistible; Symptoms, Coughing and Drowsy, 1/3 HP).
Greater Effects: 2 (×5).
This spell creates a computer virus as a software charm
(below) that the caster then uploads to a computer (weigh-
ing up to five tons). After being uploaded, the spell remains
inert until a simple condition is met (e.g., “activate when a
specific user logs on”). Once activated, the system it’s occu-
pying must make a HT roll vs. the spell or go haywire. This
is equivalent to the Hallucinating condition (p. B429), with
the computer rolling against its HT instead of Will. Once the
virus is activated on the computer, all current users on the
system must roll the better of HT or Will to resist the spell.
Failure means the virus has infected them. They immediately
suffer 1d toxic damage and must make another roll to resist
at the caster’s effective skill every hour for the next 12 hours.
Failure inflicts another 1d toxic damage. If the infected loses
more than 1/3 HP to this spell, they suffer from Coughing
(p. B428) condition and become Drowsy (p. B428).
Worse, this spell can go on to affect others who haven’t
touched the infected computer (which stays infected for an
hour after it’s been used), but have come into physical contact
with infected users. Make a HT roll adjusted by the applica-
ble contagion modifier (p. B443). Failure means the subject is
now infected with the virus, immediately takes damage, and
must beat the caster’s original margin of success to resist fur-
ther damage.
Typical Casting: Greater Transform Matter (8) + Greater
Destroy Body (5) + Lesser Destroy Matter (5) + Lesser Sense
Matter (2) + Affliction, Hallucinating (10) + Damage, Inter-
nal Toxic 1d (Cyclic, 1 hour, 12 cycles, Highly Contagious,
Resistible, +270%; Symptoms, Coughing and Drowsy*, 1/3 HP,
+240%) (102) + Duration, 1 hour (3) + Subject Weight, 5 tons
(6). 705 energy (141×5).
* This is worth +40% as a modifier.
Fatal Exception
Spell Effects: Greater Destroy Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Affliction, Instant Destruction.
Greater Effects: 1 (×3).
This spell instantly destroys a machine if it fails its HT roll
to resist (add SM if the subject is SM+3 or greater). It can be
repaired normally.
Typical Casting: Lesser Control Chance (5) + Affliction,
Instant Destruction* (60) + Subject Weight, 5 tons (6). 213
energy (71×1).
* Instant Destruction is comparable to Heart Attack, but for
non-living objects. This is further balanced as the inanimate
Pyramid Magazine 41
object gets a HT roll plus its SM (if large enough) and can be
fixed given enough time.
Gas, Food, Lodging
Spell Effects: Lesser Sense Chance.
Inherent Modifiers: Bestows a Bonus, Navigation rolls.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
This spell directs the caster to the nearest source of fuel,
food, shelter, etc., giving an exact route and +5 to any Naviga-
tion rolls required.
Typical Casting: Lesser Sense Chance (2) + Bestows a
Bonus, +5 to Navigation rolls (16). 18 energy (18×1).
Software Charms
Casters may opt to use a computer program to
store a magical charm. This requires a roll against
the lower of the caster’s Path skill and Computer Pro-
gramming. Success creates a charm which can be
activated on whatever device it resides on. This takes
a Ready maneuver per normal charms. Each ritual
takes up (energy × 10) GB at TL8. For playability, this
should scale to the setting (e.g., at TL6, GB become
KB, while at TL9, GB become TB). Having access to
higher TL storage doesn’t affect this. For example, if
a caster got their hands on a TL9 personal computer
with storage measured in terabytes, but were other-
wise in a TL8 campaign setting, they are still limited
to software charms measured in gigabytes.
Technomagic scripts (from GURPS Monster
Hunters 5: Applied Xenology, p. 16) are a different
way to represent this. The GM may wish to use those
rules instead.
Infinite Fuel
Spell Effects: Lesser Create Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: None.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
For the next 24 hours, this spell generates liquid fuel for a
vehicle. The fuel appears “just in time,” as the engine requires
it, and does not reside in a fuel tank.
Typical Casting: Lesser Create Matter (6) + Subject Weight,
150 tons (9). 15 energy (15×1).
Instant Troubleshooting
Spell Effects: Greater Sense Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Bestows a Bonus, Repair rolls.
Greater Effects: 1 (×3).
If successful, the caster automatically knows everything
wrong with the targeted machine. This gives +5 on rolls to
repair it.
Typical Casting: Greater Sense Matter (2) + Bestows a
Bonus, +5 to Repair rolls (32). 102 energy (34×3).
Fantasy/Magic II
It’ll Buff Right Out This spell locks down any electronic device with a built
in-access control (e.g., keyboard, touch-screen, voice-input,
Spell Effects: Greater Strengthen Matter.
etc.). All attempts to gain access are at -5. This effect lasts until
Inherent Modifiers: Altered Traits, Regeneration (Fast) and
the encryption is bypassed or the caster either cancels the
Regrowth.
spell or accesses the device. Combined with a software charm
Greater Effects: 1 (×3).
(p. 41), this is a powerful “ransomware” attack.
This spell allows the targeted machine to regenerate 1
Typical Casting: Lesser Control Matter (5) + Bestows a Pen-
HP per minute for the next 24 hours, without requiring a
alty, -5 to rolls to bypass lock (32) + Duration, 1 month (11).
repair roll. The device can even “regrow” minor lost parts
48 energy (48×1).
such as side mirrors and tires, or computer screens and
keyboards, etc.
Typical Casting: Greater Strengthen Matter (3) + Altered
Traits, Regeneration (Fast) and Regrowth (90) + Duration, 1
day (7) + Subject Weight, 5 tons (6). 318 energy (106×3).

Leech Power
Spell Effects: Greater Transform Energy + Greater Trans-
form Magic.
