Combining Psionics and Magic in GURPS

Both GURPS Magic and Psionics state that magic and psionics are completely separate, and do not interact. But in many fantasy novels and worlds, such as the Deryni books by Katherine Kurtz, and Tékumel from M.A.R. Barker, magic is just an extension of psychic ability. ESP, Telepathy and Psychokinesis are the platform upon which the other spells are built. In such a fantasy world, the psionics and magic need to be integrated. This article details one way this can be achieved.

Many of the psionic skills are already covered by the GURPS Magic system: Psychokinesis (by Apportation, Poltergeist, Heat, Cold, Levitation, etc.), ESP (by History, Glass Wall, Divination, etc.), and Telepathy (by Sense Emotion, Mind Sending, Mind Reading, Telepathy, Hide Thoughts, etc.). Unfortunately, most of these spells have hefty prerequisites that scare away any but the Empathy/Communication, Knowledge, or Movement specialists, and they are expensive to cast and maintain. On the other hand, psionic skills require little fatigue, and do not require a lot of prerequisites beyond Power levels. Therefore, the new psionically-based spells will have fewer prerequisites, and will cost less to cast.

When combining psionics and magic, most of GURPS Magic remains the same. Magery is bought normally, but this also counts towards psionics too. Each level of Magery is equal to its cost in each psychic Power, for calculating ranges and effectiveness. For instance, Magnificat the Archmage has Magery 2, which costs 25 points. For purposes of range for Telepathy-based spells, he has the equivalent of 5 levels of Telepathy. For the purposes of ESP-based spells, he has the equivalent of 8 levels of ESP.

Magery Power Levels

Magery Telepathy or Psychokinesis ESP
1 3 5
2 5 8
3 7 11

These power levels are only used to determine spell range and effectiveness; the rules of magic apply in all other instances. Magnificat does not actually have 5 levels of Telepathy or 8 levels of ESP, and the psionic rules are not used to determine fatigue cost and psionic skills are not used. A couple new spells are introduced and several spells have their range, cost to cast and prerequisites modified. Magic rules for high skill levels still apply.

 

Telepathy-based Spells

The spells in this section are equivalent to Telepathy skills from GURPS Basic (additional skills fromGURPS Psionics are left as an exercise for the reader). All mention of ranges refers to the Telepathy range of the caster, based on Magery (see table below). Regular spells in this section do not use the range modifiers given in Magic (i.e. -1 skill / yd. to target), unless the target is beyond the caster's Telepathy range. Spell costs increase outside this range as well.

Telepathy Range Table

Magery Range
1 1 yd.
2 4 yds.
3 15 yds.
Sense Magic
Information

Tells the caster whether magic is being used within range of the caster. The success of the spell roll determines the amount of information the caster gets, as follows:

Failed roll: No magic use detected.
Roll succeeds: caster knows magic was used within range.
Roll succeeds by 1: caster knows approximate direction.
Roll succeeds by 3: caster also knows approximate distance.
Roll succeeds by 5: caster also knows what magical college the spell is from.
Roll succeeds by 7: caster also knows what spell was cast.

Duration: 1 minute
Cost: 2 to cast; 1 to maintain.
Prerequisite: Magery

Sense Emotion Regular

This spell works the same as the Sense Emotion spell (p. M28). If the subject is out of the caster's range, calculate range modifier as for a regular spell.

Cost: 1 to cast within caster's range; 2 beyond that.
Prerequisite: Magery

Truthsayer Information; Resisted by IQ

This spell works the same as the Truthsayer spell (p. M28), except the caster need not touch the subject, but must hear the subject speak. Also, if the subject is out of the caster's range, calculate range modifier as for a regular spell.

Cost: 1 to cast within caster's range; 2 beyond that.
Prerequisite: Sense Emotion

Mind-Reading Regular; Resisted by IQ

This spell works the same as the Mind-Reading spell in Magic (p. M28). If the subject out of the caster's range, calculate the range modifier as for a regular spell.

Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 2 to cast; 1 to maintain within caster's range; double beyond that.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisite: Magery.

Mind-Sending Regular

This spell works the same as the Mind-Sending spell (p. M29). Use the "long-distance modifiers" (p. M10) to figure the distance penalty. Also, there is no -4 penalty when the caster and subject do not know each other, but there is a -4 penalty if the caster and subject do not have a language in common.

Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 2 to cast; 2 to maintain within caster's range; double beyond that.
Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisite: Mind-Reading.

Telepathy Regular

This spell works the same as the Telepathy spell (p. M29). Use the "long-distance modifiers" (p. M10) to figure the distance penalty. Also, there is no -4 penalty when the caster and subject do not know each other, but there is a -4 penalty if the caster and subject do not have a language in common.

Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 2 to cast; 2 to maintain for two-way communication within caster's range; double beyond that. Additional parties must each cast the spell.
Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisites: Mind-Sending.

Hide Thoughts Regular; Resists mental attack

This spell works the same as the Hide Thoughts spell (p. M29).

Duration: 10 minutes.
Cost: 2 to cast; 1 to maintain.
Prerequisite: Magery.

Mental Stun Regular; Resisted by IQ

This spell works the same as the Mental Stun spell (p. M66). If the subject is out of the caster's range, calculate range modifier as for a regular spell.

Cost: 1 within caster's range; double beyond that.
Prerequisite: Mind-Sending.

False Memory Regular; Resisted by IQ

This spell works the same as the False Memory spell (p. M67). If the subject is out of the caster's range, calculate range modifier as for a regular spell.

Duration: see p. M67.
Cost: 2/hour or 4/day to cast; 2/hour or 4/day to maintain within caster's range; 4/hour or 8/day to cast; 2/hour or 4/day to maintain beyond that.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisite: Telepathy, Magery 2.

Suggestion Regular; Resisted by IQ

This spell works the same as the Suggestion spell (p. M66). If the subject is out of the caster's range, calculate range modifier as for a regular spell.

Duration: 10 minutes.
Cost: 2 within caster's range; double beyond that.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisite: Mind-Sending.

Sleep Regular; Resisted by IQ

This spell works the same as the Sleep spell (p. M66). If the subject is out of the caster's range, calculate range modifier as for a regular spell.

Cost: 2 within caster's range; double beyond that.
Time to cast: 1 second.
Prerequisite: Mind-Sending.

Control Person Regular; Resisted by IQ

This spell works the same as the Control Person spell (p. M66). If the subject is out of the caster's range, calculate range modifier as for a regular spell.

Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 4 to cast; 2 to maintain within caster's range; 6 to cast; 3 to maintain beyond caster's range.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisites: Telepathy or Soul-Rider and Magery.

 

Psychokinesis-based Spells

Locksmith Regular

This spell works the same as the Locksmith spell in Magic (p. M70).

Duration: 1 minute (One minute allows one attempt at the average lock). Once open, a lock stays open until closed.
Cost: 1 to cast; 1 to maintain.
Prerequisites: Magery.

Lockmaster Regular; Resisted by Magelock

This spell works the same as the Lockmaster spell in Magic (p. M70).

Duration: Once opened, a lock stays open until closed.
Cost: 2 to cast. Cannot be maintained.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisites: Locksmith.

Levitation Regular

This spell works the same as the Levitation spell in Magic (p. M70). Find the Mass Factor from the following table:

Magery Mass Factor
1 60 lbs.
2 250 lbs.
3 750 lbs.

Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 1 per Mass Factor to cast; half cost (round up) to maintain.
Time to cast: 1 second.
Prerequisites: Magery.

Flight Regular

This spell works the same as the Flight spell in Magic (p. M71).

Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 3 to cast; 2 to maintain.
Time to cast: 1 seconds.
Prerequisites: Levitation, Magery 2.

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ESP-based Spells

Glass Wall Regular

This spell works the same as the Glass Wall spell in Magic (p. M55), except the caster can see through barriers as given in the table below:

Magery Thickness
1 2 ft.
2 5 ft.
3 10 ft.

Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 2 to cast; 1 to maintain.
Prerequisites: Magery.

Far-Hearing Information

This spell works the same as the Far Hearing spell in Magic (p. M79), except the caster can hear through barriers as given in the table below:

Magery Thickness
1 25 yds.
2 64 yds.
3 121 yds.

Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 2 to cast; 1 to maintain.
Time to cast: 1 second.
Prerequisites: Magery; No Deafness or Hard-of-Hearing disadvantages.

History Information

This spell works the same as the History spell (p. M54).

Cost: 1 for 1 day's history; 3 for a week; 5 for a month.
Time to cast: 1 second for each energy point spent.
Prerequisites: Magery.

Ancient History Information

This spell works the same as the Ancient History spell (p. M54).

Magery Time Factor
1 25 years
2 64 years
3 121 years

Cost: 2 for up to the caster's Time Factor; 8 for 100 years, if over the Time Factor; 10 for 1000 years.
Time to cast: 1 minute for each energy point spent.
Prerequisites: History.

Divination Information

This spell works the same as the Divination spell (p. M55). The elemental spell prerequisites listed in Magic can be ignored.

Cost: 3 to cast.
Time to cast: 1 hour unless specified otherwise.
Prerequisites: Magery.