Inherent Modifiers: None.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
This spell enables the caster to drain energy from batter-
ies or other electrical devices to power other rituals. It lasts
for up to 10 minutes, but the caster cannot draw more power
than Path of Energy × 100 per casting. Treat groups of similar
power sources (e.g., loose batteries, cell phones, calculators,
etc.) as one subject for the purposes of drawing off the power
within them. Tapping a source works normally; see GURPS
Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic, p. 21. Energy gained
from this spell must be used while the spell is active; it dissi-
pates after the spell ends.
Casters may opt to restore their own lost HP or FP instead.
In this case, this requires a Greater Transform Body effect.
Every 6 mana drained equals 3 HP or 2 FP. The caster may
restore either or both with the same spell, as long as there is
Machine Control
enough energy in the source. Spell Effects: Greater Control Matter.
Use this table to determine the amount of mana a given Inherent Modifiers: None.
source has. Greater Effects: 1 (×3).

Power Source Available Mana* The caster can control any mechanical or electrical device
AA or T or XS 0.001 mana without actually touching it. Everything but computers resist
A or S 0.01 mana with HT (plus SM if SM+3 or larger); computers resist using
B or M 0.1 mana their Complexity × 2.
C 1 mana Typical Casting: Greater Control Matter (5) + Duration, 1
D or L 10 mana hour (3) + Subject Weight, 5 tons (6). 42 energy (14×3).
E or VL 100 mana
F or External Power 1,000 mana or 10 mana/second
Mana Hotspot
* Assumes TL8 energy storage/power. Reduce these values Spell Effects: Lesser Control Energy.
by 1/10 for TL7 batteries, 1/100 for TL6 batteries, and 1/1000 Inherent Modifiers: None.
for TL5 batteries. For TL9 batteries, multiply mana by 10. For Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
TL10 batteries, multiply by 100; for TL11, multiply by 1,000;
and for TL12, multiply by 10,000. This spell uses the astral plane to find a Wi-Fi signal for
number of devices up to the caster’s Path of Energy skill. Use
Typical Casting: Greater Transform Energy (8) + Greater the margin of success to determine how fast the Internet is.
Transform Magic (8) + Duration, 10 minutes (1) + Subject, For example, a success by three might result in high-end
1,000 lbs. (5). 110 energy (22×5). DSL, while a five or more might give gigabit fiber speeds.
This comes at a cost: roll 3d once every hour. On 6 or less,
Lockscreen a curious astral entity is attracted to those using the mana
Spell Effects: Lesser Control Matter. hotspot. These are usually ghosts of some type, but spiri-
Inherent Modifiers: Bestows a Penalty, Rolls to bypass lock. tual machine entities (e.g., “net spiders” or “web daemons”)
Greater Effects: 0 (×1). might be come instead.

Pyramid Magazine 42 Fantasy/Magic II

 Typical Casting: Lesser Control Energy (6) + Range, Extrad-
imensional (10). Notes: That this spell can attract ghosts on a
6 or less is a feature. 16 energy (16×1).
Mechanic’s Bane
Spell Effects: Lesser Destroy Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Affliction, Cursed.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
The target vehicle instantly suffers multiple catastrophic
failures in its systems. Onboard computers go haywire, tires
spring leaks, head gaskets blow, and so on. Whatever could
go wrong with the vehicle does – and continues to go wrong
for the next week. Every time the vehicle is used, it requires
a 3d roll. On 12 or less, it suffers a breakdown requir-
ing a minor repair (p. B484); on a 6 or less, it requires a
major repair.
Typical Casting: Lesser Destroy Matter (5) + Altered Traits,
Cursed (15) + Duration, 1 week (9) + Subject Weight, 5 tons
(6). Notes: This spell can only be
used on vehicles, which is worth
-15% as an Accessibility, reducing
the base cost. 30 energy (30×1).
Mx. Mana
Spell Effects: Lesser Transform
Energy + Lesser Transform Magic.
Inherent Modifiers: None.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
This spell can power a machine
with magical energy. This spell
allows one full charge for devices
that need a D power cell or a large
battery. To determine the energy cost for a given device, com-
pare the battery it needs to function using the table on p. 42
and buy enough dice of Healing to cover it. For example, a
TL10^ grav bike (p. B465) requires one E cell to function.
This needs 28d+2 dice of Healing to fully restore the battery
and let it function for 1,000 miles before requiring a charge.
Typical Casting: Lesser Transform Energy (8) + Lesser
Transform Magic (8) + Healing, 10 points (8) + Subject Weight,
5 tons (6). 30 energy (30×1).
Phreak
Spell Effects: Lesser Sense Matter + Lesser Sense Mind.
Inherent Modifiers: Bestows a Penalty, Signal tracking.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
The caster can tap into communication devices or trans-
mission lines. This allows the person to “hear” and “see” the
data passing through it, translated into an understandable
language and requiring no roll to decipher. The caster can also
send information at the maximum rate of whatever the subject
can allow. Additionally, those trying to track the signal roll at
-5. This lasts for an hour.
Typical Casting: Lesser Sense Matter (2) + Lesser Sense
Mind (2) + Area Effect, 1 mile (36) + Bestows a Penalty, -5 to
signal tracking rolls (16) + Duration, 1 hours (3). 59 energy
(59×1).
Pyramid Magazine 43
Shadow Profile
Spell Effects: Greater Control Chance + Lesser Strengthen
Chance.
Inherent Modifiers: Altered Traits, Zeroed (Accessibility,
Online only; Alias) + Bestows a Penalty, Data mining rolls
against subject.
Greater Effects: 0 (×3).
This spell instantly scrubs the subject’s online presence.
This gets rid of social media accounts, posts, pictures, and so
on. Use the margin of success of this spell to determine how
effective this is, with 10 or more or a critical success result-
ing in the target being completely wiped from the searchable
Internet. This doesn’t work on personal devices like cell phones
(including private email or photos “in the cloud”) or hardcopy
like physical records. Moreover, for the next year, any attempt
to upload information about the ritual’s subject to the public
Internet fails: files are not saved, data is corrupted, security
camera images are too blurry to use, and so on. Others trying
to use data mining techniques have -5 to rolls to find anything
about the target.
Typical Casting: Greater Control Chance (5) + Lesser
Strengthen Chance (3) + Altered Traits, Zeroed (Accessibility,
Online only, -40%; Alias*, +100%) (16) + Bestows a Penalty,
-5 to data mining rolls against subject (32) + Duration, 1 year
(22). Notes: This spell adds “Cosmic, Ignores Spell Stacking
Limit” (+100%), doubling base cost. 468 energy (156×3).
* You do not have to deal in strictly cash or commodi-
ties; you can have a legal ID, etc. When someone begins to
investigate or research you, the files mysteriously disappear
or there is so little evidence that it’s unusable. This allows
you to have a normal life, while also being protected. This is
worth +100%.
Sorcerous Scanner
Spell Effects: Lesser Transform Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Bestows a Bonus, Computer Operation
rolls.
Greater Effects: 0 (×1).
This spell automatically transcribes the contents of a
book, hardcopy of a file, magazine, or similar material to
a digital format of the caster’s choice. Roll against Computer
Operation+5 or IQ-1. Use the margin of success to determine
how clear the digital copy is. Any margin over 5, or a critical
success, results in a perfect digital replica. Grimoires can
also be spell-scanned, but the process destroys the physical
book and the copy is useless without a properly enchanted
device to display it. (See Ugh, Hardcopy! in Pyramid #3/66:
The Laws of Magic, p. 5, for details on such devices.) Fur-
thermore, the bonus that the digitized grimoire offers is
equal to its original bonus or the spell’s margin of success,
whichever is lower.
Example: Scanning a grimoire that gave +10 to Digital
Virus (p. 41) requires a margin of success of 10 (or a critical
success) to retain the entire bonus. If the spell were succeeded
by only 5, the resulting “e-grimoire” would only give +5.
Typical Casting: Lesser Transform Matter (8) + Bestows a
Bonus, +5 to Computer Operation rolls (16). 24 energy (24×1).
Fantasy/Magic II
 I Make
My Fate By Sean Punch
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy makes sparing use of the
idea of spending character points to achieve outcomes. It
practically overlooks GURPS Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys,
with its alternative points (Destiny Points, Impulse Points,
etc.) and their applications. GURPS Dungeon Fantasy
19: Incantation Magic, p. 30, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy
Denizens: Swashbucklers, pp. 25, 26, and Pyramid
Dungeon Fantasy Collected, pp. 31, 62 nod in this general
direction – but always in the form of abilities that mention
special points in a footnote that places heavy constraints on
their use.
Some gamers would argue that this is for the best. Many
balk at the mere thought of such “meta-gaming.” Others feel
that letting people spend points to do nearly anything would
steal the thunder of professions that do specific things, and
thus undercut GURPS Dungeon Fantasy’s vision of niche
protection. A few find GURPS Dungeon Fantasy to be a
nightmare of resource management – what with HP, FP, sun-
dry Energy Reserves, abilities with uses per session or per
day, arrows, potions, and so on – and aren’t keen on tracking
yet one more thing.
Yet the ability to step outside of a situation, assess it, and
then bend reality to alter it is common in fantasy, so it could
be argued that it deserves a place in kitchen-sink fantasy. If
it does, then surely a delver whose possesses this gift rates a
niche of their own? After all, fantasy is full of serendipitous
heroes, cryptic seers, and magic that doesn’t easily fit any stan-
dard magic system!
For those who agree, here’s a new profession that bends
reality itself.
Fate-Bender
250 points
You were born with the capacity to see the “big pic-
ture.” In your case, this means not a spellcaster’s mind
for the supernatural, a warrior’s knack for visualizing the
battlefield, or a rogue’s gift for complex capers, but the
mental faculty to view reality from outside, as if it were a
game. Even better, you have the ability to move the playing
pieces – to put your finger on the scale. This is no mere
magic . . . indeed, whatever it is, it doesn’t play nicely with
spells and enchantments!
Attributes: ST 10 [0]; DX 11 [20]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 12 [20].
Pyramid Magazine 44
Secondary Characteristics: Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs.; HP
10 [0]; Will 12 [0]; Per 14 [10]; FP 12 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00
[5]; Basic Move 6 [0].
Advantages: Fate-Bender [0]; Impulse Points 10 [50]; and
Impulse Points Refresh Rate +1 [10]. • Another 60 points
chosen from among Danger Sense [15], Daredevil [15],
Enhanced Dodge 1-3 [15/level], Gizmos 1-3 [5/level],
Intuition [15], Luck [15] or Extraordinary Luck [30] or
Ridiculous Luck [60], Serendipity 1-4 [15/level], Wild Tal-
ent 1-3 [20/level], additional Impulse Points [5/level], or
higher Impulse Points Refresh Rate [10/level]. • A further
40 points chosen from the previous list or ST +1 to +4
[10/level], DX +1 or +2 [20/level], IQ +1 or +2 [20/level],
HT +1 to +4 [10/level], Will +1 to +8 [5/level], Per +1 to +6
[5/level], Basic Speed +1.00 [20], Fearlessness [2/level] or
Unfazeable [15], Hard to Kill [2/level], Magic Resistance
[2/level], Signature Gear [Varies], or Wealth (Comfortable
or Wealthy) [10 or 20].
Disadvantages: Weirdness Magnet [‑15]. • ‑20 points chosen
from among Compulsive Gambling [‑5*], Curious [‑5*],
Delusion (“Everything happens for a reason!”) [‑5], Disci-
plines of Faith (Ritualism) [‑5], Gullibility [‑10*], Impul-
siveness [‑10*], Klutz [‑5] or Total Klutz [‑15], Laziness
[‑10], Odious Personal Habit (“I told you so!”) [‑5], Over-
confidence [‑5*], Stubbornness [‑5], Trickster [‑15*], or
Unnatural Features 1-5 [‑1/level]. • Another ‑15 points cho-
sen from the previous list or Chummy [‑5] or Gregarious
[‑10], Compulsive Carousing [‑5*], Greed [‑15*], Lecher-
ousness [‑15*], Post-Combat Shakes [‑5*], or Sense of Duty
(Adventuring companions) [‑5].
Primary Skills: Six of Panhandling (E) IQ+2 [4]‑14; Fast-
Talk, Gambling, Hidden Lore (any), Occultism, or Weather
Sense, all (A) IQ+1 [4]‑13; Meditation (H) Will [4]‑12;
Scrounging (E) Per+2 [4]‑16; Observation, Search, or Sur-
vival (any), all (A) Per+1 [4]‑15; or 4 points to raise one of
those skills by one level.
Secondary Skills: One of Crossbow or Thrown Weapon
(Axe/Mace, Knife, or Spear), both (E) DX+2 [4]‑13; Bow or
Throwing, both (A) DX+1 [4]‑12; or Sling (H) DX [4]‑11.
• One of these two 12-point melee skills packages:
1. One of Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Rapier, Saber, Shortsword,
Smallsword, or Spear, all (A) DX+2 [8]‑13. • One of Shield
or Shield (Buckler) (E) DX+2 [4]‑13, or Cloak or Main-
Gauche, both (A) DX+1 [4]‑12.
2. Either Spear or Staff, both (A) DX+3 [12]‑14.
Fantasy/Magic II
Background Skills: Five of Climbing, Riding (Horse), or
Stealth, all (A) DX-1 [1]‑10; First Aid or Gesture, both (E)
IQ [1]‑12; Carousing (E) HT [1]‑12; Hiking or Sex Appeal,
both (A) HT-1 [1]‑11; or 1 point to raise one of those skills
by one level.
* Multiplied for self-control number; see p. B120.
Customization Notes
Fate-benders differ from members of most professions
in that their definitive abilities are all-purpose: a bunch of
Impulse Points (pp. 46-47) alongside chance-flavored advan-
tages. They lack a structured power, spells, or an optimized
group of combat capabilities. Don’t take this to imply that
fate-benders are unfocused or all the same. Three archetypes
(at least!) are common.
Some don’t fully appreciate their gifts’ significance, and
consider themselves “born lucky.” They’re unlikely to improve
Impulse Points or Impulse Points Refresh Rate, but typically
have lots of Luck (maybe even Ridiculous Luck), Gizmos if
they always seem to have brought appropriate gear, and Ser-
endipity if they’re regularly in the right place at the right time.
As they rarely suffer unpleasant turns of fate, they exhibit
naïveté and go with the flow, leading to several of Chummy
(or Gregarious), Gullibility, Impulsiveness, Laziness, and
Post-Combat Shakes. Bad weather rarely plagues them,
money and goods fall into their lap (as do berries and game
on the road), and they discover treasures and secrets by acci-
dent (conceivably owing to Klutz). To reflect this, select Pan-
handling, Scrounging, Search, Survival, Weather Sense, and
so on, but roleplay these as natural talents rather than skills.
Those who also stumble into favorable social situations add
Carousing and Sex Appeal.
Those who realize they’re blessed often aim to profit from
their gifts – as might you, if you knew the universe would
guarantee you winning hands at cards and make dubious
schemes pay off! This lifestyle works best with lots of Impulse
Points and Impulse Points Refresh Rate to exploit mercilessly,
Making Weirdness Magnet Matter
All fate-benders have Weirdness Magnet. Like spend-
ing character points to affect game play, this trait is con-
troversial – adventurers sign up for weirdness, so how’s an
extra dose a disadvantage? Here are a few ways to keep
this from seeming like free points:
• Anyone with spellcasting ability can sense Weirdness
Magnet. Priests at the temple, Wizards’ Guild members,
and similar NPCs in town consider it a liability, and react
at ‑2. Monstrous beings instead get +2 to spells and spell-
like senses to detect the delver.
• If an enchanted throne, magical fountain, mysteri-
ous prismatic ray, or other artifact causes random effects,
don’t roll dice for people with Weirdness Magnet. They
get whatever result seems strangest (GM’s opinion). This
needn’t be bad, but it should be inconvenient – and, pref-
erably, disturbing.
Pyramid Magazine 45
Danger Sense for avoiding bad situations, Daredevil for get-
ting into trouble with style, and Enhanced Dodge to simulate
the way the blows of angry victims miraculously miss. A bit of
Wealth fits the image, too. Downsides tend to be roguish: Com-
pulsive Gambling, Laziness (again), Overconfidence, Trickster,
and of course Greed. This kind of fate-bender actively uses
Observation to find marks, and then Fast-Talk, Gambling, and
Panhandling to scam them; Scrounging and Search to seek
out treasures; and Climbing and Stealth for more hands-on
criminality.
Rarest is the fate-bender who doesn’t just know about their
abilities, but also realizes that the universe has cast them as a
kind of mystic or seer. They might improve Impulse Points and
Impulse Points Refresh Rate somewhat, but simply knowing
the right answers and actions is vital, suggesting Intuition and
Wild Talent – and often superior IQ or Per. Such people have
bizarre minds; they ritualize their lives (Disciplines of Faith),
look for signs constantly (Curious), imagine links where none
exist (Delusion), are convinced that what they’ve perceived
is how events will unfold (Stubbornness), and love to say “I
told you so!” to doubters (Odious Personal Habit). Their skills
focus on the strange, usually encompassing several Hidden
Lore specialties, Meditation, and Occultism for unraveling the
universe’s mysteries – a path that can have both upsides like
Magic Resistance and downsides like Unnatural Features.
Whatever your outlook, as a delver, you need to survive
monsters and traps! Attribute levels are modest, so consider
improving the ones that appeal to you the most – they’re
all options, though ST, DX, and HT are best for those who
intend to do most of their fate-bending in combat, while IQ
and Per are better for pure treasure-hunters who hope to rely
on Danger Sense and Intuition (and, gasp, actual skills) for
negotiating the dungeon’s dangers. Combat skills are some-
thing of an afterthought, but you do need them; higher levels
let you absorb bigger penalties and still have enough effective
skill to get a dice roll to spend Impulse Points on, so easier
ranged skills (like Crossbow) and a single good two-handed
melee skill (like Staff) are most effective.
• When a bizarre NPC – especially a supernatural
being – takes an unsettling interest in someone, it’s always
the one(s) with Weirdness Magnet.
• Whenever strangeness that’s going to happen anyway
would usually choose a victim at random (e.g., an interdi-
mensional portal opens in someone’s path), it’s never ran-
dom – it singles out the person or people with Weirdness
Magnet.
The GM who wants a more game-mechanical approach
can treat Weirdness Magnet as three Impulse Points the
universe gets to spend on messing with the character each
session. Use these to buy inconvenient coincidences (e.g.,
doors slamming shut for no reason) or enhanced effect
on the delver’s Fright Checks – or to have the adventurer’s
mere presence supply 25 energy points per IP that weird
creatures want to tap or feed on!
Fantasy/Magic II
 While spending quirk points on gear is always an option,
be aware that Fate-Bender (below) limits your ability to profit
from magic items. Often, spending those 5 points on an addi-
tional Impulse Point works out best. Or, keep them unspent
and use them to alter outcomes in play – because there, Fate-
Bender works in your favor!
Pyramid Magazine 46
Fate-Bender Abilities
Fate-benders have few special abilities – but those they do
have are game-changers that require considerable explanation.
Fate-Bender
0 points
This trait is what makes a fate-bender a fate-
bender! Members of other professions cannot
take it during character creation or acquire it
later – you’re born with it or you aren’t. It has
two profound effects on what you can and can-
not do:
1. You can spend character points, Impulse
Points, and any similar points used in the
campaign on a wider variety of options than
Influencing Success Rolls (p. B347) – and you
can buy critical successes in combat, a power-
ful feat forbidden to others! (You must still be
able to roll to do this; if final, effective skill isn’t
at least 3, too bad.)
2. You, personally, cannot activate or use
magic. You cannot turn on enchanted items,
and passive ones don’t work for you – magic
armor and weapons behave like nonmagical
specimens, beneficial potions you drink do
nothing, scrolls you read produce no effects,
and so on. Moreover, you can never gain the
talent to cast any kind of spell, and cannot be
or turn into an elf, faerie, or half-spirit of any
variety. This is worthless as a defense; unless
you buy Magic Resistance (or spend Impulse
Points on resistance!), others use magic on
you unhindered, and magical traps, swirling
gates, cursed altars, etc. affect you. Thus, you
can be buffed, cursed, gated, healed, or what-
ever; it’s just that such things are never under
your control.
You can consider this a meta-trait made up
of Unusual Background (Can spend IP on just
about anything) and Divine Curse (Can’t acti-
vate or use magic). They’re assumed to cancel
out. Their individual point value is left to the
GM – they could easily be worth 30 and ‑30
points on their own, although splitting them
up isn’t recommended.
Impulse Points
5 points/level
Prerequisite: Fate-Bender.
These are the points defined on Impulse
Buys, p. 18. You can spend IP like character
points on the options in that supplement. At
the beginning of each game session, 1 IP – plus
1 IP per level of Impulse Points Refresh Rate
(p. 47) – regenerates. You can neither overspend
to negative IP nor regenerate to above your
purchased IP maximum.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Example: You have 10 IP and Impulse Points Refresh
Rate +1. You can spend at most 10 IP. If you do, then
at the start of next session, you’ll regenerate to 2 IP. No
matter how long you wait, you’ll never have more than
10 IP without buying more.
The GM decides what options are available, but these
should include:
• Buying Effect and Defense vs. Effect (Impulse Buys,
p. 6) on damage rolls, Fright Checks, and rolls on tables.
• Buying Success (Impulse Buys, p. 4) – including
critical success, even in combat – and Buying Failure.
• Divine Intervention (Impulse Buys, p. 9).
• Dooming Foes (Impulse Buys, pp. 5-6) against
monsters the GM agrees are “fodder” (never worthy or
boss monsters!).
• Flesh Wounds (Impulse Buys, p. 10).
• Player Guidance (Impulse Buys, pp. 7-8).
• Points for Energy (Impulse Buys, pp. 12-13), for
things that aren’t magic.
This shouldn’t short-circuit the adventure! If getting
a critical success, dooming a foe, changing the scen-
ery, or whatever would do that, the GM ought to tone
it down to a more sensible level (or forbid it, though
that’s less interesting); e.g., perhaps an arrow pierces the
monster’s eye and inflicts massive injury, but the crea-
ture’s HT roll to keep fighting is unpenalized.
It’s best to forbid Trading Points for Money (Impulse
Buys, p. 8), or dungeon delving becomes pointless. Fate-
benders can get rich buying success or critical success
at Scoring Extra Cash (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2:
Dungeons, p. 4) and benefiting from Margins (Impulse
Buys, p. 5).
Most people have 0 IP. To affect fate, they must
burn unspent character points. The only options open
to them are buying success – which cannot buy critical
successes in combat! – and player guidance.
Impulse Points Refresh Rate
10 points/level
Prerequisite: Fate-Bender and Impulse Points 2+.
Normally, you regenerate 1 IP at the start of each game
session. Each level of this trait improves that by 1 IP/session.
You cannot buy more levels of this advantage than you have
IP, nor can you regenerate to above your IP level.
Making the Fate-Bender
Useful
This is easy! The fate-bender needs only the smallest odds
of success to buy a critical success, so modest skill levels – con-
ceivably even defaults – can be enough to save the day. What
matters is that the situation is one that a success roll can
resolve, and that final, effective skill is at least 3. This is true
in or out of combat.
To avoid a one-note character, make feats other than buying
successes matter. Buying effect on or against damage rolls – or
invoking the Flesh Wounds rule – can turn the tide in a fight.
Off the battlefield, set up occasional situations where clever
Pyramid Magazine 47
Fate-Bender Power-Ups
Like any delver, a fate-bender can spend earned points
on everything in their template – notably, they can rack up
unlimited Impulse Points and Impulse Points Refresh Rate to
perform more feats per game session, and push their Luck up
to Ridiculous Luck. Other power-ups are:
• Every One’s a Critical [15], as per the swashbuckler pow-
er-up (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Swashbucklers,
p. 26) – but without its usual prerequisites.
• Extra Life 1 [25] – no matter how dead you seem to be,
fate has other plans for you!
• Gizmos [5/level] up to 6.
• Karma Bank [1], as per the shaman power-up (GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups, p. 34).
• Perception up to 25 before racial modifiers [5/level].
• Serendipity [15/level], with no upper limit.
• Wealth up to Very Wealthy [30].
• Wild Talent [20/level], with no upper limit.
The GM decides whether these are available to starting
characters or must be purchased in play.
Crossover Characters?
As the Fate-Bender trait is inborn, there’s no normal way
for members of other professions to branch out into this one.
If the GM permits this under extraordinary circumstances,
they decide how it works. Slapping Fate-Bender [0] and
Impulse Points 10 [50] onto any non-spellcaster is as good as
anything else!
Going the other way, fate-benders can buy lenses that add
non-spellcasting professions. Treat them as spellcasters for
the purpose of choosing which lenses. They can acquire chi
and psi powers this way – those aren’t magic.
player guidance, or straight-up divine intervention, can bail
the whole party out of a dead end. Once in a rare while, toss in
a problem that calls for a sacrifice of character points, simply
to let the fate-bender “cheat” with IP.
Also don’t limit interesting situations to those that only
spending IP can solve. A well-rounded fate-bender has other
tricks up their sleeve: If they have Danger Sense, let them
“feel ripples in the fabric of fate” and warn their allies. If they
bought Intuition, include puzzles where a lucky choice mat-
ters a lot but won’t short-circuit the adventure. If they took
Wild Talent, have certain problems positively require obscure
skills nobody has.
Treasure demands finesse. The Fate-Bender trait makes
magic items worthless . . . but that’s a necessary evil for a
delver who can buy a string of critical successes in combat and
cover any gaps by invoking Luck or Daredevil for rerolls. Still,
looting is the heart of the genre, so give out flashy mundane
goodies, such as fine, meteoric, or orichalcum armor, shields,
and weapons. Balanced weapons are especially nice – the skill
bonus can ensure that effective skill is high enough to roll
against. Indeed, any equipment that grants a nonmagical skill
bonus is a great find.
Fantasy/Magic II
 Random
Thought Table
The Noble Prize
By Steven Marsh, Pyramid Editor
From Aragorn to Thor to Princess Leia to protagonists in
countless novels, comics, and movies beyond, many charac-
ters have some kind of tie to the nobility. Considering this level
of popularity, let’s look at some of the pros and cons of doing
so, especially from adventure, story, and campaign viewpoints.
But this is Random Thought Table, and we like to shake things
up. By examining those assumptions, we can look for ways to
tweak or subvert these ideas, coming up with new possibilities
and complications.
If you want to add some “noble” elements to your adven-
turers, take inspiration from The Social Delver, pp. 4-7.
Information, Please!
Having a noble in the party is a great way to facilitate get-
ting information to the adventurers – especially if it’s secret
or sensitive. After all, if the adventurers are just schmoes off
the street, why would they be entrusted with knowledge that
the king is dying from an ailment and needs a rare herb, or
information that there’s a dangerous horde approaching the
kingdom? In a vacuum, those without ties to the kingdom
would just as likely seek to profit from such knowledge as they
would help.
The Flip Side
However, being trusted with specific privileged informa-
tion typically means being given specific information. In other
words, those with ties to the noble information flow often con-
trol that flow – even if it’s erroneous, or spun to put certain
facts in the best possible light. Thus, the heroes may know
there’s an invading orcish horde before anyone else, but the
headstrong commander of the army may misjudge the oppo-
nent’s relative strength. Or the trusted seneschal Sinestero von
Callousblood may downplay the king’s illness for some unfath-
omable reason.
In this case, adventuring possibilities turn from finding
information to verifying or codifying information, turning it
from a binary “we know this/we don’t know this” situation
into a more-interesting “here’s what the entrenched bureau-
cracy is willing to tell us, and now we need to decide if we
Pyramid Magazine
set out immediately or spend the time and resources to check
the accuracy of this intelligence.”
A Place to Call Home
Perhaps one of the most-compelling reasons to have a
noble in the party is to have a definitive spot to hang your
hat on, as far as the geographical location of the campaign.
Many fantasy settings are big, and it can often be difficult to
have a compelling reason to decide between the arctic tundra
of Brrritscoldistan, the tropical Drinkwithumbrella Islands, or
any of the countless places in between. This can be fun for
some players, where the “city of the week” campaign is a trope.
But it’s a pain for the GM, who either needs to do excess work
to maintain the same level of verisimilitude among the various
locales, or come up with only the most vital details needed to
muddle through the adventure (and possibly lose out on some
world depth and adventure possibilities due to not including
cool elements at the time the location is established). And
some players miss the fun that comes from long-running char-
acters and established backgrounds.
In contrast, a noble probably has a place to call home,
even if much of the time is spent away from there. This means
that the bulk of the GM’s efforts can be spent more efficiently
building up the kingdom and “home base,” along with the
immediate areas. Subplots also flow more easily when NPCs
have backgrounds and personalities.
The Flip Side
However, it’s not essential that a noble have a literal place
to call home. Both Princess Leia (after Star Wars: A New Hope)
and Thor (after Thor: Ragnarok) are definitely nobles, but
they don’t have “kingdoms” anymore because their homes are
destroyed. If you can provide a compelling reason for a noble
to not have access to their homeland, you add a tragic back-
story in lieu of a kingdom. Some examples include:
• Destroyed. This one is hard to come back from. However,
it does leave open the option of finding and establishing a new
homeland, assuming the people of that kingdom still exist.
48 Fantasy/Magic II
 • Conquered by other people . . . or something else. This
option is particularly good if the setting has supernatural
evil such as undead or non-sapient forces like slime, since it
sidesteps any of the unsavory aspects of killing intelligent life
forms for land.
• Inaccessible. This includes mythical or other-dimensional
places such as Shangri-La (GURPS Places of Mystery, p. 54),
as well as more mundane places (such as a city or community
that’s completely cut off due to an avalanche).
In all cases, a “kingdom” that doesn’t exist provides a
ready-made adventure hook for at least one of the PCs (and
hopefully any friends along for the ride). Admittedly, going
this route means that all those promises of “less work, more
established locations” suggested mere paragraphs ago evapo-
rate. But you can’t have everything.
The Stability of Nobility
From a gaming standpoint, nobility provides stability. In
addition to a place to call home, it’s assumed the fair kingdom
of Goodville is secure enough that PCs can go off gallivanting
Pyramid Magazine 49
and still have a place to return to. Sure, the heroes (or at least
the poor sap who’s the noble) may be tasked with doing cer-
tain functions or keeping the kingdom safe, but the perks out-
weigh the costs. From a story standpoint, this means that the
campaign can include adventures that originate from decades
or even centuries ago, but still have ties to the area and noble
family (and, by extension, at least one of the PCs).
The Flip Side
Of course, plenty of royal regimes are anything but stable.
From political unrest to unhappy citizens to disasters (natural
or otherwise), being in charge can be a real pain.
Unless a campaign centers around political and internal
intrigues, it’s best to limit such elements to occasional fla-
voring or background element; keeping a kingdom on the
brink from fully collapsing is a full-time job. However, it
can be a fun subversion of the trope to have a kingdom that
seems to delight in more chaos than the usual regions: “Of
course the citizens are trying to overthrow us. It is spring;
rebirth is in the air! Still, it is best if I remain away for a time.
Perhaps if we leave, we can give them a chance to calm down.
Fantasy/Magic II

The Benefits
of Friendship
In GURPS, the noble character is the one who pays the
points for the benefits they receive. That is, they’re the one
with Rank, high Wealth levels, and so on.
However, from a game standpoint, those who are part
of the inner circle often get the benefits of these noble ties
without contributing to the costs. Sure, they might not
command an army, but the odds are decent that they get
good lodgings, decent food, access to information and
favors, and other tangential boons of privilege.
This tends to balance with the drawbacks of having many
missions dictated by the aristocratic connections. However,
if one PC spends a lot more points on something that all the
players benefit from, the GM could choose to compensate
that adventurer with something extra, roughly equal to the
value made use of by the other players. Or, conversely, if just
one of the non-noble PCs is taking too much advantage of
these fringe benefits, that person could a Reputation (leech),
with a value equivalent to the bonuses received.
“I Didn’t
Vote for You!”
Widespread nobility is easier to swallow for modern
gamers in fantasy campaigns. Nonetheless, it’s possible
to concoct science-fiction or even modern-day campaigns
where someone could have ties to nobility.
Alternatively, organizational constructs could have the
flavor of nobility, but sidestep some of the problematic
aspects of aristocracy. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
demonstrates this with having the planet of Naboo ruled
by a queen, which is somehow an elected position that can
elevate a young teenager to such a supreme level. (It’s best
not to think about it too much.)
The core elements of what make the nobility compelling
from a gaming perspective – power, bureaucracy, social
interactions – can be translated to other political forms;
simply tweak the titles and methods of attaining power.
Probably the biggest challenge (again, from a gaming
standpoint) is that the nobility is a relatively rare method
to have someone receive power and authority who doesn’t
necessarily want it.
You mentioned a ‘dragon hoard’? We should investigate. If I
bring some back, the people may be happier. For a while.”
Let’s Get Epic!
Being a noble often means having access to your own
ready-to-go army. This is an opportunity to dig up GURPS
Mass Combat and go to town – err, war. In Star Wars: A New
Hope, notice how efficiently in the final act the heroes are
inserted into the . . . star war. It’s primarily because they have
Pyramid Magazine 50
a princess; outside of GM fiat, it’d be tricky to have the
amassed forces give the heroes the time of day in that
scene without Leia’s involvement.
Similarly, royal attachments give the group the chance
to explore larger objectives, such as “the heroes are tasked
with planning a royal jubilee” or “the royal dam must be
protected at all costs.” Many different flavors of larger-
than-life adventure are possible when someone else is
footing the bill.
The Flip Side
There’s a saying about academia: “The fights are so
vicious because the stakes are so small.” The same can
apply to the halls of power: Having one’s immediate needs
entirely met can lead to a lot of empty space in which
petty squabbles and “meaningless” clashes can erupt into
overblown conflicts.
If one or more of the heroes have ties to the aristocracy,
they can get entangled in all kinds of tiny intrigues that
are about as far from “the armies amassed” as possible.
• A noble visiting another kingdom tries to commu-
nicate in an unfamiliar language, but uses a verb mood
that expresses greater familiarity: the difference between
coolly respected peers, and family members or intimate
lovers. Is it a slip of the tongue? A sign of disrespect?
An attempt at friendliness? An expression of romantic
interest?
• A certain type of seasoning preferred by a neigh-
boring noble is completely unavailable to the host court.
To not have such would be a sign of weakness or disre-
spect. However, one of the chefs swears that the flavor
(unfamiliar to the PCs) is easily replicated with salt and
charred garlic. Do the heroes go on a long, arduous quest
to acquire the true seasoning? Come clean to the visitor
and face the consequences? Go along with the chef’s sug-
gestion of deception?
• A servant ends up in possession of a handkerchief
belonging to young noble. Neither one is talking or offer-
ing explanations, so the entire court explodes with its own
theories and implications.
In the same way that other courtly actions can be
amplified above their importance, the noble PC’s own
actions can have significant consequences. Preferring one
stall at the mart over another can lead to rumors of favor-
itism or affairs. Failing to appear at an important function
(say, because the person is off being a hero elsewhere) can
become a scandal. It’s up to the preferences of the gaming
table how serious these repercussions are; some groups
wouldn’t appreciate going to war over a failed Dancing
roll. But some groups might . . .
About the Editor
Steven Marsh is a freelance writer and editor. He has con-
tributed to roleplaying game releases from Green Ronin, West
End Games, White Wolf, Hogshead Publishing, and others.
He has been editing Pyramid for almost 20 years; during that
time, he has won four Origins awards. He lives in Indiana with
his wife, Nikola Vrtis, and their son.
Fantasy/Magic II
 About the
Authors
Peter V. Dell’Orto was raised in New Jersey. He started
roleplaying in 1981, with Dungeons & Dragons, and has
played GURPS since Man to Man. He has been active as
a GURPS playtester, editor, and contributing author since
1996. Peter is the author of numerous GURPS articles for
Pyramid magazine, and author or co-author of several
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy supplements as well as GURPS
Martial Arts. Peter has run the same hack-and-slash GURPS
Dungeon Fantasy game for over five years and more than
80 sessions mostly using one town and one megadungeon.
You can read about it on his blog Dungeon Fantastic at
dungeonfantastic.blogspot.com.
Aleksei Isachenko worked as an engineer at an aircraft
plant and is now an associate professor in the department
of manufacturing engineering. He wishes to thank his
gaming group for support in this foray into writing.
Alden Loveshade longed to play an alchemist PC since
his very early roleplaying days; since finding GURPS,
he’s played a dozen. Author of GURPS Fantasy Folk:
Elves, he created the alchemists’ guild for the Strategicon
(Orccon, Gateway, Gamex) multi-GM GURPS Davenford
campaign set on Yrth. But his most vivid “alchemical”
experience took place in a university chemistry lab when
another student poured the wrong liquid into the wrong
sink. Fortunately, the resulting roaring column of flame didn’t
set the chemistry building on fire.
Phil Masters is the author of numerous GURPS books,
including GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics and the
Discworld Roleplaying Game, as well as of many books
for other games and a roleplaying game of his own creation,
The Small Folk, which can be found at warehouse23.com/
products/the-small-folk. He has more works coming from
Steve Jackson Games and Pelgrane Press, among others, in
the near future.
Sean Punch set out to become a particle physicist in 1985
and ended up as GURPS Line Editor in 1995. In that capacity,
he has written, edited, or contributed to hundreds of GURPS
releases, revised the game into its fourth edition (2004),
and been a regular contributor to Pyramid magazine. From
2008, he has served as lead creator of the GURPS Action and
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy series; work on the latter led to his
design of the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, released
in 2017. Sean has been a gamer since 1979, but devotes most
of his spare time to Argentine tango. He lives in Montréal,
Québec with son amour, Geneviève.
Christopher R. Rice has run numerous games in GURPS.
He’s also authored, co-authored, or contributed to 15 GURPS
supplements (and counting!) on a range of subjects and
Pyramid Magazine
many articles from old Pyramid and new. Of course, if he’s
not writing about GURPS, he’s blogging about it. Visit his
site, “Ravens N’ Pennies” (www.ravensnpennies.com), for
more GURPS goodies. He wishes to thank L.A., for being the
wonderful, amazing, inspiring woman that she is – not every
man gets his muse personified in the flesh! He also thanks
his gaming group – the Headhunters – for alpha testing, his
family (especially his mother), and Elizabeth “Archangel
Beth” McCoy, his Sith Editrix mentor.
Matt Riggsby is trained in anthropology and archaeology
and, like the rest of his generation, has a job in computers. He
works for an international healthcare IT company and lives
with his lovely and talented wife, an above-average child, and
a pack of dogs.
Anders Starmark is a veteran of the Steve Jackson Games
forums, having joined in 2005. He is a trained pharmacologist
and game enthusiast who has been playing roleplaying games
since 1984. He lives in Gothenburg, Sweden together with two
cats, Alfons and Nisse.
J. Edward Tremlett (a.k.a. the Lurker in Lansing) has had
some interesting times. In addition to his numerous credits at
Pyramid Magazine, he co-wrote GURPS Horror: Beyond the
Pale with Christopher R. Rice for Steve Jackson Games, and
teamed up with the same author for the Olan-Pok Quintology
for Gaming Ballistic. He’s been featured in the anthologies
Spring Forward Fall Back, Upon a Thrice Time, and Ride the
Star Wind, and in the magazines Bleed Error, Underbelly,
and The End is Nigh. He was also webmaster of The Wraith
Project. A former guest of Dubai and South Korea, he cur-
rently resides in Lansing, Michigan, with a cat and enough
Lego bricks to assemble a Great Old One. Hopefully it will not
come to that . . .
51 Fantasy/Magic II
 About GURPS
Steve Jackson Games is committed to full sup-
port of GURPS players. We can be reached by email:
info@sjgames.com. Our address is SJ Games, P.O. Box
18957, Austin, TX 78760. Resources include:
New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to
grow – see what’s new at gurps.sjgames.com.
Warehouse 23. Our online store offers GURPS print
items, plus PDFs of our books, supplements, adventures,
play aids, and support . . . including exclusive mate-
rial available only on Warehouse 23! Just head over to
warehouse23.com.
Internet. To discuss GURPS with our staff and your
fellow gamers, visit our forums at forums.sjgames.com.
You can also join us at facebook.com/sjgames or
twitter.com/sjgames. Share your brief campaign teasers
with #GURPShook on Twitter. Or explore that hashtag for
ideas to add to your own game! The Pyramid web page is
pyramid.sjgames.com.
Store Finder (storefinder.sjgames.com): Discover
nearby places to buy GURPS items and other Steve
Jackson Games products. Local shops are great places to
play our games and meet fellow gamers!
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finding more of what you love! We’ve added them to many
GURPS book web pages with links to help you find the
next perfect element for your game.
Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but
we do our best to fix our errors. Errata pages for GURPS
releases are available at sjgames.com/errata/gurps.
Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the
GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that
begin with B refer to that book, not this one.

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Pyramid Magazine 52 Fantasy/Magic II